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July
2005
Dutch Mason Half Ain't Been
Told Pig 1002/Landwash
The discography in the back of
the Bedford/Sawler bio, "On the Road
With Dutch Mason" (Nimbus) that David
Barnard reviewed last month contains the
reference "2004 CBC Recordings". David
discovered this CD in the CBC Library and Google turned up the Landwash distributor.
The book perhaps explains why a Dutch Mason CD would be so little known,
although enough folks had heard it to make it a nominee for Blues Album of the Year
last year at the East Coast Music Awards, along with son Garrett's CD. That
I'm Just a Man seemed to appear out of
nowhere but word had preceded it that Garrett
Mason was in his father's band, learning the ropes.
Half Ain't Been Told provides the missing link. Garrett joins an
all star cast on a strong, new Dutch Mason CD. Morgan
Davis is on the other guitar, Geoff
Arsenault is on drums, Jamie Gatti on acoustic bass and
Joe Murphy is on harp & guitars. Dave
MacIsaac is a wonderful and colourful addition
on violin, mandolin & acoustic guitar. Bill
Stevenson guests on piano and Novalea
Buchan sings backing vocals on two songs. In view of the blues life so well
described in the book, I'm pleased to report that Dutch is (still) in fine voice
throughout. The full band plays on most of the
tracks with Taj Mahal's "Gonna Move To
The Country", "Walkin' Blues" and "Polk
Salad Annie" being particularly fine.
Stevenson provides the sole accompaniment on
"C.C. Rider"(with Buchan) and "Ain't
Nobody's Business" for a beautiful change of
pace. Mason Ruffner's "Gamblin'
Fever" provides another highlight, and
provides a song that's new to the canon. Dutch was never a songwriter and while almost
all of these titles show up on other albums these arrangements & performances
make them especially valuable. Landwash have made this album available at
Sam The Record Man, along with a re-issue
of Appearing Nightly, a fine live album of undetermined provenance available
briefly ten years ago. Of the twelve albums listed in the book, eight have now been
made available on CD.
Make It Real Records, Lance
Anderson's label, can celebrate national
distribution with a truly extraordinary album.
Garth Hudson returned to his hometown of
London to christen the new Wolf Performance Hall, on September 8, 2002. He left in
1961, classically trained, to perform with and tutor the new young members of
Ronnie Hawkins' Hawks, Hawkins' Arkansas buddies having gotten homesick. The
new members joined Robbie Robertson, who had joined a year or so previously.
The fact that he did his job well is proven by the continued fame of
The Band. Now, forty years later, a member of
the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and a master of all aspects of North
American popular music, he brings along his wife for a first-time duo recital. Despite
of the cover art and the fact that he is a very good saxophone player, he plays
mostly piano here, giving it all a classical aura. But we don't get a classical
recital here. Instead we get a bluesy journey through popular music. After a
typically wide-ranging piano introduction by
Garth, Maud sings a tender version of "It
Makes No Difference", for Rick Danko.
"Stand By Me" gets a stirring gospel
rendering. "You'll Be Thinkin'" is an original
blues by Maud and a very good one. The
Leiber/Stoller classic "Young Blood" seems
a little stiff in this band-less arrangement but perhaps I'm too used to that
version. "Blind Willie McTell" may be
Dylan's best blues and this may be its best
version yet. The evening concluded with a rousing version of "The Weight" which holds
up just fine against its more famous companions. Maud Hudson as an
excellent singer, comfortable with all the styles her husband throws at her. All in all
a wonderful event, beautifully captured by the late
Eddie Baltimore. Ask, no, demand, this CD at your favourite
CD store.
The host of Bluz FM has a much
longer history as vital member of our community. For starters, his
Stormy Monday jams at various locations provided the
opening for more players than can be counted. His song on our
20 Years CD is from True, a previous album, and was the only
blues on that one. This new one does not have much blues on it either but it is
a fascinating journey through the `60's Toronto music scene, a scene of
which Danny was very much a member. He has cited
Freddie Keeler as his main guitar inspiration and "Take Me Back", by
David Clayton-Thomas and The Shays is an appropriate tribute to that great
band. "Any Other Way' by Little Jackie
Shane is here, as is "Keep On Running, based
on E.G. Smith and the Power's take of The Spencer Davis
Group original. Those of you with long memories will
remember that Danny was the guitar man in
Edward Bear and their "You, Me and
Mexico" provides a fitting conclusion to a CD
of Toronto memories. With Alec Fraser on bass,
Leon Stevenson on drums, Lou Pomanti on keys,
Colleen Allen on sax and Chase
Sanborn on trumpet, Danny re-lives with tender loving care a
major chapter of our musical history. They did have some fun in the studio doing
this project and careful listening will be re-paid, especially on
Shirley Matthews' "Big Town Boy".
Anthony played the Distillery
Blues Festival to good reviews and sent along his current CD. We don't get to
see Anthony in Downtown Toronto very often but he's a road warrior in the rest
of southern Ontario. He's a strong singer, an excellent guitarist and an even
better songwriter. If you get a chance to
see him, you're not going to get set of shuffles in C. "Mid Life Blues", the
guitar workout "If My Tele Could Talk", "My
Next X Wife?" (without the humour that
Rick Estrin brings to this title, alas) and "Say It's So" are all nicely varied in pacing and instrumentation in
addition to being good songs. Some solo songs conclude the CD with a jazzy "Havin
A Real Bad Day" and a hidden track, a solo/12 string guitar version of a
song of his the late Kris St. Louis
recorded on her last album, 7 Days - Songs of
Faith. Go to www.jamesanthony.ca and
catch him live if you can.
