Evan Christopher & David Torkanowsky Live at Luthjen's

Evan Christopher & David Torkanowsky
Live at Luthjen's

I have been a fan of clarinet wizard Evan Christopher for many years. This live recording at the New Orleans venue, Luthjen's, pairs him with the highly regarded pianist David Torkanowsky. I had the pleasure to see them some years ago as part of a band backing Germaine Bazzle that included Jason Marsalis on vibes. This set of duets is a thoroughly captivating set of performances of classic jazz songs and originals that showcase their instrumental talents and the empathy they have for each other.

The bluesy, velvety tone pf Christopher's clarinet is matched by Torkanowsky's sleet, fluid piano playing that ranges from traditional jazz to bop-accented. The performances are often imaginative as what starts out as a wistful rendition of "Way Down Yonder In New Orleans" segues into a choro-inspired interpretation. On "Sid's Biz," which I believe is inspired by Sidney Bechet, Christopher's spirited playing is supported by Torkanowsky channeling the spirits of Professor Longhair and James Booker. A wonderfully paced "Make Me a Pallet on the Floor" showcases Christopher's singing playing while "Rollin' the Jent" sounds like a boisterous reworking of "Ballin' the Jack." Then there is the beguiling "Melody For Jaco," with the woody clarinet tone complemented by a delicate piano backing.

Among the other performances is a reflective "Jitterbug Waltz," and a hauntingly beautiful rendition of Billy Strayhorn's "A Flower is a Lonesome Thing." It was a marvelous evening of music at Luthjen's, the evening this was recorded as can be heard from the audience applause. Its availability is very welcome. It is available as a download from Bandcamp, https://evan-christopher-clarinet-road.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-luthjens, and as a CD from the Louisiana Music Factory (louisianamusicfactory.com). Evan Christopher's website is www.clarinetroad.com.

I purchased this recording as a download. Here the two perform "Jitterbug Waltz."

Scott Ramminger Do What Your Heart Says To

Scott Ramminger
Do What Your Heart Says To
Arbor Lane Music

What a pleasure it is to have a new CD from Mid-Atlantic saxophonist-singer-songwriter Scott Ramminger that is full of the bluesy, roots-rock gumbo with a heavy dash of New Orleans flavor. Backing Ramminger is a Crescent City studio band of David Torkanowsky on keyboards; Shane Theriot on guitar; George Porter on bass; and Doug Belote on drums, with Roland Guerin replacing Porter and Johnny Vidacovich replacing Belote on two tracks. Trombones and trumpet with Ramminger provide a full horn section and there are guest vocalists supporting Scott that include Tommy Malone, Bekka Bramlett, Francine Reed, The McCrary Sisters, Janiva Magness and Roddie Romero (who plays accordion on one track).

Scott writes good songs, full of humor and a perspective on the affairs of the heart and sings in an appealing, natural, rustic style. He also adds fluent, idiomatic big-toned sax to these selections backed by the stellar rhythm section. The album gets off with a New Orleans funk groove of "Living Too Fast" as he tells his tale about this woman with brains, looks and the like who poured his bottle into the ocean, cigarettes in the trash, coming to the conclusion Scott was living too fast (with Malone adding harmony), and while on May 1 he thought she was the one, by Labor Day she had extinguished all his fun with a booting sax solo and some New Orleans piano from Torkanowsky. With Bekka Bramlett adding support, "Someone New To Disappoint," is a nice hard rock number with Scott as someone who won't be changed so he is looking for someone else to disappoint. On the title track Scott deals with being battered by a lover, and sometimes instead of using one's brain, one should "Do What Your Heart Says To," with him taking another booting sax solo followed by Torkanowsky with some idiomatic Crescent City piano and Francine Reed on backing vocal.

