This is Gaye Adegbalola’s most recent “embrace” of the classic blues and the classic blues women, Accompanied by pianist Roddy Barnes, Gaye interprets some well- known, and rescues some more obscure songs from the earliest days of blues recording. In addition, she sings several originals that are presented in the same vein as the early blues foremothers.
From the opening moments of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom to the last notes of Roddy Barnes’ Summer Sky, we are treated to some exquisite performances. There is a fair number of selections associated with Ma Rainey in addition to the opening track that include Yonder Come the Blues, Prove It to Me, and the immortal See See Rider, all of which Gaye delivers wonderfully with Barnes’ complimentary backing. The bawdy The Dirty Dozens receives spirited treatment as does does Lucille Bogan’s BD Woman Blues. Another Bogan song, Sloppy Drunk, is taken at a distinctively slower tempo than Ann Rabson performs the number with Saffire. Gaye’s original, Twisted Woman Blues fits in seamlessly with Sippie Wallace’s Up the Country Blues, while her ballad How Can I Say I Miss You, compliments her rendition of the Duke Ellington-Paul Webster classic, I Got It Bad and That Ain’t Good.
A couple of songs from blues history are also refreshed by Gaye here, Perry Bradford’s Crazy Blues, the bluesy Perry Bradford song that Mamie Smith recorded to launch the blues craze, and Alberta Hunter’s Down Hearted Blues that was Bessie Smith’s first recording. In addition to the wonderful performances, Gaye provides short but insightful comments on all the songs. This is simply a marvelous disc of blues performed with so much heart and panache that is unreservedly recommended.
This review appeared originally in the July-August 2004 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 269). I likely received a review copy from a publicist. This still should be available at finer sellers. Here is a video of Gaye and Roddy Barnes performing I Got It Bad and That Ain’t Good.
On the back cover of Gaye Adegbalola's new album, "The Griot," she provides a definition of The Griot as "a member of a class of traveling poets, musicians, and storytellers who maintain a tradition of oral history on parts of West Africa … and on this CD." On the second selection of this Cd "Definition: The Griot," she does a recitation set against Jackie Merritt's bones accompaniment that among other things observes The Griot is also "a REPOSITORY, a LIVING ARCHIVE … of Oral History." Additionally, the griot is, in part, a singer, seeker, teacher, preacher, "the entertainer, the unchainer, the keeper of our history, the remover of whitewashed mystery." This should give a sense of the spirit that infuses this recording, much of which might be termed 'protest' songs, but I prefer the term truth songs that the late street gospel singer Flora Molton termed some of her recordings. On this latest musical journey of mostly original songs, she is backed by her co-producer Jeff Covert on electric and acoustics, drums, bass, banjo and keyboards; her own acoustic guitar and harmonica; Roddy Barnes on piano on several selections; Reesa Gibbs on chant and backing vocals on several tracks; Jackie Merritt on bones on three tracks and a horn section led by trumpeter Zack Smith.
There is a definite tinge of anger in her vocals on such tunes as "Nothing has Changed" where she recalls sit-ins and picket lines, dogs, water hoses, burning crosses and lynchings as well as James Byrd dragged by a truck, and brings us up to date singing about the KKK and Nazis marching in Charlottesville with a chorus of "How Can I Be Angry?" There's been some change it's true. Too slowly in my lifetime, much more we can do." Set against a smoldering blues-rock backing and a bit of acid in her vocal, it sets a tone for this remarkable recording. The mood is present in "Hypocrisy: Liearrhia," where she confronts the discourse of the day "You've got a bad case of liearrhia/ You keep running off at the mouth/ Your tongue comes from the devil/ And your truth is crapping out … ."
She addresses female genital mutilation in "Sexism: FGM," with a middle eastern tinge to the vocal as she sings how she will fight to prevent one from taking a woman's Joy. There are also lyrics addressing poverty in a blues track subtitled "Dirty Sheets" with biting guitar; pollution in "Flint Water" set against a rollicking shuffle groove with Covert's Allman Brothers' inspired slide guitar; and protest on "Kaepernicked" where she proclaims him her new Muhammad Ali.
