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August
2007
Saturday
Night Fish Fry Dirt Road Blues 7 Arts
One of our best-known jazz impresarios continues to put out rock solid blues CDs. Bill King sings his soul out on this one and with Shakura S’Aida singing even better than on Blueprints, you should run, not walk to get it. With King’s keyboards, Neil Chapman’s guitars, Howard Ayee’s bass and Mike Sloski’s drums, it’d be a full time job just keeping this engine on the tracks, let alone playing and singing and the Fish Fry horns are here too, John Johnson, Bob Brough, Chris Gale and William Sperandi. This being the Fish Fry and Bill King, the title (or the cover) “Dirt Road Blues” is not what it seems. Only a Bob Dylan fan would know it’s from Time Out of Mind and is one of six Dylan songs here. The connection is the sixties and King growing up in rural Indiana, listening to Dylan’s anti-war songs because he and his friends either were, or might very soon be, shipped to Vietnam. For King, the parallels to today’s war are too real to be ignored and obviously provide lots of motivation for singing the blues. You’ve never heard Dylan sound as bluesy as this. We don’t get sixties Dylan exclusively, though. “10,000 Men” and “2X2” are from the overlooked Under The Red Sky album and “Lonesome Road Blues” is from Love and Theft. Throw in some very bluesy Eddie Hinton songs to keep the soul connection going and you’ve got a very intense album. S’Aida sings two of these and King the third, a twelve bar “Watchdog Blues”. And that’s not all: there’s a new version of Blind Willie Johnson’s “I Just Can’t Keep From Crying” (perhaps he’s the intended guitarist on the cover). What King has wrought in this arrangement for the full band will astound you (and certainly Mr. Johnson, if he could hear it). A welcome change of pace is provided by a couple of instrumentals, “Room 13 Blues” being a showcase for how well the Rocket 88 rhythm section can handle a slow blues. “Memphis Ivory Jag” is slightly faster with more of King’s keyboard work. King’s version of “Blowin’ In The Wind” reminds us of the album’s purpose, a passionate account of a song you might have thought you’d heard often enough. You may not see this in time for their show at the Beaches Jazz Festival but their CD release is at the Palais Royale, August 21. The new web site is www.myspace.com/saturdaynitefishfry.
Susie
Arioli Band featuring Jordan Officer Live at the Montreal International Jazz
Festival Justin Time/Fusion
A fine idea this, a new album, recorded live and presented in audio and video in a handsome box. This festival has always been among the most prestigious and the performances there get just that extra edge. Arioli & the band here are in fine form, the camera work and sound are stunning. She’s fashioned a successful career with her languid, stripped down versions of songs from the Great American Songbook interspersed with rocking blues tunes. Michael Jerome Browne, on the other guitar, is an excellent addition for the show, soloing to particularly good effect on Willie Dixon’s “Sit Down Baby”. Memphis Slim’s “Having Fun” and “Mother Earth” added to three instrumental tours de force from Officer make this one highly recommendable. Perhaps there are folk in your house who aren’t as heavily into blues as you are, this should appeal to all!
Kevin Mark Cuttin’ Loose Blue Hog
Montreal’s Kevin Mark was the 2001 Talent Search Winner, then calling himself Big Mark & The Blues Express. (He has won many more awards since then.) Virtually everyone in that band is on hand for this new CD. Some vintage fifties-style blues & rock and roll is served up here, performed with Mark’s usual élan, a worthy successor to the award-winning Rolling the Dice. All save one of the songs are original compositions by Mark but any fan of this music will recognize the styles across the fourteen songs. So successful is he that “Seven Nights to Rock” (recorded by Moon Mullican, 1959) slips by without notice. Marks vocals and guitar are perfect, the guitar especially so on “You Bust Me”. Michael Fonfara shines on keys throughout and the horn section deserves special mention, with three saxes (two tenor, one baritone), trumpet and trombone completely at home in this music. The CD ends with two songs that do deserve singling out: “King Albert” is a stylish tribute to the Flying V master and the seven-minute “St. James Infirmary” has to be heard to be believed, Mark outdoes himself here. A last word about the sound: he sent the tapes to the man who does Little Charlie & The Nightcats CDs – it was worth it! The web site is www.kevinmark.com.
