I am familiar with the marvelous mandolinist Rich DelGrosso, and Guitarist Mary Flower, but not with multi-instrumentalist Martin Grosswendt. Together they constitute The Ragpicker String Band whose eponymously titled debut disk is on Yellow Dog Records. Mixing in some classic songs from the likes of Mississippi Sheiks, Sleepy John Estes and Blind Willie Johnson with originals from Flower and Delgrosso, they bring considerable instrumental skill and vocals to songs of social satire and simply plain mischievous fun resulting in an album that at times evokes classic string bands and at other times a scaled down and slightly toned down version of R. Crumb's Cheap Suit Serenaders.
There is the lovely "Honey Babe" that opens this along with a wonderful rendition of The Sheiks "Lonely One In This Town," to go with the whimsical play on words of Flowers "Minor Blues" and DelGrosso's hilarious "Google Blues" about a man who thinks he's getting lucky except for the lady googling his shady past. It is extremely difficult to restrain oneself from loud laughter listening to this. There are plenty of instrumental joys to be heard aswell inlcuding Grosswendt's slide steel guitar of his fiddle on ""Lonely One In This Town," and Delgrosso's playing the "44 Blues" motif on the mandolin on his "Black Mattie."
A nice, and unexpected, string trio rendition of "Blue Monk" adds to the musical variety here. The Ragpicker's String Band score with some marvelous music and plenty of fun listening.
I received my review copy from Yellow Dog Records. Here is a video of Rich and Mary performing "Google Blues."
In 2008, I called Eden Brent’s album Mississippi Number One, “ is a stunning recording of blues, jazz and soul… .“ I also observed that “[a]s a singer she sings with the authority of the late Esther Phillips, if a bit less nasal, while displaying the sassiness of a Denise LaSalle and a bit of Bobby Gentry’s country soul.” I was similarly impressed by next album Ain’t Got No Troubles, noting it “mixes a marvelous pianist and vocalist with strong material, sympathetic backing and varied, imaginative programming resulting in a terrific recording that should appeal to blues and roots music fans.” Eden Brent’s latest album, Jigsaw Heart (Yellow Dog Records) is another recording that displays perhaps more of her country side as a performer.
Like Ain’t Got No Troubles, this was produced by Colin Linden who also contributes guitar (and mandolin on one track). Some of the others playing behind Eden on this include John Dymond on bass, Gary Craig on drums, Dan Dugmore on pedal steel, Kenzie Wetz on fiddle. Brent’s originals are mixed with interpretations of songs from Joan Armatrading, Billy Taylor & Dick Dallas, and Jimmy Phillips amongst others.
The very first two numbers illustrate the range of music on Jigsaw Heart as well as the extent of Ms. Brent’s talent and artistry.Better This Way has her singing about leaving today but the relationship ended sometime before, so lets raise a glass to toast the past.. This is a classic country waltz that has a bit of a swamp pop feel as well. Everybody Already Knows in contrast is a romp about the whole town knowing Eden and her lover are messing round, with some wonderfully rollicking piano that evokes Jerry Lee Lewis (although perhaps not quite as wild). Both are superbly sung and played and display her considerable gift as a songwriter. The title tracks another wonderful lyric as she asks her cowboy angel whether he has what it takes to un-break her heart.
In addition to these wonderful originals she provides her own take on Joann Armatrading’s Opportunity, with a vocal that suggests Bobby Gentry. Another noted cover is the Billy Taylor- Dick Dallas penned I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free, which was inspired by Nina Simone’s classic rendition of this. Its a good performance with backing singers, although I would love to hear Eden perform this just with her piano.
Jigsaw Heart is a superb recording. Eden Brent has a range as a pianist, singer and songwriter comparable to the late Charlie Rich. Like Rich she brings complete authority to renditions of blues, country and soul. I look forward to hearing more from Eden Brent and her continual musical growth.
I received my review copy from Yellow Dog Records. Here is a video of a interview and performance by Eden.
Canadian Colin Linden latest recording Still Live (Yellow Dog Records) is a live recording at a neighborhood Nashville tavern, the Douglas Corner Café. He has been living in Nashville since the 90‘s. It is Linden’s 11th album under his own name although he has contributed to many recordings by a variety of artists of a variety of stripes. He was backed on this by John Dymond on bass and harmony vocals, Gary Craig on drums and the legendary Spooner Oldham on organ. One selection, a new version of his John Lennon in New Orleans, was recorded in a studio during a rehearsal for this performance.
Linden impresses with his songs, his playing and his singing over a program of mostly originals (the one cover is a nice restrained rendition of Howlin’ Wolf’s Who’s Been Talking). The opening Big Mouth is a blues rooted number displaying his considerable picking skills as well as his restraint and sense of dynamics. A country-folk flavor marks Between The Darkness and The Light of Day, while Smoke Them All, a collaboration with his wife Janice Powers, is a solo performance that displays Linden’s considerable finger picking guitar (with some jazzy accents) as Linden sings “barrelhouse at midnight the piano moans.” It is a moving tribute to his late friend, pianist Richard Bell.