Capital B Completely Blue for
You Indie
Capital B is mostly
Brian McPhillips, an enterprising fellow in Ottawa who handles the lead
vocals, guitars and songwriting. Completely
Blue for You was recorded as money became available and keyboards, bass, drums
and tenor sax are drawn from a list that would take all the review space.
But they are all up to the job. B. writes very good songs and is a capable
singer. Especially good are "The Way You Love
to Touch and to Please" and "Hearts
Breaking Blues". He apparently has a main
stage slot at the Ottawa Blues Festival - it will be interesting to see how he
develops with more live work and more people hearing his music. His web site
is
www.capitalB.ca.
Trickbag Cacti
Redux Indie
Hamilton's Trickbag are a
veteran outfit who've decided to record a live set and make it available to their
fans. Donna Panchezak is one of the
vocalists as is Les Smith is the other when
he isn't playing harp. Larry Feudo is in guitar,
Mike Hickey on bass and Paul
Panchezak is on drums. Guests at this Cactus
Party in Dundas last August are Sonny Del
Rio on sax & vocals and Jesse
O'Brien on keys. This was the band that Richard
Newell worked with most often and they give credit to him for
the arrangements and inspiration. This must have been quite a party and the
songs reflect it. "Let The Good Times
Roll", "Good Rockin' Daddy", "T-Bone
Shuffle" "Pockey Way", "Blue Light Boogie"
and "Georgia Slop" keep everything
hopping, they certainly will at your party. The two Les Smith originals, "Get There
When You Get There" and "Friends on
Friday" are excellent. This band should
record more often!
Chris Beard Live
Wire NorthernBlues NBM0028/Festival
Various Artists The Future of
the Blues NorthernBlues NBM0200/Festival
James Blood Ulmer
Birthright Hyena TMF 9335/Fusion
This veteran free jazz guitarist
has always had a strong attachment to the blues but in recent years he has
turned his attention to down home blues. Two previous albums,
Memphis Blood and No Escape from the
Blues, featured his harmolodic, jazz-funk guitar playing
to some familiar songs, attracting a new audience and getting a main stage
spot at the Chicago Blues Festival. Those were both band recordings but here
he spotlights just his guitar & his `deep in the coal mine' vocals with
Vernon Reid producing. His guitar sound is immediately recognizable and
listening to him solo reminds one of early John Lee
Hooker or Lightning Hopkins and I think he will soon be considered
their equal. The harsh spotlight draws you in as he contemplates the church or
his father's death or even a lighter song such as "Where Did All the Girls
Come From". It may be that he's attracted to the blues because it allows for, or
even demands, the combined presence of vocal and instrument. He clearly has
some important things that he wants to say and not just play in a jazz context.
He does get in a couple of instrumentals, even one on his second instrument,
the flute. This is an important release.
On "I Paid My Dues to the Blues"
she sings `I've been around the world and I'm going back down again' and her
travels bring her back to the Dollar on July
2nd as part of the Downtown Jazz
Festival. Apart from a few `50's singles (most
now once again available) that gained her some fame, she performed primarily
but regularly in the Detroit area until the last few years when new albums with
RJ Spangler & Johnny Bassett brought
her back to international attention. This included her great appearance at
the Women's Blues Revue. She has once again built a band around Spangler
on drums with Paul Carey on guitars,
Martin Simmons on piano and Ben
Lettermoser on bass. Special guest Garfield
Angove excels on harmonica. She has also put together a stunning new song
playlist here, with four of her own songs and the others presumably by fellow
Detroiters. It's no wonder that she won her fourth consecutive Handy Award nomination
for best Traditional Singer. - John Valenteyn,
jvalenteyn8724@rogers.com
Garth and Maud Hudson
Live at the Wolf Make It Real
MIR006/Maplenationwide/Universal
Danny Marks Big Town
Boy DM004/Fusion
James Anthony Soul
Shoes Grapevine GRSS2003
Beard comes by his blues
naturally. His father, Joe, single handedly
put Rochester on the blues map and Chris grew up listening to and playing
with many of the most famous names in the business. For this, his third CD, he
has put together a live/studio sequence. The first six songs are the live ones
and save for the "Tribute to Luther
Allison", don't rise above the rest of the
power guitarists out there for me. The six studio tracks are something else
again, with very good songs supplied by Chris
Cain and Dennis Walker. "Street of Broken Dreams", "Never Felt No
Blues" and "I Can't Walk Away" are well
crafted, well performed and well recorded. For a label with a catalogue as diverse
as NorthernBlues, a sampler is a good way of introducing new sounds and
styles. This is the second one so far and gives you an overview of the label's
recent output and is a good listen as well. It will also give you a preview of
Editor Brian Blain's new CD, coming soon.
Some stores give you this one free with the purchase of a NorthernBlues CD. Do it.
Alberta Adams I'm On the
Move Eastlawn ELD-014
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