New Releases -
June 2001
Paul Reddick & The Sidemen Rattlebag Indie (so far)
In the booklet for this excellent new CD Paul Reddick credits the Alan Lomax Collection Archive of American Folksong Library of Congress 1933-42 and if this creative input to Rattlebag is the result, it most certainly warrants the change in the group name. The unmistakeable Sidemen sound is never far away but Reddick's lyrics now incorporate phrases and subjects as old as the blues themselves seamlessly in these Hard Blues For Modern Times, the album's very appropriate subtitle. It may seem odd that recordings from1926 - 1932 can supply meaningful lyrics for a contemporary album but that's what Reddick has accomplished. The CD opens the way the another roots album, the O Brother soundtrack does, with a short a capella field/chain gang holler, "p.r. jubilee:", but "Sleepy John Estes" is vintage Sidemen all the way, as is "One Way Trip" (I think it should have been called "This Is Hip" but I guess they knew John Lee Hooker already had a song by that name), the title song and "Smokehouse". The rest of the songs use more acoustic settings and one of them is the only non-band song, a bluesy "Blind River Bound", a new one by producer Colin Linden, a rather obvious choice perhaps for a project like this but the pairing has resulted in an inspired album. Not surprisingly, Linden also plays various guitars, mandolin and provides harmony vocals on occasion. He also brought along his keyboard ace, Richard Bell, who can be heard to great effect throughout. The lineup otherwise is the Original Sidemen with Kyle Ferguson on acoustic & electric guitars; Greg Marshak, bass and Vince Maccarone, drums. Chris Burgess will replace Ferguson in the touring version of the band. Check out www.thesidemen.com and get your copy of this must-have JUNO nominee-for-sure album at the CD Launch June 14 at Revival, the new club at College & Shaw.
Colin Linden Big Mouth Sony Music Canada CK 80615
"Blind River Bound" is also on Big Mouth, Linden's own new one with guitar support by longtime bandmate, Bruce Cockburn. If the version on Rattlebag is hard blues, than this, and Big Mouth, is soft blues for modern times - not easy listening but softer in a Piedmont or folk sense. It's a much more intimate album than raised by wolves and the Band-like group vocals have been replaced by solo vocals and a series of duets, indeed many of the songs were recorded in his living room. The songs of most interest here are "Don't Tell Me" with Lucinda Williams, in a gloriously live performance, and "Wasn't That Enough" with Keb' Mo' beside whose The Door this album fits very comfortably. Other highlights are the must-have take on Skip James' "Hard Times Killing Floor Blues", "Skeleton Key", "Power On" and "Wrong Side Of The Bed". The other players are all familiar names: Gary Craig, drums; John Whynot, bass & co-producer and Richard Bell, keyboards. A Colin Linden song apparently just missed being on the O Brother soundtrack and he definitely is on the live album done by the soundtrack performers that is expected shortly. The website is www.colinlinden.com.
The Denis Keldie Trio
Northern-Hammond Make It Real MIR002
This one's from the same folks who brought you 2B3-The Toronto Sessions, only there's one B3 this time, played by Denis Keldie and played very well indeed. He's accompanied by Bill Murray on guitar and Paul DeLong on drums in a program of ten jazzy originals that you can check out every Friday night at Rockit, 120 Church Street. The album title comes from the little-known fact that Hammond made B3's in Belleville during WWII and called them Northern-Hammonds. It's not often that a sideman gets to have his own album and Keldie has used the opportunity to dedicate his to the memory of local keyboard players that have passed on: Gord Fleming, William "Smitty" Smith, Hugh Sullivan and most recently, Bill McCauley.
See www.2b3torontosessions.comRay Montana hip October MTR001
Calgarian Montana is a 30 year man in the music biz and has assembled a debut disc that successfully shows how well he can play guitar, write, arrange and sing in various music styles but it drove this listener to his remote. He has played with Matt Minglewood and Matt "Guitar" Murphy, cites John Abercrombie and Lenny Breau as influences and has formed The Ray Montana Band to play "a fresh new sound combining blues, rock, funk, latin & jazz grooves." The combination is not a new worldbeat fusion but a juke box, probably a skill learned by playing too many show bars for too many nights. Having said that, if he concentrated on blues, he might do very well. The opener is slick, horn-driven rocker, "Sales Call"; there's jazzy/bluesy "Soulmates"; a potential single in the rocking "Love You No More" and a sax-led arrangement of Sonny Boy's "Help Me" that show promise. His website is www.raymontana.com.
Buddy Guy Sweet Tea Silvertone 44195
Mr. Guy's latest finds him recording at Sweet Tea in Oxford MS, the home studio of Fat Possum Records, with songs by its artists. This was his record company's idea but somehow it works surprisingly well. One secret was using T-Model Ford's drummer, Spam, to keep that Hill Country beat, along with Delta mainstay Frank Carr and Elvis Costello's drummer, Pete Thomas (for variety, Billboard says). Jimbo Malthus of The Squirrel Nut Zippers and frequent guest of The North Mississippi Allstars was brought along on rhythm guitar ("he knew all the songs") with John Hiatt's bassman, Davey Farragher to act as studio bandleader. After a lovely but misleadingly acoustic "Done Got Old" (from Junior Kimbrough), Guy shows he is anything but old in a set of powerful electric blues that ranks with The Real Deal and Slippin' & Slidin' among his current recordings. "Stay All Night" (another of Junior Kimbrough's four songs here) best captures the Hill Country sound as does CeDell Davis' twelve minute "She's Got The devil In Her" but this shotgun marriage with Chicago blues generally comes out sounding like neither. Whatever it is, it is selling a lot of albums and it should help Fat Possum as well as Buddy Guy. Those song royalties will help too. Buddy Guy will be here with the B.B. King tour at The Molson Amphitheatre on September 3rd. Check out www.buddyguy.com.
