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LOOKING BACK:

STANLEY CLARKE’S SCHOOL DAYS30 YEARS LATER

August 2006 • Issue 285PAGE TWO

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LOOKING BACK:

STANLEY CLARKE’SSCHOOL DAYS30 YEARS LATER

By Brian Gilmore

Thirty years ago, in June1976, as America preparedto celebrate the 200th an-

niversary of the nation’s indepen-dence, jazz bassist Stanley Clarkeentered the famed Electric LadylandStudios in New York City ready torecord his fourth album as a leader.

Clarke’s work that summer withan astounding group of musicianswould ultimately become one of thosemoments that, to borrow the wordsof jazz critic Nat Hentoff, would reaf-firm jazz as the ‘sound of surprise.’

By the summer of 1976, StanleyClarke was, of course, a star in themusic world. The bass had never re-ally had a star in jazz (Charles Minguswas the only one who came close)so Clarke’s emergence with his im-peccable credentials was significant

for the popularity of the music.

Notably, Clarke, a native Philadel-phian, was a key member of the jazz-fusion powerhouse quartet, “Return toForever,” the band that, more thanMiles Davis or Weather Report, tookfusion to the masses. Clarke was alsoclassically trained and had earned hismusical stripes playing with hardboppers such as Horace Silver and ArtBlakey. He also had his own recordingsas a leader to his credit such as thealbum “Journey to Love” and the wellreceived single, “Lopsy Lu.” Yet, in thesummer 1976 Clarke recorded a songcalled “School Days” and foreverchanged the perception of the bassplayer in jazz.

“It is beyond a hit record,” Clarkeadmits when he was in WashingtonD.C. in December 2005 for a weekend

August 2006 • Issue 285 PAGE THREE

stand at Blues Alley, “it is a bass anthem.” Clarke is statingonly what many have said over and over since the song’srelease.

Ivan Bodley, a friend of Clarke, an accomplished bass-ist himself, and a writer calls the song “the greatest bassanthem of all time.”

In the 30 years since the appearance of “School Days,”on the marvelous album of the same name, Clarke’s fero-cious foray into funk has become more and more en-trenched in the folklore of jazz-funk. One of the monumen-tal failures of Ken Burns’ film “Jazz,” is its refusal to hon-estly comment on many of the highly successful jazz ex-cursions into electricity such as “School Days” in a morespecific and meaningful way.

During the weekend of shows Clarke played at BluesAlley in that December in 2005, the lasting excellence of“School Days” was evident: the song always received theloudest and warmest reception from those in attendancewhen Clarke and his trio launched into it. Moments into hisnow familiar melody and riff, Blues Alley began to buzzlouder, and patrons around the club would whisper or ac-knowledge the song to their neighbors with just two words:“School Days.”

“Anyone who seriously wants to learn to play the basshas to buy that record and learn to play that song,” Clarkeremarked in 2001 in an interview with Ivan Bodley. Manyyoung bass players probably quit after hearing Clarke un-leash his fury on “School Days;” others found their stride inthe song’s challenges.

Clarke recalls composing “School Days” while on tourwith “Return to Forever” and as it seemed at the time, in alot of respects, it wasn’t a difficult moment for Clarke. “Icame up with the lick, pretty fast,” he says. He adds thatthe song has a “defiance” to it that still can be heard today.“The way it was mixed, the engineer had no choice but toturn it loud,” Clarke says, “it’s just so aggressive.” Clarke’scomments are not the egotistical boasting of a talentedmusician either. Some who were there know.

The quartet that Clarke assembled for the tune, “SchoolDays,” in fact, would be called top notch today by any stan-dards. The versatile Gerry Brown, who of late has kepttime for the soul singer Jeffrey Osborne, was on drums;David Sancious, who earned critical acclaim playing withBruce Springsteen before the Clarke sessions, was onkeyboards, and Ray Gomez of Casablanca, Morroco, wason electric guitar.

“I knew I was in a history making situation,” Gomezsays of the famous session by e-mail, “the fusion greatswere the follow ups to Cream, Hendrix.” Gomez, who hadplayed with Lenny White and Narada Michael Walden be-fore the celebrated date with Clarke, doesn’t disappointeither on “School Days.” His aesthetic rapport with Clarkeand the others is evident from the beginning.

Clarke sets the tone with crisp rhythms full of thunder-ing funk bass licks that Ivan Bodley calls popping “overchord changes.” Clarke’s licks call forth many of the greatfunk bassists of the day including Larry Graham and GeorgeJohnson, but Clarke’s work is more expansive and me-lodic; it reflects his classical music training, improvisational

skills, and his willingness to embrace the sound of themoment in 1976 – funk.

Gomez acclimates Clarke’s riffs with his beautiful sonicguitar parts that echo seemingly off in the distance but thisis illusionary. Gomez is there step for step. It is a perfectaddition. Those over the years who remember Clarke’s bassparts also remember Gomez screaming behind Clarke andkeeping the song locked into forward motion. It is probablywhy the song was well respected in the jazz world, andalso accepted and adored among rock fans as well.

Ken Scott, the legendary producer of David Bowie’s“Ziggy Stardust” and countless other classic albums in avariety of genres, produced “School Days;” he admits thatthe sound achieved is intentional. “We always looked atmaking Stanley’s records more along the rock style,” Scottsays by e-mail. “By that I mean we took our time gettingthe sounds just right and there was no aversion to over-dubbing to bring things out.”

Scott adds that the efforts to achieve a special soundfor the album created a little friction with drummer GerryBrown, but nothing major because of the amount of timespent obtaining that right sound. “Gerry Brown” Scott says,“...was more used to the typical jazz session where it wasset up and play.” This did not ultimately affect Brown’sdrums; his performance is powerful as well.

As for the rock edge that was sought out on “SchoolDays,” it is especially significant in the case of guitaristRay Gomez...because Gomez almost didn’t make it on therecord. Clarke envisioned guitarist John McLaughlin, theMahavishnu Orchestra leader, as part of the record. “I wasin the studio waiting for John...but what happened was Johnwas late,” Clarke recalls. Ray Gomez, a guitarist that Clarkedescribes as “confident” and “cocky” seized the moment.“John ain’t here, I got my guitar.” Clarke remembers Gomezsaying “So we went,” Clarke says.

Gomez as it turns out was the perfect guitarist to driveClarke into the heart of his new adventure into jazz-funk.Gomez had even gone as far to tell Clarke well before thestudio sessions that “he was the right guy for his next al-bum.”

Gomez also recalls rehearsing at Studio InstrumentsRental (SIR) before the date with Clarke, so by the time ofthe “School Days” record date he was more than readyanyway, despite the fact that he wasn’t the first choice.“We rehearsed early in the day in the studio, noon untilevening,” Gomez recalls. The band did two takes. “Thesecond take was the one,” Gomez says, “all live.” It soundslive.

