Xmas
Blues
Jim Byrnes: Fresh Horses (Black Hen/Universal) - Byrnes has one of the most familiar faces in Canadian blues because acting/TV hosting is his full-time activity.
Fresh Horses, his fourth album, combines his superb blues sense and vocals with the
genre-crossing expertise of Zubot &
Dawson, the fiddle/guitar wizards. The set list includes
Dylan, Neil Young & Muddy Waters among the originals - this is a team that I hope works together again.
Sue Foley: Change (Justin Time/Fusion III) All live and acoustic, solo and with her band, this is a big change for someone seldom seen without her paisley electric guitar. Here she performs songs to or by Etta Baker, Mississippi Matilda, W.C. Handy and Bessie Smith, plus several excellent ones of her own. One thing that has not changed is her devotion to Memphis Minnie, whose independent spirit dominated the evening.
John & The Sisters: John & the Sisters (NorthernBlues/Festival) - John Dickie's cutting edge blues belting is the perfect match for the over-the-cliff band known as Sisters Euclid. Twelve bar blues this is not. Strong new songs and sharp arrangements from producer/guitarist Kevin Breit bring the Orbit Room right into your player.
JW-Jones Band: My Kind of Evil (NorthernBlues/Festival) - It certainly doesn't hurt to have Kim Wilson produce your CD, but with this much talent, they may well have received the nomination anyway. From powerful horn-led songs to gut-bucket Delta blues, these guys play it all and in exciting and original ways. A bright future awaits no matter what the awards night brings.
Harry Manx: West Eats Meet (Dog My Cat/Fusion III) - West Meets East was a Ravi Shankar/Yehudi Menuhin LP and a well known web site entry contains this hilarious typo. Manx used it to draw attention to his unique blend of east & west, adding gospel vocals and keyboards to his fourth CD as his hypnotic songs attracted new audiences.
From Brad Wheeler,
Globe & Mail music writer:
Mel Brown: Chicken Fat (Verve/Universal) - Upon the recent reissue of Brown's 1967 solo debut, Rolling Stone called the instrumental Chicken Fat a "perfect soul-jazz workout." A down-playing Brown describes the recording as "just the kind of jam thing we were doing back then." Believe the magazine.
Not the Same Old Blues Crap 3: Various Artists (Fat Possum) - Get it, play it, play it louder. It's gotta be Saturday night somewhere.
Johnny Winter: Second Winter (Columbia/Legacy) - Winter comes twice this year. This reissue contains the original album from 1969, plus a 1970 concert from London's Royal Albert Hall.
Paul Oscher: Alone with the Blues (Electro-Fi) - I love Reddick's Villanelle and Michael Jerome Browne's string band record, but Oscher's is my favourite. The title says it.
Memphis Slim: Paris Mississippi Blues (Universal) - It boogies, it woogies and the bilingual liner notes are perfect for the uncle in Quebec who's tough to buy for.
From John Valenteyn:
John Lee Hooker Jr. Blues with a Vengeance (Kent) - He was his father's band leader when he wasn't dealing with drugs, alcohol, incarceration and death. He's here now, with a vengeance. And with powerful songs, a raucous band and an album that may be difficult to find. Get it.
Terra Hazelton: Anybody's Baby (Healeyophonic) - Hazelton's boundless enthusiasm proves that old songs need not be museum pieces. She makes Bessie Smith & Nellie Lutcher right at home in the 21st century. Her own songs are pretty good too. Add in perfect accompaniments by Jeff Healey and his Jazz Wizards and this becomes an indispensable part of your library.
Byther Smith: Hold That Train (Delmark) - Twenty-three years ago an unknown Byther Smith put everything he had into his first album. He's much better known now and he has often equalled this album, especially live, but he has never bettered it. This is westside Chicago at its finest, now finally on CD.
Saturday Nite Fish Fry: Rhythm & Soul (7 Arts/Fusion III) - Bill King may have trained in jazz and classical music but he's a blues man at heart, just listen to the opening of "John the Revelator". Shakura S'Aida and the band make for a jumping R&B Revue, the old kind, where everyone played as though their lives depended on it.
Etta James: Blues to the Bone (Private Music) - This is the perfect explanation for why some blues songs become standards. In the hands of a lesser performer, this program of chestnuts would elicit groans. In mostly acoustic settings, Etta James shows you why these songs will remain timeless.