There are several covers including Doc Pomus and Kenny Hirsch's "(There is Always) One More Time" to illustrate hope; the Bessie Smith classic (also done by Nina Simone) she has been singing since her days with Saffire-the Uppity Blues Women three and a half decades ago, "Need a Little Sugar in My Bowl"; and a modern arrangement of Ma Rainey's "Jelly Bean Blues" that closes this CD. "The Groit" has provocative songs along with Gaye Adegbalola's most passionate singing. It makes for compelling listening.
I received my review copy from Vizztone. This review appeared in the July-August 2019 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 385). Here is a video of Gaye Adegbalola performing at a 2019 House Concert.
Saturday, March 11, 2017
Saffire - The Uppity Blues WomenOld, New Borrowed & Blue Alligator
This is the 4th Alligator album by Saffire - the Uppity
Blues Women, and the first in which Andra Faye McIntosh fully
participates as a vocalist as well as a musician. Her presence has added
to Saffire’s music by providing new instrumental voices (particularly
her mandolin, and fiddle) as well as her wonderful singing.
The program
of 16 songs includes a number of songs that reflect influences and
particular favorites of the trio’s members. It opens up with a rousing
version of Phil Wiggins’ Fools Night Out with each taking a turn at lead
and Ann Rabson pumping the piano with a New Orleans flavor. Then, Ann
launches into T’aint Nobody’s Business and Andra Faye sings Sippie
Wallace’s You Got to Know How, adding a nice fiddle solo. Gaye
Adegbalola provides a wonderful version of Do Your Duty, a song long
part of their repertoire. Listening to Gaye’s vocal, one appreciates how
confident and expressive she has become after being on the road for all
these years, and she sings it here with as much enthusiasm as back in
the group’s early days.
While some tunes hark back to the twenties, some
are of more recent vintage. Ann does Amos Milburn’s Roll Mr. Jelly,
although her piano sounds too polite for this boogie woogie blues.
Highlights from Gaye include a nice reading of Johnny Ace’s The Clock,
and her own Bitch With a Bad Attitude, where she tells off her no-good
man, from telling the IRS he has no dependents to threatening to
Bobbittize him. Andra Faye conveys similar sentiments in The Richest Guy
in the Graveyard. Andra Faye closes the album with Ma Rainey’s Yonder
Comes the Blues, with her mandolin accompaniment joined by Ann and Gaye
on guitars with a fitting nod to the “Mother of the Blues,” ardently
sang and played.
This is the Uppity Blues Women’s finest album. Their
newest member plays no small part with her strong playing that augments
Ann Rabson’s own solid instrumental contributions, and strong singing is
heard from all three. This review appeared in the December 1994-January 1995 Jazz & Blues Report(Issue 197). I likely received a review copy from Alligator Records. Here is a video from Saffire's farewell tour.
Ronnie Baker Brooks is one of this year's headliners
September 16, 17 & 18, 2016, blues returns to the Split Rock Resort in Lake Harmony, Pennsylvania for the Pennsylvania Blues Festival. Among the acts on the two stages at this year's Festival will be Ronnie Baker Brooks with special guest Eddie Clearwater, Zac Harmon, Ronnie Earl, Toronzo Cannon, The Delmark Chicago Blues Revue and Gaye Adegbalola & the Wild Rutz.
It was August 1 and 2 of 1992 when the Big Boulder Ski Resort hosted the very first Pocono Blues Festival with a lineup that consisted of Son Seals, Lonnie Brooks, Kenny Neal, Big Jack Johnson & the Oilers, Willie Kent & the Gents with Bonnie Lee, Johnny “Clye” Copeland, Bobby Radcliffe, The Bob Margolin Blues Band, George “Mojo” Buford, The Clarence Spady Band, Queen Bee and the Blue Hornets, and the The Dukes of Destiny. I first attended the Pocono Blues Festival in 1994 for the third festival whose lineup included Johnny Clyde Copeland, Denise LaSalle, Carol Fran & Clarence Holliman, Larry McCray, Sugar Blue, Billy Boy Arnold with Bob Margolin, Long John Hunter, Honeyboy Edwards, Fruteland Jackson, Fenton Robinson and others.