Clarke recalls two takes as well: “one that appears onthe album” and one other. He adds that he knew the mo-ment it was recorded that the band had done somethingspecial, something that would last for a long time.

Although many musicians such as Clarke who havedelved into the electric sound over the years have beencriticized for the choice, it is hard to be critical of “SchoolDays” without being accused of being pre-disposed to abias against the style. The song simply embraces everynecessary element that jazz music traditionally has show-cased (unless you want it to swing). It is a song that states

August 2006 • Issue 285PAGE FOUR

a strong theme and maintains its emotion. Yet, it is also asong of a great soloist – Stanley Clarke on bass. His impro-visational portion that ties the song to its end has been talkedabout since its was recorded.

“It is the most complete thought I had ever produced upuntil that time,” Clarke states. The solo, Clarke describes,gathers momentum throughout until Clarke guides the bandback into his grip and the powerful theme he states at thebeginning using the funk patterns that were so popular atthe time. The band is locked together bouncing loudly, rhyth-mically; stretching the limits of theme more and more. It is arisky song but one that is accessible, poignant. “SchoolDays,” almost appropriately, ends quietly, eases out toClarke’s humming vocals that are too well known in themusic world for their brevity.

Following the completion of the album “School Days,”Clarke didn’t name the album or the song. “I had no ideawhat to call it,” he admits. In fact, it wasn’t until the albumwas being prepared for release, when his manager RonMoss pressed him for a title, that he says he finally decidedto call it “School Days.” He simply focused in on the “fun” inthe song, calling it “crazy,” a song for people in school atthe time. The title, however, has long been said by lovers ofthe album to be stating the obvious: Clarke was taking thedoubters and the fakers to school.

That fall when the album was released on Epic in ste-reophonic sound, Clarke, Gomez, Brown, and Sanciouswere on tour playing “School Days” night after night topacked houses across the country. Robert Palmer, the leg-endary New York Times reviewer caught the group at thePalladium in New York and described the performance as“the most musical jazz rock” he had ever heard. The re-views for the song and the album were all consistently strongas well.

Rolling Stone Magazine reviewer Michael Rozek de-scribed the title cut “School Days” in the publication’s No-vember 18, 1976 issue as a “gorgeous orchestral concep-tion” that was mixed “effortlessly.” The L.A. Times praisedthe album as well and singled out the title cut, “School Days,”as a “veritable textbook of ideas.”

By December 1976 as Clarke, Gomez, Sancious,Brown, and others continued touring, Leonard Feather, thewell respected jazz critic caught Clarke and his band inSanta Monica and soon declared Clarke a “virtual folk hero”for “liberating” the bass from the “repetitious monotony ofits last decade.”

By January 1977, Feather wrote again on Clarke, thistime as a feature, and the Times declared Clarke’s album“School Days” its album of the week. It was just more evi-dence of the lasting impression the song would make uponthe music world.

“School Days” is, indeed, a song that will forever definethe jazz-funk period and will elevate Clarke, along with JacoPastorious, as a leader in the development of the modernelectric bass sound over the last 30 years. It all began trulycoming together 30 years ago, in the hot summer of 1976in New York City, when most of us were thinking about fire-works and independence. “School Days,” the song, 30 yearslater now, is still full of an independent spirit.

Brian Gilmore, who lives in the Washington, D.C. area,is a poet, lawyer and the author of “Jungle Nights and SodaFountain Rags: Poem for Duke Ellington” (Karibu Books2000). The LP School Days was has been available onCD since 1987 on Epic/Legacy Records.

Stanley Clarke will be reunited with George Duke inconcert Saturday, August 19 at 8 pm at the Ohio Theatre,Playhouse Square in Downtown Cleveland.

Stanley Clarke today. Photo by Grover White

New Release blues....Wow!! A bumper crop of newdiscs is ready for harvest in a store near you. Check out thefollowing new releases: Watermelon Slim- Big Shoes toFill; Savoy Brown- Blues, Balls and Boogie; Chris Tho-mas King-Rise; Keene Brothers- Blues and Boogie Shoes;Jimmy Witherspoon- Roots; Gary Primich- Ridin’ theDarkhorse; Big George Brock and the Houserockers-Club Caravan; Ivory Joe Hunter- Since I Met You Baby;Li’l Ed and the Blues Imperials- Rattleshake; DougMacLeod; Where I Been; Jimmy Thackery & the CateBrothers- In the Natural State; Walter Trout- Full Circle;Sherman Robertson & Bluesmove-Guitar Man, Live; R.J.Mischo-He Came to Play; B.B. & The Blues Shacks- Live;Memo Gonzalez & The Bluescasters- Live; Ronnie BakerBrooks- The Torch; John Cephas & Phil Wiggins- Shoul-der to Shoulder; Keb’ Mo’- Suitcase; Ray Charles- Defini-tive Soul: Atlantic Years; Eddie Turner- The Turner Dia-ries; Xavier Rudd- Food in the Belly; Kelly Joe Phelps-Tunesmith Retrofit; Bettye LaVette- Child of the Seven-ties; Billy Price- East End Avenue; Jimmy Duck Holmes-Back to Betonia; Johnny Winter- Rockin Bluesman; AlbertCummings- Working Man; Robben Ford- City Life; MattSchofield Trio- Live; Albert King- Stax Profiles; Don Nix-

By Mark Smith

August 2006 • Issue 285 PAGE FIVE

I Don’t Want No Trouble- Studebaker John & The Hawks-Self Made Man; Albert Castiglia- A Stone’s Throw; Jer-emy Spencer- Precious Little; Nick Moss and the FlipTops- Live at Chan’s ; Al Basile and Duke Robillard-Groovin’ in the Mood Room; Jay Geils, Gerry Beaudoinand the Kings of Strings- Featuring Aaron Weinstein; EddiReader- Live at the Basement; C.J. Chenier- The Desper-ate Kingdom of Love; Bill Perry- Don’t Know Nothing AboutLove; Rory Gallagher- Live at Montreux; Bill Lupkin-Where I Come From; Bill Lupkin & Chicago Blues Coali-tion- Live at the Hot Spot; Anson Funderburgh and theRockets- Blast Off: Best of; Rick Holmstrom- Live at theCafÈ Boogaloo; Mark Selby- On; Tom Rigney & Flam-beau- Off the Hook; Ry Cooder- The Border/Alamo Bay;Detroit Blues Band- Playin’ It Cool....Award Time blues....On June 15th the National Endowment for the Arts awardeda National Heritage Fellowship to Mavis Staples. The awardis the country’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.By receiving the award, Mavis joins an esteemed groupincluding her father, Pops Staples, as well as B.B. King,John Lee Hooker, Michael Doucet, Shirley Ceasar, AlbertinaWalker, Doc Watson and Bill Monroe. According to the NEApress release, “Fellows are chosen for their artistic excel-lence, cultural authenticity, and contributions to their field.....Fellowship recipients are nominated by the public, and thenjudged by a panel of experts in folk and traditional arts onthe basis of their continuing artistic accomplishments andcontributions as practitioners and teachers. This year a nine-member panel reviewed 217 nominations for the 11 fellow-ships.” NEA Chairman Dana Gioia said, “In this 40th anni-versary year of the NEA, it is particularly appropriate thatwe honor these master artists whose dedication and ex-ceptional artistry have enriched our nation’s cultural land-scape.” That’s it for this month. See ya!

