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April
2007
Our very own blues supergroup leads off its new disc with a very
David `Fathead' Newman-sounding sax riff from
Al Lerman, signaling the current version of their unique blend of soul and blues. "Jellyfish
Blues" does exactly that _ blend a soul sound with a hard blues lyric about a man responding to the accusation from his lover that he doesn't amount to much. "Fire in the Hole" is a (blues) tale of marital fidelity. I loved the
Little Walter reference, to "Boom Boom, Out Goes The Light", on which this song is loosely based. "What About Me?", also by bassist extraordinaire
Omar Tunnoch, is a delightful duet with Shakura
S'Aida. You'll be hearing this one a lot. Observations of people they don't like very much pop up a couple of times on this CD and seem to have tapped into a particularly creative vein. Lerman's "Bitter When I'm Old" combines that observation
with his own worries most effectively. He also supplies the album's most unusual song: "Katrina" is an exceptionally well-crafted lyric set to a surprisingly jaunty Cajun melody. Newest member, guitarist
Darran Poole, shows he's a mean hand with a fiddle as well. This one will give you food for thought while you're dancing! Back to the rocking soul & blues they do so well with "One Day the Sun Will Shine", a Lerman Stax-styled
medium tempo groover with more of that fine sax work. "Apartment 10", by Darran Poole, is the cleverest noise complaint I've heard yet.
John Mays, in exceptionally fine voice throughout, sings from apartment 9, next door to
the continuous partying. Lerman's "I Pity the Fool" is about a particularly angry man down the road, not
Bobby Bland. The band goes acoustic with Poole on slide and
Jesse O'Brien on piano for "Too Many Heartaches",
a somber Lerman blues attempting to explain a spouse's drinking problem. The mood lightens considerably for a party song, "Backwoods Paradise". A gospel song is up next, with a re-tooled version of "The Last Time",
based on the Staple Singers version. It opens with a dramatic
a capella take of the chorus and features lots of Pop Staples-style reverb on the guitar. The song that gives the CD its title is by once again by Mr. Tunnoch. It's a
very effective lament about living in a rundown apartment tower. Perceptive lyrics, some Stones-ish guitar and powerful harp drive this album to a satisfying finish. I haven't mentioned drummer
Hayden Vialva, who is rock steady for his second album as a member of the band. This is one CD you'll be hearing a lot of on the radio, make sure you hear the live version at Healey's on Wednesday, April 18 starting at 8pm.
It's now been five years since Jubilee, Manx & Breit's first and very successful collaboration. With four new songs each, a co-write and a traditional song, the album sounds more prepared than that remarkable
getting-to-know-you effort. The preparation shows on the opener, a version of
Bruce Springsteen's "I'm on Fire" completely re-thought as a folk tune. The rapport between these two talented players has clearly locked in. "O
Death" is one song you may have heard, as they've been performing it recently, most memorably at the Maple Blues Awards night. "Steal Six" is an ambitious effort, a wonderful lyric over an unusual melody - Manx on the
mohan veena and Breit on electric guitar bob & weave and trade solos on a song that may be worth the price of the CD alone. "Hang On to Me" is a lovely plea sung by Manx, as are all the vocals, but here with Breit on
impassioned harmony vocals. There are four songs just showing off their facility with stringed instruments, one of which begins with Manx playing the
Muddy Waters "Mannish Boy" riff. Where the vocal would normally come in,
Breit enters with a mandolin solo as Manx continues to play that riff - very effective. These two players are an absolute delight to listen to. I hope their respective schedules allow them to do at least another one. You can join
them to celebrate the new CD on April 13 and
14th at Hugh's Room.
This is a barnburner of a CD, full of youthful energy from beginning to end. Marriner was really only known to me as an excellent young harp player with a heavily amplified sound. He proves here that he's an
excellent singer and songwriter as well. The CD begins with a strong set opener, "Shake It Upside Down" and the rockers keep coming after that.
Sue Foley and Garrett Mason alternate on lead guitar and provide sterling support.
Foley in particular with a trademark low string solo on "Remember Me". There are two
Lazy Lester Excello singles among the originals, "I'm a Lover Not a Fighter" and "The Same Thing Could Happen To You" and they fit in
beautifully. Lester's rollicking good humour and the Excello sound play an important role in this production. "Sticks and Stones" is a soul-laden original that shows off Marriner's vocal chops very well. This song will be on other
people's albums very soon. "El Encuentro" begins with Spanish guitar from Foley and she's joined by Marriner on chromatic. This at first seems be the same kind of interlude that Foley used on her
Love Comin' Down except Geoff Daye enters and works up an amazing head of steam on the B3 - it becomes something else entirely. Marriner played on the last
Harry Manx album & tour and chose to record "Funny Business", from
Jubilee. To my knowledge it's the first of Manx's songs to be recorded by someone else and separated from his rich baritone it takes on a different flavour entirely. Mason and Marriner end off the CD with more pyrotechnics on "Zulu Ripper". Just
hit play again and start over. Marriner is the fourth artist signed to Manx's Dog My Cat label and with albums like this one, it's a label to watch.