For 19 years Big Boulder hosted what became known as the Blues Lover's Blues Festival. Most every significant blues act (many no longer with us) with the exception of B.B. King performed at the Festival including Buddy Guy, Luther Allison, Guitar Shorty, Lowell Fulson, Little Milton, Otis Rush, koko Taylor, Saffire-The Uppity Blues Women, Shemekia Copeland, Ruth Brown, Smokey Wilson, Mavis Staples, Jerry McCain, Eddie Clearwater, Trudy Lynn, Robert Lockwood Jr, Phillip Walker, Bobby bland, Artie 'Blues Boy' White, Texas Johnnie Brown, Long John Hunter, Otis Clay, Irma Thomas, Marva Wright and many more.
After 19 Festivals, the owners of Big Boulder decided for a change in the off-season activities and the Festival, rechristened the Pennsylvania Blues Festival moved to Blue Mountain Ski Area for 4 years and presented such performers as Otis Clay, Shemekia Copeland, Lil' Ed&The Blues Imperials, Magic Slim &The Teardrops, Kenny Neal, Bettye LaVette, Brooks Family Dynasty, Billy Branch & The Sons of Blues with Lurrie Bell, Demetria Taylor & Carlos Johnson, Joe Louis Walker, Teeny Tucker, Otis Taylor, Eugene Hideaway Bridges, Corey Harris, Bobby Rush, Ruthie Foster, Sista Monica, John Primer, Alexis P Suter, Guy Davis, Eddie & Vaan Shaw, James Cotton, Ronnie Earl & The Broadcasters, Barbara Carr, Jarekus Singleton and many more. Then in 2015 the Festival moved to Split Rock with a line-up that included Shemekia Copeland, Lil' Ed &The Blues Imperials, Walter "Wolfman" Washington & the Roadmasters, John Nemeth, Victor Wainwright & the Wild Roots, Sugar Ray & the Bluetones, Selwyn Birchwood, Vaneese Thomas, and Dwayne Dopsie & the Zydeco Hellraisers.
Mikey Junior Revue helps the Festival Get Underway. Here he is seen from 2015 Festival
This is an impressive history of performers that will be celebrated by this year's event. Friday night's line-up in the Split Rock Galleria Governor's Ballroom features the Mikey Junior Revue starring the marvelous harmonica player and his band and a number of blues performers from the Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey and Northern Delaware region. It should be quite an enjoyable early evening event for blues enthusiasts.
On Saturday the Festival gets into full swing. At 11;00 AM in the Galleria Governor's Ballroom, Ronnie Earl will offer a guitar master class (separate charge will apply). At 1;00PM, Slam Allen opens the Main Stage with his highly entertaining set. The guitarist and vocalist fronted James Cotton's band for a number of years and on his own puts on a superb live show. Reviewing his album "Feel These Blues" I wrote "There is nothing fancy about Slam Allen with his rocking, B.B. King influenced guitar and his strong vocals. His vocals strike me as his greatest strength although he is no slouch as a guitarist." Up next on the main stage is Zac Harmon. Harmon, a former winner of the International Blues Challenge, certainly has established himself on the blues circuit, becoming a favorite attraction, especially on the Festival circuit, with his hot guitar, varied repertoire and gospel-soul rooted vocals.
Zac Harmon always puts on a great show
Pianist Anthony Geraci may be best known for being with Sugar Ray & the BluetOnes, but last year he put together a wonderful album with the Boston Blues All Stars and they follow Zac Harmon on the main stage. Reviewing his Delta Groove release "50 Shades of Blue" I wrote "Anthony Geraci is a first-rate blues songwriter and a terrific keyboard player." I expect his live revue will certainly be as entertaining as that terrific recording. Geraci is followed by Kenny Neal who will bring us his his own very personal style, rooted in the swamp blues of his father Raful and the likes of Slim Harpo. A threat on guitar, lap steel and vocals, Kenny Neal always delivers strong deep blues.
Closing the Main Stage on Saturday will be the high energy blues of Ronnie Bake Brooks who will have a full horn section and also special guest, Blues Hall of Fame inductee, Eddie 'The Chief' Clearwater. Son of blues legend Lonnie Brooks, Ronnie helps keep the family blues tradition alive and replaces the originally scheduled Buckwheat Zydeco who has health issues.
