The keyboards of Bruce Katz has been a most welcome to a variety of performers recordings, including in recent years, Duke Robillard and Joe Louis Walker. With his current band of guitarist Chris Vitarello; bassist Rod Carey; and drummer Ralph Rosen, he has a new disc on his own Brown Dog label (distributed by VizzTone), Live! at the Firefly, recorded at the Ann Arbor, Michigan club in April 2008.
Live! at the Firefly is a collection of chicken-licking blues and jazz instrumentals that fans of Jack McDuff and Jimmy McGriff will love. Opening with a straight blues groove on Deep Pockets, Katz and Vitarello both display their chops and musical sense. An unusual choice is Charles Mingus’ Better Get It In Your Soul, and ambitious attempt with plenty of Katz’s greasy Hammond B-3 to start things off with everybody swinging hard. Carey and Rosen certainly merit praise here, before a nicely paced solo from Vitarello.
Katz switches to piano on a late night slow blues, The Blue Lamp, that lets him rumble down in the alley as well as lets Vitarello a chance to show his electric blues chops. Jump Start, is a funky groover with twangy guitar; Ice Cream Man, is a playful funky blues; while the solo piano Southern Route, has a country-tinge. Marshall Country, evokes West Side Chicago to these ears, and Crew of Two, is a ebullient shuffle.
Norton’s Boogie Woogie, has blistering boogie piano, a rocking guitar solo followed by sizzling solo piano interlude with the full quartet taking it out in jumping fashion. Its followed by the atmospheric Victoria, with Katz on piano and this joyous disc concludes with Brother Stevie. This walking shuffle closes Live! at the Firefly on the high level that characterizes this entire recording.
This review originally appeared in the February 2009 Jazz and Blues Report (Issue 313), although I made a few minor stylistic changes. Here is the Bruce Katz Band performing in Norway a few months after recording this album.
Another young guitarist, Matthew Stubbs makes his debut on the VizzTone release, Soul Bender. Stubbs, only 25, has certainly quite some experience, having competed in the Blues Foundation’s International Blues Challenge, and toured as a sideman with Janiva Magness, John Nemeth and Linwood Slim. Currently he is in Charlie Musselwhite’s Band. Pretty impressive resume receiving strong endorsements from Bob Margolin and Junior Watson.
Soul Bender was produced by Stubbs and includes Sax Gordon Beadle leading a tight horn section along with a tight rhythm section on an all instrumental program. Listening to this, one can agree with Bob Margolin who suggests this is what Freddie King might have sounded like if he had recorded in Memphis with the Bar-Kays. There is a mix of hot blues riffs infused with some surf instrumental twang set against a funk groove and riffing horns syled after the Memphis horns.
Taken a few tracks at time, or put in an ipod or other mp3 player put in a shuffle mode, Stubbs fiery, yet tasty guitar is best appreciated along with some blasts of Beadle’s gutbucket tenor (20 Gallons of Beadle Juice or Sticky Bunz). Rivelli’s Mood, is a nice slow gospel-tinged instrumental with the horns setting the mood with Stubbs stating the theme before blasting out a call and response with Beadle. The rocking Stompin’ On Thru, opens with Stubbs setting out with a blistering tempo and mixing is single note runs with some chords that Beadle gets works off of.
While there are moments that might evoke King Curtis’ Memphis Soul Stew, the songs are based on funky grooves and riffs that start to sound the same listened to in one sitting. Bear in mind that some of us also find albums of Freddie King instrumentals best taken in small morsels.
I likely received this release from a publicist or VizzTone and it originally appeared in the May 2009 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 316). Matthew has a subsequent release that I have not heard. Here is Matt and Mr. Beadle on sax.
The late Johnny Adams was among my favorite blues and soul singers, but he was so capable of more. His catalog on Rounder is universally excellent. The following review of one of his excellent Rounder albums appeared in the December 1996 DC Blues Calendar as well as the February 1997 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 218). I likely received my review copy from Rounder Records. This CD is available currently as a download.
Johnny Adams is simply a terrific singer and his latest Rounder album, One Foot In the Blues, has him backed by Dr. Lonnie Smith on the Hammond B-3, guitarist Jimmy Ponder and drummer Shannon Powell along with saxophonists Ed Peterson and Donald Harrison Jr. and with trumpeter Jamil Sharif. Despite the jazzy backing, this has more of a blues flavor than Adams’ two previous Rounder releases. He is in good form, although he no longer vocally soars into the stratosphere as he did a couple decades past.
The title song is a fine new number penned by Dan Penn, Jonnie Barnett and Carson Whitsett. Other songs include a couple of fine blue ballads from Buddy Johnson’s pen, including I Wonder Where Our Love Has Gone, and three Percy Mayfield Numbers including the classic Two Years of Torture. Smith greases the musical stew, Ponder adds some tasty fills and solos, and the horn players cook
There is a relaxed groove and tasty looseness to these performances that add to Rounder’s invaluable catalog of Adams releases.
Here is Johnny Adams in performance at the Lone Star in NYC from 1990.
An Oklahoma City native, saxophonist Sharel Cassity has become a presence on new York City’s scene, having obtained Degrees in Music from The New School and Julliard. She has honored by the late IAJE’s Sisters in jazz and Betty Carter’s jazz Ahead programs and her compositions have won Downbeat Music Awards and ASCAP’s Young Jazz Composer Award. She is an educator as well as work with such small groups as Harry Whitaker, Ingrid Jensen and Mark Whitfield to DIVA and Jimmy Heath Big Bands.
Looking at the cover of her recording Just For You, (DW Records), one does not know what to expect. Once the music starts, one is taken by the clarity and focus of her alto playing (although she plays multiple saxophones). It is produced by Michael Dease (who also contributed three originals to the seven song program) who has brought some of the musicians she regularly works with in the New York club scene. these include Tom Barber on trumpet (who contributed one number) and flugelhorn; Pete Reardon-Anderson on tenor sax, Adam Birnbaum on piano, Paul Beaudry on bass, and Vincent Ector on drums.