Doug Cox & Salil Bhatt Slide to Freedom
NorthernBlues/Festival
The overall impression of listening to a resophonic guitar, a satvik veena and on two tracks, a mohan veena, is how similar the sounds are, in spite of the fact that they developed separately half the world apart. This
is no doubt mostly due to the professionalism of
Doug Cox, Salil Bhatt and V.M.
Bhatt respectively but with even a moment's inattention, one can easily lose sight of the fact that a `western' instrument is present. This
perception is assisted by the masterful contribution of tabla player
Ramkumar Mishra. That this is less of a cross-cultural exercise than it seems is only slightly reduced by the three Cox vocals.
Mississippi John Hurt's "Payday"
is a treat. Cox opens on guitar and Salil Bhatt joins in with a Top 40 sensibility. The easy going feel of the original is well captured.
Blind Willie Johnson's "Soul of a Man", however gets a rather perfunctory vocal and
its music seems to return for the re-make of "Beware of the Man (who calls you Bro)" from
Hungry Ghosts, the last CD. A curious choice, this. At the end of the day then, this is much more of an Eastern album than a
Western one and if that interests you, you will find an extremely well played and recorded session. Many people have already, this is a strong seller.
Koko Taylor Old School Alligator/Fusion
After a life-threatening illness, The Queen is back and roaring. The press kit reports that wanting to perform kept her alive and
Old School is clear proof of that. She wanted to do an album of Chicago Blues as she
heard it when she moved there in the early fifties but this is no album of covers. She's written five new songs herself that lead the way in re-creating the sound she heard. Two crack studio bands assisted, led by her long time
arranger & co-producer Criss Johnson.
Bob Margolin, who knows a thing or two about Chicago blues, is also on board as is
Billy Branch. Koko has been the Queen of Chicago blues since "Wang Dang Doodle" in 1966.
This album sits proudly with all those since.
When I made his first CD my choice as album of the year in December, I wrote that I looked forward to the next one (mine was just one of many, many, accolades). Well, it's here and it's everything I could have
wished for. The emphasis is right where it belongs: on Slim's magnificent vocals and he has supplied himself with some of the most inventive songs I've heard in a long while.
The Workers remain one of the tightest units in
the business. As if that wasn't enough, on the opening song he's joined by none other than
Magic Slim to sing a paean to a working man, a particular working man, "The Wheel Man" in a getaway car. With the Slims
trading verses, Ronnie "Mack"
McMullen on electric slide and Magic Slim taking the solos, it just doesn't get any better. The next song uses a favourite Magic Slim feature: every album of his uses a group vocal, "I've Got
News" makes for a nice tip of the hat. There's a solo workout or two, a knockout slow blues, "Newspaper Reporter" that shines a little light on his past. He ends with
Furry Lewis' "Judge Harsh Blues" with just his National.
Get yours now and avoid the yearend rush.
Fruteland Jackson Tell Me What You
Say Electro-Fi/Festival
The press release calls him an acoustic blues troubadour and that fits Mr. Jackson very well. He writes songs that are
about the blues rather than working from within it. The best example is the last song, "My
Grandfather's Blues (He Came Up The Hard Way)". Accompanying himself on guitar, he eloquently describes his grandfather's difficult life.
Chris Whiteley on slide and Julian
Fauth on piano supply a blues soundtrack. The
centerpiece of the CD is the setting of his poem, "Blues Over Baghdad". Over
Kevin Fox's expressive cello and Whiteley's evocative muted trumpet, Jackson's thoughts of war come to life. "It's All Good" is a clever slide piece, in
Kokomo Arnold style, in which he responds to critics and people who attack him. Another highlight is "Happy Birthday Blues", written for aging baby boomers - you may not be quite so happy if this applies to you. In
keeping with the songster nature of the program, there's a delightful version of "You Are My Sunshine", the famous
Governor Jimmy Davis song. It features a gorgeous harmony vocal from
Diana Braithwaite. His habit of
extemporizing on various subjects is here as well, this time a tax bill set him off. I find his prose settings have a degree of sameness to them that is not offset by the topic at hand. But, as he says, it's all good.
- John Valenteyn,
jvalenteyn8724@rogers.com
Fathead Building Full of Blues Electro-Fi/Festival
Harry Manx & Kevin Breit In Good We
Trust Stony Plain/Warner
Steve Marriner Going Up Dog My Cat/Fusion
Watermelon Slim The Wheel Man NorthernBlues/Festival
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