Other performances include Sugar Mine, a lovely rootsy ballad with Linden’s touch on the electric guitar complemented by the light backing he receives. Dark Night of the Soul, has a lovely lyric that Linden will be their for his friend and lead them from the dark night of the soul while Too Late To Holler is an exuberantly performed rocker with a very soulful vocal. Remedy was written with Jim Weider and recorded by the post Robbie Robertson The Band on their comeback album, and Linden’s bluesy-roots rendition with Oldham gritty on organ is a strong performance that has some of the same feel to it that The Band imparted to so much of their music.
I called Linden’s From The Water a stunning recording, and Still LIve is a similar appealing mix of blues and roots songs.
I received a review copy from Yellow Dog Records. Here is a video of Colin Linden in performance.
The marvelous blues and roots fingerstyle guitarist-vocalist, Mary Flower, has a new release Misery Loves Company (Yellow Dog Records). The title refers to the fact that eleven of the twelve performances here are duets with other musicians (and a vocalist) adding support to her guitar and vocals. It is a wonderful addition to her discography.
Whether performing a blues or a rag, Mary Flower plays wonderfully with an easy flowing approach to her music. When performing a deep Chicago blues, such as Muddy Waters’ Hard Day Blues or Son House’s Death Letter Blues, she recasts the song into a Piedmont styled blues, while adding her honey-toned vocals. Her vocal strikes this listener as more successful on the former number (with Curtis Salgado adding some nice harp), although the slide guitar and guitar interplay between her and Alan Hager is marvelous. Recession Rag, is a delightful instrumental duet with mandolinist Brian Oberlin, while Jitters is a lovely duet with tuba player Mark Vehrencamp that with Mary channelling Blind Blake in her deft playing here.
Colin Linden adds electric dobro her atmospheric Way Down in the Bottom, (where darkness meets despair), while LaRonda Steele adds a harmony vocal to Mary’s exquisite rendition of Reverend Gary Davis’ Goin’ To Sit Down On The Banks Of River, with an accompaniment that displays how ably she has mastered the music of this legendary giant. Her son Jesse Withers plays bass while she displays her cleanly articulated slide playing on Tampa Red’s Boogie Woogie Dance, while pianist David Frishberg adds some bop-infused piano on the delightful I’m Dreaming Of Your Demise, about her beady-eyed, devious man who spouts nasty lies. Mary’s music possesses some of the same qualities that Elizabeth Cotten’s music had so its no surprise that she so ably interprets Shake Sugaree, where Johnny B Connolly embellishes her vocal and fingerstyle wizardry with his button accordion.
A solo rendition of Scrapper Blackwell’s Scrapper’s Blues is the last selection on her latest recording. Mary Flower continues to delight blues and roots fans with a recording that continues to demonstrate that she remains one of the finest fingerstyle guitarists. Also her vocals flow as natural as her finger picking.
My review copy was provided by Yellow Dog Records.
The following review of the underated guitarist Calvin Newborn’s “New Born” (Yellow Dog) originally appeared in July/August 2005 Jazz & Blues Report (issue 275). If you somehow missed out on this when it first came out This CD is still available.
Guitarist Calvin Newborn came from a celebrated Memphis musical family. His father Finas led a celebrated orchestra in the Memphis area, and his older brother Phineas would later become a renowned jazz pianist whose career was often plagued by bouts with mental illness. Calvin himself has bridged the worlds of blues and jazz over the decades. The late Charlie Rich did an absolutely marvelous jazz-blues date before he died which benefited from Calvin Newborn’s jazz-inflected blues playing.
Newborn self-produced a couple of CDs on his own label but had not recorded for some time when the Yellow Dog label (named after a W.C. Handy song I believe) got him in the studio for New Born. Much of this date has the flavor of a classic Blue Note session from the late sixties – early seventies with some fine horns from Herman Green on sax and flute and Scott Thompson on trumpet with Donald Brown on piano and Charlie Wood on organ.
With the exception of Newborn Blues from his brother’s pen and Billy Strayhorn’s wonderful Lush Life, Calvin Newborn wrote all of the selections. It opens with a nice bluesy organ groove on When Kingdom Comes/Sho’ Nuff on which Newborn takes the first solo which is followed by some nice tenor from Herman Green. Newborn’s fleet single note runs are deftly and imaginatively delivered here and on the modal The Streetwalker’s Stroll, with Donald Brown’s post-bop piano providing the foundation with Mr. Green heard on flute while Thompson plays some fiery trumpet. One cannot forget bassist London Branch and drummer Renardo Ward who keep the pulse moving along as well.