Cassity really draws attention with her bluesy tone which will suggest Sonny Stitt as much as Charlie Parker with a bit of Lee Konitz tossed in. Dease’s Phibe’s Revenge, is a brisk hard bop number that kicks off this release. The bouncy title track has a dreamy flavor before Cassity enchants with her chops and tone followed by Barber’s Irazu (Wish You Were Here). Again more standout playing from her along with the marvelous ensemble work. The rhythm section supports her so well and the full ensemble playing is tight.
On the quartet rendition of Ram Ramirez’s Lover Man, her tone is a bit drier with less Charlie Parker and more Lee Konitz. It is followed by Lennie Tristano’s Wow, with its intricate interplay between the horns as well as intriguing solos. Dease’s Roditi’s Dream, has a Latin accent, before the album concludes with her tearing into Cherokee, with shorter spots allotted to her bandmates, but throughout the superb music here, she burns the brightest on this superb album of hard swinging bop.
I likely received this from Jazz & Blues Report or a publicist for this release. It was written for Jazz & Blues Report but may not have been published. Here is a video of her performing .
Studebaker John Grimaldi continues his pursuit of blues and roots rock with a new release, “Old School Rockin’” on Delmark. Backed simply by his long-time bassist Bob Halaj as well as drummer Albert ‘Joey’’ DeMarco, he lays down 14 new blues and boogie based songs that certainly will get the feet moving and the fingers poppin’. As I noted in a review of his 2006 recording “Self Made Man,” “[H]e has been adept in a traditionally oriented approach to the blues (reflecting especially the driving approaches of Hutto and Hound Dog Taylor), but not afraid to mix in a bit of rock and roll and bring his own voice. He has toured and recorded behind a number of blues legends as well as developed his own music.”
The current release is his second for Delmark, and is more in the vein of hard blues-infused rock and roll. The music is hardly fancy. It is driving, in your face, rockers that bring his sizzling guitar work along with his gravelly vocals to the front with Halaj and DeMarco keeping the music propelled. From the driving Rockin’ the Boogie that opens this set, John and band push the performance like Jim Brown about to break loose through the defensive line for a lengthy touchdown run. Singing about getting his mojo working against the irresistible groove sets the mood. Disease Called The Love has a melodic hook and a terrific lyric about breaking out in a cold sweat and what one has the doctor don’t know.
Fire Down Below is a hard rocker that to these ears evokes the sound of classic Rolling Stones without slavishly trying to imitate the Stones. Its more that Studebaker John and his rhythm conjure up some of the same spirit as Mick and Keith did decades ago. This flavor is also evident on Fine Little Machine, as he sings about all you need is a driver for your little machine and John will drive you better than anyone you have seen. The title song has a driving shuffle groove going as he talks about a few years back couldn’t turn on the radio but now that voodoo groove has a hold him and how we need some rockin’, old school rockin’ tonight while he lays down his guitar rhythm with a slightly distorted, fuzzy tone. It nice stuff and certainly he is right about his old school rockin’ driving one’s blues away.
Deal With the Devil includes some harmonica coloring over the droning slide guitar backing. Its followed by an insistent performance, I Stand Alone. Mesmerized, with a latin tinged groove and a lighter musical feel, has a nice guitar solo mixing slide with some Santana influenced guitar lines. Dark Night has harmonica overdubbed as well as guitar and displays how strongly he can set a mood. The closing Tumblin’ Down The Road puts his harmonica up front and adds to the musical variety here on a solid blues number.
Old School Rockin’ is gritty and blues infused and performed with the same conviction and honesty that have marked Studebaker John’s more traditionally rooted recordings. Whatever label one applies to Studebaker John’s performances here is irrelevant to the fact there is marvelous music here.
I received my review copy from Delmark Records. Here is a video of him performing.
Alto Saxophonist Jim Snidero has a new release “Interface” on Savant. The Maryland native brings together a group from the Baltimore-Washington area for this date that include guitarist Paul Bollenback with whom Snidero played often in the 80’s at the fabled DC club One Step Down. In addition to Bollenback, Snidero is joined by bassist Paul Gill and drummer McLenty Hunter. He has a pretty substantial body of recordings, and this is the second one in which he has employed a guitar as opposed to piano. In fact on half of the eight selections, Bollenback utilizes and acoustic guitar.
All eight compositions are Snidero’s originals opening with the title track, an original with a brisk tempo that displays the Snidero’s vocalized tone which is complimented by Bollenback’s chords and single note runs. Silhouette has a more contemplative flavor with softer attack employed by Snidero complimented by Bollenback’s adroit acoustic guitar. The playing is more extroverted on Fall Out, that suggests Jack DeJohnette’s Special Edition recordings. Bollenback’s chords and runs on this evokes John Abercombie.
Bollenback’s unaccompanied acoustic guitar intro sets the tone for the folkish One By One with Snidero’s alto lending to a bluesy feel with Hunter’s cymbal work adding subtle accents here. More acoustic guitar is present to compliment Snidero’s lead on a Bossa Nova, Apertivo, while the ensuing Viper ratchets up the energy level with Snidero’s a cappella intro has a middle east mood to it before stating the five-note theme over a vamp stated by Gill and Bollenback, with Gill taking a solo prior to some blistering playing from the leader, followed by a memorable acoustic guitar solo by Bollenback. After The Pain is a lovely performance of a blue ballad that Snidero composed shortly after his mother’s death and the tastefulness of Bollenback’s accompaniment who contributes his own thoughtful solo that maintains the mood.
Interface is an excellent recording that has intriguing compositions, and strong ensemble playing supporting the inventive and passionate playing by Snidero and Bollenback. It is a release that will have me seeking out more from these players.
This review was written for Jazz & Blues Report who provided me with the review copy.
Ruf Records has just issued a double CD set by Omar and the Howlers, Essential Collection. This is a career and label spanning compilation that covers the two or so decades of the recording career of Omar Dykes. The first of the two discs was compiled by Ruf while Omar himself selected the second of the two discs, producing over two hours of some choice music. He also proves some commentary on the songs he selected.
