John Spiers and Jon Boden have foot-stomped and jigged their way to the top of modern folk in the last decade.

The Black Swan Folk Club hosted their simply magical gig at the beatific National Centre for Early Music.

Support came from Wakefield teenagers Sarah Horn and James Cudworth, very accomplished musicians on fiddle and guitar/percussion respectively. Demonstrating an understanding of folk which belies their age, they performed classics and even personal compositions. They need more variety, possibly vocals, but the pair offered a solid support. Which is really saying something.

Spiers and Boden played a mesmerising and inspired collection of ballads, jigs, shanties and Morris tunes from English, Irish, Basque, Scottish and Oxford traditions. With Boden’s fiddle, guitar and sublime vocals and Spiers on melodeon and concertina, the duo followed heart-racing foot-stompers with poignant melodies effortlessly.

There were jaunty medleys, the excellent Three Tunes, and epic storytelling including The Birth Of Robin Hood and Horn Fair. Both had solos, Spiers’ lively Gooseberry Bush and Boden’s touching Beating The Bounds, accentuating their extensive individual talents. But together, they become something greater.

Close harmony gave The Rain It Rains and Old Maui depth and grandness while brand-new tunes Giant’s Waltz and Tractor Hornpipe remind us how the duo have more to come.

“Punk-folk” is used to describe their merging of traditional and modern approaches, but Spiers and Boden, with their ebullient presence and hilarious wit, deserve another term: best of folk.