October
2004
The Jimmy Bowskill Band Soap Bars & Dog
Ears JB2004/Festival
Just one year after his first album release, Jimmy Bowskill has made is a huge jump forward from an already promising start. Bowskill is on guitar & vocals, Al Cross or Bob Vespaziani on drums, Alec Fraser, bass and Jerome Godboo, harp. His voice has deepened without affecting his singing. He has seriously gotten into the study of guitar sounds & technology and the CD title comes from the names of equipment used in the recording. As before, the songs are a mix of originals and well-chosen covers, their performance benefiting enormously from the constant touring this quartet has done recently. With all the guests on the first album, it was difficult to judge Bowskill's guitar skills but here he's front & centre and shows himself to be the complete entertainer, carefully balancing vocals and guitar. And with the help of his bowler hat, he's developing a distinctive on-stage persona as well. The intriguing "The Truth", the jazzy "Bailieboro", the West Coast rocker "Six O'Clock" and the instrumental "Big Fat Minor" are all very good Bowskill originals. "It's So Fine" proves this band can do Motown and the a capella version of Son House's "Grinnin' in Your Face" shows a deep respect for tradition. This hard touring young man will be someplace near you very soon and make sure you see the show. Check out www.jimmybowskill.com for more info.
Paul Reddick Villanelle NorthernBlues NBM0025/Festival
According to Paul's liner note, a villanelle is an ancient form of work song. He and producer/collaborator Colin Linden have roamed far and wide through pre-war blues and other forms of "long gone music" for the snippets of lyrics that, it seems, generated new snippets and gelled into compositions over the course of a year of travelling and recording. Few of the songs tell a story, they mostly describe a state of mind or set a mood and for this the music is, of course, inseparable. And what music this is. From Sidemen-esque electric blues to marvelous re-creations of twenties string band sounds to moody electronic soundscapes, the marriage of music and lyrics is always effective. The title song and "Waves" have the string band music with the latter a lovely blend of mandolin, dobro and harp. "Winter Birds" & "Big Not Small" are the best "Sidemen" songs. The concluding "Some Afternoon Alone" is almost effect-less, a "new" Skip James song with just voice & guitar. Reddick is in excellent voice and Linden outdoes himself on the various stringed instruments he channels through a studio. His usual band mates are on hand when necessary. Watch for a Release Party on November 1 at The Torch Bistro (upstairs at Top `O The Senator) but get this CD as soon as you can. I think it's a new adventure in blues.
Eddie Baltimore The Space Between
The CD that the late Eddie Baltimore had virtually finished will be included with your ticket at the Silver Dollar on October 5th. On it you'll find a rather more serious artist than the one you may remember from his contributions to Slowpoke CDs. In fact, his voice and delivery remind me of Randy Newman with his sly social commentary. Sometimes, as on "Cold Sidewalk", it's not sly at all. Notwithstanding Eddie's expertise in all kinds of roots music, more than half the songs here are straight blues led by a magnificent Robert Johnson-esque version of "She's a Spy". New Orleans is represented by the excellent "Bull Frog" accompanied only by Lance Anderson's piano. It would take too much space to list all the players but Jerome Godboo, David Raven and Bruce Longman shine throughout. Other fine songs are "Rock and a Hard Place", "Moonlight in Paradise" and the lovely "Winter Blues". See you there.
Kevin Cooke Ain't the Weather Strange Limited Capital LCR002
One of the longer-lasting part-time organizations here is the Dark Angels Blues Band, led by Moose Moszynski. Kevin Cooke is its bass player and for the second time, the band has participated in a solo project behind him. He is also an excellent songwriter, with a knack for literate lyrics and sophisticated big band arrangements that the players obviously enjoyed realizing. He also has a sense of humour, as songs like "Birkenstock Baby" and "Don't Get Me Started" attest. This helps keep things from getting too abstract as do performances of "Shake Your Moneymaker" and "Just a Little Bit". The best songs are "Somebody Tell Me the Truth" that should be required listening at journalism schools, "Don't Walk Out", a tribute to Mandala and "Shuffle the Deck", a horn-led indictment of the corrupt political/business elite. This is an album that deserves wider listening. Ordering info and MP3 files are at http://members.rogers.com/kevcooke.