It has been easy to take Omar and the Howlers for granted, but from the opening moments of Magic Man, with its Bo Diddley groove, and dedicated to Omar’s fellow McComb, Mississippi native, through the acoustic rendering of Built For Comfort, with Magic Slim that closes the second disc, one is constantly impressed by Omar’s presence as a vocalist as well as his gritty blues guitar playing. His hoarse, husky vocals might be likened to that of Howlin’ Wolf although he is not one to try to imitate Wolf. At the same time his mix of string bending, single note runs and hard chords consistently stand out. Its also nice how he and the band can lay down a hot, rocking groove but not try to overwhelm us. Omar recognizes and makes use of the space between the notes played, letting the silence speak at times.
Certainly there is a rock flavor on much of this such as the kick-ass shuffle like Border Girl, but his rocking songs has his feet still planted in the blues. Hard Times in the Land of Plenty is a driving rocker with his message about some doing real well while others on the welfare line. The consistency over the thirty performances standout, as these recordings include some from his outstanding collaboration with jimmy Vaughan Jimmy Reed Highway, or his relaxed, expressive delivery of Oscar Brown’s lyrics to Nat Adderly’s Work Song, with David ‘Fathead’ Newman on saxophone. The latter number not only had him with one of his musical heroes but displayed his musical range as the tenor of his vocal is much different than Omar’s outrageous reworking of the Leiber-Stoller Alligator Wine which is a fine cover from the Screaming Jay Hawkins school book with some nice guitar as well along with some controlled frenzy. Then there is another rocker with the driving Bo Diddley beat, Do It For Daddy.
I have not listened to the entire body of recordings by Omar and the Howlers, and there may be some lesser songs he has recorded over the years. However, nothing on Essential Collection is less than first-rate making for an exceptional career retrospective and harbinger hopefully of much more of the same in the future.
I received my review copy from a publicist for the release. Here is an actual video for Hard Times in the Land of Plenty.
As part of its celebration of the 40th Anniversary of CTI Records, Sony has through the CTI Masterworks imprint reissued Freddie Hubbard’s First Light. First Light was a Grammy Award winning recording, and had Hubbard with a band that included drummer Jack DeJohnette, bassist Ron Carter, guitarist George Benson, pianist (acoustic and electric) Ricard Wyands, percussionist Airto Moreira along with a large orchestral horn and string section that included flautist Hubert Laws.
The title track certain is one of the high points here as it has some sparkling trumpet by the leader as well as some sizzling fretwork from Benson and flute from Laws with the orchestrated setting sweetening the sound to some extent in framing Hubbard’s playing with the music fading at the end. Following is a melodically rooted interpretation of Paul and Linda McCartney’s Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey. The arrangements are uncredited although likely are by Don Sebesky as this performance suggests similar pop-jazz recordings by Wes Montgomery. Guitarist Benson adds some interesting guitar set against Wyands electric piano.
There is a lovely rendition of the Mancini/Mercer standard Moment To Moment, followed by very appealing muted playing on a Don Sebesky/ Norman Martin plaintive ballad Yesterday’s Dreams. The initial release concluded with some atmospheric playing on Lonely Town from the musical On the Town. On this reissue there are a couple of bonus selections that were not on the original recording. Cedar Walton’s Fantasy in D (Polar AC) from the same sessions that produced this album with Hubbard and the rhythm section exhibiting a bit more fervor and rhythmic pulse with Laws taking a flighty solo before Hubbard takes this out soaring with some more fire in his playing.
This particular reissue of First Light concludes with a lengthy live performance of the title track from Detroit in 1973 with Eric Gales on guitar, DeJohnette, Carter and an uncredited electronic keyboard player (Wyands?) on an extended performance that provides a fuller display of Hubbard’s dazzling brilliance and range. Gales takes a solo that exhibits his blues-inflected playing and DeJohnette takes a brief solo before Hubbard leads everyone out.
There is plenty of Freddie Hubbard’s often dazzling trumpet to be heard here, although there are some that may not be fans of the orchestrated settings for his performances.
My review copy was provided by a publicist for this release.
The late Al King was one of those singular West Coast blues singers who never received the general acclaim his small body of recordings merited. In the later part of the last Century, Forevermore Records had the first reissue of King’s recordings for the Shirley and Sahara labels and followed by new recordings. Unfortunately, despite the excellence of his blues, both old and new, he passed away before he could capitalize on their release. King, real name was Al K. Smith, is best known for a couple of recordings with guitarist Johnny Heartsman. One was a terrific version of Lowell Fulson’s Reconsider Baby, while the other was the memorable Think Twice Before Your Speak, which Fulson is among those who subsequently recorded.
King was a veteran of the California music scene when he made these and other recordings, having recorded for such legendary record men as John Dolphin, Johnny Otis and Bob Geddins. He initially issued Think Twice on his own Flag label, and when a Buffalo Sahara Records wanted to order 2000 copies, he leased it to them and had a brief association with that label after the urban blues charted at a time when few blues entered the record charts. After his Sahara deal ended, he moved to Los Angeles where he signed with Kent-Modern records for sessions that were produced by the legendary Maxwell Davis. These recordings have been reissued by the English Ace label along with contemporaneous recordings by Arthur K Adams, Together: The Complete Kent and Modern Recordings.
The pairing of the two on a reissue makes sense, insofar as Adams was session guitarist for many of the blues productions Davis did in the late sixties for Kent-Modern records including sessions for B.B. King as well as Al King. Saxophonist Big Jay McNeely is mentioned in the liner notes as being on many sessions for Davis and the late Clifford Solomon remembered playing on sessions as well. The music tight with brassy horns and Adams throwing in sizzling guitar breaks. Al King himself was an outstanding singer as well as songwriter. A couple of lyrical fragments illustrate this. The opening My Name Is Misery, has this powerful verse,
“I don't have no money
And I can't even pay my rent
If you put a money dog on my trail
He wouldn't even scratch a scent.”
