There's no folk like Quaker folk. On the cover of Carrie
Newcomer's new CD, Before & After, she is illustrated in warm sunset
colors on a train. The window shows a scene outside; a golden sun and several
birds in flight. And there is Carrie, busy writing on a pad of paper with book
in hand, her feet relaxed on the seat across from her. It is a serene portrait
of an artist at work with her inspirations around her.
And what is inside the album demonstrates a quality equal to
the cover art. An artist at work in her element, deepening her art, fine tuning
her observations of the ordinary and always with her hand on the pulse of the
spiritual cravings of the human soul. T
Sylvia
Herold is probably the best folksinger you've never heard of. This dynamic
and sophisticated vocalist, from the East Bay area of San Francisco, is leader
of the folk ensemble known as Euphonia.
The group also features mandolinist Paul Kotapish, box player Charlie Hancock,
and double bassist Chuck Ervin, and guests. Their material ranges from acoustic
swing to traditional Celtic, and anything goes in between, but it's all pretty.
Euphonia's latest release is The Old
Jawbone, which as far as I can tell is their second offering, although
Sylvia has other recordings on her website.
at The Echo 1822 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026
213 413-8200
In the category of children's music, dozens of musicians
have made their entire careers writing and performing music exclusively for
tykes and pre-teens. A handful of acoustic musicians who usually write
sensitive adult songs will occasionally make the foray into a children's album
as their own offspring or those near to them can often be the catalysts for
creating kid choruses. Some well-known performers have crossed-over for a stab
at creating a songbook of tunes palatable to the little ones. Leadbelly, Johnny
Cash, and David Grisman are just a few that come to mind. And a few years ago,
even the alt-country guys and gals took some time away from songs of dark love,
dark roads, the dark before light, and whiskey, and contributed some bouncy
rhymes to The Bottle Let Me Down: Songs
for Bumpy Wagon Rides.
Shout Monah is the
first album by The Haints Old Time String
Band. Featuring Erynn Marshall on fiddle, Jason Romero on banjo and vocals,
and Pharis Romero on guitar and vocals, the Haints are anchored near Victoria,
BC, where Erynn (now of Galax, Virginia) hails from, and where Jason and Pharis
now live. The Haints channel the energy and often-overlooked versatility of
old-time Southern music. Yes, this CD is squarely in the old-time tradition --
no experimental blending with other genres or taking off in new directions
here. But, no, these songs and tunes don't all fit into a single mold or follow
the same groove. The Haints explore the many twisty by-roads of Southern
mountain music, pulling together an album that is novel and enticing, all the
while hewing close to traditional roots.
If you enjoy Scottish
bagpipe music and wanted to get a CD featuring this amazing instrument, the CD Turning Pages by David Brewer is a good
place to start. David is the piper and whistle player of Molly's Revenge and
the Scottish Highland pipes is his main instrument. The CD contains a mix of traditional pipe tunes, airs,
marches, jigs, and reels.
The Scottish
bagpipe is a somewhat odd instrument and there is not a huge amount of recorded
music that has broad appeal because recordings tend to fall into two narrow
camps. The better known camp is marching bands featuring pipes and drums, the
minority camp is a solo style that can appear rather monotonous. Very rarely bands
like Molly's Revenge or the Battlefield Band integrate Scottish bagpipes with
other instruments, but the pipes are secondary on their recordings.
Beth Wood is an artist you should know about. A powerful
singer/songwriter of new contemporary folk music, her newest project, her
eighth independent release Beachcomber's
Daughter, is a gorgeous musical joy ride, vividly and movingly brought to
life via a confident and kick-ass country rock and roll, at the same time
tender, poetic and painful, with a wicked and wonderful humor to top everything
off.
Beth has achieved an impressive array of awards for her
work, from winning the Kerrville New Folk Contest in 2005, the 2006 Sisters
Folk Festival Dave Carter Memorial Songwriting Contest, the 2004 Wildflower
Festival Songwriters Contest, and was a finalist in the 2007 Telluride
Troubadour Contest among others, along with a big list of festival appearances
and college touring. It's a resume that makes you want to sit up and listen.
Johnny Rivers' Shadows on the Moon Offers Fresh New Acoustic
Music
By Terry Roland
There are voices that have followed us through our lives.
We've heard them on our car radios as we've raced through the decades of our
childhood. They have played like a soundtrack for our lives through the
beaches, valleys, deserts and prarie roads we've traveled on our way to our
present. Johnny Rivers carries such a voice. So much so, when he sings, we sit
up and listen. We take notice because of our common history. When he first
emerged in the mid-sixties at his now legendary engagements and live recordings
at the Whiskey A-Go-Go, he created a tour de force that helped to break down
the wall between pop and folk music. With recordings like Where Have All The
Flowers Gone, Midnight Special and Memphis he did what it took The Byrds five
people to do; bring folk-rock to the musical stages of L.A. in the mid-sixties.
Boulder Acoustic Society has been called a mini-orchestra
rather than your basic rock and roll band. They are a lively musical caravan
made up of four Colorado-based musicians who burn up stages across the country
to many a sold-out venue. The varied backgrounds of BAS allow them to give a
kaleidoscopic performance that is impressive, but without any hint of pretension.
With Punchline, they transfer some of variety to a digital package. The
ambitious nature of the packaging of the CD, although no enhancement to the
music nor insightful to the songs (no lyric listings), adds a dimension
(literally 3D!) of the band as both poseur and provocateur. It will stand out
musically, as well as literally, on your CD storage shelf.
I recently became acquainted with the Appalachian folk music
duo of Jeni Hankins and Billy Kemp (they bill themselves as "Jeni &
Billy") when I met and played alongside them at the FAR-West (Folk
Alliance Regional) Music Conference in Irvine in early November. We shared a
discussion panel on Appalachian music, and later we shared songs in a roundtable
showcase room. It was, by virtue of the close confines of the room, a wonderfully
intimate experience of their work, but also intimate by virtue of their art, their
writing and performance style, and their honest, loving, warm and authentic
presence.
Some precious gifts are wrapped in delicate tissue papers of
many colors, a layered rainbow of sorts that you would not want to tear but
would want to keep and cherish along with the gift. Unwrapping the meaning of an
exquisitely crafted Hawaiian mele can give you this feeling, especially if you
approach it as one who doesn't know the language. Mele is often translated to
mean the word song and perhaps it is most quickly understood that way. But the
Hawaiian mele evolved from ancient poetic chants that often were accompanied by
dance.
"If you remember the 60s you weren't there," insisted Wavy
Gravy, one of its iconic counter-cultural heroes, but as Johnny Cash replied in
his early gospel masterpiece, "I was there when it happened, so I guess I ought
to know"-the "it" in this case being the folk revival. And all of us who were
there know, what was the most reliable source for accurate information about
that on-going odyssey through America's bedrock music. That would be The Little Sandy Review, which was
edited and published by Paul Nelson and Jon Pankake, in the same state from
which came the folk revival's most astonishing artist. That would be Minnesota,
home to both Bob Dylan and Jon Pankake-and thereby hangs a tale.
Pankake was generous with the artists he championed from the
pages of his and Nelson's journal-often to a fault. When the young,
still-unformed, busking would-be troubadour had no place to stay, Jon put him
up on his couch.
An up-and-coming phenom in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he was poised to hit it
big; everyone who heard him was blown away. Listening to these two recordings,
it's easy to see why. But it never happened. His story is sometimes compared to
that of the Nobel Prize winning mathematician John Nash, which was made into
the movie A Beautiful Mind a few
years ago. Like Nash, Steve Mann's mental illness became the dominant force in
his later life, overshadowing his earlier promise.
Happily
though, we do have these two recordings. Most of these cuts are from the 1960s
when Steve was at his peak and still performing in concert. There is also one cut
on Alive And Pickin' that was
recorded in 2004.
Alive and Pickin' is a compilation of cuts from a
number of sources. It starts off with a live set (recorded by his old friend
Stefan Grossman) that offers a fine sense of Steve's range and power. Starting
with a fine Jelly Roll, it moves to
Mose Allison's If You Live, a jazz
tune - indeed, Steve always said he did a lot of jazz. For example, his Amazing Gospel Tune, also in this set,
is pure Ray Charles.
Banjo player Fred Sokolow brought a blues guitarist
friend to the Ash Grove one night in 1967 to see Steve Mann. As Steve launched
into a Blind Lemon Jefferson tune, 99
Years Blues, Fred noticed his friend unbutton the top button of his shirt.
By the time Steve finished the song, 2 and ½ minutes later, Fred's friend had
pulled out a handkerchief and started to daub some beads of sweat that had
formed on his forehead.
Steve then turned his attention to a Ray Charles classic Drown In My Own Tears, and miraculously
recreated on six strings Charles' 88 keys piano accompaniment, complete with
his jazz chords. Fred's guitarist friend's underarms were starting to pour
sweat all over his new cotton twill shirt, leaving massive stains that were
starting to overwhelm his neat tie in the middle.
Double Play is the second album from Liz Carroll and John
Doyle as duo. Following their first duo effort, In Play (2005), Double Play
is work of outstanding musicianship, arguably the best traditional Celtic CD of
the year.
Liz Carroll occupies an interesting position among
contemporary Irish fiddlers. Unlike, Kevin Burke or Martin Hayes, most of the
tunes she plays, on this CD and others, are generally not traditional tunes
from the public domain, but rather her own compositions. She's a prolific
tunemaster.
Before you put this CD in your playback machine take a look
at the small package this good thing comes in. Every touch has meaning, and was
attended to with more than a modicum of thought. The front cover has what looks
like-though it may only be simulated-a 19th century Currier and Ives
print of a couple riding a sleigh being pulled by a team of energetic horses,
charging out of the circular frame in which there is a lovely winter scene with
a snowy landscape. It looks like they are heading out of this bygone world into
your postmodern living room. The typeface for the title-Christmas In the
Heart-is also studiously old-fashioned, derived from many a 19th
or early 20th century theatre poster.
2009 Kerrville New Folk Winner Ernest Troost's newest album,
the aptly titled Resurrection Blues
is a brilliant new piece of songwriting art. Its thirteen Piedmont-blues
influenced songs tell stories of passion, lost love and regret-filled lives at
a cross-roads, looking for a modern-day answer to "how did things ever get this
far?" and "when did the darkness fall?" Ernest Troost's existential questions
run rampant in his first three songs; and then, the stories begin.
Haberdashery is a new group from Los Angeles and just released their first CD. And what a fine first project it is! Haberdashery is hard to classify stylistically, but if you like Astor Piazolla, you'll enjoy them. Maybe it could be described as a mixture of Tango, Jazz, Folk, Gypsy, and French music, but that is not too helpful either. You just have to hear it and you can get samples on their website.
The musicianship is very impressive, the technique of classically trained musicians with the energy and drive of folk music and the improvisational skill of jazz. They are a classy band (not to mention a very well dressed band).
Maria Muldaur has had a somewhat schizophrenic career. Her early work was totally roots oriented, working with the Jim Kweskin Jug Band, singing, playing fiddle and serving as a sort of folk music sex symbol. But by far her biggest success was as a pop jazz chanteuse warbling Midnight at the Oasis. To some, she's the iconic hippy chick with the long thick hair, dancing to Bob Dylan at Newport. To others, she is an almost Mae West-ian entertainer, as known for her repartee and cleavage as her song selection. Midnight has become, like it or not, a standard, at least judging by Wal-Mart and recent elevator investigation.
The combination of British guitarist/producer Justin Adams
and Gambian spike fiddle (ritti) master, Juldeh Camara, produces a sound that
either completes the circle of Africa-to-America and-back-again musical history
or, at the very least, takes a part of the arc and intersects it with a new
kind of Afro-blues genre.
On their newest recording, Tell No Lies, the obvious riffs from classic blues tunes weave in
and out of many of the songs. Echoes of Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley, John Lee
Hooker and Slim Harpo resonate throughout, but Camara's Fulani vocals (a
nomadic people of Gambia and other countries across West Africa) and ritti
sawing cut deeply through Adams' thick guitar lead lines.
We last left Peter Joseph Burtt with Sunken Forest. It was a treasure trove of African influenced blues,
folk and pop. The interim years have not found Burtt resting on his laurels,
and so we come to Hand To Mouth.
As with Sunken Forest,
Burtt called upon his friend Corey Harris to produce. Harris provides guitar
and vocals. Chris Cox is on keyboards, and Ben Isaacs does percussion. Burtt
plays kora, guitar, mbir, vocals and wrote six of the nine songs on the
project.