On Newborn Blues, Calvin’s late night, down-in-the-alley guitar is backed by Woods’ greasy organ and the rhythm section as he displays how good a blues player he is, while a Latin flavor is present on Spirit Trane/Omnifarious, which features some nice horn voicings. There is some lovely guitar on Lush Life (what a beautiful tone Newborn provides here), while After Hours Blues, a marvelous slow instrumental inspired by the classic After Hours, features some more strong blues playing.
A marvelous return to the recording world by a guitarist whose reputation is far less than the quality of his music.
For purposes of FTC regulations, Yellow Dog Records provided me with a review copy of this.
Looking back on my hard drive I came across this review of an album by pianist Big Joe Duskin. Never having the pleasure to see Duskin, I have only been able to enjoy his recordings. I am sharing this 2004 review with you. To my knowledge this recording is still in print.
Born in Alabama in 1921, Big Joe Duskin has resided in Cincinnati for a number of years. A formidable pianist who was influenced by the great Memphis Slim and Roosevelt Sykes, Duskin actually abstained from performing blues in public to honor a promise to his father, a preacher that he would not play in public until his father passed away (and his dad lived to 105). It was not until the 1970s that this veteran started playing again in earnest leading to albums for Arhoolie and the Austrian Wolf labels. Now, one of the last of the original Cincinnati blues artists, he has a new album, Big Joe Jumps Again!, on the Yellow Dog label produced Willie Lee Ellis, a conservatory singer who met Duskin in the 80s and among those who has championed his music. Bassist Ed Conley and Philip Paul both did numerous sessions for King records (Paul was on Freddie King’s classic Hide Away). Guests also appear on several tracks including rocker Peter Frampton who is heard on two selections including Every Day I Have the Blues. Frampton now lives in Cincinnati and met Duskin at a benefit after 9/11. With the sympathetic trip backing, Duskin delivers his piano blues shouting out his lyrics in a fashion that evokes the great Sykes. Songs include Sykes’ Miss Ida B. (also a staple of Pinetop Perkins repertoire), Lowell Fulson’s You’re Gonna Miss Me, Memphis Slim’s Every Day and Beer Drinking Woman, and the boogie woogie standard Down the Road a Piece. There is even a rendition of North to Alaska before the album closes with a short rendition of Just a Closer Walk With Thee. We may never know just how good Duskin was in his prime as he kept his promise to his father, but he is still in his eighties a solid blues pianist and vocalist who is among the last of his generation of blues pianists and we should be thankful for this splendid release.
After I posted this review, Yellow Dog Records added the comment that it is print and provided a link for you to hear the music. http://music.yellowdogrecords.com/bigjoeduskin. The link is in the comment they made, but I believe would be easier to have the link in the body of the review, so added it now.
For FTC purposes I likely received a review copy from Yellow Dog records or its publicity firm.
Winner of The Blues Foundation’s solo/duo category at the 2006 International Blues Foundation, singer-pianist Eden Brent brings plenty of depth to her music. Yellow Dog Records will be issuing the new album by the Greenville, Mississippi native, Mississippi Number One. As a singer she sings with the authority of the late Esther Phillips, if a bit less nasal, while displaying the sassiness of a Denise LaSalle and a bit of Bobby Gentry’s country soul. She certainly can pound out some strong barrelhouse rooted piano as well as more in jazz vein. Much of this is comprised of originals penned by her and late mother, Carole. The opening Mississippi Flatland Blues, is a rollicking number with her rollicking barrelhouse playing backed just by bass and drums. She takes things a bit more in a Stax-tinged vein on her original about a two-timing man, He'll Do The Same Thing To You, with organ and horns added to the mix before she changes gears the solo rendering of Darkness on the Delta, and her mother’s marvelous ballad, Love Me ‘Til Dawn, with a leaner delivery and some nice alto saxophone by Kevin Lewis. On the jaunty Fried Chicken, her sassy vocal is simply and effectively supported by Rick Chancery guitar and harmonica. The title track is her spirited salute to the two-lane road that takes one to her childhood road, that cuts through the Delta, with Mimosa trees, with some rollicking piano in the vein of Jerry Lee Lewis. She shows her interpretative abilities on solo performances of ‘The Man I Love, Careless Love, Why Don’t You Do Right, and Trouble in Mind, thoughtfully delivering these well known songs and embellishing these very nicely. Oddly the latter number is credited in the booklet to Amos Milburn and not its composer Richard Jones. Another uptown R&B number is Meet You Anywhere, with tinges of Crescent City funk, while her late mother’s Close That Door, as she tells one that she is tired of his wrong doing way so he should close the door and walk away, as she is through with heartaches. This marvelous recording concludes with Until I Die,’ a lyric that can be interpreted both in a secular and spiritual vein with a bit of church added by Rich Steff’s organ and the vocal choir. Eden Brent is marvelous as a songwriter, singer and pianist and listening to this, one can understand why she has impressed so many. Mississippi Number One is a stunning recording of blues, jazz and soul that will have many waiting for her next recording.
I note that Mississippi Number One is scheduled for release on April 18, 2008.
Posts
