Brooks
Knows the
Blues
When Danny Brooks appeared on Huntley Street recently, the host called him "a hidden treasure in our own backyard" (because Brooks lives close by the Huntley Street studio, in Milton). As part of the hour, Brooks was interviewed about his troubled early life, his former addictions, his religious conversion and his achievements since then. The band plays Huntley Street again this New Year's Eve, as well as numerous upcoming club appearances and a special performance at the Oakville Town Square on the afternoon of Sunday, June 24. A 3-song video of their February 6 performance at 100 Huntley Street is being used to shop for distribution in the US. On a Sunday morning nearly two years ago, Danny Brooks was surprised at the long lineup for a gospel brunch at the House of Blues in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he had performed the night before. Right then, Brooks says, the seeds planted in his childhood - a love of gospel music he had acquired after hearing a record by Reverend Jumpin' Jim Jericho & His Gospel Jubilee Singers, a group his mother, Julie, introduced him to - began to sprout. One seedling eventually blossomed into his all-gospel CD, which was released late last year.
Brooks sang three down-home gospel songs at a Toronto club in December 1999, and based on the reception the songs got - they "went over so well, we got phone calls from people," Brooks says - he contacted producer Douglas Romanow, hoping to get a two- or three-song demo so he could shop for a record-company distribution deal. But, Brooks say, Romanow told him he had "the makings of a very fine live CD," and so Righteous was recorded, with just one rehearsal, on an outdoor stage at Port Credit's Southside Shuffle last September.
Released two months later, in November, Righteous includes songs by such gospel artists as the Blind Boys and the Mighty Clouds of Joy as well as a half-dozen originals by Brooks, who is a prolific songwriter.
Other than "Waiting For Your Ship To Come In," a ballad from one of Brooks' previously released three CDs, the originals on Righteous are the result of a recent creative period in which gospel music poured out of him. "I was writing more and more gospel songs," he says. "I said to God, `Are you trying to talk to me? Are you trying to tell me something?' This particular CD, Righteous, I think, was his answer to me."
According to MapleBlues' John Valenteyn, Brooks' originals "fit in very well indeed" with the classic gospel material on Righteous. Toronto Star reviewer Greg Quill called Brooks' originals "masterful."
If the veteran players on Righteous, the Rockin' Revelators - drummer Bucky Berger, bassist Dennis "Catfish" Pinhorn, lead guitarist Terry Blersh, organist Vic D'Arsie, pianist Michael Fonfara, sax players Pat Carey and Colleen Allen and lap steel player Ken Whiteley - were asked what was memorable about making the recording, they would say "there was something happening on stage that was very remarkable," Brooks says. "It was an unbelievable feeling of incredible joy and energy, and that translated onto the recording,"
With the exception of the choir and the backup singers, the recording of the live Southside Shuffle performance was transferred to the CD. The eight-member choir, led by Michelle Sim, had to be re-recorded because the outdoor recording had picked up the sound of the wind while they were singing. The microphone feeds of the two live backup singers were poor, but they were unable to make it to the studio recording session, so the golden-throated backup singers on Righteous, Amoi and Ciceal Levy, stepped in to do their parts. "The integrity of the live performance is still there," Brooks says.
Brooks previous three CDs, It's A Southern Thing, Rough, Raw And Simple and After The Storm, all released in the nineties, were critically acclaimed, but did not receive the attention that Righteous has so far. The previous releases, which include originals that have a "positive slant," says Brooks, reveal gospel, blues, country and R&B influences. The Southern gospel music on Righteous is more easily pegged than the music on his other recordings and more marketable, says Brooks, who is seeking a distributor for Righteous.
During his 30 years in the music business, Brooks has performed in blues, country, hard rock and R&B bands. Gifted with a husky, soulful voice, the 49-year-old had a religious conversion experience in 1987, when he was treated for drug and alcohol addiction. "I was sick and scared. I asked God to help me and he gave me peace," he says. "Part of the reason I'm singing gospel music is the hell I've been through and seeing the light at the end of the tunnel."
Brooks regularly plays clubs in and around Toronto, at which he performs , songs from his first three CDs, covers by such artists as Taj Mahal, John Lee Hooker, Sam Cooke and Otis Redding as well as gospel music, which is always a crowd pleaser. "When we do a non-gospel song, people are yelling, `do some more gospel music,'" he says.
Brooks is planning to do more gospel music and is arranging dates at the Queensway Cathedral and the Peoples Church (both in Toronto). In addition, Brooks will be starring in a musical comedy/concert called Bootroots which will be presented November 27, 2001 at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts
Based on a true story, the fiction and fun take over when Brooks arranges a last-minute meeting with fictional producer Chet Dixon: the only trouble is - Brooks doesn't have a place to stay, and has two bucks in his pocket. But his new buddy, Bootroots, who happens to be a street person, has just the place for him. This play featuring several Canadian artists and written and directed by Michelle Sim, will be followed by a perfromance by Danny Brooks and the Rockin' Revelators. For more information contact Sim at Northern Praise Ministries, Inc., PO Box 61015 Oakville, 905-844-0909 msim@globalserve.net or the box office at Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts, 905-815-2021
The CD Righteous is available from HIS House Records, R.R. #2, Station Main, 5545 Walkers Line, Milton, Ont. L9T 2X6, 905-319-8767 or hishouserecords@aol.com. Danny Brooks' web site is: www.dannybrooksmusic.com
- Ruth Schweitzer