Expectations are high around here when Ronny Cox releases a new album. And fair disclosure is due: this reviewer named him among FolkWorks' "Top Ten / Best of 2008" male singer-songwriters in L.A., two years after he earned "Listener Favorite" status on radio's "Tied to the Tracks" for his original song, Sanctuary, about a newborn wild horse. And even before this review and another due this month in Dirty Linen magazine, Songs... with Repercussions was the number one album on the "Folk DJ" play list for the month of June, and Happy Father's Day, a track on the album, was the number 4 song of the month.
Love of the Land
is the first solo CD by Christa Burch,
a Southern Californian who has contributed her many musical talents to a variety
of West Coast music projects, playing bodhran with the Syncopaths and
Blackwaterside, singing as one-half of the a capella group Lintie. Love of the Land is a vocal CD, a
collection of Celtic songs, some traditional pieces, mostly from Scotland and
Ireland, but also some new compositions in the Celtic tradition. The CD is
produced by Dennis Cahill, best known for his haunting, sparse guitar-playing
with Irish fiddler Martin Hayes. Fans of the Hayes-Cahill recordings will find
some of the same sweet, evocative and exploratory playing here.
The Turning of Clocks is an album of original and traditional flat picked blues by Shaun Cromwell. Although released in 2007, the impetus for reviewing the album here stems from his solo performance at the Fourth Ever Los Angeles Old Time Social in May of this year. The reality, and I'm not being trite, his performance knocked everybody's socks off--an audience largely full of discerning American roots musicians. As stated on his Myspace page, it was recorded with one microphone, a couple of beat-up guitars and many short sessions over a period of several months, is his first release and is a meditation on death and impermanence.
TITLE: NEVER SEEN THE LIKE...
OLD TIME FIDDLE, BANJO,GUITAR TUNES AND SONGS
LABEL: YODEL-AY-HEE RECORDS
RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 2009
By Kelly Marie Martin
What is so wonderful about old time music now is that the generation of players who picked up fiddles and banjos and guitars in the 1960s and 1970s had kids. And man, are we lucky to be the beneficiaries of the stuff on which they were raised. Never Seen the Likeis an album of "old time fiddle, banjo, guitar tunes and songs" from fiddle/banjo legend Rafe Stefanini and daughter Clelia. Recorded, mixed and mastered by Joel Savoy, Cajun fiddler in the Red Stick Ramblers (son of Marc and Ann Savoy) at Studio Savoyfaire in Eunice, Louisiana and produced by Rafe and Clelia, this album is one great product of Dynasty and I'm not talking about the TV show. Jillian Johnson, at Work Agencies designed the artwork and took the photographs for the packaging.I love the cover photo of Clelia with the fiddle and Rafe a banjo and the inside cover shot with the twin fiddlers sitting.
The Life and Times of Richard Thompson:
A
Feast For The Eyes, Ears and Soul
By Terry Roland
If a Nobel Prize could be given for the best box set anthology
in release, The Life and Music of Richard
Thompson would win hands down. How's that for fan-like hyperbole? Spreading
out over five CDs, it covers the years from 1971 to 2006 where Richard is still
a dynamic and innovative force in popular music today. One of the clear
highlights of this box-set is the demonstration of how hard-to-categorize
Richard has become over the years. Is he British folk, American rock or a
Celtic balladeer? For those who have recently been introduced to or the veteran
fans who date back to the salad days of Fairport
Convention, this anthology will prove essential in that it not only yields
a valuable and engaging look at the artist himself, but like the best releases
of the last 50 years, it opens the doors and windows of the music and songs the
singer-songwriter, like a modern Pied Piper, leads us to. While many of his
peers have had pockets of phenomenal success, seasons of
retirement or creative
dry spells, Richard Thompson has moved steadily ahead, consistently exploring and
deepening the art of his music, lyric and performance style. He is the
uncommonly rare songwriter's working man showing up to the job everyday for the
last 40 years and he has yet to disappoint.
The state of contemporary Bluegrass
is in an interesting position: the genre has become a new melting pot, an
amalgam of styles and sounds encompassing Old Time, Folk, Blues, Country, Jazz,
Pop and, of course (hopefully!) Bluegrass -
the original sounds of Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys. Why this is
interesting is because Bluegrass at its creation was a monumental evolution of
gathered sounds, from Tin Pan Alley, Blues, Black Gospel, Appalachian ballads,
Irish dance music, set to a blindingly fast pace, with high lead vocals and
group harmonies tighter than a drum. So now, it's gratifying to watch it
growing again and changing with this new generation, called "a Bluegrass youth
revolution" by some, all the while reaching back to grab, with love and
reverence, the old sounds of driving Bluegrass, George Jones-type country
music, Western Swing and mountain fiddle, melding with pop-flavored
contemporary sounds.
The last time I saw Dr. Guy Logsdon, former Head Librarian
at the University
of Tulsa, he was singing
dirty cowboy songs. I don't mean dirty as in dusty, or straight off the trail,
I mean dirty as in unprintable in a family magazine, daily newspaper, or any
media outlet controlled by the FCC. His classic book, "The Whorehouse Bells
Were Ringing" and Other Songs Cowboys Sing, was the result of a lifetime
fascination with the songs that John Lomax missed when he pioneered the field. Lomax's
late Victorian sensibility had some blind spots when it came to appreciating
the less cultivated aspects of the folk.
There are a dozen collections of cowboy songs wherein you
will find The Strawberry Roan, for example, but if you want to learn The
Castration of the Strawberry Roan you will need to find Logsdon's book.
You probably know the back story on Guy Davis: parents are actors/writers Ruby Dee and the late Ossie Davis, little Guy was bounced on somebody famous' knee. He has produced and acted with success. He's recorded nine CDs for Red House. And his ninth is named after a Bob Dylan tune Davis has recorded once before. And what a cover it is.
It starts with that Dylan familiarity, the blend of the organ, drums and guitars. Is it from Blonde on Blonde? No, wait, that's a newer song, and wait again: that ain't Bob singing! It's a huskier, fuller voice, but the voice wraps around Bob's tale of small town bravado and longing with even more conviction than Bob mustered for his version.
Davis has never sounded better, even though this lively trip through Bob-land is not too much like what we've come to expect from Davis: acoustic blues played with feeling and gusto. If that's what brings you back to Davis' CDs, you will not be disappointed. There's plenty of 12 string, slide guitar and grit. He throws a nice curve by doing Can't Be Satisfied on banjo.
From the opening, Journey to Another Side, imaginatively set in a Mexican cantina, to the closing, Friends Around the Fire, singing under the moonlight with good friends, this is the album that we expected from the venerable down-home Van Nuys duo. It's imaginative, entertaining, melodic, beautiful and humorous; and it's a cover-to-cover sing-along, my favorite kind of musical entertainment.
Similar to their first collection, The Pearl and the Swine, the selections alternate between those written by Fur and those by Steve, except that this time two of Fur's were very effectively co-written by Ric Taylor. And it's also similar to the first CD, in that the ones about asphalt, dirt, engines and campfires are Steve's, while the pretty song department is well covered by Fur with If I Was Free (with Ric), My Blue Yodel and the gorgeous Summer's Gone Again.
TITLE: LA INDIA CANELA: MERENGUE TIPICO FROM THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
LABEL: SMITHSONIAN/FOLKWAYS
MERENGUE TIPICO SLAMS RECESSION BLUES
By Audrey Coleman
Tuesday is the cruelest day. On Mondays, everyone at work is strung out, wondering how the weekend went by so fast. By Tuesday, we're supposed to be in the groove again. I'm not. Driving my 30-mile commute to work, I curse the impending layoffs announced on our e-mail network (who's next???). I surf the radio stations for relief but instead hear station after NPR station dissecting the disaster known as our economy. I ride the dial in search of a musical antidote to the recession blues -- from classical to jazz to norteño to reggae. Sometimes I'm lucky.
Last Tuesday I wasn't. The talk was more dismal than usual and the music ranged from bland to sheer noise. Then I remembered the CD I still had to review for FolkWorks. Something called La India Canela. I fed it in to the morose mouth of my Corolla's CD player and.... Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Wow! Go! Yeee! Ha! The cascading keys of an accordion nearly swept my Corolla and me off La Brea Avenue. My shoulders started rolling and my hips swaying to the fast-paced, driving rhythms of tamboro and guira. Suddenly I was smiling ear to ear and the mouth of my CD player seemed to be smiling with me. Merengue tipico had rescued me from my recession(and Tuesday) blues.
Buena Vista proves to be another excellent piece of work in a long line of successful efforts by this veteran team and their very fine groups. The eternal kids from the deep south, routed through Lake Wobegon, have done it again, producing a well-crafted and constructed collection of entertaining, easy-to-listen-to original music.
Their, count ‘em, 20th album, from the front to the back was enjoyably, pretty much what we've come to expect from R&L. The opening cut Going, Going, Gone gets you bouncing, smiling and happy to be listening. Then, just as you get comfortable paying attention to the musicianship, arrangements and quality engineering, the knockout song Maybelle's Guitar and Monroe's Mandolin gets you thinking about and appreciating the origins of a lot of great music that has come our way over the years.
"Here I go again..." begins Emmylou Harris on her luminous new
album, a fitting beginning for this great artist's first new recording since 2003.
Produced by Brian Ahearn, with the title taken from the lyrics of the Billy Joe
Shaver song offered here, this listening experience is like coming home to an
old friend you thought you'd lost: loving, gracious, soulful and full of gentle
understanding.
No one who has ever heard Emmylou can ever forget her
stunning sound. Whether in the middle of a rock and roll track, a country
standard, or simply with lone guitar, she can command the listener with a pure
emotional presence. You feel as though she is singing just to you, and all
expressions are intimate.
The facts first: Foghorn
Duo's Lonesome Song is an album
of duets from Stephen "Sammy" Lind
and Caleb Klauder of Foghorn Stringband. The songs are a
first-class collection of traditional, classic country and original pieces of
music drawn from the old time fiddle tunes, ballads and songs--the roots of
American "roots" music. There's even a tune penned by Caleb and without looking
at the cover, you'd never know. Foghorn Stringband may be in a transformative
stage, but once you hear this album, you'll not doubt that these two fellas, at
least, never stop playing. I mean never. And, Oh! Their voices! By far their
two voices ringing together in song is so good I can think of none better
today.
Initial disclaimer:
This gentleman records for the same label that I do. However, I did not meet
him until this release, nor was I familiar with his music. I stand to gain no
financial improvement should his project prove profitable or not.
There is a wave (pun intended) of new "soft folk pop"
artists who have surfing somewhere near their core. Though he resides in San
Clemente, CA and has lived on a boat and lifeguarded for a living, John Sotter
is not one of these surfing soft folk pop artists. His music has a strong
flavor that resists comparison to other artists, but one might peg the
production style of Alone to be Harvest- era Neil Young. It's all acoustic
guitars, some occasional melodic electric bass, harmonica and unobtrusive
drums. And it's all John Sotter. All the music, lyrics, instruments, the
recording, production, mixing, mastering and even the artwork is all John Sotter.
Merlin Snider's first album Between came out in 1999 and to say the
encore was a long time coming would be an understatement. Of course, to say it
was well worth waiting for turns out to be belaboring the obvious. Right Here is captivating from the opening,
picturesque, Central California love-song tour of Santa Cruz, to the
thought-provoking hidden track No Advice
at the baker's dozen point.
He
has assembled an outstanding group of musicians, authored a tremendous
collection of songs, engineered an ultimately pleasurable listening experience
and produced an album that will be a "must-have" for connoisseurs of the
singer-songwriter, folk genre.
Grammy-winning singer of such classics as 18 Wheels and A Dozen Roses, Where've You
Been, Kathy Mattea says that her new album offered her a "re-education" in
singing. Produced by Marty Stuart, COAL is an important work, in that Mattea brings
the heartbreak and tragedy of the Appalachian coal-mining culture to the fore. And
for some, especially die-hard Mattea fans, this will be an eye-opening journey
into a land not heretofore travailed.
Mattea chose the perfect producer in Stuart, whose understanding
of traditional country stems from his familial connection to the original
Carter Family. He is also a commercial country star and now a producer, and
he's put together this album with Mattea's strengths in mind -more contemporary
songs are mixed in with the old, offering Mattea a chance to shine in her
pop/folk blend while giving her a chance to stretch with older classics from
the early part of the 20th century.
It's not easy being Randy Newman. You spend years as a
singer-songwriter only to find you've ended up being banned in Boston and having
an army of Short People on your tail. You have classic albums like Sail Away and Good Old Boys, but does the public remember? No. Then, you
disappear into the world of movie soundtracks and songs that appear at the end
of movies like Toy Story. So you have
two uncles who are legendary in the movie soundtrack business, Lionel and
Alfred, respectively. For 25 years you write beautifully glorious soundtracks
to movies like Ragtime and The Natural.