While his The Thrill Is Gone (set to the melody of “The Things I Used To Do”) has these lyrics,
“The thrill is gone
The thrill I used to have for you
The thrill is gone
The thrill I used to have for you
Now you're beggin' me to take you back
Lord, but ain't a darn thing I can do.”
He is stark about relationships on Aint Givin’ Up Nothin’, a hot shuffle where he sings about when one has friends one has plenty of friends but when one runs out of money, friendship ends, and things are a give or take situation, what do you have to offer to me with a booting tenor sax solo. Then with Adams playing hard chords against an insistent beat he sings that married life is all right, but sometimes it is Better To Be By Yourself, with Adams taking a relentless solo. It’s Getting Late, is a solid blues in a vein similar to contemporaneous Kent recordings by Lowell Fulson. Then there is “Get Lost” a diatribe against an ex-lover which incorporates the titles and lyrical fragments from his prior 45s as hAdams puts everything into his solo. The body of Al King’s Kent recordings is on the same level as his Shirley-Sahara recordings and thankfully these are now currently available from Ace as opposed to a hard-to-fine, expensive Japanese reissue.
While Al King was a veteran, guitarist Adams was a relative newcomer to the LA scene and his rhythm guitar helped beef up B.B. King’s recording of The Jungle. In fact, Arthur’s picture of him with a guitar was used for the cover of Kent’s album “The Jungle,” a fact I was unaware of until I read Tony Rounce’s notes in the accompanying booklet. He is represented by sessions from late 1966 or early 1967. She Drives Me Out Of My Mind, is a slow B.B. King style blues with a high tenor vocal that is not far removed from Ted Taylor with a touch of sixties Buddy Guy along with some real strong guitar playing. On the other hand, I’m Lonely For You, is more in the vein of the recordings of Impressions with a fine vocal and some nice guitar. A couple of duets with female singers are again more in a sixties soul than blues vein, but nicely done with Adams displaying a strong soulful singing style.
As Tony Rounce writes in the accompanying booklet, both King and Adams “deserved far better fame than these records bought them 40-odd years ago … .” While in some case, 45 rpm singles had to be used as opposed to the original tapes, sound is generally quite good and Ace’s packing and production is of its typical high level. The result is an important reissue of two powerful, if neglected blues artists (although thankfully Adams is still with us and continuing to make strong, original music).
This was a purchase. Here is Al King's recording of Ain't Givin' Up Nothin.
Here is a little bit of Arthur Adams in performance.
Jim Holman is an emerging pianist in Chicago’s vibrant jazz scene and Delmark has just issued his debut recording, Explosion! His father is a jazz pianist but it was Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock, as well as Bud Powell, Horace Silver and Bill Evans that left a deep impression on him growing up. After studying at the University of Pittsburgh, he returned to Chicago where with the recommendation of Ira Sullivan, leading to this debut recording. It is comprised of two quartet sessions; one of six tracks with tenor saxophonist Frank Catalano and the other four tracks with alto saxophonist Richie Cole. Each of the two sessions had a pair of piano trio selections.
Brian Sandstrom on bass and drummer Rusty Jones are heard on the first six selections which opens with the appropriately titled Explosion, by Catalano, with the composer’s fiery tenor sax taking the lead with some intense playing on this feverish tempo-ed number with Holman’s piano handling the tempo as well as displaying some nice dynamics. Cataldo sits out the trio’s rendition of Joe Henderson’s Recorda Me, with some nice playing, but one wishes the drummer was either a slight bit more restrained or was a bit down in the mix on this selection. Cataldo returns and lends a bluesy flavor to Somewhere Over the Rainbow, which is followed by the trio on a marvelous rendition of John Coltrane’s Lazy Bird, with Holman’s solo sparkling with his fluid playing and touch. On Bye Bye Blackbird, Cataldo opens with some honking sax flavor before providing an extroverted statement of the theme which leads into a lengthy, thoughtful melodic solo from Holman into which short drum breaks from Jones are interspersed before Catalano returns and gets really gritty while Holman adds accents with nicely selected chords.
At an earlier session, Richie Cole joined Holman (with Rick Shandling taking over the drum chair) for a solid rendition of Thelonious Monk’s Straight No Chaser, with the rhythm laying down a nice latin-tinged groove with Cole delighting with some quotes mixed in on his solo. Its followed by a lively version of Coltrane’s Moment’s Notice, and Holman’s display his ability to use space as well as his considerable technique here which has the bonus of Cole’s strong playing.
The trio is heard on the only Holman original, Bill. This performance, inspired by Bill Evans, has a flamenco tinge. Another trio performance, Herbie Hancock’s Cantaloupe Island, closes this CD. Explosion! is a solid debut for Jim Holman and suggests that he is a voice we will be hearing more from.
One of the latest recordings issued by the Music Maker Foundation is the debut of Shelton Powe, Carolina Blues and Gospel. While his earliest musical memories were the tent revival circuit with his family, as a youngster he immersed himself in the blues scene of Atlanta and mentored by the likes of Cora Mae Bryant, Neal Pattman, Cootie Stark and Frank Edwards. Over the years he has developed an extensive repertoire of songs and lyrics that he performs with a genial and ingratiating style with deft, fingerstyle guitar and relaxed vocals that convey a bit of the warmth of others in this East Coast style.
Songs cover both the secular realm as on the opening Stranger Blues, and the sacred one as heard on “Send Me,” with his firm rhythmic bass contrasting with his responsive use of the treble strings. His relaxed and agile fingerstyle playing is displayed on the instrumental Vestapol, where the melodic line suggests Robert Wilkins That’s No Way To Get Along/ Prodigal Son, while he plays slide guitar (suggestive of Fred McDowell) on Diving Duck Blues. He provides a personal interpretation of the traditional This Train, while he shows himself able on country blues harmonica on One Monkey Don’t Stop The Show, which complements his earnest singing. Down On Me is another performance on which his harmonica provides accompaniment (and another voice) to the vocal. “Buckdancer’s Choice is a fingerstyle instrumental in the vein of Etta Baker while he returns to slide guitar on his version of John Henry, where his slide accompaniment which also borrows a bit from Robert Wilkins’ afore-mentioned melody.
