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November
2005
Jack de Keyzer Silver Blue Blue Star 2504
In May Jack de Keyzer celebrated 25 years as a songwriter, going back to his work with the
Bopcats. For the event, a horn section was added to the basic quartet, two shows were set up, one night at Hugh's Room and then the next night at the Registry Theatre in Kitchener and
both were recorded. Jack came up with some new arrangements for a selection of songs from the albums over those years. Arrangements that
took advantage of the fact he wasn't carrying so much of the musical load. "That's the Way", from
Hard Working Man, is a case in point, it now
has some nice jazz chords to go along with those new horn charts. Those horn players are
Chris Murphy on tenor sax, who helped Jack with
the arrangements and Dave Dunlop on trumpet & flugelhorn. Jack's regular trio of
Martin Aucoin on keyboards, Alan
Duffy on bass and Tony Ajo on drums show how valuable a good working band can be. With "Dressed to Kill" from the Bopcats'
Wild Jungle Rock, the band kicks it into overdrive and never lets up. The one non-album song is
Willie Dixon's "You Shook Me" and Jack pays tribute to
Muddy's version with a fine vocal and wicked slide guitar. Chris Murphy rips a great solo too. "Top of the Line" from
Wild at Heart, brings the tempo up again and so it
goes through the set. The audiences certainly seemed to enjoy it _ by the closing "Rock `til We Drop" the crowd is audibly ecstatic. This was one
the most eagerly anticipated shows of the season and Jack delivered the goods that night. He and recording engineer
Alec Fraser have delivered the goods for you. Check out the CD and the previous ones at
www.jackdekeyzer.com or come out to the release parties at: Downtown Kathy
Browns, London on Nov 11, Chicago's Oshawa on Nov 12, Hugh's Room on Friday Nov 19th and Tucson's Ottawa on Nov 25.
Michael Pickett Conversation with the
Blues Solid Gold/EMI
EMI Canada's recent concentration on archival Canadian albums has resulted in the general release of two of what I consider to
be essential albums. I write general release because
Michael Pickett has had these available from the stage and web site for a while now but
this marks the major label release of both. Whiskey
Howl was one of the major local bands to emerge in the late sixties/early seventies. They
were signed by Warner Brothers but broke up shortly after their self-titled LP was released in 1972, apparently because there wasn't enough
work. Pickett formed Wooden Teeth shortly after. There were periodic reunions (and one other LP) and one of them took place on May 8, 1981 at
the Elmo. This CD is from a soundboard tape of the first set from that night. And what a night it must have been! The late
John Witmer came back from BC to be on vocals with
Michael Pickett on vocals & harp to take us through most of the songs from that first LP but even if you have
that scarce item, you need this band, this big band.
Ed White is on drums; Rick Burkett, bass (who has also passed away);
John Tilden, guitar; Simon Wallis, baritone sax;
John Johnson, tenor sax; and Dave
Dunlop, trumpet. There were Howlettes on hand this night as well:
Betty Richardson, Kim Richardson &
Liz Tilden. No other band would do an a
capella version of "Rock Island Line" let alone the version
with The Howlettes here. "Mother Earth", "Early in the Morning" and "Let the Good Times Roll" are standards here now because of this band.
These performances still hold up today.
Conversation with the Blues was featured in
Maple Blues on its release and it remains one of the most ambitious and successful
blues albums we have. From solo Michael to band tracks to string quartet arrangements, if you haven't heard it you must now.
Matt Minglewood's 12th album is an acoustic one. A recent series of solo gigs showed him that performing the band songs he's so
famous for solo didn't work. The new songs show a much more introspective Minglewood, drawing on blues, country and folk as he usually does, and
with the help of two or three accompanists, producing a powerful album. "Ain't Nothing Pretty (about the blues)" serves notice that this will not be
an easy listening session, forcefully reminding us to be careful about what we call the blues. "Jealous Man" adds menace to the mix, with some
fine harp from Michael Pickett. "Eight Good Reasons", though, is a fine uptempo love song with Minglewood on barrelhouse piano. "Dorchester" is
one song that he was happy to do in its original version. "The Price of Love" is a solid slow blues with Minglewood on B3 and
Alex Dean on tenor sax, a highlight indeed. "The Story" is a tender folk ballad about a lover with a secret. "Blue River Train" is another blues highlight, built on
Rice Miller's "Bring it on Home", with more harp from Pickett. The CD concludes with a heartfelt Irish anti-war song, "The Patriot Game". You
might recognize the tune because Bob Dylan used it for "With God on Our Side". "Worse Damn Case of the Blues" and "Somewhere Down the Line"
are excellent country songs too. It wouldn't surprise me if you heard more of each. A sterling effort, highly recommended. Check it out
at www.mattminglewood.com.