From Dr. Feelgood alternating producer/host of Lowdown to Uptown, Wednesdays 8 to 10 pm on ckln 88.1 fm in Toronto:
Floyd Lee & his Mean Blues Band: Full Moon Lightnin' (Amogla Records) - The 70 year-old Lee, based in New York City, travels back to his home state of Mississippi 60 years after he left it to record his most personal CD yet. Legendary Delta drummer Sam Carr guests.
Barbara Lynn: Blues & Soul Situation (Dialtone Records) - The sweet voiced, left-handed guitarist from East Texas returns with a deceptively simple slice of sweet rhythm and blues. She first hit in 1962 with "You'll Lose a Good Thing." It's a crime that's she's not better known.
Paul Reddick: Villanelle (NorthernBlues) - Lyrics that make you stop and ask, "What does that mean?" Melodies that you find yourself humming as you go about your day. Production that makes you think, "Why don't other records sound as good as this?" This recording is AMAZING.
Tangle Eye: Alan Lomax's Southern Journey Remixed (Zoë Records) - What would the famed folkloric Lomax make of this? Betcha he'd say, "Don't think about it too much, just feel the rhythms." Hey Moby - this is the way you do it.
Bruce Jackson: Get Your Ass in the Water and Swim Like Me: African American Narrative Poetry from Oral Tradition (Routledge, ISBN ^ 0415969972) - First published by in 1974, this classic of African-American literature and folklore is a collection of Black folk poetry known as "toasts". This reprint includes a 24 track CD - this is street verse that never made it onto vinyl. You won't be hearing me play this on the show! But if you think rap music has no connection to the blues, check this and think again.
From Blues Doctor Julie Hill, alternating producer/host of Lowdown to Uptown, Wednesdays 8 to 10 pm on ckln 88.1 fm in Toronto:
The Compilations - Fulfilling two maxims with one CD (and maybe that makes three), "variety is the spice of life", and "think globally, act locally". This is like giving a mix tape of some of your favourite blues performers. For the gift recipient who needs an introduction or a sampler, or a solution to indecisiveness about which one artist to own or play. 2004 Southside Shuffle - Dancin' in the Streets (Southside Shuffle/Iridescent Music) for the young local blues artists; Red, White & Blues (Sony) for a cross-nation review of Canadian blues veterans; and Ultimate Blues Collection (Warner) for a 2-CD survey of modern blues, with some Canadian representation
The Indies - Raoul & Roxanne, Jimmy & Jerome, Tony & Donny & Pappy & Murray: Speaking of local, the independently-produced 2004 recordings by this septet of Ontario bands were progressive leaps ahead of their previous offerings (or, in the case of Roxanne Potvin, a most impressive debut, and, with Mr. Downchild, noteworthy as the first new material in 7 years). All of these recordings feature a good variety of grooves within their individual sound: Raoul and the Big Time Cold Outside ("Hollywood, Chicago, Toronto Jump Blues", with some high-profile guests), Roxanne Potvin Careless Loving (a fresh new female voice in songwriting, singing, and guitaring, with a 50s/60s feel), Jimmy Bowskill Soap Bars & Dog Ears (now 14, his voice is a deeper old soul, and his guitar playing and songwriting have really grown, plus impeccable production by Alec Fraser), Jerome Godboo Pain and the Glory (covers Mayall, Clapton, Mayfield, Stones, and has that rockin' edge), Tony D's Jook Joint (his musical expansion includes more diversity, more instrumental, more acoustic, even flamenco, plus the usual guitar rockin' and jumpin'), Downchild Blues Band Come On In (the straight-ahead party blues these veterans have been known for for 35 years, also with some high-profile guests), and the award-winning aboriginal blues of the Pappy Johns Band with Murray Porter, Full Circle (but they exceed that pigeon-hole, and Faron Johns has a wonderful voice).
The ladies: It's a man's world? Listen to these women: Janiva Magness' Bury Him at the Crossroads on NorthernBlues (rootsy diversity gives depth), Renee Austin's Sweet Talk on Blind Pig (poppy production gives polish), Deborah Coleman's What About Love? on Telarc and Rita Chiarelli's No-One To Blame on Mad Iris (smoky standards provide mostly mood music).
Collected and assembled by Julie Hill.