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June
2005
The Jeff Healey Band Live at Montreux 1999 CD +
DVD Eagle/EMI
Despite his love for traditional jazz,
Jeff Healey's electric, rocking blues
career continues unabated. All of his albums in this genre are still available and that is
no mean feat in this era of almost instantaneous deletions. This welcome addition to
his discography, from the prestigious Montreux Jazz
Festival in Switzerland, is the first live one. The DVD features 14 performances, a greatest hits, if you will, in
5.1 Surround Sound and DTS. The first ten songs feature the 1999 tour band, with
Pat Rush on the other guitar, Joe
Rockman on bass and Tom Stephen on drums. A bonus set
of four songs is from Healey's '97 performance at the Festival and that version of
the band had Philip Sayce on guitar and he gets the vocal on
Albert Collins' "Put The Shoe On The Other Foot". Highlights are many here but songs 2 & 3 "Stop Breakin'
Down" and "Third Degree" (with some appropriate new words and not on any earlier albums)
top the bill right away. "Hoochie Coochie Man" is not far behind. "Roadhouse Blues",
the Doors song he performed in the Patrick
Swayze movie, Roadhouse, gets some
unscheduled but effective audience participation when Healey breaks a string. Rush carries
on alone most efficiently until Healey's guitar returns repaired. A nice moment. The
CD version has a different sequence and has four fewer songs, removing three from 1999
and adding "Yer Blues" (i.e. not on the DVD) and two from 1997. This would seem to be
an ideal choice for the new Dual Disc format but these are only available separately.
Since those heady days with Chairmen of the
Board, Kennedy has been living and performing almost exclusively in the Hamilton area.
Sweet Taste changed that, getting rave reviews and a JUNO nomination. A trip to Europe obviously impressed the fine
folks at Black & Tan Records, a Dutch label whose catalogue can stand proudly beside that
of any other. They call him a blues troubadour and it fits. Much like
Fruteland Jackson or Otis Taylor, Kennedy searches his history for song subjects. And he tells
his stories with minimal accompaniment, mostly just voice and guitar. Some songs have
bass or keyboard support to highlight the strong songs. "40 Acres and a Mule" and
"Hummin' Blues" go back to slavery times. "Recipe for Loving" is dedicated to his late
mother who played Lonnie Johnson and Memphis
Minnie records for him. "Make a
Difference" is the closest in sound to his old Detroit days and seems to need more than just a
B3 and perhaps on another album it will. These are powerful performances and you
should make a point of finding this one. If it's not in your favourite store, go to
www.black-and-tan.com or
www.harrisonkennedy.ca.
Dawn Tyler Watson & James
Gelfand Jack Paradise OST Zone 3 ZCD1040
You may have caught this Gilles
Noel film on The Movie Network recently. It dramatizes the life of Quebec pianist
Bob Langlois (a.k.a. Jacques Paradis or
Jack Paradise) and the golden age of the Montreal jazz scene.
Roy Dupuis plays Paradise and Dawn Tyler
Watson, in her film debut, plays Curly
Brown his troubled love interest. The soundtrack is essentially a big band jazz extravaganza with music
by James Gelfand, who also supplies the piano music on film. Tyler Watson opens with
a sultry blues ballad "After You've Gone" with only piano backing, followed by
Kim Richardson's moving performance of "Motherless Child". "Tap Dance" has a short
scat vocal by Dawn before she fronts the big band on "Dark Town Strutter's Ball".
More scatting on "The Bop's Bee", again with the big band.
Robert Charlebois' "Jos Finger Ledoux" is a slow jazz blues that provides the highlight with respect to
Watson's contributions but she handles all these styles well. The movie is now available on
VHS or DVD but it and the soundtrack might be easier to find on the web rather than retail.
A longtime American political activist/gospel singer, Ms. Sapp stopped by at
Ken Whiteley's studio long enough to record some songs that she's written or
arranged over the years or recently arranged for. She's accompanied by many of our finest
and fans of Ken's last one, Gospel Music Makes Me Feel
Alright! and of his Gospel Brunches at Hugh's Room, should run out and grab this one. Ken leads the unobtrusive band
behind her piano & vocals and Jackie
Richardson heads the list of the choir members. If
she can look back with this much enthusiasm before moving on, it would seem that her
career is far from being finished.
If you can imagine an acoustic world where blues, rockabilly and
Hank Williams Sr. all come together, this might be its house band.