But does the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences award you the coveted
Oscar? No. After 14 or 15 nominations, you finally get the measly naked bald
headed statue for one of those songs that comes in during the credits at the
end of some kid's movie. So why you should return to your roots, the singer
songwriter alone on his piano with a ragtime orchestra behind you? Because,
you're Randy Newman and I'm not!
If you've ever studied Scotland's poetry, music or theatre,
the name Robert Burns will linger in your memory and consciousness as a bright
flame of genius. In the liner notes to this wonderful recording of selections
from the show Simply Burns, Robert
Burns' poetry, prose and songs are presented as a fine project. "In January of
2008, four talented individuals came together to create an evening of song,
poetry and readings in celebration of Scotland's best-loved bard, Robert Burns.
Their aim was to offer an eclectic collection of material written by and
inspired by Burns...designed both to entertain, and to simplify the man and his
works for those who find it all a bit daunting." Simply Burns was intended
originally for just a one-night show (at the Watermill bookshop in Aberfeldy,
Scotland to be specific). However, after that spectacular night in the packed
bookshop, they were surprised to find the show being requested through the
countryside.
Artists: Orlando "Puntilla" Rios
Y El Conjunto
Todo Rumbero
Title: Tribute to Gonzalo Asencio,
"Tio Tom"
Label: Smithsonian Folkways SFW40543
By Audrey Coleman
On any night of the week, you can find a club where couples
are dancing salsa with frenetic energy. But when was the last time you saw a
couple performing salsa's honored ancestor, the rumba? The dance involves
overtly flirtatious interplay between a man and a woman, the woman alternately
enticing and protecting herself as the man tries to catch her off-guard with a vacunao
-- tagging her with the flip of a handkerchief or by throwing his arm, leg or
pelvis in her direction in an act of symbolic sexual contact. It makes salsa
look like a minuet.
If you're a lover of Cajun music and especially of one of the two
instruments synonymous with the genre, then get your hands on From Now On, close the doors, sit back
and listen to a truly comprehensive exploration of the renowned fiddler and his
music. Yes, it's Michael Doucet recorded live in the studio, stripped down, for
the most part, to just the man and his fiddle and yes, he even picks up that
other musical symbol of the bayou, the diatonic accordion. Throw in another
seasoned fiddler and a crack guitarist and this live unrehearsed recording
comes alive. Doucet often compares Cajun music to the piquant dishes of the
culture and like the ubiquitous gumbo, there is truly a different rendition
recipe for many a tune.
Don't believe it when someone tells you "If you remember the
1960s you weren't there." I was there and I remember. I remember vividly. I
don't remember the 1970s very well and I put all the effort I can muster into
forgetting the 1980s. But I remember the 1960s and what I remember was the
music. Those were the days before music became a corporate commodity. Of course
there was formula pop music, but even the big labels were signing and recording
bands that were playing music that sounded like nothing you ever heard before.
The new FM radio stations became the way to hear that music. There was folk,
there was rock, there was jazz, there was folk-rock, there was jazz-rock, there
were sitars and bouzoukis, ragtime and jug bands - sometimes all on the same LP
(for you youngsters, that's an antique vinyl platter with grooves that vibrated
a needle to make sounds).
The Pine Leaf Boys latest CD Blues de Musicien is the real thing. This is old style, high energy
Cajun music at its finest. The collection of songs ranges from original
compositions by the various band members to classics of the Cajun and Zydeco
tradition.
The band members have a significant history as well. Band
member Wilson Savoy, accordion, fiddle, piano, singer and songwriter, is the
son of Marc and Anne Savoy -- two-thirds of the Savoy Doucet Cajun Band. Marc
is a well-known accordion maker in Eunice,
Louisiana, and was one-third of
the trio (along with Dewey Balfa and D.L. Menard) that recorded En Bas d'un Chêne Vert ("Underneath the
Green Oak Tree"), a classic of Cajun music. That's a rich background to live up
to.
TITLE: Strangers In Another Country: The songs of Utah
Phillips
LABEL: Red House Records RHR214
By Barry Smiler
What a terrific album, and how appropriate that it comes to
us this way. Forty-odd years ago it was Rosalie
Sorrels whose singing brought Bruce
"Utah" Phillips to the attention of so many people, so it's somehow fitting
that Sorrels has now recorded this heartfelt and beautiful tribute to the songs
of her old pal. Phillip's recent death makes it a bittersweet occasion, and surely
Sorrels didn't plan for the release to be timed in quite this way. But like the
hobo who finds out where the train is going only after hopping on, when you're
already aboard and rolling you might as well enjoy the ride.
Driving up Angeles
Crest Highway en route to the Haramoknga American
Cultural Center,
I popped Louie Gonnie's Songs of the Sacred Circle: Harmony in Eight
Parts into my CD player. It seemed fitting to listen for the first time to
his collection of peyote songs just before attending a performance of Native
American flute players, part of the World Festival of Sacred Music. The
fast-paced of shaking of a high-pitched gourd rattle opened the first song, Dreamscapes. I gazed dreamily at the
craggy San Gabriel Mountains and blue sky
while Louie Gonnie sang in his native Dine language, his heartfelt voice moving
up and down within a small range of intervals. As I rounded the bends of the
mounting highway, the music harmonized with the natural landscape.
Lissa Schneckenburger is probably best known as one of the
finest New England contradance fiddlers in the
country. If you should happen to have the opportunity to dance to her playing
you are in for a treat.
Her lively fiddling has a magically unique way of energizing
the dancers and driving the dance.
Having said that ... this album is named Song; it isn't named Fiddling. That's because the focus here
is on Lissa singing old and traditional songs from Maine where she grew up. Now, the
instrumental work, by Lissa and others, is very well done, tastefully and
inventively modern, quite listenable stuff. But the playing serves mostly to
support the lyrics, not to stand on its own.
Any old-timey country album that starts out with chords that echo The Who's Talkin' Bout MyGeneration signals to me that here's a band that's talkin about mine and with that opening track Wild Old Nory from Kansas City quartet The Wilders'Someone's Got to Pay I sat up straight and pushed my hat back. The twin fiddles of the second tune Broken Down Gambler had me scratching my head, "What's this fiddle tune?" Why it's from the Skillet Lickers, and the twin fiddles of Betse Ellis and Dirk Powell certainly grab that feeling and even reminded me a little of the Red Hots complete with the "yeah" that just had to be hollered right at the end.
From its opening seconds of energetic fiddling, For Love and Laughter uplifts the spirit
and re-enforces the reputation of Solas
as a pre-eminent Irish-American band. Starting with three rousing reels in
succession, the album attests to the superb musicianship of Seamus Egan (flute,
tenor banjo, mandolin, whistle, guitar and bodhran), Winifred Horan (fiddle),
Mick McAuley (accordion and concertina) and Eamon McElholm (guitar and
keyboards). Their first album in four years, the 12-year old ensemble has
enriched several numbers with instrumentals and backup vocals by the Canadian
group The Duhks, who include Sarah
Dugas, Tania Elizabeth, Jordan McConnell, Leonard Podolak as well as Scott
Senior, Natalie Haas, Chico Huff, John Anthony and Dirk Powell.
To the dilettante, bluegrass is just one flavor of country.
The truth is far more intertwined, though in today's radio market bluegrass is
considered too country for country. Apparently no one told Ralph Stanley II about this, so he's just released a great
country/bluegrass recording.
Ralph Stanley IIis
the son of Ralph Stanley, the
reigning patriarch of bluegrass. He's travelled and performed with his father
and his father's band The Clinch
Mountain Boys since he was old enough to stand, and has served as the lead
singer of the group since the age of 16, filling the shoes of former leads Ricky Skaggs, Keith Whitley, Larry Sparks
and of course Carter Stanley.
Release Date: Sept. 16th, 2008 (available at CD Baby)
By Brooke Alberts
With the name, Molly's
Revenge you might be fooled into lumping this band in with the likes of Flogging Molly or Dropkick Murphys - dishing out aggressive bar anthems and such- and
you would be far from accurate. The revenge to which they refer in their
cryptic name is what I tend to think of as "traddiction", or an inability to be
temperate with one's desire to play Just One More Set of Tunes Before Going
Home. Stu Mason (guitar, vocals, mandola) lays this out in poetic and graphic
form on their website, www.mollysrevenge.com so go have a peek , if you
wish...but I digress...this band plays traditional Irish and Scottish tunes along
with recently composed numbers that fit well into the traditions in question.
With their most recent CD The Western Shore they reveal how much they have
matured as a group, and the injection of Moira Smiley on vocals is just what
they needed.
Maybe there are two ways of getting to the essence of the
blues. You could be born along the Mississippi,
under a bad sign, and wind up standing at those crossroads with your guitar
named Lucille. Then again, you could have dedicated your life to studying the
music and playing with the musicians who generated the groundwork of the genre
and thereby got under the skin of the subject. Well, Bernie Pearl isn't a
denizen of the delta and as far as we know he didn't sell his soul to the devil
to get him farther up the road. What he did do was commune with the blues and
with many a bluesman to get to the heart of what it is and all about. True, the
blues come from the African American experience, the diaspora of people who
lived a life under duress and then developed a sound and lyric that reflected
not only the hardship of the day, but also the comedy and error of love, work, and
faith. However, communing with another's art form is also part of the American
experience. And it's been said many times that the blues is a state of mind. If
that's true then Bernie Pearl has had the blues on his mind and in his
fret-full fingers.
Soul Science is
what happens when you mix a British electric blues guitar dude, best known for
pop/rock work with Robert Plant's post-Led Zep solo band, with a Gambian rifti
(one-string fiddle) hotshot who's a griot from Africa but clearly conversant
with mainstream Western tunes. Unobtrusive bass and percussion fills in the
picture. The vibe is African, yet the supporting undercurrent is easily
accessible Western-familiar pop blues. Nice stuff, well worth a listen.
I suppose you'd call this "fusion music." Fusion music is
seen as a separate category, but really, it's not. In fact, it's all there is,
anywhere. Face it, all the best musicians listen to anything they can wrap
their little ears around, and always have. Somebody hears something good, goes
all like wow that's cool, and suddenly they incorporate those licks and sounds
into whatever they do.
I'm driving down Route 66 with my 14 year-old twin
daughters in tow. I insert this new CD into the player. I ask the girls, "How
do you like this?" They roll their eyes and say, "Very retro, Dad!" I
wonder...is retro an accumulation of music that has caught with us? This one
sounds to me like what a Zen monk once called, "beginner's mind." I pray..."Lord,
let me not take myself too seriously and help me to make less sense more of the
time."
Xuefei Yang is a classical guitarist with a twist. Yes, she
has a clear affinity for the Spanish classical repertoire, and this album
includes well-executed performances of works by Isaac Albeniz, Francisco
Tarega, and Enrique Granados. Very pleasant stuff, this.
But then there's that twist, and that's where things get
interesting.
About a third of the selections here are solo classical
guitar arrangements of music of her native China. Xuefei Yang is originally
from Beijing, and moved to Britain to
study only after rising to the highest levels of Chinese classical guitar
circles. Her hybrid musical training gives her the properly solid background
for the re-envisioning of the Chinese repertoire she does here and on her other
recordings.
This is very nice stuff. Jim Stubblefield plays sizzling
flamenco-infused guitar, with extra helpings of steam. Who knew that this level
of intense, sexy energy could come from a nylon string acoustic guitar? But
Stubblefield can play him some fine tunes, hey.
I have to confess, I didn't expect to like this as much as I
do. The slickly packaged CD shows a hunky young blond rock & roll
surfer-looking dude, and has a credit line for his makeup artist.
Makeup?? And it was recorded in Castaic. Castaic??
Well, looks can be deceiving, and as it turns out Jim
Stubblefield really does have a thing or two to offer here. Yes, Guitarra
Exotica's take on flamenco definitely has a rocker's sensibility, but living in
LA, and exposed to all the great sounds available in this musical melting pot
... how could it not?
This second effort by the urban cowgirl from Carpenteria
shows the maturity that comes with dedication, hard work and much more than a
little talent. Jackie's first commercially available offering, Where the Legends Grow Like Weeds was
well received and had a few jewels like the tribute to her mother, Louise, the
engaging story of The Gold Country's
Turning to Wine and the beautiful songs Moth
to a Flame and Right as Rain.
Money to Burn
offers its own variety of stories, tributes and enchanting melodies. The
humorous and upbeat departments are well represented by Everybody Needs Some Salsa, the wry Real Short Leash and the crowd-pleaser Solitary Socks, while her father is remembered this time around in The Writing on the Wall. However, the
real attractions for lovers of beautiful music are Some Things Time Can't Erase and the gorgeous Lady in Waiting.
