DownChild Still Playing the Blues With a Feeling After Four Decades

Downchild is a Canadian institution that has been laying down the blues for forty years and for their fortieth year they have a new release “I Need a Hat” (Linus). Donnie Walsh with his brother Richard formed Downchild back in 1969 and after the brothers had a parting of the ways, Donnie remained as the leader and focus of the band.

Over the year’s Downchild has had a variety of vocalists fronting the group, and that role is presently held by Chuck Jackson. The rest of Downchild is Pat Carey on saxophones,Michael Fontara on keyboards, Gary Kendall on bass and Mike Fitzpatrick on drums and this edition of the band has been together for a decade and a half which is evidenced by the crisp, swinging and rocking grooves the band puts together. They are augmented by the likes of Colin James and Colin Linden as well as famed trumpeter Wayne Jackson. Dan Ackroyd joins the party for one track on harmonica as Downchild was an inspiration for Ackroyd’s act with the late John Belushi, The Blues Brothers.

This lively disc is comprised of Walsh’s originals which are full of humor as well as some dark-sided twists on the breakdown in relationships that mark most blues songs. The title song is a delightful ditty about figuring out that to be a famous blues man one needs a hat and too bad he should have seen it sooner, as he would be a rich and famous man. Jackson delivers it with the appropriate tone while Walsh rips off a strong solo. Its followed by a strong slow blues, “Somebody Lied,” as Jackson sings about how his life is falling apart with Wayne Jackson taking a terrific trumpet solo before Colin James rips off an energetic solo.

“You Don’t Love Me” features Linden’s guitar and Ackroyd’s harp, on a nice Jimmy Reed inspired shuffle that benefits from the band’s relaxed groove. In contrast, “Rendezvous”, has Walsh with driving slide and a harder groove hints at some classic Elmore James. “Down to the Delta,” is a bouncy number with Jackson on harp as he sings about going down from Mississauga in the land of snow to the Delta with some swinging, jazzy guitar. The last of Jackson’s vocals, “What Was I Thinking,” has him wondering why he couldn’t see “there was no light at the end of the tunnel.” Pianist Fontara is excellent here as throughout while Walsh takes a harp solo. Walsh follows with two vocals, one of which “These Thoughts Keep Me Marching,” with a topical tinge, is built on an old country blues groove, and has more trumpet from Wayne Jackson. His other vocal, “Some More of That,” is a nicely delivered bit of homespun philosophy. If not having the range of Chuck Jackson as a singer, Walsh certainly puts plenty of feeling in his very likable singing.

The disc closes with the instrumental “El Stew,” which is an instrumental reworking of the title track, sporting a funky groove and some very nice organ. Walsh’ guitar solo that shows more concern with developing ideas than simply displaying technique, although Walsh has plenty of technique. It is a fitting end to this first-rate disc of Walsh and his fellow blues road warriors that should be of interest in blues enthusiasts everywhere.


For purposes of FTC regulations, the CD was provided by a publicity firm for this release.

JW-Jones No Longer Prodigy

Canadian blues artist JW-Jones continues to mature as a performer and his latest CD, “Midnight Memphis Sun” (Ruf), certainly will enhance his reputation as it shows his maturation as a vocalist in addition to his continual development as a guitarist. The promise of his earliest recordings, that displayed some awkwardness as a vocalist, was shown to reached fruition in his previous CD, “Blueslisted.” The present CD title refers to the fact this was recorded in Memphis at the Sun Studios. It is a robust collection of blues with jump blues and Memphis soul strains integrally mixed in the material. Jones also has special guests Hubert Sumlin and Charlie Musselwhite, who each lend their talents to three tracks each.


A Memphis soul groove (riff suggestive of “Midnight Hour”) is evident for the opening “Off The Market," which is followed by a jumping rendition of a lesser known Lowell Fulson number, “Love Grows Cold.” Both performances display his solid singing and slashing guitar with echoes of Ike Turner’s use of the whammy bar on the latter. Jones' playing is both thoughtful and passionate. With Musselwhite’s harp added to “Kissin’ in Memphis,” Jones delivers, in a low-key fashion, a lyrical homage to some of the musical greats that painted Memphis blue in the fifties through seventies. The driving ”Cuts Like a Knife,” comes from Bryan Adams. Here Jones sings about how his women threw things away with plenty of strong guitar as well as nice organ from Jesse Whitely. “Born Operator” with Hubert Sumlin, is about a shady character who ran Ponzi scheme and stole other folks dreams. The performance has musical echoes of Magic Sam, evident in Jones playing that contrasts with Sumlin’s sizzling single note work.


Musselwhite returns behind Jones’ easy vocal on Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry’s “Burnt Child.” In contrast, Jones’ rendition of Jimmy Reed’s “I Don’t Go For That,” has rollicking piano and jumping rhythm from Larry Taylor on bass and Richard Innes on drums, and is far removed from Reed’s lazy style. It is a storming Chicago blues stomp with Jones fleet single note solo echoing some of the Memphis greats from the early 50s before Musselwhite’s explosive harp solo showcasing Musselwhite's fat tone. Jones’ “Mean Streak,” mixes his menacing guitar sound with the spare backing from Taylor and Innes to evoke some of the doomy recordings that James Reed and Johnny Fuller recorded for Bay Area blues producer Bob Geddins. Jones may not be quite up to the level of those giants as a singer, but this splendid performance shows how he knows how to build atmosphere in his performances and knows that loud and frantic vocals and playing simply are no replacement for thoughtful, yet passionate performances. “Howlin’ With Hubert” is a nice instrumental shuffle with Jones and Sumlin trade solos. 


Sumlin also guests on the closing track, “Games,” with its driving, churning groove and after Sumlin’s solo, Jones enters, basing his solo on “Got My Mojo Working” and adding some Freddie King riffs here. It is another display of Jones growth from a blues prodigy to a seasoned veteran whose music makes blues fans of all stripes take notice. It is a solid ending to yet another first-rate recording by JW-Jones.




This review first appeared in Issue 329 of Jazz & Blues Report (September 2010), and I have made some stylistic changes for the blog. The review copy was provided by the publicity firm for Ruf Records.