After a nice sacred When i Lay My Burden Down, with more nice slide guitar, he is joined by Drink Small who takes the lead on This Little Light of Mine, where Shelton adds vocal harmony and the guitar accompaniment. Shelton Powe may not be the next coming of Blind Boy Fuller or John Jackson, but he shows himself to be a very capable singer and musician rooted mostly in the traditions heard from Virginia down to Georgia.
I received this recording from the Music Maker Foundation in return for support I have provided the organization. The website of Music Maker Foundation is www.musicmaker.org, and there is information on Powe and this recording there. This video (on youtube) of Shelton performing is on his page at the Music Maker Foundation.
In celebration of Chris Barber’s 80th Birthday, Proper Records has compiled a double CD compilation of performances, Memories Of My Trip, that display how central a figure on the English music scene for six decades. The performances give a suggestion of the breadth of his musical interests which are centered around jazz, blues and skiffle. While several years ago there was a three CD series of primarily blues recordings from the 50s and 60s, the present compilation is more of a retrospective of some the many legendary and contemporary performers in performance with him. Barber himself provides recollections of the performers and the songs heard herein.
Opening is a Brownie McGhee recording from a Folkways recording of McGhee, that provides this compilation with its title, presenting McGhee’s fond recollections of his European travels with Chris and his traditional jazz band. McGhee, and his partner Sonny Terry, are heard on two selections with the traditional gospel number Do Lord, Do Remember Me. It is a spirited ensemble performance with Ottilie Patterson, Barber’s regular vocalist sharing the lead with Brownie. Weeping Willow is a recording of Barber on trombone with Eric Clapton taking the vocal and playing guitar. Muddy Waters and Pinetop Perkins can be heard on an enthusiastic rendition of Kansas City, with Muddy vigorously calling out for Chris. It is followed by a nice James Cotton performance backed by Alexis Korner on guitar and Chris on bass.
Rory Gallagher is heard playing slide and singing Muddy’s Can’t Be Satisfied, with just Barber’s bass and this is followed by Lonnie Donegan doing a raucous Diggin’ My Potatoes, backed by a full band. Barber traveled to Canada to play with Jeff Healey and His Jazz Wizards for a atmospheric blues Goin’ Up The River, with Barber singing and playing nice tailgate trombone along with the able support of Healey’s restrained guitar and trumpet. Van Morrison is heard on two nicely sung blues performances from a 1998 performance and a somewhat over-the-top vocal on Oh Didn’t He Ramble, from 1976 on a session that also included Dr. John. Ottilie Patterson herself was featured on Lonesome Road, while gospel legend Alex Bradford takes the lead on Couldn’t Keep To Myself where Chris and other band members provided the backing vocal chorus.
Traditional jazz with a New Orleans flavor is represented by selections by such important artists of the time as clarinetist Edmond Hall with a nice medley that included St. Louis Blues, and a brilliant version of the New Orleans jazz staple, High Society. Keith Emerson would be better known as a member of Emerson Lake and Palmer, but when he recorded Rock Candy in 1966, he was playing organ in the vein of Jack McDuff and Jimmy McGriff. Barber’s trombone spices up to this funky blues instrumental. A couple of selections feature former members of Louis Armstrong’s All Stars as Trummy Young brings his vocal and trombone (in addition to that of Chris) for Georgia On My Mind. Clarinetist Joe Darensbourg is heard on an intimate small group recording of a swing staple, “Rose Room.”
Another New Orleans clarinetist, Albert Nicholas, is spotlighted on the Ellington staple, “C-Jam Blues,” with lovely guitar from John Slaughter while Stu Morrison’s jangly banjo adds a clipped rhythmic flavor behind Nicholas’ very fluid playing. Eddie Durham was arranger for Count Basie and other bands, and one of the first jazz electric guitarists to record. He was also a trombonist of considerable capability and is featured on a blues that was called “Jack Teagarden Blues” after that famous trombonist.
After “Tailgate Boogie,” featuring the piano of Sammy Price, the CDs close with performances with Jools Holland and Mark Knopfler (of Dire Straits fame). Holland’s rendition of Jelly Roll Morton’s “Winin’ Boy Blues” is a marvelous rendition of this classic. Knopfler is on an appealing low-key rendition of The Delmore Brothers’ “Blues Stay Away From Me,“ with some lovely trombone from Barber along with a lovely updating of the Dallas String Band’s ”Dallas Rag” that opens with some nice picking from Knopfler. Pat Halcox’s trumpet is also quite nice here. These are very amiable performances that conclude a varied and entertaining release. Memories Of My Trip is Chris Barber’s own musical capsule of a musical life well lived.
My review copy was provided by a publicist for the recording. Here is a video of Chris Barber.
Alan Govenar’s 2010 biography, Lightnin’ Hopkins: His Life and Blues (Chicago Review Press) detailed the career of one of the true blues legends. Issued in England on Ace Records around the time the biography was published was a double CD release of Hopkins’ recordings, “His Blues” that describes itself as a soundtrack to Govenar’s biography. It contains 44 selections from his earliest session for Aladdin Records with Wilson “Thunder” Smith on piano to 1969 sessions for Vault and Arhoolie.