Granary Blues All-Stars Again Electric Desert EDRD401-2
Some music industry veterans who live in or near Eastern Ontario like to get together every once in a while to forget their day jobs and make music. They perform at a club called The Granary in Vankleek Hill, ON and had established a sufficient buzz to reach the organizers of the Montreal Jazz Festival. A date was booked, the CBC recorded and this CD was born. They are Brian Monty, a sought-after guitar maker and a former Toronto resident; Terry Gillespie, the founder of the Ottawa band Heaven's Radio and a music teacher; Stephen Barry who needs no introduction; Gordon Adamson, Barry's bandmate; Peter Measroch a keyboard player who runs Electric Desert Records and harp player Martin Boodman, a lawyer by day. The spirit and talent they share shines through on this disc, with particular praise for rollicking performances of "Big Chief", "Let the Good Times Roll" and "Bo Diddley is a Gunslinger". There are two originals by Gillespie, "New Mown Lawn" and "When I Come Back" that auger well for the future and might lead to more frequent get togethers, you can help that happen by ordering this CD from www.teka.ca/blues.
Various Artists 2004 Southside
Shuffle SSIM-2004
This compilation of artists performing at this past Southside Shuffle street shuffle came out too late for a timely appearance in the last column but it's still available and it's still a fine sampler of local performers striving for your attention. Most of the eighteen songs come from existing albums by the artists but you are unlikely to have all of them. Highlights for me are a new song from Mr. Rick & the Biscuits, "Cocktails and Cornbread"; a young Port Credit slide guitarist, Johnny Williams, whose "By Your Side" shows great promise; David Rotundo's "Drinking Overtime", Roxanne Potvin's "Ain't it a Shame" and the Johnny Max Band's "In the Doghouse…Again". Go to www.iridescentmusic.ca for purchasing information and a full listing.
Janiva Magness Bury Him at the
Crossroads NorthernBlues NBM0022/Festival
A LA scene veteran, Magness, often paired with Jeff Turmes, has five previous CDs under her own name on various small labels and singly or together they've contributed to numerous other albums such as those by Kid Ramos and John "Juke" Logan. Colin Linden heard her and convinced NorthernBlues to take on this project and we should be pleased he did. With Richard Bell, Turmes and Stephen Hodges on drums, this quintet becomes a welcome addition to the albums of female blues singers. Magness was nominated for a Handy Award this year for Contemporary Female vocalist and this disc provides all the evidence you need for that accolade. She proves it here by moving effortlessly from J.B. Lenoir's solo acoustic "The Whale Has Swallowed Me" to the full band workout on Magic Sam's "Everything Gonna Be Alright". Oliver Sain's "The Soul of a Man" leads into Rev. Robert Wilkins' "That's No Way To Get Along". The title song is a doomy, atmospheric acoustic original from Turmes, one of five of his here. It features him on banjo and Linden on guitar. Delbert McClinton's "Ain't Lost Nothin'" is another band highlight and I have to write that it's a treat to hear Colin play so much blues guitar!
Memphis Slim Paris Mississippi
Blues Emarcy 9819617/Universal
Peter "Memphis Slim" Chapman moved to Europe in the early 60's and blues fans here were numbed (and often disappointed) by the large number of recordings he seemed to churn out there. The French arm of Universal Music has done us a great service by compiling this `best of' selection because there was clearly a lot of good material. It's also presented to us in a stunning fold-out 2CD package, in the process restoring for posterity a long, dark period of a great blues man's career. Eleven of the albums are represented here with twenty-nine songs, eight from an excellent double LP, Old Times, New Times/Southside Shuffle. The first LP had Slim & Roosevelt Sykes reminiscing at their pianos and the second had Slim playing with Buddy Guy & Junior Wells and their band while they were in Europe opening for the Rolling Stones in 1970. There are two songs from the 1973 Montreux Jazz Fest with Freddy King guesting plus a couple of overly busy ones from a trip to Nashville in 1975. You'll discover an astonishing variety of music here, of a quality that can sit comfortably beside the Bluebird, Chess and United material that established his reputation.
Ray Charles Genius Loves Company Concord /KOCH
I'm not sure there's a Canadian household without this CD but if yours is one it might be one with at least one member who isn't as much of a blues fan as you are. When this one arrived, I had to contend with someone who delighted in the duets with Norah Jones, Elton John, Van Morrison, et al. When I finally did get to pay closer attention, the cuts with Gladys Knight ("Heaven Help Us All"), B.B. King ("Sinner's Prayer") and Bonnie Raitt ("Do I Ever Cross Your Mind") made it one the few CDs recommendable for sharing. It seems Mr. Charles was quite aware the end was near, he participated in the production of the new movie on his early years and wanted his last album to be a worthy one as well. It might be that on a couple of his recent CDs that a lack of confidence in the material affected his vocals. This is most certainly not the case here _ all the songs are strong ones. He never felt constrained by labels and this CD shows conclusively why. It seems many of us have already agreed.
- John Valenteyn, jvalenteyn8724@rogers.com
Toronto Blues Society Copyright _ 2004