The intent of a recording project is usually established
well before the first note is recorded. Even if all the songs haven't been
composed or all arrangements finalized, there is a reason for the artist to
begin. But sometimes that intent, or the result, can be changed by activities
well beyond the artist's control. Thus begins Holy Roads.
Tim Dismang is a San Juan Capistrano, California
based singer songwriter. Tim's work has been very influenced by one of his
idols, John Stewart. So much so that
Dismang includes four of Stewart's songs on Holy
Roads. So much so that Dismang uses Bob Hoke on drums and Dave Batti on
bass. Both worked as Stewart's rhythm section. And Bob Hawkins, the gentleman
who plays remarkable guitar on Holy Roads,
ended up connecting with Stewart through Hoke and Batti due to his work with
Dismang and was recording and gigging with Stewart prior to John's untimely
death in January of this year.
Hot on the heels of the Gram
Parsons & The Flying Burrito Brothers Live at the Avalon Ballroom 1969
release last autumn comes this import re-release of Last of the Red Hot Burritos, featuring a remarkably different Flying Burrito Brothers. These tunes
were recorded live at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire and Antioch
College in Yellow Springs, Ohio
in 1972.
The Flying Burrito Brothers band on Gram Parsons & The Flying Burrito
Brothers Live at the Avalon Ballroom 1969 consisted of lead vocalist/writer
Gram Parsons; Chris Hillman vocalist, writer and guitarist; Chris Ethridge
writer and bass player; Sneaky Pete Kleinow on pedal steel guitar and Mike
Clarke on drums. By 1972, FBB personnel had been altered remarkably, and
the direction of the band had altered as well.
On her new CD Beautiful World, Eliza Gilkyson lets go
with her jitters and assurances on our times and the times to come. Her first
new studio recording in 3 years, she still writes a line that cracks like a
whip with rhythm and meaning delivered with catchy music and an expressive
voice that's a pleasure to have in the ear. These are songs you can't get out
of your head, and you're glad they've nested there.
Susie Glaze is relatively new to the Southern
California bluegrass scene, but her rise to the ranks of
nationally known talent has been fairly well documented here in the
pages of
FolkWorks. Glaze was raised in Tennessee,
and first chose the artistic path of theater. After some success in the
New York stage scene, she discovered a love for bluegrass
music and moved to California.
First she became a member of The Eight
Hand String Band, and then began her solo career. Green Kentucky Blues is her fourth solo project, and most likely
the one that folks will look back to as her "breakout" recording. Don't be
surprised if Green Kentucky Blues
finds its way to a nomination at IBMA (International Bluegrass Music
Association) music awards.
Tumbatú Cumbá is fronted by brother and sister Nicolas
Falcof (guitar,vocals, percussion) and Magalí Falcof (vocals and percussion)
and includes members Julian Solarz (piano, percussion and vocals), Cecilia
Fraiman (vocals), Sebastian Dezeo (electric bass) and Bernardo Ucha
(percussion). The group describes itself as "Buenos Aires musicians who fuse Latin
American styles and rhythms from the wide-ranging folk traditions from every
corner of the continent." In their 2007 eponymous recording, Tumbatú Cumbá
gives a contemporary feel to traditional Afro-Latin rhythms and explores genres
that have gone through many re-births as each Latin-American generation has
searched for its musical roots.
The CD opens with Ê-emoriô, a song based on a traditional
Afro-Brazilian chant, but attributed to Brazilian legends Gilberto Gil and João
Donato who popularized it. With several guest percussionists and vocalists, the
track is a call and response between the chorus and the rich vocals of Magalí
Falcoff.
The thinking man's country ensemble, who seem to soar ever
higher over the vast wilderness of hyphenated roots music bands, have released
another recording, Hallowed Ground,
and it admirably adds to the existing evidence that they deserve their previous
acclaim.
Yes, there is some indication that they have some kind of
preternatural flower power at their disposal. However, you could eschew the
acid folk, biorhythm and blues, hippie-hop, and eco-country tags because the
songs that they offer are still just under the good music umbrella,
psychedelic-imbued or not.
The Rob Waller-Paul Lacques writing partnership excels at a
variety of styles, covering the landscape with the eccentric to the epic. Yes,
it's counter-country done with poetic flair but also digs in with relevancy and
depth akin to short story collections. That they have become so good at writing
and playing songs that cover such a wide variety of subject matter is now no
surprise. Hallowed Ground is the
fourth CD from the band and reaffirms the consistency of their efforts and
expands the repertoire even more.
CALIFORNIA'S
DESERT YIELDS A ROUGH-EDGED DIAMOND OF A SINGER-SONGWRITER: DAVE TRAVIS
By Terry Roland
Singer-songwriter Dave Travis is an undiscovered gem. Working
as an independent artist has provided him with artistic freedom, allowing him to
develop both his style and lyrical content. His new release, 12-String Crazy, is
a diverse collection of songs yielding a unique, fresh and original style of Americana music combining
folk, country, blues, soul, gospel and rock. His influences are clear throughout
this stream of songs, but his distinctive instrumental, vocal and writing style
demonstrate an artist who has a strong sense of his own voice and vision.
Some hear the clarion call of the bagpipes and the ears perk
up, the heart races, and the sonority reverberates through the core. Even if
you don't have a molecule of Celtic DNA in your spittle, everyone has a
reaction to the echoing exhalations of the unique bag, chanter and drone
instrument. When combined with the sonorous beating of drums and the unique
bellow of the didgeridoo, something primal and immediate hits the psyche. Whether
it's your cup of tea or mug of grog, Wicked Tinkers provide an invitation to
explore those internal rumblings, subtle or undiscovered though they may be.
With RANT, Wicked Tinkers offer up one of their most
colorful recordings. And, although there is no substitute for a live
performance, pushing the volume control throttle of your sound system when
listening to this recording will provide a close rendering of the group, at
least sonically.
JACKSON BROWNE SOLO
ACOUSTIC VOL. 2 (released on March 4, 2008 on Inside Recordings) is the
second in a series of solo acoustic albums by the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Famer.
Though with new songs, the format is identical to the first volume, released in
2005. Vol. 2 showcases the same sense of intimacy and live energy at Jackson's
recent solo acoustic concerts: he's singing to you.
The collection begins with a stripped-down version of Never Stop from his 2002 album, The Naked Ride Home, with Jackson on
guitar. The acoustic arrangement emphasizes the words and it comes across as a
beautiful love song. When Jackson sings “And when you make me smile, I'm the richest
man I know,” you believe it.
The album is designed to honor that tradition while
revealing it as an evolving genre of music. During the 1950s and 1960s, for
example, some of the brass bands began incorporating rhythm and blues, jazz and
funk into their sound. On Cut 5 of New Orleans Brass, the Dirty Dozen Brass
Band's infectiously rhythmic rendition of It's all Over Now, featuring Dr. John in fine form, demonstrates
this trend with verve. Kermit Ruffins represents the 1980s generation take on
the tradition with his Rebirth Brass Band with Treme Second Line (Blow Da Whistle).
The word He’eia refers to He’eia Bay on Hawai’i
Island’s Kona coast, a place where King David Kalakaua used to enjoy on a day
at the beach. In the opening musical selection of the same name, Cyril Pahinui
evokes the setting with a powerful, lush interpretation of the name chant (meleinoa) for Kalakaua, with music attributed to J. Kalahiki. He’eia is
one of three traditional songs for which he has created exquisite arrangements
for slack key guitar.
One of the fascinating aspects of this third solo album is
the way it showcases Cyril’s stylistic gifts. He plays an instrumental version
of He’eia on Cut 1 with his 12-string guitar in the C Mauna Lua
tuning (C-G-E-G-A-E). Later, in Cut 6, he plays it in Atta’s C Major
(C-G-E-G-C-E), creating a different mood with the change in tonal coloration
and adding his own vocals. Similarly he plays O Kamawailualani (the
ancient name for the island
of Kaui’i) on his
six-string guitar in Cut 2 and uses his 12-string guitar for the same selection
in Cut 10.
It’s hard to imagine in this hundreds-of-channels-at-the-touch-of-a-button
age, but not so very long ago- during my lifetime, in fact, TV was home to very
few programming choices, and any music, particularly good music, was rarely
found. Variety shows like the Ed Sullivan
Show would have the occasional pop act between the dancing elephants and
such, and there were occasional shows dedicated to pop music, but vaudeville,
rather than anything current, was the benchmark.
So it’s all the more impressive that it was not an ambitious
musician of the rock generation, which was (arguably) at its boldest artistic
point, but the most successful mainstream country artist of his time that most
effectively bridged the gap between musicians of various genres in the late 1960s.
One of the activities I enjoy most at traditional music
festivals and multi-day workshops is the opportunity to thoroughly browse the
pre-recorded music offerings. Those stacks of compact discs and digital video
discs seem even more accessible than their vinyl and magnetic tape ancestors,
and, unlike vinyl “records,” we can play the compact discs in our cars on the
way home, so adding an appropriate final touch to a festival-workshop
experience. The selections I see are sometimes unavailable anywhere else, and
most others will not be seen (outside of Internet listings and occasionally in
catalogues) unless one lives near, and frequents, a good acoustic music store. At
a multi-day event, I find I have the time to reflect on the projects being
offered, and the time to discuss them with other music appreciators in
attendance, and even, now and then, directly with the musicians who are
featured on the recordings.
Blues fans know Tom Ball and Kenny Sultan as Santa Barbara’s answer to Brownie and Sonny. This came natural for Ball, since he shares Sonny Terry’s birthday of October 24.
Ball and Sultan have been entertaining audiences all over the world since 1978. They are known for their casual yet musically tight shows. They’ve recorded eight duo CDs, and have a long running residency at the Cold Spring Tavern in the Santa Barbara hills. Sultan was recently honored with a signature Martin guitar.
Title: GRAM PARSONS & THE FLYING BURRITO BROTHERS LIVE
AT THE AVALON BALLROOM 1969
Label: AMOEBA AM0002
Release Date: NOVEMBER 2007
By Dennis Roger Reed
For a very brief time in 1968 and 1969, Los Angeles was the home of an almost perfect
amalgamation of rock and roll, country and soul music known as TheFlying Burrito Brothers. Their first recording, Gilded Palace of Sin, was a eclectic mix
including recent soul hits redone in a country rock mode. Somehow TheFlying Burrito Brothers were able to take songs like Dark End of the Street or Do Right Woman with their own
imaginative spin while still capturing some of the essence of the original
interpretations. The Flying Burrito
Brothers also brought a good number of originals to the project, and each
was worthy of contrast with the soul tunes. In fact, it wasn’t hard to imagine
William Bell or James Carr taking a crack at Hot Burrito #1 or Hot Burrito
#2. Then TheFlying Burrito Brothers upped the ante,
adding several Nuevo-country tunes that would have felt at home with George
Jones, Buck Owens or more likely Waylon Jennings. Christine’s Tune, SinCity, Wheels: these were all steely country
tunes but with hip, bent lyrics.
BILL STAINES’ OLD DOGS: MUSIC
AS PURE AS A SIERRA CREEK
ARTIST: BILL STAINES
TITLE: OLD DOGS
By Terry Roland
Do you ever long to get away? Sometimes, in the middle of the
week, do you have an intense desire to walk in a meadow, see a shooting star,
reflect on a glacial mountain, pluck an old guitar on an aged, wood front
porch, or just scratch the grateful belly of an old dog? If you do, Bill
Staines’ newest release, Old Dogs, provides a much-needed respite from the complexities
of today’s world. He also gives a glimpse into the diversity of American
experiences through which, he allows his audience to see the past in a way that
informs our appreciation for the present.
The Ukulele Of Jake Shimabukuro Continues To Boldly Go Into Musical Territory Where No Uke Has Gone Before. Shimabukuro Largely Left Behind His Traditional Hawaiian Repertoire Some Years Ago, But His Exploration Of The Instrument’s Expressive Capacity Remains Enthralling For Music Lovers Not Attached To Genres. Two Fall Releases, One Linked To The Signature Dance Form Of hawaii, The Other Reaching Out To Vintage Pop, Deserve Attention.
In the EP recording My Life, the virtuoso offers beautiful, heartfelt arrangements of six of his favorite tunes. He treats the work of Sarah McLachlan, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, and Cyndi Lauper with respect while integrating his unique interpretations.