At the Rock Hall...

CLEVELAND – The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame andMuseum has programmed a series of evening events relat-ing to the current featured exhibit, Bob Dylan’s AmericanJourney: 1956-66. The exhibit, which was curated by Ex-perience Music Project, is located on the Museum’s top twofloors and is open until September 7, 2006.

With the exception of the evening with RobbieRobertson, these events are free with a reservation. PleaseRSVP to edu@rockhall.org or call 216.515.8426. The sched-ule of programming is as follows:

Wednesday, August 16, 7pm – An Evening withElijah Wald - At seventeen, Elijah Wald went to New Yorkto study with musician Dave Van Ronk, who became Wald’sfriend and mentor. Van Ronk, who years before had be-friended a young Bob Dylan, was one of the major figureson the Greenwich Village music scene from which Dylanemerged. Years later, Elijah Wald got together with Van Ronkto write Van Ronk’s remarkable story. What resulted wasThe Mayor of MacDougal Street, a book that brings its read-ers into the heart of the New York City that Bob Dylan en-

Rock Hall Announces ProgrammingAround “Bob Dylan’s American

Journey: 1956-66” Exhibit

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee RobbieRobertson and others to Celebrate Bob

Dylan’s American Journey

August 2006 • Issue 285PAGE SIX

countered as a young man sleeping onDave Van Ronk’s floor.

Wald’s relationship with Dave VanRonk went beyond that, however. Hearranged and played guitar on VanRonk’s Let No One Deceive You: TheSongs of Bertolt Brecht, wrote linernotes for four of Van Ronk’s CDs, pro-ducing two of those, and is the archi-vist of Van Ronk’s reel-to-reel tapes.

Elijah Wald’s other books includeEscaping the Delta: Robert Johnsonand the Invention of the Blues; JoshWhite: Society Blues; River of Song:Music Along the Mississippi, which ac-companied the PBS series of the samename, for which he was writer andmusic advisor; Narcocorrido, agroundbreaking study of the modernMexican ballads of the drug trade andcontemporary politics and Riding withStrangers: A Hitchhiker’s Journey. Hewon a 2002 Grammy Award for his al-bum notes to The Arhoolie Records40th Anniversary Box, for which he wasalso nominated as a producer.

Wald will discuss Van Ronk, Dylan,and the Greenwich Village scene, attimes pulling out a guitar to make hispoints musically.

Wednesday, August 23, 7pm –An Evening with Elliott Landy - ElliottLandy, born in 1942, began photo-graphing the anti-Vietnam war move-ment and the underground music cul-ture in New York City in 1967. He pho-tographed many of the undergroundrock and roll superstars, both back-stage and onstage, from 1967-69.

He made some of the most lastingimages of Bob Dylan and The Band,Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, JimMorrison, Joan Baez, Van Morrison,Richie Havens, and many others, docu-menting the music scene during thatcrucial rock and roll period which cul-minated with the 1969 Woodstock Fes-tival, of which he was the official pho-tographer.

Afterwards, Elliott moved on toother inspirations and art forms, pho-tographing his own children and trav-els, creating impressionist flower pho-tographs and doing motion and kalei-doscopic photography in both still andfilm formats. His photographs havebeen published worldwide for manyyears in all print mediums includingcovers of Rolling Stone, Life, the Sat-urday Evening Post and album covers,calendars, photographic book collec-

tions and more.He has published Woodstock Vi-

sion, The Spirit of A Generation, in bookand CD-ROM format, and authored thebook Woodstock 69, The First Festi-val. He is currently publishing a seriesof limited edition lithographs of his clas-sic rock photographs. Landy will dis-cuss his remarkable career and thetime he spent with Dylan, The Band,and others among rock and roll’s lumi-naries.

Wednesday, August 30, 7pm –An Evening with Michael Gray -Michael Gray is the author of Song andDance Man #3: The Art of Bob Dylanand, more recently, The Bob Dylan En-cyclopedia. Praised by authors GreilMarcus and Christopher Ricks, cel-ebrated in the pages of Rolling Stoneand Time, Michael Gray is often con-sidered to be the first writer to takeDylan seriously from a literary perspec-tive. The first edition of Song andDance Man forced many to reconsiderthe field of music-writing, which priorto that time had been looked upon aslittle more than a territory reserved forfan ravings. Gray’s subject matter,Dylan the writer, was the perfect ve-hicle for this assault on preconceptionsabout what music writing could be.

Michael Gray will join us to discussDylan and his own work on this 20thcentury master.

Tuesday, September 5, 7pm – AnEvening with John Simon - After at-tending Princeton, John Simon joinedColumbia Records as a producer-in-training. His first pop record was RedRubber Ball by The Cyrkle. He wenton to produce some of the biggestrecords of the 1960s: Janis Joplin andBig Brother and the HoldingCompany’s Cheap Thrills, most ofSimon and Garfunkel’s Bookends,Leonard Cohen’s first album, the firstalbum by Blood, Sweat and Tears andthe first two albums by The Band.

In addition, Simon went on to pro-duce the music of The Last Waltz,Steve Forbert’s Jackrabbit Slim,Michael Frank’s Tiger In The Rain,David Sanborn’s Heart To Heart, andalbums by John Hartford, Gil Evansand Mama Cass Elliott, as well as work-ing with Taj Mahal, Eric Clapton, BonnieRaitt, Dave Mason, Howlin’ Wolf, BobDylan, Dr. John, Phoebe Snow, JoniMitchell and many others. His mostrecent album productions have been

for The Band (Jericho), A.J. Croce andJackie Cain & Roy Kral and a new al-bum by Hirth Martinez.

In the early 1970s, Warner Broth-ers released two albums of his songs,which were universally critically ac-claimed. Instead of going on the road,however, he chose to stay close tohome and family life. Now, with his kidsgrown, he is resuming his solo career.

Recently, the Japanese company,Pioneer/LDC Records commissionedtwo new albums of his songs. In thespring of 2001, Japanese labelDreamsville released Simon’s tribute toHoagy Carmichael entitled Hoagyland.He has recently performed at, amongothers, The Bottom Line, Fez and theBlue Note in NYC and four tours in Ja-pan, including the Blue Note in Tokyo.