Mr. Rick (Zolkower) supplies the vocals and fingerstyle guitar,
Luther Wheatstraw (aka Steve Katz) plays lead
guitar and Joe "Josephus"
Burns, double bass. "That Backdoor" opens the CD giving
Little Walter a rockabilly feel proving how little musical distance there is between
these styles _ there is a natural feel to this (You can sample this song on
TBS 20 Years). "House of the Rising Sun" and "Bullfrog" are two more straight-ahead blues
that benefit mightily from this treatment. Sam
Chatmon's "I Get the Blues When It
Rains" sounds just fine too. The Mr. Rick originals lean more to the country side of this
mix but are none the worse for that: "Cocktails and Cornbread" is a fine choice as
the title. "Jump Li'l Rabbit" adds Steve
Briggs on lead guitar and Burke Carroll on
lap steel giving a Western Swing addition to a biscuit you'll be sliding in your
player again and again. The CD release party is at Hugh's Room on June
15th, get yours there. It's also available at Sam the Record Man and at
www.mr-rick.com.
The Frank Cosentino Band
Unfinished Business BMS/Indie
Unfinished business, perhaps, but a road warrior forever.
Frank Cosentino has been a regular on the club circuit in Southern Ontario for longer than he probably cares
to remember. He has put the time to good use with a new program of tremendous songs.
His earlier albums showed the strong influence of
Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix, this one shows a more original voice. "1000 Miles" is an especially fine CD
opener, with good lyrics and a horn section that really adds to the song's impact. He
only needs a rhythm section behind his guitar playing and
Gary Arbour and Chris Lamont are on bass and drums here, supplying all that's necessary. "Cadillac Car",
"Six String Fever", "Capital `T'" and "Drunk" should enliven many a nightclub stage
for some time. As good as this band is, solid performances of
Robert Johnson's "Come Into My Kitchen" and
Jimmy Rogers' "That's All Right" provide welcome acoustic breaks
on this CD. If you don't get a chance to get this CD from them at a club, you can go
to www.frankcosentino.com and check out some audio clips.
Little Charlie and the
Nightcats Nine Lives Alligator ALCD 4902/Fusion
The word `slinky' was used recently to describe this band's music but I think it
even more accurately describes Rick Estrin, the band's singer and harmonica ace, and
it applies to more than his wardrobe choices. He writes almost all the band's material
and his sly wit has resulted in some of his best songs on an already solid repertoire.
It might be a while before you hear as good a song about ageing as "Circling the
Drain" and as you might guess, this is a slow, slow blues. The
cha cha rhythms and group vocals make "Got To Have A Job" a delight. "Quittin' Time" slows things down again
over the end of a relationship. Charlie
Baty contributes two excellent instrumentals
in "Tag (You're It)" and "Slap Happy" to go with his strong soloing throughout.
Once again, for album #9, a must have _ if I have any complaint, it's that there's
not enough of Estrin's harp.
Her first live album and it's a killer! I've seen many shows over the years and
this CD captures her raucous roadhouse boogie marvelously. The songs are a Christmas
wish list of highlights from her thirty-year career and the folks at The Big Room at
the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico, CA sure appreciated it. From the roaring
take on the title song and slowing down only for "Every Day Will Be Like A Holiday" with
a solid guitar solo from Pat Boyack, to the
Professor Longhair-styled sound infusing more than half the CD, this is dancing blues nirvana.
Angela Strehli guests on "It Hurts To Be In Love", the R&B hit by
Annie Laurie, not the Gene Pitney song, and
it provides yet another high point of the evening. Get this one and move the furniture.
Albert Collins The Iceman at Mt.
Fuji Fuel 2000/True North TND 236/Universal
Sometimes, when writing a column of new releases, you don't get a chance to hear
much from artists who've passed on. This new release, though, provides a welcome
opportunity to hear Albert Collins in his prime once again. He was back in Japan the year
before he passed away, at the Mt. Fuji Jazz
Festival, and this CD collects songs from two sets. The music here is his regular set list and so covers the same ground as the
Live `92-'93 set on Virgin and with the same band but the performances here are stellar
and the sound much warmer than on that previous disc. It's also at a bargain price.
There was a DVD drawn from these same performances but it is now deleted. Highly recommended.
It might be a conflict of interest, but any column that stresses local artists
the way this one does has to recommend the 20 Years
TBS double CD. Only the five songs from CDs not yet issued have escaped reviews in this column. - John Valenteyn,
jvalenteyn8724@rogers.com
Harrison Kennedy Voice +
Story Black & Tan B&T025/PHD
Jane Sapp Movin'
On Pyramid PCD 017/Festival
Mr. Rick & the
Biscuits Cocktails & Cornbread ZLK 653/Indie
Marcia Ball Live Down the
Road Alligator ALCD 4903/Fusion