Athena Tergis - San Francisco- raised Valley Of The Moon (Alisdair Fraser’s ScottishFiddleSchool) denizen, three-time Junior National Scottish Fiddling Champion and principal fiddler for Riverdance on
Broadway- has released a lovely and varied CD showcasing her clean and sprightly style with the help of some other excellent musicians. Eminent guitarist John Doyle is the producer along with providing his signature syncopated guitar and bouzouki accompaniment and arrangements. Liz Carroll, Natalie Haas and Sharon Shannon join her as well on a few tracks on fiddle, cello and accordion, respectively, along with Chico Huff on bass, Billy McComiskey on accordion, and Ben Wittman on percussion.
Like many other fans of A Prairie Home Companion, I first heard Robin & Linda Williams on the radio program where they’ve been frequent guests for over 30 years. That’s what makes their newest CD “Radio Songs” so enjoyable. It is a collection of performances taken from A Prairie Home Companion from 1991 to the present.
The Williams’s have an extraordinary ability to span a wide range of repertory convincingly. “Radio Songs” includes bluegrass, country, gospel, blues, rural folk tunes, sentimental ballads, and a little comic excursion into the opera repertory. And while I am especially fond of their bluegrass and gospel interpretations, perhaps the biggest surprise is how beautifully Linda sings We’ll Meet Again, a sentimental WWII-era song made popular by British Armed ForcesSweetheart Vera Lynn. Here the sentiment sounds genuine and contemporary and the musical background provided by Guy’s All-Star Shoe Band is perfectly tasteful.
Today's world is fast moving and noisy. Pop music often reflects this, so much so that it becomes difficult to find music that isn't fast moving and noisy without succumbing to "easy listening," "new age" or "light jazz."
Ray Bierl's music is not fast moving or noisy, nor is it "easy listening," "new age" or "light jazz." It's folk, at its best. More back porch music than Top 10 pop.
Though raised in San Diego, Bierl's music is best known in the Bay Area, his adopted home. Ray picked up the guitar in high school, and became enamored with folk music in the 1960s, becoming a regular on the coffee house scene. Bierl provided guitar backup for a variety of artists such as Rosalie Sorrels, Kate Wolf, and Malvina Reynolds. He also dabbled in bluegrass, and eventually took up the fiddle. He took his fiddle to work every day at his civil service job and practiced at breaks, lunch and after work. One hopes his co-workers received hazard duty pay, since the fiddle is an instrument that is difficult to master, and a painful experience for those that get to hear the progress.
APOTHEOSIS OF THE POLKA AND JIGS TO HAUNT YOUR
DREAMS
ARTISTS: BREANNDAN BEGLEY AND CAOIMHIN O'RAGHALLAIGH
TITLE: FYH
LABEL: FYH (STATE OF CHASSIS,
2007)
(currently available only at concerts -therefore not Pure Unobtanium!-but soon available from CDBaby
By Brooke Alberts
“A moment of madness is better than a life of logic.” Might
as well Follow Your Heart. This according to Mr. Breanndan
Begley, and Mr. Caoimhin O’Raghallaigh concurs- it’s right there in their
playing (play being the operative verb).
Mad moments ensue here in plenty- some more obviously, like the tune
they’re calling a Slippery Jig . Slip-jigs are in 9/8, but this one, learned
from the playing of Paddy Cronin, has an extra beat. Then there’s a rendition of O’Sullivan’s March after
which they roam about, still playing, and snatches of the tune waft back into
the recording device’s earshot like a
poignant draught of nostalgia. Furthermore, O’Raghallaigh introduces the
hardanger fiddle (a traditional Norwegian instrument with four played strings
and five sympathetically resonating strings) for a set of polkas. He takes
these very common polkas and, by his intensely musical playing, presents them
as intriguing and delightful new creatures.
Martin Simpson has long been one of my favorite guitarists. I
love his sense of timing.The fluidity
of his picking conjures for me cascades and swirling eddies that buoy up the
melody. What wonderful control he has- and he’s not afraid to just let it ring,
either.
He starts off with a few ballads that have made their way to America- Batchelor’s Hall and an instrumental
version of Pretty Crowing Chicken on the banjo, (both of which were
collected by folklorist/musician/photographer John Cohen in the 1960s,) and Lakes
of Champlain, a version of the Irish Lakes of Coolfinn. They are
enhanced by the gentle cello and concertina accompaniments by Barry Phillips
and Alistair Anderson,
respectively.
TITLE: A CASE FOR CASE:
A TRIBUTE TO THE SONGS OF PETER CASE
Label:HUNGRY FOR MUSIC HFM 024
Release Date: FEBRUARY 2006
ARTIST: PETER CASE
TITLE: LET
US NOW PRAISE
SLEEPY JOHN
Label: EP ROCK RECORDSYEP 2160
Release Date: AUGUST 2007
By Dennis Roger Reed
Sometimes we ignore our own backyard, musically speaking. We
don’t truly respect the talent we have in our own community or we can’t grasp
them as STARS. Peter Case is a case in point. (Not only a bad pun but also the
kind of hackneyed redundancy that has made the print media what we are today.)
Case has spent most of his career based in Southern California, and has long garnered the
respect (and awe) of his fellow musicians. His work has been regaled by the
critics, but for the most part “mainstream success” has eluded him. Case is a
remarkably prolific artist, his work gifted with a rich, storytelling aspect
that make comparisons with prose writers such as Raymond Carter or Cornell
Woolrich every bit as appropriate as comparisons with great storytelling
songwriters like Guy Clark or Sleepy John Estes.
Say you've got to move and you've misplaced your energy
supplements? No problem.Pop on Oyaya! and crank up the volume.You'll soon be doing all the moving you need
to do - and I mean "moving" from taking all your stuff from here to there as
well as "moving" your body to the groove.
From the first staccato hits on the snare drum, introducing
some deliciously dexterous acoustic guitar work, followed quickly by some
smoking slides on electric bass, the sense that you are in for an energetic
ride becomes clear.Though she is not a
very big person, Kidjo has a huge voice and enough energy to get us all to
dance -or move furniture!You get the sense that she really doesn't
need a microphone to front a band replete with guitars, several percussionists,
drums, keyboards, horns and a host of backup singers.
Singer-songwriters don't seem to have much of a problem
bearing their souls. It's difficult to think of any subject that hasn't slipped
from the pens of a confessional musician. But it's somewhat a different story
when it comes to spirituality. A lot
of listeners shy from recordings that mention spirituality. Many are afraid
that they'll be proselytized, and of course some material isn't really
spiritual as much as religious indoctrination. And,
oddly, many people are far more comfortable discussing their love life than
their spiritual life. Singer/songwriter/guitarist Danny Flowers is an exception.
The whimsical name of the group belies the fact that these
musicians play hard, fast, and serious. There’s nothing fishy about them. In
fact, there’s no slouching or mannered excesses, as Fishtank Ensemble comes
armed, loaded and ready to serve you up a platter of intense nearly cosmic
gypsy music. Their latest CD release, Samurai
Over Serbia, samples the global plain that is the group’s playing field. Like
the gypsies, it crosses borders, villages, continents, and time periods
showcasing the varied instrumental prowess of each member and the extreme range
of vocalist, Ursula Knudson who also can double up on violin, banjolele and the
musical saw.
ARTIST: PINT & DALE (WILLIAM PINT AND FELICIA DALE)
TITLE: THE SET OF THE SAIL
LABEL: WATERBUG
RELEASE DATE: JUNE 2007
By Michael Macheret
Following the oldest of musical traditions, Pint & Dale have gathered a number of great nautical-themed songs in their travels. Their latest CD The Set of the Sail features songs, both traditional and contemporary, they've collected in their travels to England.
Unlike some of the more traditional shanty bands, Pint & Dale dress up traditional songs with updated musical arrangements reminiscent of some of the better bands of the 1960s folk music revival but the sound is fresh and current. Felicia Dale plays the hurdy-gurdy, fiddle, whistles and bodhran. William Pint plays guitar and mandolin. Felicia Dale's hurdy-gurdy has a prominent role on this CD and it sounds like she has added a new dimension to her playing on that instrument giving it more of a leading role than on previous recordings.
Title: KA HIKINA
O KA HAU
(THE COMING OF THE SNOW)
Label: DANCING CAT
By Audrey Coleman
Ka Hikina O Ka Hau represents a new exploration with
slack key guitar by one of the foremost contributors to the Hawaiian musical
renaissance that began in the 1970's. Keola Beamer applies traditional
slack-key tunings to both traditional and classical material, collaborating
with pianist-record producer George Winston and guitarist-arranger Daniel
O'Donoghue to create an album of delicate beauty. In most of the pieces, Beamer
plays all the guitars through the magic of overdubbing.
It seems that Raiatea has grown up. Not to say that her voice has changed - she still has the sweetest voice you can imagine. Raiatea's first CD was recorded in 2003 when she was 17 years old. While that may be the norm for pop bands, the Hawaiian traditional music scene is usually dominated by more seasoned musicians. This makes it even more remarkable that she has captured numerous prestigious awards from the start: receiving the Na Hoku awards for her debut (given by the Hawai‘i Academy of Recording Artists) for both Most Promising Artist and Female Vocalist of the Year in 2003. Her second CD Sweet and Lovely released in 2004 again won her the Na Hoku Female Vocalist of the Year plus Favorite Entertainer of the Year in 2005 plus four other Na Hoku awards. When she was nominated for a Grammy for her second CD, the New York Times called the recording "poised and utterly elegant."
The soaring vocal stylings of Qawwali singers (Qawwals) transport listeners and performers to heights of ecstatic spiritual awareness. Like the similarly intended and better known Whirling Dervishes, the public ritual of Qawwali runs on love and desire for Divine Union. Unlike the trance dancing Dervishes, Qawwali sweats, bleeds, and screams.
Originally from Persia, Qawwali flourished with the Chisti order of Sufis on the Indian subcontinent. A group of musicians called a party features a chorus of 4 or 5 men, a lead singer, second singer, percussionists on tabla or dholak, with the singers usually playing harmoniums, which took over from the stringed sarangis of earlier times. Qawwalis usually begin slowly with harmonium and tabla improvisation, some introductory singing by the lead, and finally the whole party joins building momentum as they go.
There lies a musical posse scattered across the vast disparate and desperate basin and valleys of Los Angeles, men who strum along according to the book of who-cares-what's-on-the-pop-charts. From bluegrass to blues and from ballad to cowboy waltz, the varied art of the American troubadour gets a shot in the arm when a cadre of the Southland's best musicians get together and stay in one place long enough to record a sample of the Americana roots music rainbow. The Goin' South Band rounds up Rick Shea, Cody Bryant, Paul Lacques, Vic Koler, John Zeretzke, Fred Sokolow, and Rick Cunha, each taking time out from their solo and sidemen projects, and presents them as educators and purveyors of various forms of the traditional American musical songbook, not the bright lights of Broadway, but tunes that would perhaps be found down the road a piece and headed mostly southbound.
Jake Shimabukuro's latest release could be titled The Naked Ukulele. Except for a few bonus tracks, the Honolulu-born ukulele virtuoso has stripped away the instrumental backup used in his four previous releases to let us experience his artistic sensibility without distractions. The result is a recording of rare emotional intensity. It showcases not only his astounding technique but also his drive to explore musical genres. While the Hawaiian folk roots of the ukulele remain strong today, Jake's music pushes beyond them fearlessly.
A haunting rock-blues-inspired riff opens the tastefully embellished version of George Harrison's While My Guitar Gently Weeps.After
stating the melody, he creates a bridge of chord progressions and
builds with a hard-driving rhythm and huge dynamics that belie the
small size of his four-stringed instrument. Then he returns to the
melody for a tender conclusion. During a recent interview, Jake told me
that Harrison's widow expressed her appreciation of Jake's adaptation
in person when he performed it in concert. In fact, Harrison was a
great fan of the ukulele, collecting instruments and recordings for
much of his artistic life. For that reason, too, Jake feels a bond with
the late Beatle whom he never met.
Bob Webb's album, Full Circle:
The Solo Banjo Sessions means a lot to those of us who have been waiting
many years for a recording of just Bob and the banjo. In the late 1970s, Webb
abandoned old time banjo tunes for maritime music and Los Angeles for British
Columbia and later Maine
where he still resides. So, to have him back with this amazing album of old
time banjo tunes is truly welcome since he is one of the finest clawhammer
players in the country. The more you listen to his playing, the more you will
appreciate his talent and mastery of the instrument.
If you are familiar withKitty Lie Over, the masterful recording of Irish traditional music by Mick O’Brien and Caoimhin O’Raghallaigh, you may have a sense of the melodious pulse that Caoimhin brings to this music. His new CD where the one-eyed man is king contains a series of jewel-like expressions that combine his sensibilities in the field of Irish traditional music with his own explorations in composition, recording, and art.This is an all-Caoimhin production, and he plays fiddle, hardanger fiddle,whistles, piano and other percussion on this recording.