Simon will discuss his remarkablework with The Band during the yearsthat they first joined together with BobDylan. The evening promises to be theperfect lead-in to the centerpiece of ourDylan programming, an evening withRobbie Robertson.

Wednesday, September 6, 7pm– Hall of Fame Series with RobbieRobertson - Tickets: $10, on sale Mon-day, July 31 through Ticketmaster andthe Museum box office

Robbie Robertson is one of themost significant contributors to theAmerican songbook. His eclectic mu-sical sense came through an early in-troduction to country music andthrough the influences of his parents,a Mohawk mother and a Jewish father.Robertson’s early forays into NativeAmerican music happened at hismother’s childhood home, Six NationsReservation. Later, a cousin taughtRobertson to play the guitar, and notlong after the young Jamie RobbieRobertson began writing his own mu-sic. As Robertson’s songwritingevolved, he absorbed the sounds of theNative American Indian tradition, ruralcountry music, big band music, andearly rock and roll music that wouldtogether color his writing style.

In 1958, Robertson joined theHawks, the band of rockabilly legendRonnie Hawkins, and connected withfellow sidemen Levon Helm, RickDanko, Garth Hudson, and RichardManuel. The group eventually becamethe backup band for another rising star,Bob Dylan, and supported the folksinger-songwriter’s legendary 1965-

August 2006 • Issue 285 PAGE SEVEN

1966 tour. Shortly thereafter, they be-came known simply as “the Band,”

Fueled by Robertson’s narrativestyle and a fascination with the Ameri-can South and its music, the bandmade a series of now-legendary re-cordings, including Music From BigPink and the self-titled masterpiece.After the filming of an all-star concertby Martin Scorsese later released asThe Last Waltz, the band broke up onThanksgiving Day 1976. That project,however, solidified Robertson’slongstanding creative relationship withScorsese, which ultimately resulted inhis recording a number of soundtracksfor Scorsese.

In 1980, Robertson composed thescore to Scorsese’s classic RagingBull, going on to work with the film-maker on soundtracks for The King ofComedy and The Color of Money. In1987, Robertson released his self-titledsolo debut, which featured guest ap-pearances from Rick Danko, GarthHudson, U2, Peter Gabriel, DanielLanois and Gil Evans. Robertson’s con-ceptual piece, Storyville, was releasedin 1991, followed by the 1994 releaseof Music for the Native Americans, acollection of tracks inspired byRobertson’s Native American Indianroots. Robertson’s latest work, ContactFrom the Underworld of Redboy, wasrelease in 1998.

Most recently, Robertson executiveproduced a five CD and DVD box setof the Band, which was released in2005.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fameand Museum is honored to present aspecial Hall of Fame Series withRobbie Robertson, during which he willdiscuss the many layers of his remark-able career.

About Bob DylanFew figures in the history of Ameri-

can popular music have reached thestatus of Bob Dylan. As the man whoshowed the world that popular musiccould be classified as art, Dylan hascreated a distinctly American body ofwork to match the legacies of WaltWhitman, Louis Armstrong, and hisearly musical hero, Woody Guthrie.

Dylan’s lyrics and songs unearthand revitalize the American folk andblues tradition, serving as a key link inthe chain that extends from Southernwork songs, blues and Anglo Americanballads to the many contemporarysinger-songwriters for whom Dylan isa main influence.

But Dylan’s story is not simply thatof a musical evolution. As a public fig-ure and artistic innovator, he has takenand chronicled a journey emblematicof modern America’s own develop-ment.

The exhibit features more than 150artifacts, including Dylan’s 1949 Mar-tin 00-19 guitar, typed and handwrittenlyrics, rare concert posters and hand-bills, signed albums, and dozens ofphotographs. At the center of the ex-hibit are four films exploring differentfacets of Dylan’s career, with rare per-formance footage and interviews withDylan and other artists.

In addition, three viewing stationsallow visitors to watch excerpts fromthe Dylan films Don’t Look Back andEat the Document, as well as an in-terview with Dylan himself. Through-out the exhibit space are seven listen-ing stations that enable visitors to hearDylan’s musical evolution and innova-tions during this 10-year period.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fameand Museum is the nonprofit organi-zation that exists to educate visitors,fans and scholars from around theworld about the history and continu-ing significance of rock and roll mu-sic.

It carries out this mission boththrough its operation of a world-classmuseum that collects, preserves, ex-hibits and interprets this art form andthrough its library and archives as wellas its educational programs.

The Museum is open seven daysa week from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. OnWednesdays the Museum is open until9 p.m.

Museum admission is $20 foradults, $14 for seniors (60+), $11 forchildren (9-12) and children under 8and Museum members are free.

Cleveland Fats

The Schwartz Brothers

DC and the

Continentals

For Bookings ContactHONEYBEE ENTERTAINMENT

4786 Dressler Rd #145

Canton, OH 44718

330-904-0454

Pblues@hotmail.com

Singer-songwriter Fiona Apple has somejazzy things happening on her new CD Ex-traordinary Machine on Epic Records. LiveNation will present Apple in concert at CainPark in Cleveland Heights on Thursday, Au-gust 10 at 7:30 pm.

International SongwritingCompetition Announces

2006 JudgesTom Waits, Brian Wilson, Sean

Paul, Robert Smith (The Cure), CraigMorgan, And Cassandra Wilson AreAmong This Year’s Celebrity AndMusic Executive Judges

The International SongwritingCompetition (ISC) is now acceptingentries for 2006. One of the largestsongwriting competitions in the world,ISC offers entrants a chance to sharein over $150,000 in cash and prizes,including an Overall Grand Prize pack-age of $25,000 (US) in cash and over$20,000 in merchandise, unmatchedby any other songwriting competition.ISC winners benefit from extensivepress and publicity, gaining exposureand recognition from an internationalmusic market of industry professionalsand fans.

ISC is unique because of itsjudges. Since its inception, ISC hasbecome internationally renowned forhaving the most prestigious judgingpanel of any songwriting competitionin the world, offering entrants the un-precedented opportunity to have theirsongs heard by the industry’s top re-cording artists and influential musicexecutives.