Various Artists Not The Same Old Crap II
Fat Possum/Epitaph 20342
Just in time to act as a reminder of Fat Possum's catalogue comes this sampler. Volume I ushered in the modern studio effects chapter in Fat Possum's evolution but this one draws from the back pages and will be welcomed indeed. Three of the tracks are previously unreleased, including a solo R.L. Burnside "Walking Blues"; a gem of a performance by Charlie Feathers and Junior Kimbrough, his mentor, "I Feel Good Again" and "Goin' Back To The Bridge" by Asie Payton. This is Not The Same Old Crap, it's genuine, living, Hill Country blues.
Robert Cray Shoulda Been Home Rykodisc 310611
The move to Rykodisc after all those years and albums at Mercury has helped Mr. Cray no end. This followup to Take Your Shoes Off is even better. He continues to write songs in that slow cheating blues style but the non-originals here add all the spice that was missing before. The lead-off song and first single is his own "Baby's Arms" and it's a good uptempo song that would chart if we had real radio. Sir Mack Rice's "Love Sickness", from one of the Stax boxes is the first of the non-originals, along with two written by Mel London for Elmore James, "Cry For Me Baby" and "Twelve Year Old Boy". I don't want you to think the originals are bad, though, check out keyboard man Jim Pugh's nine-minute "Out Of Eden" or Cray's "Help Me Forget". As has been the case recently, no guest stars - just the band. Recommended.
Greg Piccolo Homage Emit Doog Music EDM0007
Roomful Of Blues' founding member and longtime tenor saxman Greg Piccolo has been on his own for a few years now. He visits us June 23th at The Silver Dollar as part of The JVC Jazz Festival and he'll be playing songs from his fourth solo CD, Homage. The quartet behind him on the CD is Reese Wynans, piano; Marty Ballou, bass; Bobby Ruggiero, drums and Jeffrey Cashon, acoustic guitar. As you might guess from the title, Piccolo pays tribute to his mentors and given his history with Roomful, you would not get too many extra points for guessing which ones. Illinois Jacquet, Joe Houston, Red Prysock, Lester Young, Clifford Scott, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Gene Ammons and Ben Webster are all represented here with new recordings of a famous piece of theirs and it's a fascinating overview of a period when honking sax-styled R&B met Jazz and the audiences loved it. You will too. Check out www.gregpiccolo.com for his other albums.
Ted Hawkins The Kershaw Tapes True North TND206/Universal
The late Venice Beach, CA streetsinger has a growing discography that most living artists would be proud of - he seems always to have been near a microphone with a working tape machine attached - in this case, that of BBC Producer Andy Kershaw. He recorded Hawkins at several locations for his radio show in advance of Hawkins' first major tour of Britain. The result is another CD of Hawkins' wonderfully expressive voice and his amazing memory for songs from almost any style. There is some overlap with his other albums and, indeed, a couple of songs get two versions here. Most of you probably won't need to have everything he recorded but if you have none, this is an excellent place to start.
Various Artists This Is The Blues
Harmonica Delmark DE-746/Festival
Not really a new release but we just got this one here at the office. Bob Koester, Delmark's owner, has been sizing up his archives and looking at what might be of interest to us blues fans. Many of his old LP's are showing up in CD versions with extra tracks and in the process, he has assembled some albums that package his treasures a little differently. The songs here feature harp players from their Delmark albums and occasionally players who weren't signed to the label but were hired guns for the session leader. Thus Kim Wilson is featured but as a sideman for his friend Steve Freund and Billy Branch on a Bonnie Lee session. Rarities are an unreleased song from Junior Wells' famous Hoodoo Man Blues, "This Is The Blues"; Carey Bell's "Deep Down South", from 1972 with Hubert Sumlin, not available elsewhere and Hammie Nixon's "New York City Blues", with Sleepy John Estes and Yank Rachel, recorded during the sessions for Estes' Brownsville Blues. The title is truth in advertising.
Various Artists Hellhound On My Trail-The Songs Of Robert Johnson Telarc 83521/Universal
Billed as an All-Star Tribute, the complete artist list for the mostly-acoustic sixteen songs would take the entire column so highlights will have to do. Of the straightforward performances, Taj Mahal's "Crossroads", Joe Louis Walker's Elmore-styled "Dust My Broom", Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown's "When You Got A Good Friend" with Chris Thomas King on acoustic slide and Alvin Youngblood Hart's "Hellhound On My Trail" with James Cotton on harp will delight. Of the re-interpretations, Eric Gales' "Me and the Devil Blues" with Norris Johnson on B3 made me sit up as did rocker Robert Palmer's "Milkcow Calf's Blues" with processed guitars and tuba. Whether these are enough for this album to rise above a crowded field is up to you.
- John Valenteyn, jayvee@ican.net
Toronto Blues Society Copyright _ 2001