Bob
Walsh The Only Soul BROS
Veteran Quebec vocalist Bob Walsh’s last one was a live concert recording with guests from across the country. It was apparently a good enough idea to warrant cross-Canada distribution. The numbers weren’t there, I guess, because this one is distributed in Quebec only, but it’s all Walsh and interestingly, featuring newly commissioned songs from some of our finest. Backed by his regular band with Guy Belanger on harp, this CD is a must-have. Particularly effective is David Gogo’s rocking “Just My Luck”, as fine a song as he’s written. Almost as good is the first of two songs from Michael Jerome Browne & his songwriting partner, B.A. Markus. “Low Tide Again” makes for a fine album opener. Rob Lutes contributes a couple, one in his normal folk vein but “The Only Soul” is perhaps his finest blues composition, and gets a moving interpretation from Walsh. Richard Seguin adds to the rather short list of good blues songs in French with his “Y’A Un Blues Pour Chaque Peine”. Jay Sewell’s “I’m a Bluesman” is as anthemic as it sounds, with an obligatory group vocal and gritty harp work from Belanger. Rather more sophisticated in structure and tone are Dani Wax’s “Sad Clown” and the second Browne/Markus song, “In July”. He includes one of his own here too, a jazzy ballad “Emerald Wall (Song For Maddy)”, written with his pianist, J.F. Girard. This new album is a vocal triumph and an original concept. Walsh was here for the Blues Summit a couple of years ago but sadly, not since. Go to www.bros.ca, they’ll be glad to take care of you.
Tracy
K Old, New, Borrowed & Blues Indie/Festival
The first runner up in the Talent Search this year, Thunder Bay’s Tracy K returns home a little sadder for losing to Douglas Watson but leaving us with this delightful CD to remember her by. Co-produced by Jack de Keyzer, herself and her Right Hand Band, her strong vocals, harp & acoustic guitar grace a program of originals plus two covers. The Right Hand Band compliments her perfectly: Tony Desmarteau is the guitarist, Vaughan Peyser, the bassist and Ty Rogers, the drummer. Jack de Keyzer did not leave his guitar at home. Her songs are very well written, a seamless blend of blues, country and rock - not a surprise, perhaps, given the Thunder Bay/Winnipeg focus. “C U Again” is a funky workout with a catchy chorus. “Cruisin’”, with its Santana-ish lead guitar part, is getting some radio play. “Stop! Wait A Minute” keeps that “C U Again” groove going with some nice harp work and a strong vocal – it’s a sharp-eyed vignette from the dance floor. “Here All Along” is another highlight, with strummed guitars over a driving drum pattern. Tracy K’s CD is distributed by Festival and should be at a store near you. If it isn’t, you can go to www.festival.bc.ca or to www.tracyk.ca and find out more about Tracy. There are audio samples of her songs there too. May she return soon.
Jimmy
Bowskill Jimmy Bowskill JB/Festival
Quite a different sound for the almost 17 year old Mr. Bowskill this time out, aiming squarely for guitar hero territory. Layered guitars and effects abound, all beautifully recorded by Peter Prilesnik, who co-produced with Bowskill, and who thankfully didn’t forget about the vocals. It is all pretty much rock, though, with only Peter Green’s “Rattle Snake Shake” and a lovely but all too brief acoustic blues instrumental “Nine” making me pay attention. Wayne Deadder on bass and Al Cross on drums round out the basic trio. Tour info and more is at www.jimmybowskill.com.
Blue Voodoo Back To The Shack Blue Voodoo
This BC band is creating some buzz and from listening to this breakthrough third CD, it’s not hard to understand why. Ted Tosoff and Rick Dalgarno are a tag team that other bands dream about. They sing and play guitar very well, although Tosoff is the better singer and more distinctive, with a fine gravely voice (that reminds me of John Kay of Steppenwolf) but Dalgrano is no slouch either. Dalgrano is the better guitarist. They sing in unison or trade lines on virtually every song. Their bandmates contribute enormously: Kelly Stodola on percussion and Gerry Berg on bass. Stodola’s credit might be indicative of the fact that he’s a little overpowering on the drum kit on occasion. Fortunately he’s very good. Byron Tosoff helps out on keyboards throughout, with Dave Hoerl of The Twisters on occasional harp. Strings and horns are added, effectively, to a delightful selection of original songs. These are all, you guessed it, by Dalgarno/Tosoff, and I hope they kept ownership of them, they’re that good. They are all bluesy and some are just excellent blues. “Suitcase Blues”, “Monday Morning Blues” and especially “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” are among the best I’ve heard this year. They also have a sense of humour: “Mojo Lovin’ Man” strings together lines from Muddy Waters songs to the tune of “I Can’t Be Satisfied” and it’ll keep a smile on your face. The opening song is called “Somewhere Else Instead” but they sing “I should have been somewhere else but I ended up here instead’, a clever device. There are other examples too. Go to www.thebluevoodoo.com and get yours.
- John Valenteyn, jvalenteyn8724@rogers.com
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