The ISC 2006 judging panel in-cludes:

Tom Waits; Brian Wilson; SeanPaul; Charlie Walk (President, Epic

August 2006 • Issue 285PAGE EIGHT

Thousands of CD & DVD ReviewsAt Your Fingertips

in our searchable database!Plus all issues since October 2003

available as PDFs.www.jazz-blues.com

Records); Monte Lipman (President, Universal Records);Mona Scott-Young (President, Violator Records); Jerry LeeLewis; Cassandra Wilson; Robert Smith (The Cure); CraigMorgan; Rosanne Cash; John Mayall; Isaac Brock (Mod-est Mouse); John Scofield; Mark Chesnutt; Amy Ray (In-digo Girls); Darryl McDaniels (Run DMC); MercyMe; MacyGray; Tiësto; Peter Hook (New Order); Frank Black (Pix-ies); Jeff Stinco (Simple Plan); Medeski Martin Wood;Charlie Musselwhite; Blue Man Group; Steve Lillywhite (Se-nior VP A/Producer, Columbia Records - credits include U2,Rolling Stones, Peter Gabriel, etc.); Angel Carrasco (Presi-dent, Discos 605/Sr. VP A Sony/BMG Latin America; LarryWilloughby (VP A, Capitol Records, Nashville); AlexandraPatsavas (Owner, The Chop Shop Music Supervision - cred-its include The OC, Grey’s Anatomy, Without A Trace,Carnivale, Rescue Me); Barbara Sedun (VP Creative, EMIMusic Publishing Canada); Bruce Iglauer (Founder/Presi-dent, Alligator Records); Cameron Strang (President, NewWest Records); Cory Robbins (Founder/President, RobbinsEntertainment); Dan Storper (President, Putumayo WorldMusic); Thomas Brooman (Co-Founder/Artistic Director,WOMAD); Danny Epstein (Music Supervisor, SesameStreet/Sesame Workshop); Tara Griggs-Magee (ExecutiveVP Gospel/Urban Music, Sony Records); Emily Wittmann(Vice-President, Nick Records); Leib Ostrow (CEO, MusicFor Little People); Betty Pino (DJ, WAMR and pioneer ofLatin musc radio); and Manolo Gonzales (Senior VP, Re-gional Mexican A and National Promotion, UnivisionRecords).

ISC is open to musicians, artists, and songwriters atevery level from amateur to professional. Artists may sub-mit as many songs as desired in each category or enter thesame song in more than one category.

Entries are accepted online or by mail. For more infor-mation or to enter ISC 2006, please visitwww.songwritingcompetition.com. The deadline for submis-sion is October 16, 2006.

ISC offers 18 different categories to enter: Pop/Top 40,AAA (Adult Album Alternative), Rock, Country, Americana,R/Hip-Hop, Blues, Folk/Singer-Songwriter, Jazz, Gospel/Christian, Latin Music, Instrumental, Dance/Electronica,World Music, Children’s Music, Lyrics Only, Teen, and Per-formance.

ISC 2006 sponsors include ASCAP, Epiphone, BerkleeCollege Of Music, D’Addario, Shure, Fishman, Sam Ash,Cakewalk, Hear Technologies, Disc Makers, Sonicbids,Musician’s Atlas, Sibelius, Planetary Group, OnlineGigs, TheMusic Business Registry, Mediaguide, ArtistMonitor, GeorgeStein, Esq., Alphabet Arm Design, and Taxi.

THE WAY THINGS GO is a fresh take on traditional Blues from the veteran

Bluesman. CLEVELAND FATS once again shows that he is a master singer, guitarist,

and songwriter highlighting his talents on nine originals and three covers. This recording

includes the re-teaming with his former boss and mentor ROBERT LOCKWOOD, JR.

and special guest BILLY BRANCH on harmonica.

CD NOW AVAILABLE DIRECT FROM HONEYBEE ENTERTAINMENTOnly $15 including shipping (outside US add $2). Send check or money order to

4786 Dressler RD NW #145, Canton, OH 44718. Or online at www.honeybeeblues.com

For booking information please contact BLUE SKUNK MUSIC at (847) 275-8378

Mohican Blues Festival:Saturday, August 19

The Mohican Blues Festival is well known as “Ohio’sBlues Invasion.” It attracts music fans from all over Ohioand surrounding states for a day of incredible entertain-ment and good food. The event’s rustic backdrop is thebeautiful hills of the Mohican River Valley providing an at-mosphere that is conducive to great performances and awonderful festival experience.

Fans have been treated to truly legendary performancesat the Mohican Blues Festival. Greats such as Robert Jun-ior Lockwood, Big Jack Johnson and Wallace Coleman haveblazed trails for later generations to follow, explore and buildupon while making their own contributions to the ever ex-panding vocabulary of Blues.

The Blues Fest pays homage to the rich and colorfultraditions of the Blues while showcasing its evolution intothe future, an approach apparent in this year’s line-up. Thisis the most ambitious production of the fest to date. Theline-up consists entirely of ‘touring bands” thus the by-line“Awesome from Start to Finish!” “This is no publicity hype”state promoters Fred & Barb Coffin of Mohican Entertain-ment Ltd., “all of these performers are ‘headliner’ capable.

Joe Bonamassa is current star in the blues-rock genre.John Primer was a moving force in the Chicago electricBlues scene and is one of the early architects of Rock andBlues guitar. Mississippi Heat is a Blues ‘super-group’ con-sisting of a virtual “who’s who” of veteran Chicago bluesmen

August 2006 • Issue 285 PAGE NINE

FRI 4 .......WYNG IT (CLASSIC ROCK)SAT 5.......TONY KOUSSA JR. BANDFRI 11 .....MINGO FISHTRAPSAT 12.....KRISTINE JACKSON’S BASICALLY BLUEFRI 18 .....DAVE C. & THE SHARPTONESSAT 19.....CLAY MCLINTON BANDFRI 25 .....DUPREE’S BLUESSAT 26.....THE SWAMP BOOGIE BAND

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including world renowned harmonica player Pierre Lacoque,vocalist extraordinaire Inetta Visor and legendary guitarist LurrieBell. A real deal Bluesman, Willie Pooch has ‘paid his dues’supporting Blues royalty such as Elmore James and is nowfronting his own awesome group The Upsetters. Young up-start Chris Canas has been burning up the fest and club cir-cuit with his own brand of showmanship and Blues proving itsrelevance to today’s youth. The incomparable Patrick Sweanywill redefine tradition embracing and defying all that has comebefore while forging what is yet to be. This very ambitiousroster is poised for a show that will be an experience to re-member.

The Mohican Blues Festival is unique; there really is noother event like it. It has a ‘down home’ kind of feel, very re-laxed and friendly. The artists are often in the crowd enjoyingthe other acts stopping for a handshake or photo with a fan.This is an event that everybody enjoys including the fans, theperformers and the staff.

The Mohican Blues Festival will be presented on Satur-day August 19 at the Mohican Reservation Campgroundsseven miles south of Loudonville, Ohio off of S.R. 3 on WalleyRoad. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the gate withspecial group rates available. Free convenient parking.

More information or to purchase tickets call or Email: 877-NEW-FEST or 419-368-3090, blueshawk@bluesinvasion.com;visit online at www.bluesinvasion.com .

See B.B. King in concert at Cain Park Sunday, August 20 at 8p.m., The concert is part of B.B.’s 80th Birthday Celebration!