Scott's has taken a beating and has not slept since she left and he's "Hoping That The Sun Won't Shine," with Bekka Bramlett supporting his vocal and Scott playing baritone as well as tenor sax on this blue ballad. "Winter Is Always Worse" is a strong slow performance that opens with some sizzling guitar from Theriot while "Get Back Up," with Guerin and Vidacovich, gets into a funk groove as he sings about getting back up when dealing with life throws at you while The McCrary Sisters add vocal backing and a short trombone break is followed by some deep in the gut baritone sax, guitar and chicken fried organ. Janiva Magness guests backing Scott on the easy rocking shuffle "It's Hard To Be Me," as Scott sings about his trouble and coming up with these lies and make up stories to hold on to a love.

"Off My Mind" is another solid slow blues while "My Girl For Life," is a swamp pop styled ballad. Roddie Romero's accordion lends a Tex-Mex accent to the rock and roll groove of "Stubborn Man," with honking sax, brief blistering guitar, and hot piano to take this  and the album to a rollicking close. Like he has done on his excellent prior recordings, Scott has produced some seriously entertaining music with plenty of substance. He writes real good songs, is a most engaging singer and a strong saxophonist who backs himself with some stellar players. The result is another helping of real fine musical gumbo.

A publicist provided me with the review copy. Here is a video of Scott performing at a CD release party.

Scott Ramminger's Wise Fatherly Advice

Washington DC area saxophonist and vocalist Scott Ramminger impressed with his debut CD Crawstickers. It was full of good songs, strong bands and Ramminger’s strong saxophone playing and vocals. He has followed this up with a new recording Advice From a Father to a Son (Arbor Lane) that builds on the strengths of the earlier recording to produce a collection of performances that will satisfy both dancers and listeners. The album was recorded both in New Orleans (the first seven tracks) and the Washington DC area (last three). The New Orleans tracks have Ramminger’s tenor and baritone saxophones joined by David Torkanowsky on keyboards, Shane Theriot on guitar,   George Porter Jr. on bass, and Johnny Vidacovich on drums, The Washington, DC tracks include Tommy Lepson on organ, Dave Chappell on guitar, Jay Turner on bass and Barry Hart on drums. Nashville’s McCrary Sisters as well as DC’s Patty Reese are amongst those adding background vocals making for a strong cast of those supporting Scott on this.

Scott is a triple threat. He is a vocalist who brings warmth, depth of feeling, and humor, an able saxophonist who plays solidly in the vein of a Lee Allen or Red Tyler and a songwriter whose ability to craft songs together is quite notable. Without going through a detailed analysis of every track, a few highlights of the varied songs heard here include the opening I Love Your Smile, a song dealing with his wife’s many qualities (the clothes she wears, her derriere, fine sense of style, and he really loves her smile) with rollicking New Orleans piano from David Torkanowsky; a duet with Regina McCrary, The Other Man’s Shoes, with a message that folks should look beyond their own narrow views and try to see things from the view of the other man’s views with some striking guitar as well as a nicely shaped and clean-toned solo from Ramminger.

The title song which provides advice include that one be careful of a man in white shoes when buying a car; be generous to people who have less; eat more salad than you need; check your oil when buying gas; if go to an old girlfriend’s wedding try not to act like an ass; and don’t forget to call your mother, her love is second to none; enjoy everyday like it might be your last; advice from a father to a son, set to a lively second-line groove with a nice trumpet solo from Vince McCool; and the closing Sometimes You Race With The Devil, with a nice reggae groove and solid playing by the DC area studio group. This song recently took the Gold Award (the top honor) in the vocal blues/jazz category of the 2012 Mid-Atlantic Songwriting Contest.

The remaining performances stand out in a similar fashion. About Scott’s earlier album, Crawstickers, I observed that it was seriously entertaining with plenty of substance in the performances. With Advice From a Father To a Son, Scott has produced an another excellent  rich musical gumbo that is certain to delight a wide audience.

I received this from a publicist.  Here is Scott performing Crawsticker at the Surf Club, the late, fondly remembered DC area venue.

The Blind Boys Down in New Orleans

A new release by The Blind Boys of Alabama, Down in New Orleans (Time-Life) has the legendary gospel singers in the Crescent City where they are backed by a terrific trio of David Torkanowsky on piano, Roland Guerin on bass and Shannon Powell on drums along with guest appearances by the Hot 8 Brass Band, Allen Toussaint and The Preservation Hall Jazz Band. 