Artist: CHRIS WHITLEY & JEFF
LANG
Title: DISLOCATION
BLUES
Label: ABC
ROOTS MUSIC 5101155862
Release Date: AUGUST
2006
BY DENNIS ROGER REED
Chris
Whitley pushed the envelope of blues music as far as any performer. His death
from lung cancer in November of 2005 at the age of 45 shocked and saddened the
blues music world. He was a remarkably proficient artist, reeling from solo
projects to inspired collaborations such as Dislocation
Blues, where he teamed with noted Australian
bluesman Jeff Lang.
Texas born Whitley released his first CD, Living with the Law, in 1991 and
released 14 others by the time of his death. Some, like 1998s Dirt Floor, were primarily acoustic
recordings, where others used samples, looping and distortion as part of the
menu.
In Generation Hawaii Amy Hanaiali'i' shares
the rich cultural heritage passed on from her grandmother's generation to her
own. Beginning with the opening song, Napua,
the influence of her recently-deceased grandmother, Jenny Napua Hanaiali'i
Woodd, permeates the album as it has permeated Amy's life. Beside the liner
notes for the song is a picture of a youthful woman with a fresh, engaging
smile, and a floral garland crowning her dark hair? The English translation of
Amy's Hawaiian lyrics captures the tenderness of the granddaughter-grandmother
relationship:
Your petals are indeed delicate
Awakened by the rains of Hina
How I yearn to see you
My blossom that is in eternal rest.
As in the other
songs to be found on Generation Hawaii,
the melody and instrumental arrangement of Napua
intertwine like the thick, fragrant, flowered vines to be found in Hawaii's forests, woven
to highlight the strength and sweetness of Amy's
voice.
Most
consumers are not surprised to see one of those “explicit lyric” stickers on
the latest rap or hip hop CD. It’s a little odd to see one on a roots-rock
record, but it does bring up the fact that a lot of folk music recordings
probably deserve a similar sticker. The people that thought up the idea of
putting warning stickers on records need a sticker too, but that’s another
story. Scott Miller & The
Commonwealth’s lyrics won’t cause you to pass out, and it’s easy to forget
about the sticker once you are immersed in the music of Citation, Miller’s newest recording.
Most people know
of the band Fleetwood Mac as a pop
rock group, one of the most popular in the mid and late 1970s. There is another
Fleetwood Mac that only shares two
of the same members, but left a legacy arguably as strong as the later
incarnation, although as an electric blues band with emerging pop overtones.
Fleetwood Mac
began in 1967 as somewhat of an offshoot of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, as three of the original four members
had been in the recent employ of Mr. Mayall. The former Bluesbreakers, bassist John McVie, drummer Mick Fleetwood and
guitarist/vocalist Peter Green, were joined by a 19 year old blues guitarist,
pianist and singer named Jeremy Spencer. Spencer had the ability to play American
blues legend Elmore James' songs uncannily like James, a somewhat astonishing
fact considering that Spencer was a young white Brit. Fleetwood Mac soon added Danny Kirwan as the third guitarist, and
the world was their oyster for a short period of time. However, Green began to mentally
unravel due to the pressures of rock success, and left the group. They soldered
on for another album sans Green, but during a U.S.
tour in 1971, Spencer left his hotel to visit a bookstore in Los Angeles, but did not return for that
night's concert. It turned out that he had joined a sect called the Children of
God, a group with which he remains affiliated to this day. Green was begged
back to finish the tour, but the first incarnation of Fleetwood Mac was on the ropes.The personnel changes made by McVie and Fleetwood eventually created the
pop supergroup that to many, eclipsed the memory of the first Fleetwood Mac.
Calling Beyond the
Pale a "klezmer band' would unfairly pigeonhole the Toronto-based group's
big-eared take on Eastern European, Balkan, and other musics. But then, that
characterization would be true of much of the klezmorim new wave, restless
reinventors who honor the tradition while pushing the boundaries farther
afield.
The version of BTP at the Skirball was pared down to a quintet and featured a different accordionist than on Postcards. Percussionist/violinist Bogdan Djukic was unable to accompany the group for its California mini-tour. Milos Popovic, credited as playing squeezebox on the album, was replaced by fellow Serbian expat Dejan Badnjar, who joined the core four on stage-mandolinist/cofounder Eric Stein, bassist/cofounder Bret Higgins, violinist Aleksandar Gajic, and clarinetist Martin van de Ven.
So a Canadian, a Vermonter, and an Englishman walked into a
bar.... Well not a bar in Crowfoot's case, but the performance space behind a
coffee house. The trio, now based in Quebec, brought their deeply felt
confluence of Irish, English, Appalachian, French Canadian, and other musics to
Bob Stane's fulcrum of folk and roots in Altadena. A pretty good crowd turned
out (only a handful of empty seats); you could certainly do a helluva lot worse
finding a Tuesday night alternative to "NCIS," I s'pose.
Celtic trio Banshee in the Kitchen came out from their
homebase in Bakersfield to kick offthis
summer's series of free concerts at the Peter Strauss Ranch. Sponsored by the
Topanga Banjo Fiddle contest, these concerts are family events, great fun for
grown-ups and kids alike. So this review is brought to you by one grown-up and
one kid.
A GROWN-UP PERPECTIVE (by Kathy)
There are only three Banshees: Jill Egland, Brenda Hunter
and Mary Tulin. It seems like there should be more of them, though, from the
number of instruments you see on stage. Between them, the Banshees play hammer
dulcimer (Brenda), fiddle (Brenda), piano accordion (Jill), flute (Jill),
bodhran (Jill), bouzouki (Mary) and guitars of various types and tunings
(Mary). They all sing, too.
Over 35 years ago, Garfield High School students David
Hidalgo and Louie Perez began composing songs together. As Perez expressed it
to the adoring audience at Torrance Cultural Art Center on Sunday, January 11,
"It all started in 1970 when I went over to David's house and stayed about a
year." Their collaboration evolved into Los Lobos, the Grammy-winning band from
East L.A. that has traveled the world with its unique blend of Chicano rock,
Tejano music, rock en Espanol, and Mexican roots music.
So, when a small entry in South Bay's Beach Reporter
announced David Hidalgo and Louie Perez of Los Lobos: Stories and Songs at
Torrance Cultural Arts Center, it seemed like a rare opportunity to learn how
the pair's experiences have driven the development of this home-grown musical
phenomenon.
As the boundaries between some countries become more strictly enforced, the borderlines continue to blur between international music. What was once considered almost the outlaw music of the gypsies is now stealing its way overseas into the American music mix by way of the internet, amalgams of expatriates, and local musicians who have traveled the caravan routes. Maybe just being a musician today is to be a gypsy of sorts, and the cyber world allows for wandering freely across musical perimeters. Exposure to what was once obscure, esoteric, lost, or dying music is now available for the masses.
Mark Fosson's music got waylaid back in the 1970s by an
unfortunate incident that slowed down a young man's climb up the industry
fretboard. He lost his record and his contract when legendary guitarist, John
Fahey, proprietor of Takoma records, who Fosson had signed with, was forced to
sell the company to Chrysalis. But not with Fosson or his record. That event
took him on a long roundabout way of getting back to those roots, but if his
recent show on the Westside is any indication, the talent that Fahey noticed
way back then, has never left him.
"Sometimes heroes happen when you need ‘em." Kris
Kristofferson
Sometimes, it seems, heroes and legends just kind of roll
through town, quietly, under publicized and unassuming. This happened Sunday
afternoon October 19 as the Haugh Performing Arts
Center in Glendora hosted a concert by Kris Kristofferson with next to no
promotion. Even so, the concert was filled to near capacity. Now in his early
70's, the singer-songwriter kept joking about trying to imagine it was Saturday
night rather than Sunday afternoon. However, by the end of the earthy, magical
show, he announced to the enthusiastic audience, they had made him feel like it
was a Saturday night. This is high praise from the poet laureate of the counter-culture
dusty honky tonks of the 1970s.
Kristofferson, who has traveled with various back up
musicians over the years, has decided to appear alone in the same way he did
when he first appeared in Nashville
and later on his first trek as a songwriter to LA's Troubadour in 1970. It was
a risky but a wise move for this artist who has always performed best in the
most intimate settings. It was as honest and real a performance as he has ever
given in his long career. There were no fancy guitar parts, no soaring harmony vocals
to cover up any limitations. There was barely even any talk between the songs. It
was just Kris, the guitar, the songs and a privileged audience.
Who could fill up the beautiful 500-seat Harold M. Williams Auditorium at the Getty Center in the middle of the Sepulveda Pass during Friday night rush hour? Alison Krauss? Springsteen?The Pope?
How about the local "Travelin' American Folksingers" from Van Nuys, Fur Dixon and Steve Werner? With ever-growing audiences of fans andfriends, including high percentages of bikers and fellow musicians, the popularity of this duo continues to grow by leaps and bounds. And now the regular denizens of the Friday Nights at the Getty series can be added to that fan base as they were wowed by the talent, diversity and down-home great entertainment that filled the packed auditorium.
With three behind him there was no reason that the latest FOLKTACULAR held August 31st at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica should be anything less than a great evening of folk music. Robert Morgan Fisher's twice a year bash once again featured a full (eight-hour) schedule filled to the brim with some of the most talented singer-songwriters from the Los Angeles area and beyond.
Robert opened the 2008 Labor Day showcase with a brief intro, a couple of his poignant songs and a jump into an aggressive schedule that attempted to bring another act to the stage every fifteen minutes.
The ever-present Dave Morrison, Chad Watson with wife Pam Loe, and Freebo were joined by repeat performers Severin Browne, Paul Zollo, Piper-Grey, Dale LaDuke and Mother Nature's Army. New additions this time around included Allan Comeau, Lee Domann, Manda (Mosher), "Banjo" Fred Starner, Garret Swayne, Tim Tedrow & Terry Vreeland, Joyce Woodson and headliner Dan Bern (www.danbern.com).
It was the best of times; it was the worst of times-a time
to kill, a time to heal, a time of war, a time of peace-a time to be reminded
of the greatness of Dylan's catalogue of songs, the songs that have earned him
the title of "poet laureate of rock and roll," and a time to wonder whether his
recent persona of rocker at the keyboards really does those songs justice.
It was the best of Dylan; it was the worst of Dylan. But
first the bad news: for those who remember Bob as the guitar-slinging,
harmonica blowing troubadour of times past (extending all the way into the
90's-which is the last time I had seen a live performance) that Dylan is long
gone. He has a great five-piece band, including two first rate guitarists, but
at no time during the show did Bob himself pick up the instrument that defines
both the folk and rock troubadour of his early and middle periods.
Among the gifts of many a fine singer-songwriter is the ability to tell stories which bring out the ordinary miracles in the world around us. On Saturday night, March 29th, at McCabe's in Santa Monica, Carrie Newcomer brought her own brand of natural magic through song and story. A Quaker from Indiana gifted with an uncommon richness in her voice and insightful songwriting, Newcomer guided the audience through many of the songs on her new, critically acclaimed CD, The Geography of Light. The songs were straightforward and simple with an inner elegance that supported her spiritual insights and songs of compassion. For example, in the song, There is a Tree, she gives voice to her affinity for finding words for life experiences, which are sometimes beyond words. The humor-through-song of the evening was an old-time jazz styled song called "Don't Push Send." It tells stories of the now common and sometimes disastrous experience of sending knee-jerk emotional e-mails.
The 60'S are Alive and Well in Live Show with BARRY
MCGUIRE and TERRY TALBOT
By Terry Roland
"It's time to celebrate life!" These were the words
of folksinger and 60's legend, Barry McGuire last Saturday night at The Coffee
Gallery in Altadena,
California. His new live show
with country-rock pioneer, Terry Talbot of Mason Proffit is called Trippin'
The 60's. It is a celebration of life in the present that draws from
folk-rock era of the '60's. McGuire and Talbot have capably assembled a review
in story and song that reminds us of the significance that music has played in
our history and how important it continues to be today. They should know. They
experienced it first-hand.
During this show, they took the audience through a
chronological bullet train of a ride through the early to late 60's. Both
musicians drew from personal experiences with Bob Dylan, The Byrds, The Mamas
& The Papas, John Sebastian, Janis Joplin and John Denver among others.
During the concert they told stories and performed the songs that changed the
lives of a generation. Included in the show were McGuire's own Green, Green that
he recorded while he was in The New Christy Minstrels and his hit, Eve of
Destruction. Also included in
the show were Talbot's hits with Mason Proffit, Better Find Jesus and Two
Hangmen. The other songs performed by the duo were Monday, Monday,
Creeque Alley, Suite Judy Blue Eyes,
Here Comes The Sun and a host of others.