B.B. King in Concert August 20

August 2006 • Issue 285PAGE TEN

We only bring you

the Cream of the Crop!

THE HOLLYWOOD BLUE FLAMES/THE HOLLYWOOD FATS BAND

Road To Rio/Larger Than LifeDELTAGROOVE RECORDS • 2-CDS

The late Michael Mann, known as Hollywood Fats,was not only influential in delving into retro blues stylesbefore it was common, but developed such a strong stylethat both Albert King and Muddy Waters attempted torecruit him for their bands (and Mann was in King’s Bandat Wattstax).

The Hollywood Fats Band was legendary in South-ern California and Fats’ influence extended to other gui-tarists starting from Junior Watson, who were them-selves highly influential. The Hollywood Fats Band whichincluded Al Blake, vocals and harmonica, Fred Kaplanon keyboards, Larry Taylor on bass and Richard Inneson drums was one of the top outfits on the West Coastand probably can be credited for the distinctive amal-

gamation of Chicago and other blues styles into WestCoast swing, popularized by others.

After Fats’ early death, the band broke up, but re-united with young guitarist, Kirk ‘Eli’ Fletcher and is-sued the fine Delta Groove disc Soul Sanctuary a fewyears ago. Subsequently Fletcher has become featuredfirst with The Mannish Boys and more recently with KimWilson as part of the current edition of The FabulousThunderbirds.

Road to Rio is the band’s follow-up release on DeltaGroove and continues in the same vein as the band cap-tures the feel of classic fifties and sixties blues record-ings with mostly original material. Opening with the titletrack, a rocker with some stinging, slashing fretworkfrom Fletcher, the band covers a variety of moods andsettings such as the John Lee Hooker flavored one-chordboogie Everybody’s Blues, with Blake adding nice harpand Kaplan some nice piano besides Fletcher’s atmo-spheric guitar riff, or Coffee Grindin’ Man where Blakeevokes the late Sonny Boy Williamson II.

Steady Rollin’ is a harp-flavored number sugges-tive of some of Billy Boy Arnold’s Vee-Jay recordingswhile there is a nice reworking of Willie Love’s LongBlack Cadillac, also known as V-8 Ford and Down atYour Buryin,’ with Fletcher ably playing in a restrainedJoe Willie Wilkins vein while Blake again shows his af-fection for Sonny Boy Williamson. Gumbo Grinder spot-lights pianist Blake starting off as a Professor Longhairflavored rumba before Gone Away, an acoustic duetbetween Blake on guitar and vocal and Kim Wilson onharp.

With Kaplan on organ, Fletcher rips off Third De-gree Burn, while Blake is featured on the Little Walterstyled harp feature, Dr Blake’s Boogie, with the bandchanneling the sound of the Aces. Another highlight isthe reworking of a Chicago urban blues, Sharpest Manin Town.

Three additional selections feature Fletcher’s men-tor, guitarist Junior Watson (Fletcher’s mentor with Jr’sBoogie Rocket), showing Watson’s affection for Mem-phis guitarist Willie Johnson.

In addition to the bonus tracks there is a bonus CD,The Hollywood Fats Band, Larger Than Life, comprisedof previously unissued live recordings of this band andonly the second available CD of this legendary unit.There is some slight material (Fats delivering the lyricon Nasty Boogie Woogie), but Fats takes the lead with abrilliant instrumental Fats Fries One (which soundsbased on Gatemouth Brown’s Okie Dokie Stomp) and afine rendition of Freddie King’s Sidetracked.

Two tracks from a Monterey Blues Festival find theband backing Eddie ‘Cleanhead’ Vinson on two verygood performances and there are also two fine guestvocals from the great Roy Brown along with their owntasty renditions of songs from Billy Boy Arnold, Big JoeTurner and A.C. Reed. Its frustrating that there is solittle that this band made together so we should be grate-ful to have it available and this only can hint at just howgood this band may have been.

Added to the Hollywood Blue Flames disc, thismakes for good value as well as plenty of good music.

Ron Weinstock

August 2006 • Issue 285 PAGE ELEVEN

RAHSAAN ROLAND KIRKBrotherman in the Fatherland

HYENAA release of a previously unissued concert recording by

the great Roland Kirk is welcome news, and if much of pro-ducer Joel Dorn’s liner notes is nonsensical, the release ofthis German concert, Brotherman in the Fatherland, will bewelcome by fans of the legendary multi-instrumentalist, de-spite its title.

At this March 3, 1972 Munich concert, Kirk was accom-panied by Ron Burton piano, Henry Pete Pearson “Mettahias”on bass, Richie Goldberg on drums and Joe ‘Hablo’ Texidoron percussion for a ripping good program that grows on onewith repeated hearings.

Kirk is heard on tenor saxophone, flute, nose flute,manzello, stritch and clarinet on the selections which includehis interpretations of top 40 hits by the Carpenters, Close toYou, and the Temptations classic My Girl, along with severalnumbers associated with John Coltrane, Billy Strayhorn’sLush Life, Mongo Santamaria’s Afro-Blue and Trane’s ownBlue Train. This last number, which closes the album, is aseventeen-minute musical tour de force. The medley of Sea-sons and Serenade to a Cuckoo, showcase Kirk’s skills as aflautist from the almost ‘classical’ opening to the vocalizedplaying that was highly influential (Kirk is the primary sourceof Jethro Tull flautist Ian Anderson’s style). Kirk can be soplayful at one moment, then a little bit later he can take it tothe basement equal to any blues player, and elsewhere takethings out almost as if speaking in tongues with his sax.

I really did not fully appreciate just how good this disc isuntil the fourth or fifth time I listened to it. Every time I listento it, I notice something new. I was fortunate to see RahsaanRoland Kirk live and any strong new live recording of thismaster is always welcome. I might suggest the Rhino anthol-ogy of Kirk, Does Your House Have Lions: The RahsaanRoland Kirk Anthology, for those unfamiliar with his music,but any fan of Kirk will want this latest release of concertperformances and more are promised. Ron Weinstock

JOHN LEE HOOKER, JRCold As Ice

TELARCOk, so he’s the son of one of the most prominent and

prolific bluesmen to ever strap on a guitar. Does JohnLee Hooker Jr. deliver the goods or is he just cashing inon the big marquee name?

This disc is firm evidence that Jr. could enter thewitness protection program and still have tongues wag-ging about his talents. Mostly steering clear of the straightboogies that were his father’s calling card,(“Oh Baby”being the notable exception) Jr. instead grooves to horndriven R& B, Soul, Funk and, of course, the Blues. Thismusical backdrop proves the perfect launching pad forhis well crafted tales of infidelity, “You Blew It Baby,” dis-gust at two-faced friends “Fed Up,” calculating women,“Cold As Ice,” losing it all, “Wait Until My Change Comes,”sexual prowess, “4 Hours Straight/Blues Man,” and get-ting stuck in the wrong relationship, “Trapped.”

