April 2002
Harry Manx Wise and Otherwise NorthernBlues Music NBM0008/Festival
Right after two Maple Blues nominations, a new CD _ this is the way to build momentum! In terms of sound, Wise and Otherwise is an extension of Dog My Cat but with some overdubbing that allows Manx to blend the two sounds of guitar/banjo instead of having to choose one or the other. He quickly draws you back into his very spiritual world with an almost Christian "Only Then Will Your House Be Blessed" on slide guitar followed by the traditional blues/gospel song, "Death Have Mercy" on the Mohan veena. The two instruments both appear on "Roses Given", a rather more secular tune about the successful resolution of a marital spat. The east/west tensions get a workout on the next track where the veena opens with "The Gist of Madhuvanti" and a slide guitar takes over with a novel arrangement of B.B. King's version of "The Thrill Is Gone" that I hope Mr. King gets to hear. "Coat of Mail" might be the best song of the CD with its telling lines about a destitute friend. Somewhat surprisingly, there are versions of Van Morrison's "Crazy Love" and Jimi Hendrix's "Foxy Lady". The lead story tells how long Manx has been playing "Foxy" and both songs sound sufficiently unusual played on the Mohan veena, "Foxy" especially makes the argument for the veena as a blues instrument if you still need persuading (and for Hendrix as a bluesman too). "Makes You Want To Die Laughing" seems to be an ambitious attempt to deal with blues and eastern spirituality in poetry and it should provide you with food for thought long after the CD ends. Not surprisingly, the CD title is in this one but it doesn't appear in the lyrics in the booklet! "Tethered Dogs" might have more meaning if one knew its designated subject but it is a good song nonetheless. The "Raga Nat Bhariav" ends the program and you press play again! Check out www.harrymanx.com or www.northernblues.com.
Incognito Four Aero Music AM-16/Festival
This fourteen-year-old augmented Vancouver quartet has turned in a
blues/rock program whose original material belies their name. Oliver Conway, whose Oliver and the
Elements CD, Bone Idol, got quite a lot of play down here in
my basement, recently joined the band and this is his first
Incognito CD. He handles vocals, harmonica, rhythm guitar, a lot of
the songwriting as well as production; Robbie
Montgomery plays lead guitar & vocals; Bob
Woods, drums, Bob Popowich, bass and
Kenny Boychuck & Mike Kalanj supply prominent B3 support.
Song highlights for me are: "The Man", by Conway and Montgomery,
which shows their lowdown blues credentials and the ending trio
of "Getaway", "Make Time Your Friend" and "Objects in
the Mirror", which are strong songs, with solid vocals and playing by
all to end on a very strong note. In fact, I hope they push "Objects" as
a single. With some Little Milton and Eric
Clapton in the mix, this version of Incognito has a
strong calling card indeed. Go to
www.incognitoband.com.
Sub-titled NorthernBlues Music Catalogue
2002, this compilation captures the recent past and near future of the label
and it sure looks good from here. Rocking highlights start right
off with Johnny Jones' "Stacked Deck", the
Elmore James riffs of Rita Chiarelli's "Woman in
Blue", Paul Reddick's "One Way
Trip" (from Rattlebag), Brian
Blain's "Computer Club Queen" (yes,
our Brian) and the JW-Jones Band's "Jump Tonight" (just one of
the teasers from upcoming releases). Brian's CD,
Overqualified for the Blues, by the way, is slated for
next month. The other songs are all acoustic, with two from
Harry Manx, two from Archie Edwards including "Baby, Please Give Me
A Break" from Toronto Sessions, Volume 2, coming later this
year. Eighteen-year-old phenom David
Jacobs-Strain shows what the buzz is about on "River was Green"
from his May release, Stuck On The Way Back. The liner notes say a
gospel CD is in the works too. A CD chock full of award winners, waiting
for your order. Visit www.northernblues.com.
Otis Taylor Respect the Dead Northern Blues NMB0009/Festival
Taylor's second for NorthernBlues comes on the
heels of much critical acclaim for White
African, in the form of four Handy nominations and the use of
his music in the upcoming Billy Bob
Thornton movie, "The Badge". Unusually in blues, Boulder
CO native Taylor continues to find song ideas in the story of the
black Charlie Musselwhite One Night in America
Telarc 83547/Universal
This is a concept album for Musselwhite _ a little of all the
different kinds of music he heard and assimilated growing up in that musical melting
pot, Memphis, TN, but with a twist: he uses mostly recently-written songs. He
spends some time in the liner notes justifying
doing non-blues tunes here and while it's not at all hard to agree with him, I feel I
should point out that there are some styles he has trouble singing, given the limited range
of his voice. This is particularly acute on Kieran
Kane's "In A Town This Size", an otherwise fine country performance
with stellar vocal assistance by Kelly
Willis. Johnny Cash's "Big River" works
better but Mr. Cash works in a very similar range. Before you think that this is a CD of
cover songs, let me point out that Musselwhite has four of his own here that by
themselves make this a must-buy: "In Your
Darkest Hour" and "Ain't It Time" are among
his finest _ dark, slow blues with minimal accompaniment. "The Blues Overtook
Me" has been around for a while and gets a
fine workout here. Two rockers, the opener, "Trail Of Tears" and
Los Lobos' "One Time One Night" really smoke. "Walking
Alone", written by Pontus Snibb, was song he
grew to like while laid up from the near fatal automobile accident in Mexico. All in
all, this is not a bad way to approach a new album and you might enjoy the songs
he selected as well. Fine support from G.E.