It's a
bit of a challenge when you try to recreate a Louisiana
bayou in a sprawling southern California
park.Located across the street from a
harbor which embraces the Queen Mary and the Pacific Ocean
on one side and a major hotel and convention center on the other, it's a
stretch to imagine the rustic swamplands of the south.You won't see a ‘gator launching itself out
of the water nor will you be digging crawfish out of a muddy marsh.The man-made Rainbow Lagoon isn't Lake Ponchartrain
or even Lake Charles and nothing resembling the
mighty Mississippi River snakes through the
groomed green turf of the park.However,
for one weekend in June, the sounds emanating from the 21st Annual
Long Beach Bayou Festival's Center (Bayou) stage can transport you and your
NoCal city slicker Dan Hicks brought a crackling edition of the Hot Licks to the venerable show room stage at McCabe's. And, he threw the audience a substantial curve ball. Rather than performing his own substantial catalogue of beloved classics, Hicks took the sold out house on an extended history of American Folk Music. Billed on his website as "A Salute to the Folk Years," Professor Hicks read prepared historical contexts and artists' bios as song introductions, usually interjecting wry comments. On one roll call of artists, he mentioned Jean Ritchie and Richie Havens, then pointed out they weren't related.
Tonight is the last chance to catch this comedic dance-driven tale of identity crisis and coming of age as an English-born Irish girl in London.Dancer/ Writer/ Choreographer Maire Clerkinʼs one-woman autobiographical presentation is at times poignant and at times hysterically funny. She is able to channel her younger self at various stages of development and to elucidate the moments when life to her was just not fair. No longer need she hold in her feelings of inequities, she is free to entertain her audiences with them - with each incidence diffused by a humorous moment.
When they made a movie about Woody Guthrie they didn’t think twice—they put in This Land Is Your Land. When they made a movie about Johnny Cash they didn’t think twice—they put in I Walk the Line. When they made a movie about Buddy Holly they didn’t think twice—they put in Peggy Sue. And when they made a movie about Ray Charles they didn’t think twice—they put in Georgia On My Mind. So I’m sure filmmaker Todd Haynes thought twice about leaving Don’t Think Twice out of his new Bob Dylan movie I’m Not There—
By Jim Brown (who Made The Weaver’s Movie, wasn’t That A Time) And Executive Produced By Pete’s Wife Of
Sixty Three Years, Toshi Seeger. It’s A Love Story, A Folk Musical, And A
Passionate Portrait Of Pete Seeger’s america
All Rolled Into One.
Few artists have been
at the center of as many storms as Seeger, from the fight against fascism in
World War II, to the cold war fight against McCarthyism and the blacklist, the
civil rights, anti-war and environmental movements. Even now, the lion in
winter, standing out on an icy street corner near his log cabin home in Beacon,
New York, with an American flag and
a peace sign, forty years after his protest song Bring ‘Em Home fired up
the anti-war movement against the Vietnam War, is still singing out against the
war in Iraq.
TITLE: MILLION DOLLAR BASH: BOB DYLAN, THE BAND, AND THE BASEMENT
TAPES
AUTHOR: SID GRIFFIN
PUBLISHER: JAWBONE PRESS
RELEASE DATE: 2007
By Dennis Roger Reed
There are Bob
Dylan fans, and there are Bob Dylan fans. Most fans know that Bob had some sort
of motorcycle accident in 1967 in Woodstock,
New York, and "dropped" out of
the touring and recording scene for a time. Most fans know about the Basement
Tapes that Bob recorded with what became The
Band at a house called "Big Pink." Want to know more? Want to know lots
more? This is the book for you.
Author Griffin is known primarily as a musician, with the LA
based Long Ryders, and more recently
the Coal Porters, a London based group. Griffin has written about
Gram Parsons in an earlier tome and this time out he homes in on Bob and Bob's
world, with a good sized portion of info on The Band.
This won't entice
everyone. Several pages are devoted to a discussion of just what street Bob may
have tumbled on his bike. Theories about whether the wreck was caused by
the sun in his eyes... info about the
private physician's home where Bob recuperated... and bits about his weekday
routine of walking his daughter to the bus station may be more paparazzi like
that some will enjoy.
The NY Times Book Review
two weeks ago wrote about a new book called Faking
It-The Quest For Authenticity in
Popular Music (Hugh Barker and Yuval Taylor).
I am about halfway
through, and want to suggest it as a must read because it has a fascinating
focus on the roots of folk music in the South (using John Hurt as an example)
and the difficulty in defining folk music, etc. It is a fairly easy read and I
think you will be very happy that you purchased or borrowed this book.
Bruce.
Newman, DeCoster & Co.
Bruce S. Newman, Attorney at Law, CPA;
Peter J. DeCoster, FCA
There's no folk like Quaker folk. On the cover of Carrie
Newcomer's new CD, Before & After, she is illustrated in warm sunset
colors on a train. The window shows a scene outside; a golden sun and several
birds in flight. And there is Carrie, busy writing on a pad of paper with book
in hand, her feet relaxed on the seat across from her. It is a serene portrait
of an artist at work with her inspirations around her.
Sylvia
Herold
In the category of children's music, dozens of musicians
have made their entire careers writing and performing music exclusively for
tykes and pre-teens. A handful of acoustic musicians who usually write
sensitive adult songs will occasionally make the foray into a children's album
as their own offspring or those near to them can often be the catalysts for
creating kid choruses. Some well-known performers have crossed-over for a stab
at creating a songbook of tunes palatable to the little ones. Leadbelly, Johnny
Cash, and David Grisman are just a few that come to mind. And a few years ago,
even the alt-country guys and gals took some time away from songs of dark love,
dark roads, the dark before light, and whiskey, and contributed some bouncy
rhymes to The Bottle Let Me Down: Songs
for Bumpy Wagon Rides.
Shout Monah is the
first album by The Haints Old Time String
Band. Featuring Erynn Marshall on fiddle, Jason Romero on banjo and vocals,
and Pharis Romero on guitar and vocals, the Haints are anchored near Victoria,
BC, where Erynn (now of Galax, Virginia) hails from, and where Jason and Pharis
now live. The Haints channel the energy and often-overlooked versatility of
old-time Southern music. Yes, this CD is squarely in the old-time tradition --
no experimental blending with other genres or taking off in new directions
here. But, no, these songs and tunes don't all fit into a single mold or follow
the same groove. The Haints explore the many twisty by-roads of Southern
mountain music, pulling together an album that is novel and enticing, all the
while hewing close to traditional roots.
Beth Wood is an artist you should know about. A powerful
singer/songwriter of new contemporary folk music, her newest project, her
eighth independent release Beachcomber's
Daughter, is a gorgeous musical joy ride, vividly and movingly brought to
life via a confident and kick-ass country rock and roll, at the same time
tender, poetic and painful, with a wicked and wonderful humor to top everything
off.
There are voices that have followed us through our lives.
We've heard them on our car radios as we've raced through the decades of our
childhood. They have played like a soundtrack for our lives through the
beaches, valleys, deserts and prarie roads we've traveled on our way to our
present. Johnny Rivers carries such a voice. So much so, when he sings, we sit
up and listen. We take notice because of our common history. When he first
emerged in the mid-sixties at his now legendary engagements and live recordings
at the Whiskey A-Go-Go, he created a tour de force that helped to break down
the wall between pop and folk music. With recordings like Where Have All The
Flowers Gone, Midnight Special and Memphis he did what it took The Byrds five
people to do; bring folk-rock to the musical stages of L.A. in the mid-sixties.
Boulder Acoustic Society has been called a mini-orchestra
rather than your basic rock and roll band. They are a lively musical caravan
made up of four Colorado-based musicians who burn up stages across the country
to many a sold-out venue. The varied backgrounds of BAS allow them to give a
kaleidoscopic performance that is impressive, but without any hint of pretension.
With Punchline, they transfer some of variety to a digital package. The
ambitious nature of the packaging of the CD, although no enhancement to the
music nor insightful to the songs (no lyric listings), adds a dimension
(literally 3D!) of the band as both poseur and provocateur. It will stand out
musically, as well as literally, on your CD storage shelf.
I recently became acquainted with the Appalachian folk music
duo of Jeni Hankins and Billy Kemp (they bill themselves as "Jeni &
Billy") when I met and played alongside them at the FAR-West (Folk
Alliance Regional) Music Conference in Irvine in early November. We shared a
discussion panel on Appalachian music, and later we shared songs in a roundtable
showcase room. It was, by virtue of the close confines of the room, a wonderfully
intimate experience of their work, but also intimate by virtue of their art, their
writing and performance style, and their honest, loving, warm and authentic
presence.
Some precious gifts are wrapped in delicate tissue papers of
many colors, a layered rainbow of sorts that you would not want to tear but
would want to keep and cherish along with the gift. Unwrapping the meaning of an
exquisitely crafted Hawaiian mele can give you this feeling, especially if you
approach it as one who doesn't know the language. Mele is often translated to
mean the word song and perhaps it is most quickly understood that way. But the
Hawaiian mele evolved from ancient poetic chants that often were accompanied by
dance.
"If you remember the 60s you weren't there," insisted Wavy
Gravy, one of its iconic counter-cultural heroes, but as Johnny Cash replied in
his early gospel masterpiece, "I was there when it happened, so I guess I ought
to know"-the "it" in this case being the folk revival. And all of us who were
there know, what was the most reliable source for accurate information about
that on-going odyssey through America's bedrock music. That would be The Little Sandy Review, which was
edited and published by Paul Nelson and Jon Pankake, in the same state from
which came the folk revival's most astonishing artist. That would be Minnesota,
home to both Bob Dylan and Jon Pankake-and thereby hangs a tale.
up-and-coming phenom in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he was poised to hit it
big; everyone who heard him was blown away. Listening to these two recordings,
it's easy to see why. But it never happened. His story is sometimes compared to
that of the Nobel Prize winning mathematician John Nash, which was made into
the movie A Beautiful Mind a few
years ago. Like Nash, Steve Mann's mental illness became the dominant force in
his later life, overshadowing his earlier promise.
Happily
though, we do have these two recordings. Most of these cuts are from the 1960s
when Steve was at his peak and still performing in concert. There is also one cut
on Alive And Pickin' that was
recorded in 2004.
Banjo player Fred Sokolow brought a blues guitarist
friend to the Ash Grove one night in 1967 to see Steve Mann. As Steve launched
into a Blind Lemon Jefferson tune, 99
Years Blues, Fred noticed his friend unbutton the top button of his shirt.
By the time Steve finished the song, 2 and ½ minutes later, Fred's friend had
pulled out a handkerchief and started to daub some beads of sweat that had
formed on his forehead.
Before you put this CD in your playback machine take a look
at the small package this good thing comes in. Every touch has meaning, and was
attended to with more than a modicum of thought. The front cover has what looks
like-though it may only be simulated-a 19th century Currier and Ives
print of a couple riding a sleigh being pulled by a team of energetic horses,
charging out of the circular frame in which there is a lovely winter scene with
a snowy landscape. It looks like they are heading out of this bygone world into
your postmodern living room. The typeface for the title-Christmas In the
Heart-is also studiously old-fashioned, derived from many a 19th
or early 20th century theatre poster.
2009 Kerrville New Folk Winner Ernest Troost's newest album,
the aptly titled Resurrection Blues
is a brilliant new piece of songwriting art. Its thirteen Piedmont-blues
influenced songs tell stories of passion, lost love and regret-filled lives at
a cross-roads, looking for a modern-day answer to "how did things ever get this
far?" and "when did the darkness fall?" Ernest Troost's existential questions
run rampant in his first three songs; and then, the stories begin.
Maria Muldaur has had a somewhat schizophrenic career. Her early work was totally roots oriented, working with the Jim Kweskin Jug Band, singing, playing fiddle and serving as a sort of folk music sex symbol. But by far her biggest success was as a pop jazz chanteuse warbling Midnight at the Oasis. To some, she's the iconic hippy chick with the long thick hair, dancing to Bob Dylan at Newport. To others, she is an almost Mae West-ian entertainer, as known for her repartee and cleavage as her song selection. Midnight has become, like it or not, a standard, at least judging by Wal-Mart and recent elevator investigation.
The combination of British guitarist/producer Justin Adams
and Gambian spike fiddle (ritti) master, Juldeh Camara, produces a sound that
either completes the circle of Africa-to-America and-back-again musical history
or, at the very least, takes a part of the arc and intersects it with a new
kind of Afro-blues genre.
We last left Peter Joseph Burtt with Sunken Forest. It was a treasure trove of African influenced blues,
folk and pop. The interim years have not found Burtt resting on his laurels,
and so we come to Hand To Mouth.