The first disc covers 26 recordings from 1947-1959 and opens with the highly charged Lightnin’s Boogie, with spirited guitar boogie playing behind his forceful vocal and followed by another guitar boogie Jake Head Boogie, which is a slightly bit more restrained but again exhibits some of his trademark guitar runs he would employ over the next several decades of recordings. Katie Mae Blues is from his initial session with Thunder Smith’s piano joining Hopkins acoustic guitar and dry vocal, while Shotgun Blues, was a prototypical slow blues from Hopkins with his whisky coated vocals matched by his responsive single note guitar runs and echoes of this can be heard on his reworking of Sonny Boy Williamson’s Sugar Mama Blues. Other highlights on this first disc include his reworking of Funny Paper Smith’s Howlin’ Wolf Blues, the lively boogie reworking of Tampa Red’s salacious Play With Your Poodle, with terrific guitar; Zolo Go on which he plays organ to imitate an accordion as he sings about going to a zydeco dance; “Tim Moore’s Farm,” his first recording on the infamous Texas farm owner who mistreated his black workers; Short-Haired Woman a theme he would return to about not wanting any woman whose hair was shorter than his; Give Me Central 209, which was a hit for him; and the wild electric guitar instrumental “Hopkins’ Sky Hop.” The material derives from a variety of labels including Aladdin, Gold Star, RPM, Sittin’ In With, Decca, Herald, TNT and Tradition. “Ain’t No Monkey Man” is a previously unissued Specialty recording by Hopkins. This gives a pretty solid overview of Hopkins’ recordings for the commercial rhythm and blues market.
The second disc covers the period when Hopkins was discovered by the folk and blues revivals. Not that it ignores recordings made for the commercial market (Mojo Hand recorded for Bobby Robinson’s Fire label). The majority of the selections derive from recordings made by Mack McCormick for Prestige Bluesville or Chris Strachwitz for Arhoolie. Many were recorded in Hopkins’ hometown of Houston, while others in New York or California. Hopkins ability to spin a topical blues is illustrated by Happy Blues For John Glenn, with pianist Buster Pickens and bass and drums while for Arhoolie he recorded a lively Back at the Chicken Shack, with just drummer Spider Kilpatrick. A trio of topical blues included a new rendition of Tom Moore Blues and Slavery Time, and three live recordings are also heard including a Newport Folk Festival performance of Trouble in Mind. One disappointing aspect of this second disc is that it does not include several songs that would become staples of Hopkins’ performances such as Mr. Charlie, with his lengthy spoken introduction and stuttering effects in his vocals as well as Back Door Friend, his personalized rendition of a Tony Hollins recording. Given the limitations of two CDs, I might have substituted one or both for some of the Bluesville and Arhoolie recordings. This is not to fault the music, but rather indicate that it does not fully represent Hopkins’ repertoire or recordings.
Sound is generally quite good and full discographical information is provided. Alan Govenar’s liner notes use a timeline derived from his biography in which he discusses Hopkins’ life as well as the included recordings. It is perhaps unfortunate that their were a few significant omissions (at least to these ears) of the more recent recordings, but still this is a real good distillation of some of the best Lightnin’ Hopkins and a worthy soundtrack to the excellent Govenar biography.
This was a purchase. Here is Lightnin' performing Mojo Hand.
One can certainly appreciate the work of Tim Duffy and the Music Maker Foundation. The Foundation’s efforts to assist and promote mostly southern rural musicians certainly have benefited a number of musicians. They have also made available recordings by a number of artists, although these vary considerably in quality. North Carolina bluesman John Dee Holeman is one of the artists that has fallen under the Music Makers Recordings umbrella with his latest CD, You Got to Lose, You Can’t Win All the Time.
Holeman, a veteran Piedmont bluesman who learned from Blind Boy Fuller, has been honored by the National Endowment of the Arts with a Heritage Fellowship. This album was produced by Zeke Hutchins, who plays with country artist Tift Merritt, and essentially has him mostly reworking a variety of down home blues standards from the pens of Muddy Waters, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Sleepy John Estes, Memphis Minnie and Lowell Fulson. While credited to Holeman, the title track is a slowed down version of an Ike Turner song that was recorded for Cobra with Tommy Hodge handling the vocal. In additions to Hutchins, others heard in the backing band include Duffy and Cool John Ferguson on guitars, and Slewfoot on harp. Several tracks have backing vocals.
This is at times entertaining but oftentimes somewhat anonymous, down-home flavored performances of the songs. This type of small group down home blues deriving from the recordings of the likes of Muddy Waters and Lightning Hopkins has been done more compellingly by the likes of Lightnin’ Slim on Excello or Louisiana Red for a variety of labels over the years. Proceeds of this does support the Foundation’s worthy efforts, but otherwise this only gets a reserved recommendation. For more on the Music Maker Foundation and its various programs and recordings, check www.musicmaker.org.
This review originally appeared in the August 2008Jazz & Blues Report(Issue 307) and I likely received my review copy from Music Maker Foundation. Incidentally there are several other recordings by Holeman available from the Music Maker Foundation so check out their website. Here is a video of him performing When Things Go Wrong.
The eldest son of the legendary Muddy Waters, Mud Morganfield was originally given a drum set by his father when he was 7, and began singing in the early 1980s, but it was not until 2005 when Mary lane coaxed him on stage that he started treated music as his profession in a serious fashion. Appearing at the 2007 Chicago Blues Festival led to interest in him similar top that of his younger brother Big Bill Morganfield. He has had some earlier recordings, but now he has a new recording, Son of the Seventh Son, produced by Bob Corritore on Severn Records that should help take his recognition and career to the next level.
Backing Morganfield’s vocals are guitarists Rick Kreher and Billy Flynn, pianist Barrelhouse Chuck (Goering); bassist E.G. McDaniel with Kenny ‘Beedy Eyes’ Smith on drums. Producer Corritore and Harmonica Hinds share the harmonica duties for these February 2011 recordings. With the exception of a couple covers of Muddy Waters recordings and originals by Studebaker John Grimaldi and Billy Flynn, Mud Morganfield contributed originals and the performances are pretty much in his father’s style.
From the opening notes of the reworking of J.T. Brown’s Short Dress Woman, to his own Blues In My Shoes, celebrating his father’s legacy, Mud Morganfield evokes his legendary father. The performances are solid blues in the style of his father and the backing band does a solid job or evoking the Muddy Waters Band sound of the mid-sixties through the end of Waters’ celebrated career. This is a solid band that sounds so at home playing in the style of Waters.