Guy Davis will be a highlight in Saturday's tent stage performers
In the Tent Stage will be performances by the marvelous singer-guitarist Guy Davis along with Canada's Blackburn Brothers who will be joined for one set by Harrison Kennedy. Slam Allen will also perform a set in the Text Stage. After the main festival acts conclude, there will be performances by Beareather Reddy and Zac Harmon in a special showcase at the Resort.
Gaye Adegbalola & the Wild Rutz perform at the Blues Brunch
Sunday, September 18 opens with a blues brunch that features music from Gaye Adegbalola & the Wild Rutz. Gaye, a founding member of Saffire-The Uppity Blues Women, founded this vocal quartet (with occasional guitar and percussion accompaniment) that is focused on their marvelous vocals and harmonies. There debut VizzTone album "Is It Still Good to Ya?" only hints at how wonderful this group is.
After the brunch folks can head to the Main Stage for the spectacular sacred steel of The Campbell Brothers who present the opening Sunday afternoon gospel blues set. They are followed by the Andy T Nick Nixon Band bring the solid guitar playing of Andy T and the strong vocals of Nick Nixon. About this Nashville based band, and their debut recording on Delta Groove, "Drink Drank Drunk," I wrote "Andy T impresses with his fluidity, tone and taste while Nixon brings pretty of heart and soul to his nuanced vocals." I am looking forward to finally hearing this band.
Alligator artist Toronzo Cannon plays today's Chicago Blues
Chicago takes over the main stage next with Toronzo Cannon whose Alligator album, "The Chicago Way" is getting much well-deserved praise. Cannon, who is a bus driver in Chicago, brings together his life experiences and what he observes to his powerful songs. After two terrific albums on Delmark, he signed with Alligator and about "The Chicago Way" I wrote, "As a songwriter, as well as a singer-guitarist, Toronzo Cannon brings grit and passion. His playing is varied ranging from blues-rock to jazzy flavored while his singing is robust resulting in the mostly compelling performances here. "The Chicago Way" is one of most striking recent new blues releases."
Following Cannon will be the Delmark Chicago Revue featuring The Mike Wheeler Band with Jimmy Burns & Peaches Staten. Wheeler is a wonderful singer-guitarist who brings in a deep dish of soul and funk to his blues. A veteran of Big James Montgomery and the Chicago Playboys, his 2013 Delmark debut "Self Made Man" was quite impressive and indicated a very distinctive talent. Appearing with Wheeler is the marvelous singer-guitarist Jimmy Burns who also mixes rhythm and blues with his Chicago (and delta) blues roots. Vocalist Staten is a tough vocalist with influences from Koko Taylor, Mavis Staples and Etta James amongst others. She had a wonderful album on the short-lived Swississippi Records label that Mike Wheeler played on.
Ronnie Earl closes Sunday's Main Festival Stage
The Main Stage closes with Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters.Earl's career included stints in Sugar Ray & the Blue Notes, then replacing Duke Robillard in Roomful of Blues before his own solo career leading the Broadcasters. Among the most accomplished guitarists, Earl is not simply known as a virtuoso, but a player of impeccable taste, tone, nuance and imagination. Recently listening to some of the legendary Earl Hooker's club recordings, Earl was one of the few contemporary guitarists who evokes Hooker's style without copying or imitating. His most recent recording was a tribute to Otis Rush and Magic Sam, and his sterling playing on it similarly calls to mine their originals while coming out as all Ronnie Earl.
The Tent stage opens with Harrison Kennedy for the first of his two sets. Kennedy a former member of The chairman of the Board is a compelling singer and astute songwriter. Also performing with be singer saxophonist Vanessa Collier who this writer has heard great things about along with additional sets from The Campbell Brothers and the Andy T Nick Nixon Band.
Michael Cloeren, who puts together the Festival, has certainly does it again with this sterling line-up. For more information on the Pennsylvania Blues Festival including videos of the performers, ticket and lodging information, visit http://www.pennsylvaniabluesfestival.com.
It should be noted that six weeks after the Pennsylvania Blues Festival, Split Rock will host the first Pennsylvania Music Festival. Also produced by Michael Cloeren, this festival brings a variety of performers from assorted musical genres including blues, roots rock, bluegrass and the like. Notable performers of interest to blues fans includes the zydeco of CJ Chenier & The Red Hot Louisiana Band, the riveting singing of Alexis Suter, and the blues-rock of Devon Allman and the Royal Southern Brotherhood. Other performers include the country roots rock of Girls, Gun and Glory, and roots-rock songwriter Paul Thorn. For more information on the Pennsylvania Music Festival visit http://www.pamusicfestival.com.