Smith and on the blues tracks, Robben
Ford, on guitars.
For their eighth album (plus a Deluxe
Edition), Charlie Baty and Rick
Estrin have a new rhythm section and have
added a piano on most tracks, some horns on four songs and a couple of guests.
Rusty Zinn Jimmy King Live at Monterey Bullseye Blues BB9612/Universal
Manuel Gales got his stage name from Albert
King and was the lead guitarist in the great
man's last band (King used to introduce him as `his grandson'). He
plays upside down, left-handed as King did (and a Flying V, too, from
the photos), and it seems he has retained much of the master's
set list and singing style as well. The live portion of this CD is from
his set at the Monterey Bay Blues Festival a couple of years ago
and to his credit, he makes sure everyone knows this is a tribute
to Albert throughout. Two songs from his last CD,
Soldier for the Blues, "Living In The Danger Zone"
and "It Ain't The Same No Mo'", show some individuality but they
seem to get short shrift. There are also four studio tracks recorded for
an aborted Beale Street Today project and they are all Albert
King songs. Still, there may be room on your shelf for an honest Albert
King tribute and there's some fine guitar work here.
Two years ago, on a night at the Chicago Blues Festival that
I decided not to attend this club (wouldn't you know it),
ex-Howling Wolf sideman and session guitarist
Jody Williams Unfortunately still in the queue:
Coldsweat Nocturnal Indie - John Valenteyn,
jvalenteyn8724@rogers.com
Various Artists The Future of the
Blues NorthernBlues Music NBM0100/Festival
diaspora, a well that will not soon run dry, and builds non-standard,
drone-like structures around his prose. He backs
his singing with acoustic & electric banjo, harmonica and guitar usually only
with bassist/producer Kenny Passarelli. His daughter,
Cassie, supplies backup vocals when needed and
Eddie Turner provides occasional electric guitar, a team that
has been on the four albums so far. Taylor also supplies various sound effects
and atmospherics. A couple of highlights:
"Ten Million Slaves";
"32nd Time", about white civil rights workers who get murdered
and "Black Witch", about a black woman
who becomes a white man's mistress and the trouble this causes in the community. It
isn't easy listening but it has many rewards, Taylor has a good eye for a story and
sings with an evangelist's passion. In live performance he uses his penetrating
blue eyes to excellent effect. A change of pace is provided by "Seven Hours of Light",
very much in the John Lee Hooker style and "Three Stripes on a Cadillac" & "Just
Live Your Life", songs that bring Ted
Hawkins to mind. Check out the CD release/live
show at the Dollar on April 6.
Little Charlie & the Nightcats That's
Big/Alligator ALCD 4883/Warner Music of Canada
adds his guitar on two songs and takes the lead vocal on one
of them and James Harman duets on "That's Big". The guests are
all just icing on the cake, the vintage sound and humour are very
much intact. One critic is quoted in the press kit as saying "their sound
is like Charlie Christian playing in Little
Walter's band" which is not only useful and true but
a wonderful compliment as well. It also applies to the `West
Coast Blues' generally and Baty & Estrin's thirty years together go some
way to explain the enduring popularity of this style. Consistently solid
new material, expertly and enthusiastically played are a
huge part of that longevity and here "That's Big" (a paean to
large women) and "Money Must Think I'm Dead (#2)" lead the way
with their sly humour. "It Better Get Better" gets a lead vocal by
Zinn and I think it's because the tender lyrics didn't work well in
Estrin's sometimes lewd Andre Williams-style vocals. It sure works well
this way. Rice "Sonny Boy Williamson"
Miller's "Steady Rollin' Man"(an only
recently issued 1958 Cobra recording) gets special mention as a
performance by Estrin. Recommended and may there be at least nine more.
Jody Williams Return of A Legend Evidence ECD 26120
ended a thirty-year retirement and joined his friend
Robert Lockwood on stage. That appearance led to
his main stage spotlight at last year's Festival and, after some
negotiations with other labels, Williams' return
to recording. His innovative licks and chord changes were vital parts of
Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love",
Howlin' Wolf's "Forty Four", Billy
Boy Arnold's "Wish You Would" and
his own 45, "Lucky Lou" among numerous others. But he soured on the
business and felt a job as an electronics engineer for Xerox would better feed his
family. After early retirement, he started thinking about playing again
and showing some folks where the licks came from. You will hear that he
has lost nothing over the years. On hand to help out here are some of
Chicago's finest: Ronnie Baker Brooks,
guitar; Allen Batts, keys; Harlan
Terson, bass and Kenny Smith, drums.
Billy Boy Arnold sits in, as do Sean
Costello, Tinsley Ellis and Rusty
Zinn but this is Williams' show. Most of his early songs are redone here
to save you the effort and cost of collecting the originals and you will have to
look very hard to find a better `50's Chicago blues CD this year.
Mike Morgan & The Crawl Texas
Man Severn
Tinsley Ellis Hell or High Water Telarc
Charlie Tuna Charlie Tuna and
Friends Skillett
Bruce Conte Bullet Proof Severn
Various Artists Mississippi Blues Putumayo
Various Artists The Blues White
Album Telarc
Joe Bonamassa A New Day Yesterday Medalist
The Groove Hogs Wrong Side Of The
Street Trawf
Toronto Blues Society Copyright _ 2002