Expectations are high around here when Ronny Cox releases a new album. And fair disclosure is due: this reviewer named him among FolkWorks' "Top Ten / Best of 2008" male singer-songwriters in L.A., two years after he earned "Listener Favorite" status on radio's "Tied to the Tracks" for his original song, Sanctuary, about a newborn wild horse. And even before this review and another due this month in Dirty Linen magazine, 
Love of the Land
is the first solo CD by Christa Burch,
a Southern Californian who has contributed her many musical talents to a variety
of West Coast music projects, playing bodhran with the Syncopaths and
Blackwaterside, singing as one-half of the a capella group Lintie. Love of the Land is a vocal CD, a
collection of Celtic songs, some traditional pieces, mostly from Scotland and
Ireland, but also some new compositions in the Celtic tradition. The CD is
produced by Dennis Cahill, best known for his haunting, sparse guitar-playing
with Irish fiddler Martin Hayes. Fans of the Hayes-Cahill recordings will find
some of the same sweet, evocative and exploratory playing here.
Soul Science is
what happens when you mix a British electric blues guitar dude, best known for
pop/rock work with Robert Plant's post-Led Zep solo band, with a Gambian rifti
(one-string fiddle) hotshot who's a griot from Africa but clearly conversant
with mainstream Western tunes. Unobtrusive bass and percussion fills in the
picture. The vibe is African, yet the supporting undercurrent is easily
accessible Western-familiar pop blues. Nice stuff, well worth a listen.
I'm driving down Route 66 with my 14 year-old twin
daughters in tow. I insert this new CD into the player. I ask the girls, "How
do you like this?" They roll their eyes and say, "Very retro, Dad!" I
wonder...is retro an accumulation of music that has caught with us? This one
sounds to me like what a Zen monk once called, "beginner's mind." I pray..."Lord,
let me not take myself too seriously and help me to make less sense more of the
time."
Xuefei Yang is a classical guitarist with a twist. Yes, she
has a clear affinity for the Spanish classical repertoire, and this album
includes well-executed performances of works by Isaac Albeniz, Francisco
Tarega, and Enrique Granados. Very pleasant stuff, this.
This is very nice stuff. Jim Stubblefield plays sizzling
flamenco-infused guitar, with extra helpings of steam. Who knew that this level
of intense, sexy energy could come from a nylon string acoustic guitar? But
Stubblefield can play him some fine tunes, hey.
The intent of a recording project is usually established
well before the first note is recorded. Even if all the songs haven't been
composed or all arrangements finalized, there is a reason for the artist to
begin. But sometimes that intent, or the result, can be changed by activities
well beyond the artist's control. Thus begins Holy Roads.
Hot on the heels of the Gram
Parsons & The Flying Burrito Brothers Live at the Avalon Ballroom 1969
release last autumn comes this import re-release of Last of the Red Hot Burritos, featuring a remarkably different Flying Burrito Brothers. These tunes
were recorded live at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire and Antioch
College in Yellow Springs, Ohio
in 1972.
On her new CD Beautiful World, Eliza Gilkyson lets go
with her jitters and assurances on our times and the times to come. Her first
new studio recording in 3 years, she still writes a line that cracks like a
whip with rhythm and meaning delivered with catchy music and an expressive
voice that's a pleasure to have in the ear. These are songs you can't get out
of your head, and you're glad they've nested there.
Susie Glaze is relatively new to the Southern
California bluegrass scene, but her rise to the ranks of
nationally known talent has been fairly well documented here in the
pages of
FolkWorks. Glaze was raised in Tennessee,
and first chose the artistic path of theater. After some success in the
New York stage scene, she discovered a love for bluegrass
music and moved to California.
First she became a member of The Eight
Hand String Band, and then began her solo career. Green Kentucky Blues is her fourth solo project, and most likely
the one that folks will look back to as her "breakout" recording. Don't be
surprised if Green Kentucky Blues
finds its way to a nomination at IBMA (International Bluegrass Music
Association) music awards.
The thinking man's country ensemble, who seem to soar ever
higher over the vast wilderness of hyphenated roots music bands, have released
another recording, Hallowed Ground,
and it admirably adds to the existing evidence that they deserve their previous
acclaim.
Some hear the clarion call of the bagpipes and the ears perk
up, the heart races, and the sonority reverberates through the core. Even if
you don't have a molecule of Celtic DNA in your spittle, everyone has a
reaction to the echoing exhalations of the unique bag, chanter and drone
instrument. When combined with the sonorous beating of drums and the unique
bellow of the didgeridoo, something primal and immediate hits the psyche. Whether
it's your cup of tea or mug of grog, Wicked Tinkers provide an invitation to
explore those internal rumblings, subtle or undiscovered though they may be.
The word He’eia refers to He’eia Bay on Hawai’i
Island’s Kona coast, a place where King David Kalakaua used to enjoy on a day
at the beach. In the opening musical selection of the same name, Cyril Pahinui
evokes the setting with a powerful, lush interpretation of the name chant (mele
inoa) for Kalakaua, with music attributed to J. Kalahiki. He’eia is
one of three traditional songs for which he has created exquisite arrangements
for slack key guitar.
agine in this hundreds-of-channels-at-the-touch-of-a-button
age, but not so very long ago- during my lifetime, in fact, TV was home to very
few programming choices, and any music, particularly good music, was rarely
found. Variety shows like the Ed Sullivan
Show would have the occasional pop act between the dancing elephants and
such, and there were occasional shows dedicated to pop music, but vaudeville,
rather than anything current, was the benchmark.
One of the activities I enjoy most at traditional music
festivals and multi-day workshops is the opportunity to thoroughly browse the
pre-recorded music offerings. Those stacks of compact discs and digital video
discs seem even more accessible than their vinyl and magnetic tape ancestors,
and, unlike vinyl “records,” we can play the compact discs in our cars on the
way home, so adding an appropriate final touch to a festival-workshop
experience. The selections I see are sometimes unavailable anywhere else, and
most others will not be seen (outside of Internet listings and occasionally in
catalogues) unless one lives near, and frequents, a good acoustic music store. At
a multi-day event, I find I have the time to reflect on the projects being
offered, and the time to discuss them with other music appreciators in
attendance, and even, now and then, directly with the musicians who are
featured on the recordings.
Blues fans know Tom Ball and Kenny Sultan as 
For a very brief time in 1968 and 1969, 
Do you ever long to get away? Sometimes, in the middle of the
week, do you have an intense desire to walk in a meadow, see a shooting star,
reflect on a glacial mountain, pluck an old guitar on an aged, wood front
porch, or just scratch the grateful belly of an old dog? If you do, Bill
Staines’ newest release, Old Dogs, 
y Brooke Alberts
Today's world is fast moving and noisy. Pop music often reflects this, so much so that it becomes difficult to find music that isn't fast moving and noisy without succumbing to "easy listening," "new age" or "light jazz."
“A moment of madness is better than a life of logic.” Might
as well Follow Your Heart. This according to Mr. Breanndan
Begley, and Mr. Caoimhin O’Raghallaigh concurs- it’s right there in their
playing (play being the operative verb).
Mad moments ensue here in plenty- some more obviously, like the tune
they’re calling a Slippery Jig . Slip-jigs are in 9/8, but this one, learned
from the playing of Paddy Cronin, has an extra beat. Then there’s a rendition of O’Sullivan’s March after
which they roam about, still playing, and snatches of the tune waft back into
the recording device’s earshot like a
poignant draught of nostalgia. Furthermore, O’Raghallaigh introduces the
hardanger fiddle (a traditional Norwegian instrument with four played strings
and five sympathetically resonating strings) for a set of polkas. He takes
these very common polkas and, by his intensely musical playing, presents them
as intriguing and delightful new creatures.
AUTHOR: PETER CASE
ARTIST: PETER CASE
Pop on Oyaya! and crank up the volume.
The whimsical name of the group belies the fact that these
musicians play hard, fast, and serious. There’s nothing fishy about them. In
fact, there’s no slouching or mannered excesses, as Fishtank Ensemble comes
armed, loaded and ready to serve you up a platter of intense nearly cosmic
gypsy music. Their latest CD release, Samurai
Over Serbia, samples the global plain that is the group’s playing field. Like
the gypsies, it crosses borders, villages, continents, and time periods
showcasing the varied instrumental prowess of each member and the extreme range
of vocalist, Ursula Knudson who also can double up on violin, banjolele and the
musical saw.
Following the oldest of musical traditions, Pint & Dale have gathered a number of great nautical-themed songs in their travels. Their latest CD The Set of the Sail features songs, both traditional and contemporary, they've collected in their travels to England.
It seems that Raiatea has grown up. Not to say that her voice has changed - she still has the sweetest voice you can imagine. Raiatea's first CD was recorded in 2003 when she was 17 years old. While that may be the norm for pop bands, the Hawaiian traditional music scene is usually dominated by more seasoned musicians. This makes it even more remarkable that she has captured numerous prestigious awards from the start: receiving the Na Hoku awards for her debut (given by the Hawai‘i Academy of Recording Artists) for both Most Promising Artist and Female Vocalist of the Year in 2003. Her second CD Sweet and Lovely released in 2004 again won her the Na Hoku Female Vocalist of the Year plus Favorite Entertainer of the Year in 2005 plus four other Na Hoku awards. When she was nominated for a Grammy for her second CD, the New York Times called the recording "poised and utterly elegant."
heights of ecstatic spiritual awareness. Like the similarly intended and better known Whirling Dervishes, the public ritual of Qawwali runs on love and desire for Divine Union. Unlike the trance dancing Dervishes, Qawwali sweats, bleeds, and screams.
There lies a musical posse scattered across the vast disparate and desperate basin and valleys of Los Angeles, men who strum along according to the book of who-cares-what's-on-the-pop-charts. From bluegrass to blues and from ballad to cowboy waltz, the varied art of the American troubadour gets a shot in the arm when a cadre of the Southland's best musicians get together and stay in one place long enough to record a sample of the Americana roots music rainbow. The Goin' South Band rounds up Rick Shea, Cody Bryant, Paul Lacques, Vic Koler, John Zeretzke, Fred Sokolow, and Rick Cunha, each taking time out from their solo and sidemen projects, and presents them as educators and purveyors of various forms of the traditional American musical songbook, not the bright lights of Broadway, but tunes that would perhaps be found down the road a piece and headed mostly southbound.
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the rich cultural heritage passed on from her grandmother's generation to her
own. Beginning with the opening song, Napua,
the influence of her recently-deceased grandmother, Jenny Napua Hanaiali'i
Woodd, permeates the album as it has permeated Amy's life. Beside the liner
notes for the song is a picture of a youthful woman with a fresh, engaging
smile, and a floral garland crowning her dark hair? The English translation of
Amy's Hawaiian lyrics captures the tenderness of the granddaughter-grandmother
relationship:
Fleetwood Mac
began in 1967 as somewhat of an offshoot of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, as three of the original four members
had been in the recent employ of Mr. Mayall. The former Bluesbreakers, bassist John McVie, drummer Mick Fleetwood and
guitarist/vocalist Peter Green, were joined by a 19 year old blues guitarist,
pianist and singer named Jeremy Spencer. Spencer had the ability to play American
blues legend Elmore James' songs uncannily like James, a somewhat astonishing
fact considering that Spencer was a young white Brit. Fleetwood Mac soon added Danny Kirwan as the third guitarist, and
the world was their oyster for a short period of time. However, Green began to mentally
unravel due to the pressures of rock success, and left the group. They soldered
on for another album sans Green, but during a U.S.
tour in 1971, Spencer left his hotel to visit a bookstore in Los Angeles, but did not return for that
night's concert. It turned out that he had joined a sect called the Children of
God, a group with which he remains affiliated to this day. Green was begged
back to finish the tour, but the first incarnation of Fleetwood Mac was on the ropes.
The personnel changes made by McVie and Fleetwood eventually created the
pop supergroup that to many, eclipsed the memory of the first Fleetwood Mac.
So a Canadian, a Vermonter, and an Englishman walked into a
bar.... Well not a bar in Crowfoot's case, but the performance space behind a
coffee house. The trio, now based in Quebec, brought their deeply felt
confluence of Irish, English, Appalachian, French Canadian, and other musics to
Bob Stane's fulcrum of folk and roots in Altadena. A pretty good crowd turned
out (only a handful of empty seats); you could certainly do a helluva lot worse
finding a Tuesday night alternative to "NCIS," I s'pose.
"It's time to celebrate life!" These were the words
of folksinger and 60's legend, Barry McGuire last Saturday night at The Coffee
Gallery in 