This preview of the Festival appeared originally in the July-August 2016 Jazz & Blues Report. There are more videos of the performers and a more detailed preview of the Festival on the Festival's website which is linked above. One month from the date of this post, the Festival will be in full swing.
The Tinner Hill Blues Festival returns to Falls Church on the weekend of June 10 through 12 with a exciting program of Blues and Gospel. Among the artists to be presented is a Friday evening show at The State Theatre with the legendary Mabel John, a full day of blues on Saturday at Cherry Hill Park with former Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker sideman Mac Arnold and keyboard wizard Victor Wainright. On Sunday there will be an Old Fashioned Blues Gospel Concert and Picnic at the Tinner Hill Historic Site.
This entry focuses on Friday night's State Theatre Concert-A Salute To
Blues Divas which in addition to Mabel John, also will present Trudy
Lynn and Gaye Adegbalola and the Wild Rutz. The show starts at 8:00PM with Doors opening at 7:00 PM.
Mabel John was for many years the lead singer with the Raylettes
who supported Ray Charles. She was the brother of Little Willie John and
was one of the first act to have a recording on the Motown subsidiary,
Tamla label. After several years with the Raylettes, she was signed to
Stax where she recorded her hit "Your Good Thing Is About To End," and other songs like "Able Mabel," and "You're Taking Up Another Man's Place."
After another stint with the Raylettes, she retired from secular music
although in recent years she has established herself as an actress and
still appears at Festivals (including the Smithsonian's Folklife
Festival in 2011 and the 2015 Ponderosa Stomp) where she still wows
audiences. It is a real coup for the Tinner Hill Blues Festival to
present this musical legend.
Houston's Trudy Lynn is a big-voiced blues and soul vocalist whose career bgan in groups and clubs in Houston. In the 1960's she sang with guitarist Albert Collins and then later, Clarence Green. Her recording career began in 1989 with the Ichiban label. Her album "Trudy Sings the Blues" had riveting renditions of "Ball & Chain" and "Come To Mama." After Ichiban folded she recorded " U Don't Know What Time It Is" for Ruf Records which had Lucky Peterson's keyboards and Bernard Allison's guitar. In more recent years she was associated with the late Calvin Owens orchestra, appearing on his recordings and his Orchestra backed her for the Blues Music Award Soul-Blues Nominee "I'm Still Here." Her most recent recording is the terrific "Royal Oaks Blues Cafe" from 2014. About that recording I wrote, "The closing Whip it To A Jelly further displays how nuanced a singer Lynn is as she brings out humor and wit of Clara Smith’s lyrics, Many blue singers today would come across as emotive or heavy-handed singing this. Her ability to convincingly deliver so many shades of blues makes 'Royal Oaks Blues Café' such a terrific recording."
Many will know Gaye Adegbalola from the trio, Saffire- the Uppity Blues Women, which she was such an integral part of for several decades. With the demise of Saffire, Gaye has formed a unique vocal group, Gaye Adegbalola & the Wild Rūtz whose first recording "Is It Still Good to Ya?," has been nominated for a Blues Music Award for acoustic blues album. Her website describes the music as "In this world of screaming electrified instrumental acrobatics and digital perfectionism, this CD delights in returning to our RUTZ! It celebrates the Creator's primary instruments: THE VOICE and THE BEATS. 4 unique voices combine with percussion and occasional guitar to add a previously unrecorded dimension to the blues. All 14 songs are Gaye's originals." Along the powerful blues and soul of Trudy Lynn and Mabel John, this will make the State Theatre on June 10, a night with the Blues Divas you will not want to miss.
For more information, including ticket information, visit tinnerhill.org.
Selwyn Birchwood, seen at 2013 DC Blues Society show will be appearing at the DC Blues Festival and Alonzo's Memorial Picnic this Labor Day weekend
For those in the Washington and Baltimore area, Labor Day weekend brings some exceptional music. Saturday August 30, the DC Blues Society presents its annual DC Blues Festival at the Carter Barron Amphitheatre in Northwest Washington DC, and the next day (August 31) the Baltimore Blues Society presents its annual Alonzo Memorial Picnic at the Rosedale Maryland American Legion Hall.