He also includes a heartfelt homage to his father, “DoDaddy,” and covers one of his biggest hits, “I’m In theMood.” The real curve ball in this set is the light, jazzy, “I

Got to Be Me” which could have dropped straight off aGeorge Benson disc.

Overall this is a fine effort that should serve to re-move Jr. from the reflected spotlight of his father andplace him firmly in the center of his own stage.

Mark Smith

DANNY WEISSweet Spot

MARSHMELLOW RECORDS (CANADA)The fact that guitarist Danny Weis’s resume includes

a stint with the iconic psychedelic-era troupe Iron But-terfly may be either a plus or minus in the minds of jazz-rock listeners.

What that background appears to bring to Sweet Spotis lead work that’s got a better grip of the rock side ofthis musical fusion than most jazzers deliver. Weis smokesthrough a set grounded in the funky but melodic mid-70’s fusion style of bands such as the Brecker Brothers.Solid technique meets with rock attitude on a tasty, var-ied set of mostly original fare.

That said, Weis offers the unexpected as well. Afterburnin’ on tracks including the title number and a hotbluesy jam “Graham Street Shuffle,” he takes on the clas-sic “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” solo-style with a lighttouch and much authority.

With plenty of hot, “top-down” weather ahead- evenfor the Great Lakes region- Sweet Spot makes for first-rate cruisin’ fare. Duane Verh

August 2006 • Issue 285PAGE TWELVE

DAVID KIMBROUGH, JRShell ShockedB.C. RECORDS

As the son of Mississippi blueslegend Junior Kimbrough, DavidKimbrough Jr. has the genetic ingre-dients to be a bluesman. With a fewmajor clashes with the law and a longterm incarceration to his credit healso has a number of first hand ex-periences with the blues.

This isn’t just blues as a familytradition: its blues the hard way, onedefeat at a time with only the musicto offer redemption. With much of thisdisc written behind the walls of thestoried Parchman Farm State Peni-tentiary (which served as home tomany first generation bluesmen) thetone is one of bewilderment at his cir-cumstances coupled with a glimmerof hope for the future based on hardearned insight into the source of hisproblems. “I Don’t Do the Things IUsed to Do” tells the story in no un-certain terms with Kimbrough tryingto convince himself that he isn’t go-ing back to the bottom as if tellinghimself that over and over will wardoff the temptations that can take himthere in a matter of moments.

With stark, hypnotic grooves pro-vided by North Mississippi hill coun-try peers like Garry Burnside andJimbo Mathis this disc is a slow burn-ing glimpse into the blues as they ex-isted before they were co-opted byrock and roll into an endless party.Straight, with no chaser to take awaythe sting. Mark Smith

DAVID BERGER & THESULTANS OF SWING

HindustanSUCH SWEET THUNDER

This is the fourth recording ofcomposer/arranger/conductor DavidBerger and his band, The Sultans ofSwing, formed in 1996. Vocalist AriaHendricks, daughter of vocalist Jon,joins the 15-musician band for thisperformance recorded in Sweden inSeptember 2005.

Included in the 13-tune fare arefive tunes by Berger, as well as songsby Thad Jones (“No Refill”), JoelFrahm (“A Whole New You”), JohnnyMercer (“Too Marvelous For Words”),and Ray Noble (“The Very Thoughtof You”), the latter two featuring vo-

calist Hendricks without much luster.But it’s her raw vocals on the rowdyblues number “I Don’t Hurt Anymore”that seem to suit Hendricks’ styleperfectly.

Ar rangements are complex,smooth and intriguing, solos are well-executed, and the band can swing ti-dily. Occasionally, there’s a rousingchart driven from underneath byheavy-hitting drumming from JimmyMadison. Although, for the most part,Berger’s arrangements rightfully tendto spotlight the sparkling work ofreeds and horns in both section workand solos. Listen all the way throughand you’ll love them!

For more information, check outwww.sultansofswing.com.

Nancy Ann Lee

MISSISSIPPI HEATOne Eye Open - Live atRosa’s Lounge, Chicago

DELMARKThis is another new Delmark of-

fering in both CD and DVD. Missis-sippi Heat is the wonderful group thatIsreali-born Pierre Lacocque has or-ganized and fronted using some of thefinest, if not best-known Chicagoblues musicians.

Mixing in some choice blues clas-s ic wi th h is own f ine or ig inals ,Lacocque has seen varying person-nel in his group, but they have alwayshad a strong Chicago blues ensemblesound that supported the vocalistsand the soloists. Its hard not to no-tice Lacocque’s strong harp playingthat evokes Carey Bell at times withhis vocalized playing and fat tone.This edition of Mississippi Heat alsobenefits from the stunning guitar ofLurrie Bell and the strong rhythm ofChris ‘Hambone’ Cameron’s key-boards, Sturling Banks’ bass andKenny Smith on drums. While LurrieBell takes two nice vocals on MuddyWaters’ 19 Years Old, and T-BoneWalker’s Cold, Cold Feeling, it is awonderful vocalist, Inetta Visor whocurrently fronts the band and intro-duces Pierre as “the man who cameup with the plan” for the opening in-strumental, Rosa’s Strut, that show-cases his playing and the band’s niceensemble sound as they provide thatnice walking tempo behind him.

After Lurrie Bell’s fine delivery of19 Years Old, Ms. Visor takes the mike

to deliver Frederick Knight’s amus-ing I’ve Got to Sleep With One EyeOpen, as she has to keep her eyeopen to keep her man from loving herall night, which is quite a differenttake than the usual story of the mis-treating lover who is way too quick;Guitarist Max Valldeneu takes thelead here. Pierre opens on chromaticharp as Inetta sings his Dirty Dealabout being “so in love, I could notsee he was giving me a dirty deal.”Cool Twist is a nice rocking dancetune while the Dad only Moanin’ andCryin’ is a fine slow blues followedby She Ain’t Your Toy, where Inettagives a male friend some advice.

Eddie Harris’ Listen Here pro-vides Pierre with another showcase ofhis harp as the performance con-cludes in a most satisfactory fashion.The Dad thankfully focuses on theperformers with some crowd shotsmixed in but not to distraction. LikeTail Dragger’s Dad, the focus is onthe music and the performers and letthat do the talking.

There is some really strong Chi-cago blues here as well and which-ever format you choose you shouldfine to your liking. Ron Weinstock

MODERN TRADITIONSENSEMBLENew Old Music

ADVENTURE MUSICFive musicians stretching over

two generations comprise the ModernTraditions Ensemble, which performsnine Brazilian choro classics. Isaias deAlmeida (mandolin), Naylor Proveta(soprano sax, clarinet), Israel deAlmeida (7-string guitar), BenjaminTaubkin (piano) and Guello (percus-sion) deliver some lively and lovelytunes studio-recorded in Sao Paulo,Brazil in June 2003.

