As you may be aware, I am a fan of Piedmont blues stylist Ernie Hawkins and earlier in 2012, I posted a review of his most recent recording, Whinin' Boy, while a few days earlier I posted a 2001 review of his CD, Bluesified. I recently discovered I never posted my 2006 review of his CD Rags & Bones which appeared in the March 2006 DC Blues Calendar and the May/June 2006 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 282). I likely received my review copy from Ernie Hawkins or his management.
The masterful finerpicking guitarist, Ernie Hawkins, has a delightful new CD , Rags & Bones (Say Mo’ Music). The talented disciple of the legendary Rev, Gary Davis opens with a superb rendition (played on a 12-string guitar) of Davis’ Make Believe Stunt, a tune Davis derived from a lick of Scott Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag. The bones of the title are heard backing another guitar rag from Davis, The Boy Was Kissing the Girl (and Playing Guitar at the Same Time).
There are enjoyable covers here including Mississippi John Hurt’s Avalon Blues, country music pioneer, Jimmie Rodgers’ TB Blues, Henry Thomas’ Texas Easy Street, and Mance Lipscomb’s G Rag, with Hawkins delivering relaxed, easy going vocals to go with his deft fretwork. Most interesting are guitar adaptations of three classics of twenties jazz, Louis Armstrong’s Potato Head Blues and Cornet Chop Suey, along with Singin’ the Blues which is adapted from the legendary Frankie Trumbauer/ Bix Beiderbecke recording and a George Gershwin piano roll.
Maria Muldaur guests with a wonderful vocal on Rev. Davis’ I Am the Light of This World, and the album closes with Hawkins handling an African tune Massanga. Its a delight listening to the music hear and how wonderfully the guitar sounds. For further information check www. erniehawkins.com or better mail order stores.
Here is a video of Ernie teaching how to play a Reverend Gary Davis number.
Vicksburg Blues (Red House Records) is the first collaboration between pianist and clarinetist Butch Thompson and singer-guitarist Pat Donohue. The two have been staples of the blues, jazz and folk scenes in the Twin Cities, and have been regular performers for several decades on the national radio show, A Prairie Home Companion.
Donohue is one of the leading fingerstyle guitarists alive, while Thompson is amongst the leading interpreters of traditional jazz and ragtime piano. Thompson, mentored by the late Little Brother Montgomery, shows himself here to be quite a fine blues pianist, while Donohue got to see Big Joe Williams, Lightnin’ Hopkins and Jesse Fuller in the seventies before becoming one of the most accomplished guitarists in the tradition of a Blind Blake and Big Bill Broonzy, both of whom were comfortable playing with jazz musicians. Blake for example recorded with the likes of Johnny Dodds.
The album has them interpreting a number of classic blues from Leroy Carr, Blake, Jelly roll Morton and Little Brother Montgomery as well as early jazz numbers from Clarence Williams and Clarence Johnson, and King Oliver. The pair also contribute five originals as well as a composition Thompson collaborated with Little Brother. From the opening moments of Carr’s Midnight Hour Blues to the closing Thompson original Yancey Blues, their deft and imaginative playing and Donohue’s natural and heartfelt singing make for a truly delightful recording.
The opening Midnight Hour Blues certainly displays the empathy the two have four each other (and the melody was lifted by Robert Johnson for From Four Until Late). Its followed by Carr’s most famous song, How Long, How Long Blues with Thompson’s playing evidencing his love for Jimmy Yancey’s wistful style. The vocal and playing on Blind Blake’s gambling blues, Poker Woman (“I won a woman in a poker game, I lost her to another just the same”) evokes to me some of Big Bill Broonzy’s recordings with pianist Black Bob. Thompson conjures up Little Brother Montgomery’s piano style for Vicksburg Blues with Donohue singing strongly and sparely adding his guitar here.
Thompson’s velvety clarinet comes to the fore on If I Had You, while another Leroy Carr, Papa’s On the Housetop is a playful and rollicking performance, true to the spirit of the eighty year old original recording and followed by the pensive rendition of Jelly Roll Morton’s 219 Blues. Better Days is a lively feature for Donohue’s fluid playing followed by his Blues For Two, where he plays National Resonator style guitar in the vein of Tampa Red with Thompson adding his solid piano. Sunday Rag is a lovely original rag that Thompson and Montgomery co-wrote. Thompson plays straight ragtime here with Donohue’s complimenting him in a fashion I think Reverend Gary davis would have approved of. More lovely clarinet is heard from Thompson on James P. Johnson’s You Can’t Lose a Broken Heart.
Instrumentals, such as King Oliver’s Workingman Blues, takes us back to the early twenties with the interesting, if subdued playing. After the lively original “That D Strain,” the album closes with the melancholy Yancey Blues, Thompson’s tribute to the legendary Jimmy Yancey. It concludes this truly splendid album of traditionally oriented blues and jazz. This is simply the finest album of blues piano and guitar duets in a number of years and certainly one of the finest new blues albums I have heard in 2012.
I received my review copy from Red House Records. This is scheduled for release on August 14. Here is Butch Thompson doing an instrumental How Long, How Long Blues in the vein of Jimmy Yancey and then Pat Donohue doing Mississippi John Hurt's Spike Driver Blues.
A new album by the fingerstyle guitarist Ernie Hawkins, Whinin’ Boy, represents a change in pace. Hawkins, a disciple of the the legendary Reverend Gary Davis, has distinguished himself as a masterful guitarist in the blues and ragtime vein pioneered by Davis, as well as a teacher of that and other acoustic blues styles. The present album has him playing material in the vein of early classic jazz and pop in small group settings with the contributions of Paul Consentino on clarinet, Joe Dallas on trombone and James Moore on trumpet worth mentioning.