Dylan Wickens & Jon Knight Wickens-Knight wk 1449
The winners of this year's Talent Search style themselves as "a roots & blues band, fusing the old and new".
Jonathan Knight is a fine vocalist and the principal songwriter, playing guitar and keyboards as well.
Dylan Wickens, whose previous band won the Talent Search
in 2003, plays lead guitar. Maple Blues
Award winning drummer Tom Bona supplies backup vocals and keyboards as well.
Joe Burns and Darryl `Harpo'
Peterson share bass duties. Their debut CD opens with the excellent original blues by Knight that's featured on
TBS 20 Years, "5 Below Zero". The reggae-flavoured "I Got Something Real" keeps the highlights coming with some delightful organ fills helping out a very
good song. The non-originals might give you an idea of the band's influences, with
Richard Berry's "Have Love, Will Travel',
Otis Redding's "Dreams to Remember" and a medley of
Robert Johnson's "Travelling Riverside Blues and
Bo Diddley's "Ride on Josephine". In each
case the performance is masterful with a special mention for the vocals on "Dreams". The CD closes with an anguished blues ballad, "Please
Come Home", with a very effective guitar solo from Wickens. I hope this aggregation can stay together for a while, they have a lot of promising
things happening here. The CD's available from the band at
www.wickens-knight.com or cdbaby.
Calgary's acoustic blues master checks in with a compilation of songs from his CDs, some of which are no longer available. Almost all
of them, however, have been mentioned in this column and all have been highly recommended. If you don't have any of them, you owe yourself a
treat. Just some highlights: "In Rehearsal for the Blues" from
Triple Threat; "Poor Boy", from
Riverboat Rendezvous; "The Fool You Always
Knew", from Indigo Incidents; "Death Ain't Got No Mercy in a Storm", from
Fellow Travellers and "Leavin' Here Laughin'" from
Evenings Among Friends. The ones I've chosen feature Williams on slide & vocals but others include band tracks and songs that aren't strictly blues, making for a
very satisfying program. This should be at a store near you, if it isn't, go to
www.go.to/twilliamsblues.com.
Steve is the guitar half of Zubot &
Dawson and he's come up with a most appealing acoustic disc. The number and variety of
stringed instruments he plays is matched only by the list of keyboard/squeeze boxes played by
Chris Gestrin. Keith Lowe plays double bass and
Elliot Polsky, drums & percussion. The Gold Coast
Ensemble is augmented by a string quartet led by
Jesse Zubot on a couple of songs and Jeanne
Tolmie supplies background vocals. Together they cross genres seamlessly, something the duo does with ease. Highlights for me
are the two Walter Vinson songs, "World Gone Wrong" and "Living in a Strain", with more than serviceable vocals from Dawson. Of the
originals, "Trouble on the Run" and "Skilsaw" stand out as inventive instrumentals. "Photograph" and "Angelina" would not be out of place on a
Harry Manx album.
Ray Edge Soul Connection Solar SR1111
The Doug Peart Blues Machine Are You
Addicted? Clown 0006
Stratford's Doug Peart, from his photo, often performs with just his keyboard or his guitar and assorted electronic assistance. For
his recordings, he assembles a very impressive band.
Aaron Peart helps out on vocals, Miles
Peart is on bass and Jim Neil on drums and
co-production with Earl Filsinger on guitar.
Marty Hepburn plays harp. The horns are led by
Pat Carey, on alto & baritone, with Gene
Hardy on tenor and Pete Jeffrey on trumpet. There is also a backup group/chorus. Peart writes in a soul blues vein but his vocals too easily get
overwrought, minimizing their effectiveness. The arrangements, though, are topnotch, with lots of room for that fine horn section. "Gimme a Leg Up" is the
best one here, it's a fine jump blues with a better vocal. "Who's Your Daddy?" is a game by game description of last year's
Red Sox/Yankees series with perhaps a limited audience. "Screw the Clown" is more of this kind of monologue over a rather nice horn arrangement and is more in
Robbie Rox territory. Contact
peart@cyg.net.
The Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir Fighting and
Onions Shouting Abner Pim SAP/Festival
This is much like a north of the border Tarbox
Ramblers. Except rawer. Bob Keelaghan plays guitar and
Judd Palmer, fiddle, banjo, harmonica and guitar. They both sing with background vocals from bassist
Vladimir Sobolowski and percussionist Jason
Woolley. The concept is the same in that they want to perform pre-war music in as honest a fashion as possible. In this case live off the floor of a cabin attached to an old
warehouse in Calgary in a winter cold snap. The result is something like "Weasel": slide guitar/harp/bass/percussion with distorted vocals sounding like a
crazed Charley Patton. This does not read like much of a recommendation but these guys know what they're doing. If you like "Weasel", you can move to
Son House's "Preaching Blues", taken at a manic clip that goes a long way towards capturing the intensity of the original. "Table o' the Lord" adds
some Captain Beefheart to the mix and may be the best song (there are many fragments among the 18 selections). Some
Fred McDowell licks highlight the twin slide original "Lousy Drunk". For a `lighter' touch there's a fine version of
Rev. Gary Davis' "Death Don't Have No Mercy". This is a slightly
better recording than St. Hubert but they've lost none of their excitement & energy. Their web site is
www.theagnostics.com.
Steve Rowe Front Rowe Center Howlin' Blue Blues5002/BROS
Rowe is one of those guitar players acknowledged by everyone as one of the best. He's played with everyone in Montreal over the years and
has lately decided to start his own band. This third album is once again a very collaborative effort by Rowe;
Alan McElcheran, bass and David Paul
Neil on drums. They all contribute to the songwriting and Rowe & McElcheran share the vocals. The opener, a rocker by Rowe, is "I Got to Go" and it should
be released as a single. With assistance by Jim
Zeller on harp and Bat Taylor on slide, it just cooks. There are more highlights too: Rowe gets to show
off his blues chops on the slow instrumental, "Blues for Ilda", the vocal duet on some advice "Cool Down" and McElcheran's well-written "What You
Don't Know". This band excels at these clever instrumentals: "Carlos & Me", "Train to Gatton", "Tribute to Freddie" and except for a couple of half-spoken
verses, "Now You're Talkin'" with more slide guitar from Taylor. Not many guitarists can sustain a whole album the way this man can. Check out
www.steverowe.com. - John Valenteyn,
jvalenteyn8724@rogers.com
Whiskey Howl Big Band Live at the El
Mocambo Solid Gold/EMI
Matt Minglewood The Story Norton NR0905
Tim Williams Passed Through Here Cayuse TW006/Festival
Steve Dawson We Belong to the Gold
Coast Black Hen BHCD 0030/Koch
Ray Edge is a new voice for me but his press kit shows him in R&B bands
Dollars and Dealer's Choice in the `70's and leading
The Sensations in the `80's. He then began a second career in homeopathic medicine at which he seems to have become quite successful,
allowing him to return to singing. It seems he had some songs written and he approached
Gary Kendall to produce his album. He went to the right
person. The songs are classic R&B and soul and are very good indeed. You'll see some familiar names coming up but they all contribute to a mighty
fine package. The basic band has Kendall on bass,
Jim Casson on drums, Teddy Leonard on guitars,
Michael Fonfara on keys with Pat
Carey on saxes, Howie Moore on trumpet,
William Carn on trombone. The vital ingredient for this kind of music is often the background vocals and
six of the songs feature and I do mean feature Amoy
Levy and Ciceal Levy. The title song, "Heaven in Your Eyes" and "Look for the Love
Inside" finds them in full flight behind Edge's vocal. The opener, "Time Enough for Love", is classic R&B. Edge is a fine, polished singer, reminding me
of a lighter David Clayton-Thomas. "Internet Date" is the closest to bar blues here with a pretty fine band but his voice lacks a little grit.
It's followed by "Mess Around with You", a rather nice jump blues. Edge does best though on the four soul songs that conclude the album. "Save
Our Soul", Heaven in Your Eyes", "Look for the Love Inside" and "Thank You Girl" (with
John Dickie, John Mays and Johnny
Wright on background vocals). I would like to see him rough up his voice a little bit and break into a sweat. Otherwise he may be taking this band
into supperclubs. His web site is partially up, check out
www.rayedge.com.
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