The DC Blues Festival has an excellent line-up headlined by a terrific singer Shakura S’Aida along with a bright young blues artist from Florida, Selwyn Birchwood. One will also get to hear some electrifying sounds of the Eddie Turner Band; Washington vocalist Shirleta Settles and Friends; the southern soul and blues of The Hardway Connection; and Stacey Brooks, winner of the 2013 DC Blues Society Battle of the bands and one of the area's most popular female blues singers. Also at this festival will be some workshops at the John Cephas workshop stage along with a jam session from members of the Archie Edwards Blues Heritage Foundation Jambassadors. This free festival begins at Noon and runs until about 7:30 PM at the Carter Barron Amphitheater which is located at 16th and Colorado Streets NW in Washington DC. For more information visit www.dcblues.org.
The Alonzo's Memorial Picnic also has an impressive lineup which includes Selwyn Birchwood as well as another impressive young singer-guitarist Jarekus Singleton. Also on this line-up will be Gaye Adegbalola & The Wild Rutz, a four woman a capella group led by one of the former members of saffire-the Uppity Blues Women; and the swing-Chicago blues stylings of Doug Demming, Dennis Gruenling and The Jewel-Tones. This show will take place from 1 to 9PM (doors open at 12:30PM). The Rosedale American Legion Hall is at 1331 Seling Ave., Rosedale, MD 21237. For more information, including ticket price, visit www.mojoworkin.com.
Here are some videos to highlight some of the performers.
Here is Shakura S'Aida from a recent Toronto appearance. I am especially looking forward to seeing her as I was unable to attend some festivals she was scheduled at. Her album Brown Sugar was one of my favorite albums of 2010 and her most recent album, Time, is equally impressive in not simply her vocals and the backing but the range of material she performs. If you click on the underlined Brown Sugar, you will see my review of that recording.
Selwyn Birchwood was the winner of the 2013 International Blues Challenge and he previously appeared at a DC Blues Society show in October 2010. He brings plenty of enthusiasm and energy as well as a fine band and his considerable talent. Here he performs the title track of his debut Alligator album, Call No Ambulance. I look forward to seeing him perform in DC and Baltimore.
How many festivals can claim to present two winners of The International Blues Challenge presented by The Blues Foundation. The Hardway Connection won the Challenge in October 1994 (It used to be held the Sunday after the King Biscuit Festival) edging out Susan Tedeschi's Band. They do a nice mix of soul and southern soul classics and strong originals with three exceptional singers, Jerome MacKall, Toni Love and Robert Owens. MacKall may be the best deep soul singer you never heard (a cross of Otis Redding and Al Green) while Owens is a nephew of the legendary Don Covay.
Illness prevented me from attending the Pennsylvania Blues Festival where Jarekus Singleton appeared, but I keep hearing raves about him. His music is quite original and striking and you can click on the title of his Alligator debut, Refuse to Lose, to see my review of it. I am certainly looking forward to seeing his performance at the Alonzo's Memorial Picnic. Here is a clip from the 2014 North Atlantic Blues Festival from this July.
Stacey Brooks is a DC area favorite and here she is performing her signature song, My Name Is Stacy.
Its been twenty-five years since the trio of Gaye Adegbalola, Ann Rabson and Earline Lewis first started performing around Fredericksburg, VA and Washington, D.C.. This writer remembers catching them for the first time at a DC Blues Society charity concert at Georgetown University and picking up their self-produced cassette, “Middle Age Blues,” mostly compiled from classic blues with a few originals, including “Middle Age Blues Boogie,” which became the trio’s theme song with its still memorable refrain “I want a young, young man.” Having the chance to see them on a regular basis in Washington I was delighted to find out they had signed with Alligator in 1989 I believe. Their debut Alligator disc, the eponymously titled “SAFFIRE - The Uppity Blues Women,” was a surprising, but well deserved, success.