Mud may not quite match his father’s style, but he comes close. The level of the performances are solid throughout although several stand out including the opening reworking of his father’s recording of Short Dress Woman, Studebaker John’s Son of the Seventh Son, the amusing Catfishing, (where he goes all the way to the bottom because that’s where all the fat cats go) on which Barrelhouse Chuck is on organ and Harmonica Hinds is on harp, and Health on which Corritore shines in his harp accompaniment as Mud strongly sings about having money and fame don’t mean anything if one does not have good health. The playing is strong throughout and certainly captures the flavor of Muddy Waters recordings from the seventies. I am not sure who takes the guitar solo on Loco Motor, but the guitarist does a good job of evoking Jimmy ‘Fast Finger’ Dawkins in his guitar solo.
As suggested, Mud does a strong job of conjuring up his late father’s blues and the backing band certainly contributes to the overall feel of this band. Certainly if there can be “Blues Brothers” tribute bands, the eldest son of one of the greatest blues artists can do his part in keeping his father’s sound alive, especially when he contributes a number of strong originals that he ably performs. While he may not be an original performer, Mud Morganfield certainly is keeping his legendary father’s sound alive, supported by an excellent band. The result is a release sure to interest fans of his father’s classic Chicago blues.
I received my review copy from Severn Records. Here Mud plays his father's Mannish Boy.
A project conjured by vocalist Roseanna Vitro and pianist/arranger Kenny Werner, the Delirium Blues Project is succinctly described by producer Jeff Levenson as ”a celebration of the blues as the basis of much popular music.” Anyway, they spent a week in August, 2007 at New York’s Blue Note and this living recording, Serve or Suffer (Half Note), was the result.
In addition to Vitro and Werner, the Delirium Blues Project features a genuine all-star horn line-up of Randy Brecker, trumpet; James Carter, tenor sax; Ray Anderson, trombone; Geoff Countryman, baritone sax; Adam Rogers, guitar; John Patitucci, acoustic and electric bass; and Rocky Bryant, drums. Bringing together the marvelous Werner arrangements with Vitro’s singing and the terrific musicians, one has a intriguing recording that provides a different take on some blues and bluesy material.
While horn dominated one should not short-change the fine playing of guitarist Rogers, yet the real musical fireworks are provided by Brecker, Carter and Anderson. The material is fresh from the opening piece of jive, What Is Hip, followed by a Tracy Nelson number, Goodnight Nelda Grebe, The Telephone Company Has Cut Us Off, with a fine vocal (Nelson was an influence on Vitro) and a choice Brecker solo. Blue is an indigo ballad with a marvelous solo from Carter while he apparently is on soprano with some serpentine playing behind the vocal on Joni Mitchell’s Be Cool, with Rogers employing a bluesy tone on his solo. Lil Green’s In the Night, may be the most familiar number here but Patitucci’s bass is the sole accompaniment for Vitro’s intimate vocal.
A funk groove underlies the rendition of Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham’s ‘Cheater Man,’ on which Vitro takes a wordless solo, while on Mose Allison’s Everybody’s Cryin’ Mercy, Ray Anderson growling plunger mute work would make Tricky Sam Nanton proud. Most of the players get to stretch out on the closing, Don't Ever Let Nobody Drag Your Spirit Down, a tune by Eric Bibb, C. Hoglund and Maria Muldaur, whose bass line is a cousin to Green Onion/ Help Me.
This is the type of band that Al Kooper wishes he could have had thirty odd years ago with the original Blood Sweat & Tears while the sophistication of the music also suggests Steely Dan. One hopes that this aggregation was more than a one-shot deal, as this resulting recording whets the appetite for more delirium.
This review originally appeared in the July 2008 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 306) and I likely received my review copy from that publication. Here is Ms. Vitro and Kevin Mahogany singing Blue Monk.
The duo/band Scissormen is comprised of the vocals and guitars of Ted Drozdowski and the drums of R. L. Hulsman and have been laying down their North Mississippi Hill Country inspired blues for several years including having made several recordings. Now under the imprint of the VizzTone Label Group, Scissormen have a combined CD/DVD release, Big Shoes: Walking and Talking the Blues. The CD is a live concert recorded at the Key Palace Theatre in Redkey, Indiana, while the DVD is a Robert Mugge produced film that intersperses the concert performances with a slide guitar workshop at Indianapolis’ Slippery Noodle Inn and an appearance at Cleveland, Ohio’s Beachland Ballroom.
Drozdowski is a music journalist as well as a musician with a defining moment when he became acquainted with some of the musicians of the Hill Country such as R.L. Burnside, Junior Kimbrough and Jessie Mae Hemphill (becoming acquainted with the latter after her stoke curtailed her music making career). The musicians and their songs shaped Drozdowski and his approach that although his playing perhaps rocks a bit wilder than those of his influences. But from them he learned to tell a story through the songs and his playing and he also realizes that he isn’t an academic recreating past musical glories, but uses his personalized adaptation of the style of RL Burnside especially to forge his own musical vision, aided by Hulsman’s very adept support, at time just pounding the groove and at other times adding a parade type rhythmic counterpoint.
The songs are mostly originals by Drozdowski (a few with Hulsman) with one direct cover with several benefiting from spoken introductions that help set the mood. If not as compelling a singer as his musical idols, Drozdowski more than an able one who performs with style, dynamism and a subtlety that may not always be obvious. The recording opens with the title track where Drozdowski tells about when asked about his right to play the blues, it’s a free country, but he is going to do it his own way to fit his own big shoes. Without going into a track by track listing, I should mention some highpoints which include the brooding slow blues The Devil Is Laughing, inspired by R.L. Burnside; the rollicking cover of Burnside’s Jumper On The Live; Tupelo which sounds inspired from a brooding John lee Hooker blues on the flooding of Tupelo, Mississippi that mixes contemplative moments with others marked by hard driving slide as he chants ‘didn’t it rain, oh lord”; Jessie Mae his loving remembrance of Jessie Mae Hemphill; and Whiskey and Maryjane, which he needs to cure his pain that is a hard rocking number.
