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May
2008
JW-Jones
Bluelisted
NorthernBlues/Festival
Talent, promotion and hard touring are propelling JW-Jones far beyond the bars of Ottawa and his talent is on full display on his new silver disc. Once again he has brought some famous friends along but it’s his name on the cover and once again he’s earned it. Little Charlie (Baty) and Junior Watson help out on guitar and while their contributions are carefully noted, they do not by any means steal the show. It is actually the first time these two guitar masters have appeared together on a recording. Other charter members of the Los Angeles Chapter of the West Coast blues sound are here as well with Richard Innes and Larry Taylor providing their singular rhythm section excellence on about half the album. His regular band mates, Jesse Whiteley on keys, Jeff Asselin on drums and Martin Regimbald on bass, round out this seamless production. While the CD has the retro, fifties style sound, his own songs update the style nicely. The three Kings are well represented this time out with Freddie King’s “Double Eyed Whammy” opening the set. “That’s Wrong Little Mama” & “Waiting On You” are from B.B. King’s enormous songbook and Albert is wonderfully checked on “Looking The World Straight In The Face”, a JW-Jones original that has some nice key changes worked in. “Can’t Play A Playboy” is another original that’ll bring a smile to fans of Eddie Taylor’s “Big Town Playboy”. “Mad About You” is a Richard Berry song that gets a full Little Richard treatment, with Jesse Whiteley pounding the ivories most recklessly. “Out Of Service Blues” is an exceptional slow blues, with Little Charlie blowing some masterful harp. Talk about updating, this one’s about cell phones. “Silent Treatment” is another strong original. One minor complaint is that producer JW-Jones allowed himself to sing “Somebody’s Got To Burn”, an otherwise fine song that Kim Wilson, who produced My Kind Of Evil, would have nailed but that JW does not quite have the vocal chops for, or at least not yet. But it is a minor complaint and lovers of modern blues guitar should rush out to get this one. With the backing of none other than Elwood Blues, aka Dan Ackroyd, who supplies the liner notes, JW-Jones is not slowing down. He’s already held his CD release party here, at the Port Credit Legion, but maybe he’ll be back soon.
Julian
Fauth Ramblin’ Son
Electro-Fi/Festival
The success of Songs of Vice and Sorrow surprised everyone, including Mr. Fauth, with Maple Blues and JUNO nominations capping an exciting year. The follow up album is often problematic, but not this time. It does follow the same pattern, though, with the emphasis firmly on his songs and that beautifully recorded piano. The accompanists are as varied as before and here a major find is Jason Danley, the guitarist on eight of the songs, a masterful player. Donné Roberts is the guitarist on three and Drew Jurecka adds gypsy colour on violin on three as well. Four harpists help out: Wayne Charles, Paul Reddick, David Rotundo and Ken Yoshioka. Alec Fraser, Sam Petite and James Thompson are the bassists and Bob Vespaziani is on drums when needed. Fauth has been compared to Tom Waits and Bob Dylan and in the Toronto Star recently to Kurt Weill. And in his choice of subject matter and lyrics these comparisons are not too far off. Yet musically he’s firmly in the blues tradition and often in the so-called Bluebird Beat of the early 1940’s in Chicago where the piano players were Big Maceo and Memphis Slim, among others. His piano playing within this tradition continues to amaze, no doubt benefiting from almost continuous performing. I want to direct you to Eric Thom’s excellent story on Julian in the last issue and simply choose a couple of songs that I particularly like from the rich menu. “Maggie Campbell” is a rollicking set opener, with new lyrics and old ones from the blues tradition combining to create a most modern variation on missing a loved one. Just in case you think he’s playing so much he doesn’t follow the news, you should check out “The Man On The Box” for some spot on political reporting. The Dylan comparison is intentional I think on “East Toronto Nervous Breakdown”, with Fauth on guitar generating some very Dylan-like images and internal rhymes. The lyric crams in as many Toronto place names as possible to Jurecka’s brilliant violin accompaniment. “Yet Another Stagger Lee” is a new version of the old story but written and sung with such attention to detail that you’d think he was there when it happened. Other songs reveal a wealth of references to older songs, just waiting for you to notice them. This kind of building on past recordings, without slavishly copying them or otherwise being too reverential, is the way the blues will move forward. I think Mr. Fauth will be in that vanguard for some time to come.