A story I did from interviews of them for the DC Blues Society newsletter was the basis for first major story on them that appeared in one of the early issues of “Blues Revue.” Along the way, Earline Lewis departed to be replaced by Andra Faye who in addition to bass, also displayed a multi-instrumental talent on mandolin, guitar, fiddle and more. In the ensuing years they have performed countless times as well as continued to teach at blues workshop programs, mentoring a large number of modern acoustic blues acts. From the Washington DC and Tidewater, VA area such groups as BluesWorks and MSG the Acoustic Trio mine traditional blues along with adding contemporary originals rooted in traditional sources. Undoubtedly the novelty of a trio of mature women performing acoustic blues itself was a source of appeal among a variety of audiences that went beyond the usual audience for Alligator’s house-rocking electric blues bands. But their longevity is evidence that their music had so much more substance than what may have been an initial novelty to some.
“Havin’ the Last Word,”is their eighth album of new recordings for Alligator (this does not include the excellent compilation “Deluxe Edition”) and first since 2001’s “Ain’t Gonna Hush.” The title refers to the fact that this is the trio’s swan song together with the ensuing performances to be among their final regular ones together. Each will continue the solo careers they have each been engaged in the past several years. Unlike their previous albums, there is only one classic blues revived here, “Kitchen Man,” and the rest are fresh tunes composed by the three along with others by EG Kight, and others. The opening song, Carla Daruda’s “Going Down to the River” has all three trading verses about going to the river and wash their troubles away with Ann holding the bottom together like Blind John Davis before Andra Faye takes a crisp mandolin solo. Its followed by Gina DeLuca’s “Nothin’ in My House,” where Gaye delivers the sassy lyrics about let them say what they will, “if I want to honky tonk all night ... what do I care, I ain’t got nothing in their house,” with Ann adding a rollicking solo. Ann revives “Kitchen Man” from the pen of Andy Razaf and Edna Pinkard,” with a stately piano and Andra Faye’s complimentary mandolin. EG Kight & Tom Horner contributed “Somebody’s Gotta Give,” a song that Andra Faye belts out (and one can imagine easily being translated into a band format by Andra and her band The Mighty Good Man).
Other highlights include Bald Headed Blues,” an original by Gaye where she addresses consequences of chemotherapy and dancing with life and not death. Andra Faye adds fiddle to Ann’s not completely reflective “Since You’ve Been Gone,”while her own “Blue Lullaby” has a country flavor. EG Kight and Tom Horner collaborated with Ann for “Travelin’ at the Speed of Love,” a celebratory boogie with Andra Faye’s fiddle adding a nice counterpoint to her jaunty piano. Gaye’s “I Can Do Bad All By Myself,” has a nice guitar solo from Ann while Gaye sings about how bad things have gone “so she needs to take a payday loan,” but she does not need anyone else’s help. Andra Faye is playful in celebrates her body on having “Too Much Butt,” while Gaye’s “Bald Eagle,” is a lustful celebration of female sexuality with spirited mandolin and piano in the backing. Deanna Bogart’s “I’m Growing Older,” an humorous about the inevitable as Andra Faye is quite comfortable about aging like fine wine and becoming a wilder woman. The album concludes with another Ann Rabson collaboration with Kight and Horner, “The Bad Times,” with echoes of “Drown in My Own Tears,” in its melody, noting that we have had bad and sad times, but held on to faith and through it all these times these words of wisdom that “bad times make the good times better, bad times make our love strong … good times will be here before long.”
Saffire has provided many with some real good music over a quarter of a century that has given us good times to get past the bad and sad times. It is a cliche that all good things must come to an end, and while the musical partnership of Saffire - the Uppity Blues Women may be ending, their musical legacy is firmly established and will be enjoyed for many more years just as each of the members will establish more of their own legacy. Like Jim Brown leaving professional football, “Havin’ the Last Word,” has Saffire ending their run while still performing at the highest level.
(This review was originally published in Jazz & Blues Report # 313 which you can download at www,jazz-blues.com.)
I've know Gaye Adegbalola for about two decades now, when I saw Saffire - the Uppity Blues Women performing at venues in the Washington DC area. With them and on her own she has produced some wonderful music and recordings as well as mentors and teaches singing and songwriting to up and coming performers.
I came across a article on Ike Turner that I think more folk need to now about. Ike was no angel and was a drug-addict and wife-beater, but he has served his time. he was a monster yet still was a musical innovator and appears to have turned his life around. Gaye's article on Ike certainly is thought provoking.
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