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December
2008
Alana
Bridgewater Horizon
AB
Our burgeoning R&B scene boasts headlining recording artists like Deborah Cox, Dione Taylor, Jully Black and Divine Brown. To this list we can now add Alana Bridgewater. For this Women’s Blues Revue veteran, Horizon also has a very bluesy sound. The opening “Do It By Yourself” would be a contender for blues song of the year if the MBAs had this category. And it’s not alone: the uptempo “Tired Of Runnin’” is also excellent and the perhaps unusual choice of Queen’s “Fat Bottomed Girls” gets a startling blues treatment, complete with slide guitar & banjo from Adrian Eccleston. Ms. Bridgewater and keyboard man Joel “JJ” Joseph wrote most of the songs here, with JJ and Kenny “K-MO” Moran doing the production and arranging. They say in the notes that they wanted to make timeless, soulful music, using modern equipment but employing ‘old skool’ techniques. Most of the CD is live off the floor and is much the better for it. They have succeeded in achieving a modern sound while retaining a blues sound on some songs and a deep soul sound on others, like “Help Me Please”. “Horizon” is as contemporary a ballad as you could want and well chosen as the title. Other good songs are “Empty I Love Yous” and “Put You Down”. The CD concludes with some fine live gospel, “You Raise Me Up”. Her web site is www.alanabridgewater.com.
Gary
Kendall Band Feels Real
Strong 47 Records
The last CD, Dusty & Pearl, was just by Gary Kendall and featured a large cast of players assisting Gary and those two basses. The band credit this time is entirely appropriate. Shakey Dagenais on keys, Darran Poole on guitars and Tyler Burgess or Mike Fitzpatrick on drums provide a chemistry that wasn’t there on the earlier CD, as good as that one was. The inventiveness of this unit also gives the CD an added dimension. The songs are in a wide variety of styles, from the title song a fine soul ballad to “Sugaree” a lovely Cajun dance tune to ‘50’s rock. A couple of the songs deserve special mention: “Rainy Night in Hogtown” laments the low ebb of blues interest here in town while “Streeta Groove” reminisces about happier times - the blues history of Spadina Avenue. Gary sings about the survivors, the Silver Dollar, Grossman’s, all the way back to the old Paramount Tavern, which has been a liquor store for quite a while now. Gary’s own blues history is acknowledged with a couple of songs from the Kendall-Wall Band. “Terrified Blues” was on a cassette from longer ago than I want to remember, sung then by co-writer Cash Wall. It’s good to have such a fine new performance of it. There are some guests here with “Same Day” Ray Walsh from Loco Zydeco helping out with accordion and rubboard on “Sugaree” and Pat Carey leading a horn section on a couple and providing the whole horn section on “Rainy Night In Hogtown” where Gary’s arrangement called for that deep baritone sax sound. The Gary Kendall Band plays regularly about town, including Sunday afternoons at Hollywood on The Queensway. You can get the CD from him there or at Rotate This on Queen St. W. His web site is www.garykendall.com. Another CD that he’s been intimately involved with will be featured in next month’s column.
Layla
Zoe Live At Errington Hall
TLZ
As many of you know by now, Layla Zoe moved here from BC a few months back. This CD is the acoustic portion of her farewell show in Errington. Accompanied only by Javva Duchak on guitar, Zoe presents a varied program that obviously pleases the hometown crowd. She banters easily with them in the song introductions and a couple of the tracks are not related to songs, telling about a trip to Chicago and thanking her supporters for making this CD possible. They were there though to hear her sing and she delivers as only she can. A fine “Born Under A Bad Sign” gets her trademark improvised new lyrics. Other highlights “You Won’t Call” and her award-winning composition “Someday” are mixed with ballads, “Killing Me Softly”, and reggae, “Redemption Song/Stir It Up”. Zoe’s performance carries it all off and the show’s ambience makes this a delightful addition to her growing discography. Get this one at www.layla.ca if you can’t see her live and hopefully she’ll be then be able to release the electric portion, with Victoria’s Bill Johnson.
Terry Blersh Terry Blersh Self
Terry
Blersh is a veteran local guitarist and singer-songwriter who has had
his own band on the club scene since 1992. He has also played and recorded with
Rita Chiarelli,
Cameo Blues Band,
Johnny Max among numerous
others. He’s a roots rocker, basically, with original songs ranging in style
from blues to R&B, rock ‘n roll and jazz. His two blueshere, “Wearin’ Out My
Heart” and “Walkin’” are very good as are the more R&B numbers, “Doin’ All
Right” and “I Don’t Need No”. The opening “Tryin’” was written as a comeback
song for Elvis but it turned
out that
it
was completed on the day he died. The coincidence was such a shock that Blersh
has only recently started performing it again. There is also a fine version of
Hendrix’ “Fire”. Blersh has
a serviceable voice and a powerful guitar style. He has also surrounded himself
with the cream of our local heroes:
Garth Hudson & Lance
Anderson on keys, Al Cross,
Mike Sloski or
Charlie Cooley on drums,
Tom Griffiths,
Garth Vogan or
Alec Fraser on bass and
John Mays on backing vocals.
This one’s definitely worth checking out. There is much more info and song
samples at
www.terryblersh.com.
Various
Artists A Tribute to
Mississippi John Hurt GRBS
A marvelous idea, this: a concert on a theme with invited artists donating their services to the Grand River Blues Society. The music of John Hurt has been a major force in blues and the performances here do more than simply honour him. The program begins with an excellent new song from Jim Bowskill, “Sad Song Happy Tune” whose title alone pretty much describes Hurt’s music. The under-appreciated American blues singer Peter Case does three fine songs next. Rae Spoon, local heroes Po’ Cholly and Beverly Robinson, Mose Scarlett, The Undesirables, Ken Whiteley, Alfie Smith and Mo’ Kauffey all contribute wonderfully before Bowskill comes on to do “Richland Woman Blues” and the finale “My Creole Belle”. It sounds as though it was a wonderful evening at The Cambridge Arts Theatre and this recording captures it very well. Go to www.grandriverblues.org for more info and ordering.
Niagara Rhythm Section Live at The Anchorage 2.0 Shed
This long running Saturday night gig at the Anchorage Inn in Niagara-On-The Lake has just been renewed. Steve Goldberger is the vocalist/bassist, bandleader and recording engineer, with Dave Nelson on drums and Penner McKay on percussion. Herb Nelson often sits in on keys as does Steve Grisbrook on guitar. There is an invited guest every Saturday and Version 2.0 has an even more diverse guest list than did Version 1.0. Chuck Jackson does a fine job on Bob Marley’s “No Woman No Cry” and we go from reggae to jazz with Mark Rutherford leading the band on piano for Duke Ellington’s “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore”. Susanne Hyatt from the Odyssey Blues Band drove down the highway from St. Catharines to contribute “Standing On Shaky Ground”. Lance Anderson returns to play some Professor Longhair this time, “Back To New Orleans”. Tony Springer “Plays The Blues For You” and is in excellent form. I haven’t heard much from Gayle Ackroyd since the early days of the Blues Society and she turns in a heartfelt version of “I’d Rather Go Blind” here. John Dickie does a rousing “Long Tall Sally” that really raises the energy level. We really do need a live John Dickie album soon! This man knows how to work a crowd. The band ends the CD with a country song, “Come From The Heart”. The easiest and most enjoyable way of getting these CDs would be for you to head on down to Niagara-On-The-Lake. The Anchorage Inn is on Ricardo St.
- John Valenteyn, jvalenteyn8724@rogers.com
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