I had the pleasure of seeing Scissormen and the CD captures the energy and passion of their live performances quite adeptly. The DVD is a fascinating mix of concert film that give a sense of their showmanship in addition to musical skill as well as the folks operating the venues they are seen performing at. So we have Drozdowski chatting with the owner of the Key Theater and including a discussion of the replica plantation cabins constructed to house traveling musicians; learning about the Slippery Noodle’s history as well as see him walking out to the audience, playing slide with a beer can while laying on a chair and more. There are nuggets that can be drawn out of the interview segments, but the video of performances are the real treasure of the DVD of Robert Mugge’s latest film. Certainly the combination of CD and DVD makes this quite an attractive package of the music of a duo that is doing its best to provide their own interpretation of this aspect of the blues tradition. Scissormen certainly fit their own Big Shoes on this dynamic recording and video.
I received a review copy from a publicist for the release. Here is a video of Scissormen.
The availability of some live Swedish performances by Charlie Parker on CD, ‘Charlie Parker & Arne Domnerus in Sweden - November, 22, 1950, (OKTAV), certainly is welcome. Parker is heard with a fine Swedish Band that does not sound intimidated playing with him. Trumpeter Rolf Erickson is especially noteworthy with his brash, fat-toned solo on Cheers. Parker is also heard on Anthropology, Lover Man, and a nice arrangement of Cool Blues. He is in fine form and the band acquits itself well.
Three other tracks feature the same band with a Swedish Parker disciple, Arne Domnerus. Opening with ‘Fine and Dandy, which some will remember as the theme of The Bugs Bunny Show, Domnerus shows quite a bit of Parker’s influence although perhaps a little bit of Lester Young’s style mixed in. Out of Nowhere, was a staple of Parker’s repertoire and nicely done by the Swedes here and I imagine Parker enjoyed hearing these musicians who obviously not only idolized him but displayed their musical indebtedness to him.
It should be noted that this November 22, 1950 recording from Marno, Sweden clocks in at under 40 minutes, but that is the only negative one can raise about it.
This review originally appeared in the July 2008 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 306) and I likely received my review copy from that publication.
Small’s Live, the label associated with the Greenwich Village Jazz venue Small’s has issued several new CDs, one of which is Joel Frahm Quartet’s Live at Smalls. Tenor saxophonist Frahm is joined by guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, bassist Joe Martin and drummer Otis Brown III (although the cover lists him as playing piano, he is pictured behind his drum set.
Recorded the weekend of February 28 and March 1, 2011, the album consists of five Frahm originals and interpretations of Billy Strayhorn’s Chelsea Bridge and Charlie Parker’s Steeplechase. I have been impressed by what I have heard by him in the past and was not surprised by the blues-drenched opener Short Rack that is in the spirit of some of the great instrumentals by the likes of Hal ‘Cornbread’ Singer and King Curtis with Rosenwinkel a nice solo foil for Frahm’s strong blues tenor.
It was some varied music at Smalls that weekend with interesting compositions such as A Little Extra with an unusual time signature followed by the groove inflected What’s You Beat? that includes some surprising twists and turns as the performance unfolds with Rosenwinkel’s guitar outstanding on this. Chelsea Bridge features some lovely playing from Frahm and the closing rendition of Steeplechase gives it a imaginative arrangement with Rosenwinkel opening up with an discursive solo followed by the leader’s spirited exploration of the theme.
As typical with Smalls Live recordings, sound in quite good and enhanced by the simple presentation with the black and white photography of Michelle Watt who also designed the cover in the attractive format of recordings on the label. This is another excellent album of contemporary jazz performances. Like other recordings in this series, it likely will have some look forward to visiting Small’s when in New York City.
This was a purchase. Here is Joel Frahm among a group performing at Small's.
I was not familiar with vocalist Nicolas Bearde prior to receiving a copy off his new CD, Live at Yoshi’s: A Salute to Lou (Right Groove). Bearde is a multi-talented gentleman who as a vocalist is a member of Bobby McFerrin’s world renowned and innovative a cappella vocal ensemble, “Voicestra,” since the 1980s as well as his own solo career. He also is an actor who has appeared on radio plays with Danny Glover, on such TV series as “Monk” and “Nash Bridges,” and movies like “Pacific Heights,” and “True Crimes.”
He started his Right Groove label, and this is his third CD, based on the Tribute to Lou Rawls, he has been presenting around the country, showcasing a variety of songs associated with the late great soul/jazz vocalist along with a bit of Bill Withers and Max Roach/Abbey Lincoln (I am paraphrasing his website on this point). This live recording at Yoshi’s, the fabled Oakland jazz club, has him backed by a terrific, swinging quartet of saxophonist Charles McNeal; pianist Glenn Pearson; bassist Nelson Braxton; and drummer Jason Lewis.
The mood is set with the opening Roach/Lincoln song, Living Room. He is a marvelous singer, reminiscent perhaps more of a Joe Williams than the deeper voiced Rawls, although like both the blues is part of his performing foundation. He nicely handles “Girl from Ipanema, as well as Lady Love, one of Rawls hits during the disco era which here is turned into a samba-tinged number.
As good as the band is, this listener found saxophonist McNeal especially marvelous behind the vocals and his solos. And like Rawls and Williams, Bearde shines on ballads like The Shadow of Your Smile. The center of this disc is Oscar Brown’s World of Trouble and Lou’s Medley, where Bearde revives Rawls classics including This Song Will Last Forever, Love is a Hurtin’ Thing, I Want to Be Tobacco Road, and You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine. A vigorous rendition of the Eddie Miller penned blues, I’d Rather Drink Muddy Water, concludes this excellent set.
Bearde brings warmth, soul and personality to these performances which certainly provide a memorable tribute to one of the great vocalists of the past few decades. This is available on itunes and from cdbaby.com among other sources. His website is www.nicolasbearde.com.
This review originally appeared in the August 2008 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 307) and I believe the publication supplied the review copy. While not from Yoshi's, here Nicolas Bearde performs I’d Rather Drink Muddy Water.
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