Jingle
Blues
Our independent panel of nominators has completed its work and we are proud to announce the nominees for this year's Maple Blues Awards. A ballot is heading your way as you read this and if you are not a member, click here for info on how you can vote. A complete list of the nominees is also on that page. The winners will be announced at our Awards Show at The Phoenix on January 29. As usual, with this issue we combine the awards announcement with a Christmas gift guide, striving mightily to convince you to acquire these five nominees for Recording Of The Year if you don't already have them or to get them for a friend. Other gift ideas from the usual crew follow.
Here are the 2001 Maple Blues Nominations for Recording of the Year:
· Rita Chiarelli Breakfast at Midnight NorthernBlues NBM 0003/Festival
Six nominations for the ever-popular Rita Chiarelli plus the distinction of having Festival Distribution's top selling blues album this summer! Not a bad way to lead off NorthernBlues' Recording Of The Year hat trick. Hard touring, including opening for Bill Wyman of The Rolling Stones, and strong material clearly makes for an unbeatable combination. Breakfast at Midnight shows a remarkable knack for adapting different styles to a blues sensibility, no doubt why she's also nominated for Songwriter Of The Year. She's also nominated for the Entertainer and Female Vocalist Awards.
· Harry Manx Dog My Cat NorthernBlues NBM0004/Festival
Manx' groundbreaking blend of Eastern musical traditions and the blues has sustained a tremendous `buzz' in the media since Dog My Cat was released. Apart from introducing the mohan veena to many inquiring new fans, the CD shows a master guitarist/vocalist/songwriter as well, reflected in his nomination for Acoustic musician of the year. Manx is already hard at work on his next album, due in the new year.
· Paul Reddick & the Sidemen Rattlebag NorthernBlues NBM0005/Festival
A list-leading total of nine nominations shows the impact this album has made in only a few months of release. With Entertainer, Male Vocalist, Harmonica and Songwriter nominations, Reddick's "Hard Blues For Modern Times" has struck a chord, he and The Sidemen show dramatically how the blues past can shape our blues future.
· Dawn Tyler Watson Ten Dollar Dress Preservation PRES-761
This long-anticipated album is more than fulfilling expectations. Perhaps she would have been nominated for the Female Vocalist Award anyway but we'll now not need to know. Nominated as well for Producer Of The Year with Domenic Romanelli for this CD, we think this is a satisfying showing indeed.
· Nanette Workman Roots `N' Blues disques BROS -11001
With this excellent CD leading the way, Workman is fast becoming the kind of national star that she is in Quebec. The media attention around her Women's Blues Review journey and her impressive, encore-leading performance there will help enormously. She made a lot of fans that night. She will also help make the vote for Female Artist Of The Year the race to watch.
Christmas Gift Guide:
Ian Angus
Let The Good Times Roll
This year, three major blues labels issued multi-CD anniversary sets: Alligator Records 30th Anniversary Collection, Stony Plain Records 25 Years and Blind Pig Records 25th Anniversary Collection. All three are distributed here by Warner Music and all are bargain priced, allowing you to give a wide variety of blues to any fan.
Chris Thomas King played a fictional bluesman named Tommy Johnson in the hit movie O Brother, Where Art Thou. His new CD, The Legend of Tommy Johnson (Stony Plain/Warner Music), provides the songs that mythical performer might have written and performed from the 1930s through the 1950s. It's a one-man tour de force, beautifully written and performed. (This one is worth buying for the liner notes alone - a hilarious dead-pan parody of a certain genre of blues scholarship.)
Someone should declare Odetta a national monument. At 71, she can get more meaning out of a word or a wink than most singers can in an hour of histrionics. Lookin' for a Home (M.C. Records), her tribute to Leadbelly, breathes new life and excitement into songs you thought had been done to death. Highly recommended for any blues fan, especially those who also lean towards folk music.
Taking Our Time (Borealis/Festival) by The Whiteley Brothers, came out too late in the year to make the awards lists, but watch for it next time. Chris and Ken wrote all of the songs, do all the singing and play all of the instruments. Their best yet.