Mixing in gospel classics like Free at Last, You Got to Move, and I’ll Fly Away with secular positive message songs like the late Earl King’s Make a Better World, the group continues to move the heart with the sheer conviction an awe-inspiring vocals of Clarence Fountain, Jimmy Carter and the others. Certainly even if their voices have some raspiness from age, it is not rust and delivering How I Got Over, the vocals send chills through the listener.

 The Preservation Hall Jazz Band can be heard backing them on Across the Bridge, Uncloudy Day and Down By the Riverside, on which Allen Toussaint adds some gospel funk piano. Toussaint also is heard on the fine If I Could Help Somebody, while the Hot 8 enliven Make a Better World as well as the exhilarating rendition of I’ll Fly Away, that closes this CD that is another marvelous addition to the Blind Boys extensive discography. 

This review originally appeared in the February 2008 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 301). I believe I received a review copy from a publicist. Here are the Blind Boys with the Dirty Dozen Brass band at Tipitina's Uptown.

The New Orleans C.A.C. Jazz Orchestra Has A Mood Indigo

Often forgotten in Rounder Records recordings of New Orleans music in the 1980s and 1990s was the fact they did some straight ahead jazz recordings that are well worth noting. The following review of The New Orleans C.A.C. Jazz Orchestra appeared in the August 1998 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 230). I likely received a review copy from Rounder.

In 1996, Pianist David Torkanowsky put together a big band, The New Orleans C.A.C. Jazz Orchestra, with some of the Crescent City’s greatest musicians and fronted them with three of the city’s pre-eminent singers, George French, Germaine Bazzle and Johnny Adams. Its a band that includes Herlin Riley on drums, Nicholas Payton on trumpet, and Ed Peterson, Wessell Anderson and Victor Goines on reeds. They have a recording, Mood Indigo on Rounder. The band is heard on a variety of standards from such pens as Duke Ellington, Hoagy Carmichael, Cole Porter and Percy Mayfield. It is refreshing to hear three distinct vocal styles backed by this swinging aggregation. George French’s take on Don’t Get Around Much Anymore has a sophisticated and relaxed flavor that brings Joe Williams to mind, which is reinforced by his rendition of Carmichael’s New Orleans, a song this writer is familiar with from the sixty five year old recording by Bennie Moten’s Kansas City Orchestra that included Count Basie and Jimmy Rushing. On Sometimes I’m Happy, Germaine Bazzle provides a contrasting style as she phrases the lyrics in a staccato fashion, as if playing the lyrics on a trumpet. On the mid-tempo Ellington blues, I‘m Just a Lucky So and So, Bazzle in contrast caresses the lyric, singing in a legato fashion. On her last feature, Porter’s I Love Paris, Nicholas Payton is heavily featured with some hard bop trumpet. Adams, sings very cleanly and precisely on Percy Mayfield’s Lost Mind, a staple of his repertoire, and on which he contributes a mouth trombone solo. The three join together on Mood Indigo, opening with three-part harmony with Bazzle taking the vocal lead on parts with some exquisite trombone solos from John Touchy and Mark Mullins, two persons this writer is unfamiliar with. The recording closes with the three trading lyrics on a medley of Everyday I Have the Blues (featuring Bazzle), Stormy Monday (featuring French), and Not Trustworthy (featuring Adams on another Percy Mayfield lyric) that closes with the three singers each delivering their chosen lyric.

