August 2024 – Stephen Barry Band
One of my earliest memories of seeing the Stephen Barry Band live was, “once upon a time”, as Jimmy Rogers would say, at Café Campus in Sainte-Foy, QC, on October 16th, 1978. This English-speaking blues band from Montreal was accompanying a giant of the blues, the man who popularized the Bo Diddley Beat, a rhythm that helped make him famous, and I’m talking about Ellas McDaniel a.k.a. Bo Diddley! At the time, I was impressed by the fact that a local band could accompany, seemingly on the spot, such a big name in Chicago Blues, the same guy who, in 1968, was featured on the album The Super Super Blues Band on Chess Records , alongside Muddy Waters, The Father of Modern Chicago Blues, and the powerful Howlin’ Wolf. Years later, I asked Stephen Barry if it had been difficult for the band to accompany this pioneering blues figure, the originator with the rectangular guitar. He simply replied that it went well and that Bo Diddley only played in two keys, though he couldn’t recall which keys. Barry mentioned that in music, when you have rhythm and know how to make magic with it, you possess the essential qualities to play the blues, and he believes you can play it with anyone, from a novice to an international star. But let’s get back to the grooves. The title track “Only A Dream”, composed and recorded by Jörn Reissner, a significant guitarist in the band’s history, opens the album, sung up-tempo by Stephen Barry with a sense of urgency, although more distanced compared to the more intense original version. Fifty years of continuous blues for a band come with highs and lows, time that inexorably flees like a dream. In fact, Only A Dream (50 Years of Blues) is an eclectic opus comprising three original pieces composed by band members and eleven covers of various musical styles with flavors of jazz, soul, funk, country-folk, etc., styles that coexist with the blues, including an instrumental, “Biloxi”, by Jesse Winchester . The second track, the energetic “Addicted To Love” by Robert Palmer, is magically introduced by an excerpt from the instrumental “Back at the Chicken Shack” by organist Jimmy Smith . It is confidently sung by drummer Gordon Adamson, well-supported by the band and the fiery saxophone of Jody Golick. Golick is the only one of the five band musicians who does not sing on the album. Then, harmonica player Martin Boodman follows with the classic “Help Me”, credited to Ralph Bass, Willie Dixon and Sonny Boy Williamson II, Mr. Rice Miller. Golick contributes with fiery solos, and Boodman is solid on the Mississippi saxophone. For the fourth track, the band initiates “Freedom Jazz Dance” by jazz saxophonist Eddie Harris on a Bo Diddley beat , blending seamlessly into Barry’s vocal performance of “Mona”, that hypnotic hit by Diddley! There is a grooving alchemy that unfolds. Further on, Barry, on vocals, and his musician buddies even perform country-folk in French, “Si J’avais Un Char” by Stephen Faulkner, a.k.a. Cassonade . He sings it as a duet with Sylvie Choquette, the co-composer of the song, whose angelic voice, as Ferré would sing. Joel Zifkin, an early friend of the band, subtly adds his melodic violin. For mechoquette, it’s the best version of this song, tied with Faulkner ’s. A treat! “Only A Dream” appears to me above all as a group album where egos are… equal, a beautiful philosophy in action from SBB, where everyone can take their turn in singing, playing, or composing. There is also a friendly synergy where talents abound, mingle, and express themselves in a convivial atmosphere, under the seal of friendship. For me, this well-rooted and particular attitude is what generates the band’s flexible and adaptable personality in this collegiality. This gathering of friends, in some cases sharing tastes and feelings for music since adolescence, has maintained this friendly and open spirit over half a century of existence, continuing ever stronger, younger than yesterday, as Bob Dylan pertinently sings. Some musicians have come, gone, perhaps returned, then left again over the eras and seasons. There are about fifty in total, according to the bassist / double bassist and leader of the ensemble… On “That’s How Strong My Love Is” , Adamson demonstrates once again that he is a singer, period. Expressive and bursting with soul. “More Precious Than Silver”, a composition by Stephen Barry, is my favorite song from the album for its simplicity, beautiful lyrics, well-rendered melody, and the enveloping and well-executed backing vocals by Sylvie Choquette and Suzanne Lamontagne. Among the classics as comfortable as old slippers, played and replayed by the band and aged like fine wines, is “Born In Chicago”, an up-tempo blues rocker by Nick Gravenites, performed by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band . This track, which kicked off that band’s first album with a bang, was a revelation, a turning point that contributed to a mutation in the blues world and launched the careers of many young musicians of the time. Martin Boodman and the band offer a version full of energy and guts. The long play (lol!) concludes with the calm and serene “Room At The Top” by Tom Petty, performed with sensitivity by Andrew Cowan, whose breaking voice lets the emotion through. What a beautiful way to end an opus that marks an important milestone in the long, inimitable journey of this Quebec blues band that, from the start, has evolved like a rolling stone and continues to snowball. This tenth album by the Stephen Barry Band is mostly recorded live in the studio with an audience, which favors energizing interaction and the transmission of live feeling. With passion, know-how, and creativity, it can be said of this rare bird of a band that more than ever, they’re still grooving together for that Blues of Gold! Long live the Stephen Barry Band! (Pierre Jobin)