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April 2005

David Clayton-Thomas Aurora Justin Time JUST 211-2/Fusion

A new album by one of our most famous voices is an event not to be ignored. With Blood, Sweat & Tears on hiatus once again, Clayton-Thomas ventures forth with what many are calling his "jazz" album and with this lineup of players it might be hard to argue that call. Longtime colleague Doug Riley does his usual sterling job on whatever keyboard is called for, Rob Piltch or Jake Langley are on guitar, George Koller is on bass and Terry Clarke is on drums. And that's it, there are no horns. And they're not missed. This group is, of course, capable of any style of playing and the half of this CD that is blues and R&B oriented is a delight. The opening song is an original, "Mercy Lord Above", with a fine organ-led groove and a catchy hook. Then there's a Billie Holiday song followed by Mose Allison's "Parchman Farm" which gets a good workout. "Gimme That Wine" is from the pen of jazz vocalist Jon Hendricks but gets a solid R&B arrangement here. A second original, a soul blues "A Visit from the Blues" is a CD highlight. "Wild Women & Po' Boys" is the third original and it's funky, the only song for which horns might eventually be considered. On the jazzier songs, he seems not to have fully decided how to adapt his powerful voice to a smaller scale but the convincing performance of "Lucky Old Sun" shows that this is not a serious problem. For "Moonlight in Vermont" though, I think I'll stick with Willie Nelson's version.

Kenny `Blues Boss' Wayne Let it Loose Electro-Fi Efi 3388/Festival

Kenny Wayne has the history of blues piano at his fingertips and his latest CD is all the evidence you need. He currently favours the West Coast R&B typified by Amos Milburn and a three-song tribute to Milburn is but one of the highlights on offer. On most of the songs, Wayne is accompanied by guitar, bass & drums, often by members of the Twisters, whose Live at the Harvest CD he contributed to so effectively. Pat Carey and Steve Hilliam also add saxophone to great effect. Of the other songs, the Fats Domino-styled "I Never Will Forgive You" and "Let it Loose" are high-powered rockers. "Mean Streak" has only Dave `Hurricane' Hoerl on harmonica and Brandon Isaak on acoustic slide guitars. Wayne's walking left hand has seldom sounded better. His debt to Memphis Slim is paid in full with the slow blues "Don't Rush to Judge Me" and a fine version of Slim's "Blue and Lonesome", a top ten hit for him in 1946. There are also a couple of contemporary-sounding originals in "Wishing Well" and "Blues Carry Me Home" to round out a well-varied program.

Miss Angel That's the Way I Tumble Electro-Fi Efi 3389/Festival

Miss Angel is often a part of a Mel Brown Show and here she gets a full CD with Mel Brown producing and leading his Homewreckers, Jim Boudreau on drums and Leo Valvassoris on bass, in support. She is not a great vocalist, at least not yet, but she gets the job done. She shows off her Mississippi heritage very well indeed, with her songs combining traditional lyrics in new ways, a style that hasn't hurt Snooky Prior at all. Some of her songs, the title song, "If You Could See" and "747 Blues", for instance, are more truly original. The recording successfully lets you into a small blues club with Mel Brown on guitar, organ & piano and not many CDs will let you do that.

Blue Room Everything But the Blues Sound Pulse

Last time out, for Great to be Alive, I was impressed by the songwriting of Paul Sanderson and Brian Neller either together or singly. The songs this time are a highlight as well, especially the sequence of the first six. Neller is the vocalist, Sanderson plays guitars, Fraser Lawrason plays bass and Pat Quinn & Frank Watt share the drum chair. "(Lost) Everything But the Blues" is a gloomy way to start a CD but the sentiment is very effectively conveyed. "I Can't Change" is the album's best lyric, tying that admission to an original slow blues. That's followed by immediately by "Train", as good an evocation of train sounds by a blues band as you're likely to hear. Especially fine is the doubling of harp and guitar. Perhaps because the promise of these songs, a relative lack of new musical ideas becomes apparent, interesting lyrics notwithstanding. Production is by Paul Irvine, who also did some of the songwriting and the arranging, augmenting the quartet with B3, piano, flute, tenor sax and percussion as needed. The band as a whole play very well and Brian Neller has become a remarkably good singer.

Trevor Finlay Band Show Me What U Got BKSA-04

Ottawa's Trevor Finlay Band combines rockabilly, blues, rock and funk, the press kit says and they certainly do that. It's difficult to believe that there is so much life left in a musical style that's going on fifty years old, and Mr. Finlay is certainly not old enough for first hand knowledge! Just guitars, bass & drums (and some guests and studio effects) is all you need plus of course the talent to combine these ingredients in fresh ways. "I'll Come To You", "Dance Like No One's Looking", "Lion's Mouth" and "Keep It Up" are all cracking rockers with licks you can trace back into the mists of time. The version of Gene Vincent's "Bebopalula" is almost unrecognizable, it's taken at such a slow tempo. For variety there are two acoustic songs: a blues with a warning, "(Don't Drive to) Philly No More" and Prince's "Kiss". That last track is followed by the sound of vacuuming in the studio. If you're near Ottawa on April 9, go to Barrymore's for the CD launch. Otherwise, go to www.tfband.com. When you get it, turn it up loud.

Sugar Ray & The Bluetones Hands Across the Table Severn 33/SRI

A charter member of the New England blues mafia, Sugar Ray is a frequent visitor to our town and so you know he doesn't disappoint. And he doesn't here, either. The Bluetones now are Paul Size on guitar, Michael `Mudcat' Ward on basses, Neal Gouvin on drums and Anthony Gueraci on piano. Aided and abetted by two Roomful of Blues Horns alumnae, they wrap the blues around some current events. "Say You love Me (Before you Hang Up)" has a tune related to "Keep A Knockin'" but Sugar Ray wrote a new lyric about a soldier leaving his family for war. "(I'm Gonna Break Into) Fulsom Prison" is a new song about a desperate worker whose job has been outsourced. There's also a Charlie Rich pop classic, "River Stay Away From My Door" that's handled easily by a singer of Sugar Ray's ability. The title song, "Dark Roads Calling" and "I Won't Leave Home No More" are excellent new songs that are more along the lines of what you'd expect from a retro blues band. The next to last song is a beautiful ballad about longing for a time when no one would have the blues, "The Last Blues Song". Don't miss their show at the Dollar April 9th.

Rory Block From the Dust Telarc CD83614/Universal

A glance at the cover art will lead you to believe that the question dealt with by the title, and opening, song might often be asked: Why does she sing the blues? Her answer is just one of the very effective original songs here. They help make this one her best albums in a career of high standards. She is the only performer, helping herself out with overdubbed guitar and harmony vocal parts but this never sounds contrived.

There are four country blues to help us with our bearings with "High Water Everywhere", Muddy's "I Be Bound", Son House's Dry Spell Blues" and RJ's "Stones in my Passway". The rest is as solid a list of original songs as you'll hear. The one reservation is "Runaway Dog", which has her talking to her dogs over a very attractive musical background. This one song may not get repeated listenings.

- John Valenteyn, jvalenteyn8724@rogers.com

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