Ike Turner's personal life has been controversial, but no one denies his role as one of the founders of Rock & Roll, and as one of the greatest R&B bandleaders of all time. Here and Now (Ikon/KOCH) shows that he is still up there with the giants - a fine mix of new versions of old songs and very good new ones.
Steve Gash
Blues du Jour
Lightnin' Hopkins Lightnin' & the Blues: The Herald Sessions Buddha/BMG - For fans of the old-time blues, this is a surefire winner. Hopkins' recordings for the Herald label in 1954 are distinguished as the most electric waxings the bluesman made in his long career. Recorded with bass and drum accompaniment, Hopkins sings and plays guitar with an edge that is not often evident on his other recordings. Excellent sound and superior liner notes and packaging further enhance this great disc.
Holmes Brothers Speaking In Tongues Stony Plain/Warner - Always known for their emotionally charged brand of sanctified soul and blues, the Holmes Brothers really outdid themselves with this release. Boasting incredible gospel harmonies over driving rhythms both on original tunes and inventive covers from Ben Harper, Bob Dylan and the O'Jays, this is without a doubt, one of the best gospel recordings in recent memory.
Various Artists Avalon Blues: Tribute to Mississippi John Hurt Vanguard/Fusion III - This is a real feast for the ears of acoustic blues fans, especially those who love the songs of John Hurt. Highlights include Lucinda Williams' beautiful reading of "Angels Laid Him Away" and Alvin Youngblood Hart's stomping rendition of "Here Am I, Oh Lord, Send Me." A tribute album with a diverse cast of characters that genuinely works.
B.B. King A Christmas Celebration of Hope MCA/Universal - Finally, the blues Christmas CD that fans have been waiting for by none other than the King of the Blues himself. Alternating lush string arrangements of holiday favourites like "Please Come Home For Christmas" with funky string-benders like Clarence Carter's sly "Back Door Santa", King, his guitar, and his band sound truly inspired on this soon-to-be yule tide classic.
John Hammond Wicked Grin Pointblank/Virgin - It was a brilliant idea to get Hammond in the studio to interpret the music of Tom Waits with the latter in attendance. Hammond has rarely sounded so at home with his material as he does with those from the wicked and wiry pen of Waits. Spurred by a top-notch band that includes Charlie Musselwhite on harmonica, Bob Dylan keyboardist Augie Myers, and Canned Heat bassman Larry Taylor, Hammond offers the most compelling album of his career.
John Valenteyn
John's Blues Picks
Screamin' And Hollerin' The Blues The Worlds of Charley Patton Revenant/KOCH - THE gift for blues fans this season: for the first time, all the music is in sound as good as is technically possible with all the info on this founder of the music we love. It will set you back some coin but this 7 CD, 2 book, deluxe package will make any collector most happy.
Irma Thomas If You Want It, Come And Get It Rounder Heritage/Universal - In spite of the near-legendary status of the Soul Queen Of New Orleans' early recordings, her best work has arguably been for Rounder in the last decade and a half. This best-of collection proves that.
Lazy Lester Blues Stop Knockin' Antone's
You might have to look harder for this import but this surviving member of the Excello swamp blues roster is in career-topping form. Top notch songs & vocals, lots of harmonica(& some guitar), a band with Jimmy Vaughan, Sue Foley and Gene Taylor, need I say more?
The Five Blind Boys Of Alabama Spirit Of The Century Realworld - This one should be in your player along with the John Hammond as he's helping out here, as do Tom Waits, Charlie Musselwhite and David Lindley. It may even have been recorded at the same time. Their version of "Amazing Grace" set to the melody of "House Of The Rising Sun" will stay with you ever after.
Carlos del Junco Up And At `Em Big Reed/Festival - Taking the harmonica to new places in an electric quartet setting, Carlos, Kevin Breit et al will leave your jaw dropped in amazement. He'll be the first to tell you that there isn't much straight-ahead blues here but I wouldn't put it on this list if I didn't think you would appreciate the virtuosity. There are some nice Latin touches for variety.
-John Valenteyn, jvalenteyn8724@rogers.com