Irma Thomas' The Story of My Life

In addition to posting current reviews of recordings, you know I also post reviews I have written for publications for five and more years ago. Today’s review is from 15 years ago and appeared in the April 1997 Jazz & Blues Report (issue 220 and likely was also published in the DC Blues Calendar which I edited for the DC Blues Society for nearly 20 years. I noted that I have not posted any of my Irma Thomas reviews, so this is in part to rectify that. Irma’s recording career has slowed down in recent years but the Soul Queen of New Orleans remains a national treasure.  For her seventh album for the Rounder label, The Story of My Life, Irma Thomas is backed by a stunning band of Crescent City stalwarts - bassist George Porter, drummer Raymond Weber, and pianist David Torkanowsky, along with guitarist Michael Toles plus horns and backing vocal choruses on several selections. Scott Billington who produced this one with Thomas, arranged for the songwriting team of Dan Penn, Jonnie Barnett and Carson Whitsett to contribute some songs, and there is new (or at least unfamiliar) material from Dawn Thomas, Sarah Brown and Lisa Mednick, and Allen Toussaint before Thomas closes with a very strong reading of Aretha’s recording of Dr. Feelgood. The album has its share of Crescent City grooves on the opening funked up blues, No Use Talking, and the second line rhythm underlying her boost of independence, I Won’t Cry For You (from the afore-mentioned trio of Penn, Barnett and Whitsett). Dawn Thomas’ song, which gives the album its title, is a more straight-forward modern R&B ballad, while Love Don’t Get No Better Than This is an uptempo celebration of romance that Thomas delivers with an assurance that her decades of performing have given her. This is also evident on her soulful delivery of the mournful Hold Me While I Cry, which has a tasty tenor sax break from Charles Elam III, who also duets her on the ballad Get Here. The liner notes speak about Thomas’ frustration with being treated as a oldies act due to her classic songs from the early sixties, but this is simply the latest Rounder recording that illustrates just how wonderful a vocalist she is, and the mix of blues, New Orleans, soul and some pop elements make for a most delicious musical stew. I likely received a review copy from Rounder back in 1997. This should still be relatively easy to find. While not from this album, here is Irma singing one of the songs she is known for, even if many more know the Rolling Stones version.

Maria Muldaur's New Release Displays Her Mature Soulfulness

Steady Love (Stony Plain) is the new release by Maria Muldaur and finds the soulful singer backed by a group of New Orleans musicians under the leadership of keyboard master David Torkanowsky. In addition to Torkanowsky, the backing band is Shane Theriot on guitar, Johnny Allen on bass and Kenny Blevins on drums, with Shannon Powell taking the drum chair on four tracks as well as among those adding background vocals with Rick Vito adding slide guitar to a track and Jimmy Carpenter and Ian Smith add horns to the title track. On a cover of Please Send Me Someone To Love, a band including guitarist Mighty Mike Schermer is present.

Muldaur's voice has aged and has a husky quality and body that lends an authority to the vocals. Her voice is certainly different from the younger singer who projected an innocence, yet seductiveness, on Midnight at the Oasis. David Torkanowsky has provided settings to enhance her vocals here. The band plays strongly throughout and the backing vocals at times lend a gospel flavor to some of the performances, some of which like the traditional " Done Made It In My Mind (to serve God until I die), Rev. W. H. Brewster's As An Eagle Stirreth In her Nest, and Stephen Bruton's Walk By Faith, are spiritual in message whereas other songs find her give an uplifting dimension to lyrics such as on the opening I'll Be Glad, as she sings about bad luck and suffering and being tired of living in this world of hurt and she will be so glad when she gets her groove back on.

Then there is her nice rendition of the late Bobby Charles' classic on backbiting so-called "friends," Why Are People Like That? In contrast, she gets sassy for the strutting groove of Soulful Dress, which contrasts with Greg Brown's Blues Go Walking, which has a country soul feel. Rain Down Tears is a strong blues performance with an interesting melodic twist that guitarist Arthur Adams and Will Jennings penned. Get You Next To Me, finds Maria singing about standing on the corner, cell phone in her hand while wanting her man to call her number as she can't wait until she gets her man next to her. Greg Brown also penned the title track with a bit more urban flavor (and a reggae feel to the rhythm).

Rick Zito's I Am Not Alone, is another spiritual affirmation. Zito's marvelous slide guitar and the arrangement lend this song the tenor of an updated Blind Willie Johnson song and puts a close to this exemplary recording that showcases the maturity that has come to Maria Muldaur's performances. Recommended.

I received this from a publicist for the label