Porkbelly
Futures Porkbelly Futures
Cordova Bay/Fontana North/Universal
It was such a long time between albums that I thought the hardworking members of this improbably named band had decided to move on. The members are: award-winning novelist Paul Quarrington on guitar & lead vocals, founding member of the Canadian Brass, trumpeter Stuart Laughton, also on guitars here, acclaimed drummer & composer Martin Worthy and Toronto Symphony bassist Chas Elliot; and now augmented by singer Rebecca Campbell. They have another full CD of strikingly original songs and are busily touring the country. The first song, “Sweet Daddy”, honours Sweet Daddy Siki, the famous wrestler who lately has been leading a karaoke session at the Dominion Tavern in the Kingston Road & Queen St. E. area. Another song spotlighting the Canadian Brass leader on amplified harmonica is “Bon Vivant”, a Worthy composition about Riley, as in The Life of Riley. It also features David Gray on guitar and the late Richard Bell on B3 in one of his last sessions. The CD is dedicated to him. Bell co-wrote with Quarrington “Sad Old Love Affair” a soul ballad that Ms. Campbell shines on, with a Laughton guitar solo and Teddy Leonard on the other guitar. “Alberta Springtime” is a Laughton blues with Quarrington singing about blizzards that may be more approriate than when it was written. There’s more harp from Laughton and slide guitar from Gray. The other songs here are less bluesy, causing some stores to file it in rock but find it you must. The web site is www.porkbellys.com.
Guy
Bélanger Guy Belanger
Disques Bros/Bros
Quebec’s Guy Bélanger’s name has often appeared in this column as he’s the harmonica player in Bob Walsh’s band, in addition to being the first-call session man. He fully deserves his own album and Disques BROS have pulled out all the stops for him, including the colourful artwork. The bulk of the CD is instrumental and acoustic, with Bélanger’s harmonica accompanied by dobro, acoustic bass and brushes, much like the Gaz Bar Blues soundtrack CD of a couple of years ago. Like islands in the stream, though, a few songs interrupt the idyllic setting. One such is “My Baby Don’t Tolerate”, a Lyle Lovett song with Bob Walsh in full rocking mode and Bélanger at full amplification. Then a little further along, Kim Richardson belts out a soulful “Lonely Night In Georgia”, a Marc Broussard song. Bélanger himself takes his first ever, albeit effects-laden, vocal on a completely re-arranged version of Bo Diddley’s “Before You Accuse Me”. Bringing the two strands together is an instrumental, “Snow Falling Grey Day”, that was written by Walsh and features some gorgeous electric guitar from Jimmy James duetting with Bélanger. This one’s a treasure. If you can’t find it, go to www.bros.ca.
Duke Robillard A Swingin’ Session Stony Plain/Warner Music
Yes it is swing music. And definitely across the fuzzy line that separates blues and jazz. It is not very far from the music of T-Bone Walker, however, and it is very enjoyable. Ray Charles’ hit “Them That Got” sounds fabulous. One senses that Ray originally thought of it this way and adapted it to his new style. This arrangement simply returns it. He certainly was no stranger to big band jazz. The players are all Roomful of Blues alumnae and if you enjoyed the jazzier side of their material, you’ll certainly enjoy this. Scott Hamilton, Doug James, Mark Teixera, Sax Gordon, Bruce Katz, Marty Ballou et al have all played with Robillard for decades and were raised on this sound. They are slated to play the music of Louis Jordan at the Chicago Blues Festival on June 5th with Plas Johnson and Red Holloway as guests, I’m sure it’ll sound a lot like this.
Dalannah
Gail Bowen Mamma’s Got The
Blues Quest/Festival
Ms. Bowen is a veteran of the Vancouver music scene, with much of her time devoted to political activism. So much so that this is the first album since her start in Winnipeg coffee houses in the sixties. She is African-Canadian/Cherokee and has worked steadily in music since, in theatre, jazz and pop. This experience lends an exciting edge when applied to her blues singing and songwriting. Mamma’s Got The Blues shows her to be an accomplished singer and with this stellar band at full steam, this is some of the most sophisticated band blues you’re ever likely to hear. The CD’s first half was done in the studio and the second half live at The Maple Ridge Jazz & Blues Festival with basically the same backing band, led by Harris Van Berkel. Her commanding stage presence is an enormous asset, allowing her to hold her own with these veteran and capable players. They are the Straight Up Band and Van Berkel plays electric guitar, Michael Creber is on keyboards, Brian Newcombe on bass, Chris Nordquist on drums, Jim Salmon on percussion and David Say on soprano and tenor saxes. There are three originals among the seven studio tracks and all seven go some way to answering the question of what would Nina Simone have sounded like with an electric blues band. The title song, “My Blues Keep Bringing Me Home” and “I Got This Bridge” are all strong songs, written from life experience. Covers of “Early In The Morning” and Hendrix’s “Up From The Skies” are thoroughly re-worked. The live set is a bit of a disappointment considering the quality of the original songs because these are all covers and although “Watermelon Man” and “U Can Have My Husband” are strong performances, the effect on CD is lessened. The effect on the crowd seems to have been dramatic. Her web site is www.dalannahgailbowen.com and I hope she keeps on recording now.
- John Valenteyn, jvalenteyn8724@rogers.com
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