The album has him in a variety of settings including the skittle jazz band format with clarinet, trumpet, trombone, tuba and washboard backing for Jelly Roll Morton’s title track that opens the album with his understated vocal and simple rhythmic guitar. Clarinet is spotlighted on a reworking of Song (of the Islands), associated with Bix Beiderbecke as Hawkins’ comps in a pianistic vein. There is a brief washboard break. Dallas quotes The Wedding March to open the rendition of Makin’ Whoopee, with its wry opening lyric about weddings and that its not so bad being the groom. Hawkins delivers a simply delivered vocal. The Southbound Sneak, is a slow original Hawkins’ rag-flavored original with tuba and trombone followed by a rendition of the venerable Basin Street Blues, with a fuller band.
The amusing My Poodle Has Fleas has Hawkins adept ukelele backed by tuba and washboard. It is followed by a rendition of Little Brother Montgomery’s Vicksburg Blues, with nice harmonica from Marc Reisman. It is interesting to listen to this piano blues transposed to guitar. I’m Coming Virginia, associated with Bix Beiderbecke and Frankie Trumbauer, is reworked into a pensive guitar feature for Hawkins. Louis Armstrong’s Weather Bird (Rag) is reworked to showcase Hawkins’ adept finger picking and clarinet from Consentino. Bill Bill Broonzy’s Shuffle Rag, has nice harmonica while Hawkins’ evokes Broonzy’s early 1930’s guitar style. The skiffle-jazz band treatment of Rev. Gary Davis’ There Is A Table In Heaven, with trombone and clarinet (and brass bass) provides a fresh take on this performance.
This is an entertaining recording although Hawkins’ guitar perhaps is not as prominent here as on other recordings.
I received a review copy from Ernie Hawkins’ publicist. He is scheduled to open for John Mayall at The Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia tonight (February 21, 2012).
I have had the pleasure of seeing Ernie Hawkins perform a number of times over the years. He is a terrific blues guitarist and singer and among those who was influenced bib the great Reverend Gary Davis. I reviewed his album Bluesified back in early 2001 for the DC Blues Society newsletter and Ernie provided the review copy. At the time when he was touring with Maria Muldaur. Here is that review, with some minor changes.
Fingerstyle blues artist Ernie Hawkins has a delightful new album, Bluesified on SayMo Music. A student of Rev. Gary Davis, Hawkins also acknowledges Blind Willie McTell as a major influence. There are several gospel numbers mixed in with his blues and rag numbers which he plays and sings with charm and grace. Rev. Davis would be proud listening to Hawkins nicely executed rendition of Davis Slow Drag, along with a couple of Davis gospel tunes, one of which, I Belong to the Band, has a moving guest vocal from Maria Muldaur.
The title track is an acoustic small group number which seems to be based on the Walkin’ Blues melody with nice harmonica from Marc Reisman and bottleneck guitar from Hawkins. Lou Schreiber adds clarinet to two tracks, Riding on a Moonbeam, which is based on an African number, and Root Hog or Die, an old Harlem Hamfats number on which the clarinet and the almost marchlike rhythm section recast the song with a klezmer flavor.
His eclecticism in his sources is displayed on his heartfelt reworking of Merle Travis sacred song, I Am a Pilgrim, as well as Hawkins Rag, that derives from a song by Ted Hawkins, mandolin player for the classic string band, Gid Tanner and the Skillet Lickers. His indebtedness to Blind Willie McTell is heard on a fine rendition of McTell’s Broke Down Engine (with nice bottleneck guitar), and the concluding medley of Amazing Grace with three McTell numbers. If not a great singer, Hawkins natural and unforced delivery delivers lyrics with warmth and conviction.
Bluesified is a release that fans of acoustic blues will want to check out. I have also heard his Blues Advice, and Rags & Bones, both of which I recommend strongly. I have not heard his most recent record, Whinin' Boy. You can contact Ernie directly at: Ernie Hawkins, 6941 Blenheim Court, Pittsburgh PA 15208. His website www.erniehawkins.com has information on this and Ernie’s other recordings and his many instructional videos in blues and ragtime guitar styles. Better stores will be carrying this as well.
Ernie Hawkins is appearing in Washington, DC area on February 21, opening for John Mayall at The Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia. Here is Ernie teaching a Reverend Gary Davis number.
Empire Musicwerks issued back in 2007, Josh White Comes A-Visiting Big Bill Broonzy Comes A-Singing, which makes available on CD music originally issued on two 10-inch LPs originally issued on the Period label. The album notes calls the two among the greatest exponents of the folk-blues idiom and that would not be unfair description of these discs as both artists are quite urbane in their presentation.
White, who had gone from a Piedmont blues and gospel singer-guitarist to a member of the emerging folk scene in the post-World War II era is heard backed by a small rhythm combo as well as a vocal chorus that included his daughter Beverly. Material ranges from the opening Bonbons, Chocolates, and Chewing Gum; Bury Me High and She’s Too Much For Me, which are very ably performed with deft musicianship and very appealing vocals.
The Big Bill Broonzy selections were recorded in Paris and include a rendition of Baby, Please Don’t Go (miscredited to Broonzy) along with Do Right Blues, Backwater Blues, and Hollerin’ and Cryin’ the Blues, all wonderfully sung and played with some crisply delivered guitar, if perhaps the vocals are taken with a certain self-consciousness.
I suspect no one call these performances by either essential, but certainly there is quite a bit that is very enjoyable.
This review originally appeared in the August 2007 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 296) and that publication likely sent me the review copy of the CD. This is shown as still available on amazon.
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