This is one of the prettiest Brazil-ian music albums to come across mydesk. Liner notes describe this as ‘aspecial encounter,’ which likely meansthis is not a regular working group. Itshould be. Their gorgeous renderingsof the lively opener, “Proezas de So-lon (Solon’s Exploits),” the graceful“Vibracoes (Vibrations),” and everyother tune (by Pixinguinha and othercomposers) will enrapture fans of thegenre.

Instrumental prowess is impres-sive. Melodies are warm, calm and

August 2006 • Issue 285 PAGE THIRTEEN

stanley clarke

george duke

Ohio Theatreaugust 19

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beautiful. Improvisations are dazzling. And the team playstogether (in a relaxed manner) like they’ve known eachother forever. This is a five-star album you’ll want to playover and over. Nancy Ann Lee

JEREMY SPENCERPrecious Little

BLIND PIGBack when Fleetwood Mac was Peter Green’s blues

band, slide guitarist/vocalist Jeremy Spencer provided thegroup with energetic Elmore James covers and spunkyoriginals strongly influenced by that same blues master.Spencer soon thereafter emerged in the counterculture’sburgeoning Christian subgroup- b/k/a/ “Jesus Freaks” andrecorded with a group called the Children of God. His newdisc quotes James more directly than it does the New Tes-tament and its quality play and congenial atmosphere willlikely win Spencer more than a few converts.

Not that there isn’t a good lesson or two about thewrongful ways of the world encased in some of Spencer’slyrics, but the low-key delivery of these messages shouldnot put most listeners at un-ease. Spencer’s voice seemsmuch more youthful than his grizzled countenance on thedisc’s jacket and his slide work, both electric and acous-tic, is an underplayed pleasure throughout the set. TheScandinavian band behind him matches Spencer in itssure-handed and laid-back character, delivering sparing,subtly textured support.

Even with the lyrical urgency of tracks such as“Trouble and Woe” and “Psychic Waste”, the overall at-mosphere of Precious Little is an inviting one and onethat listeners should fine more appealing with repeatedplays. Duane Verh

JAMIE DAVISIt’s A Good Thing

UNITY MUSIC LLCGreat male jazz vocalists are a rarity. Thus, it’s a genu-

ine treat to hear baritone Jamie Davis weave magic withhis rich, deep tonalities, vitality and pristine articulation.On 12 tracks, Davis fronts a first-rate big band compris-ing members of the Count Basie Orchestra (with whomhe toured for three years) and additional top instrumen-talists from Los Angeles.

Davis shows influences of Joe Williams, Lou Rawlsand other first-rate male vocalists yet displays a confi-dent, sensual style all his own as he works his way throughpop and jazz standards expertly conducted by Shelly Berg.Arrangements by Aaron Linton, Allyn Ferguson, Tom Hart,Bob Ojeda and others add oomph to gems such as StevieWonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely,” George Harrison’s “Some-thing,” Cole Porter’s “Night and Day,” Thelonious Monk’s“Straight No Chaser,” Ray Noble’s “The Very Thought ofYou,” and others. Davis’ passionate ballad renderings of“Besame Mucho” and “My Funny Valentine” are sultry lis-tening delights, enriched by Berg’s piano backing and so-los.

Bio information at www.jamiedavis.com doesn’t revealwhere (or when) Davis was born but he spent time in Ohio,attending high school in Mansfield and majoring in musicat Ohio State University. He performed in a touring group

Guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Duke Robillard will be appearing atThe Savannah in Westlake on Tuesday, August 29 - one nightonly. Robillard, who formed the band Roomful of Blues in 1967,plays around 250 shows a year. The W.C. Handy Awards namedhim “Best Blues Guitarist” two years in a row in 2000 and 2001. Hecurrently records for the Canadian label Stony Plain, which heteamed up with in 1994. In addition to his own albums, he hasproduced and played on two albums with the late JimmyWitherspoon, two with Kansas City piano king Jay McShann, come-back CDs for Billy Boy Arnold and Rosco Gordon and a superbalbum of guitar duets with the jazz legend Herb Ellis. See page 9.

August 2006 • Issue 285PAGE FOURTEEN

while in the U.S. Army and later re-turned to Ohio where he joined a 13-musician band. He next moved to NewYork to further his vocal studies andin 1975 moved to the San FranciscoBay area where he began leading hisown groups. Davis released his firstsolo CD, “It’s All About Love,” in Feb-ruary 2002.

Davis’ voice is sublime, instru-mental solos are dazzling, sectionwork is tightly blended and the bandswings with bold, brassy fervor. TheCD should definitely leave big bandfans wanting more. Included in thisnicely-packaged set is an informative38-minute DVD, “The Making of It’sA Good Thing,” which documents theApril 17-18, 2005 Los Angeles studiosession and features interviews withUnity Music co-producers Sam Beler,Greg Errico, Berg, Davis and many ofthe band members. Nancy Ann Lee

LOS LOBOSThe Best Of Los Lobos:

Wolf TracksRHINO

Back in 1984, during my days ofpromoting concerts, I had the plea-sure of bringing Los Lobos to Cleve-land just as their first full-length al-bum How Will The Wolf Survive wasmaking some serious waves. At thattime, I believe they were the first bandI’d ever heard open the show with theircurrent big hit...in this case, the titletrack from that album. Now that takessome balls! Five songs from the Wolfalbum appear on this 20-song best ofset...the title track, “Evangeline” and“A Matter Of Time,” along with therocker “Don’t Worry Baby” and CesarRosas’ accordion-driven mexican ex-cursion “Corrido #1.”

Los Lobos has continued on fromthat debut 22 years ago with a slew ofalbums offering additional doses ofTex-Mex, traditional Mexican songsand roots rock, and, in fact, will bereleasing a brand new album nextmonth (we’ll cover it then). This setcovers not only the Warner Bros. yearsthrough 1992, but also samples mu-sic from two ’99 and ’02 albums onthe Hollywood and Mammouth labels.It closes with a previously unreleasedcut from the ’90 The Neighborhoodsessions titled “Border Town Girl.”Three songs are included from their’87 Wolf follow-up, By The Light Of

The Moon, one from their ’88 tradi-tional Mexican album La Pistola Y ElCorazon and two from ‘92’s Kiko, in-cluding “Kiko And The LavendarMoon.” There are also two from LaBamba: Original Motion PictureSoundtrack...”La Bamba” and “ComeOn, Let’s Go.”

A very well put together collectionof music from David Hildago, CesarRosas, Conrad Lozano, Louie Perezand Steve Berlin...or, in short...LosLobos. Bill Wahl

XILKEAwait

MOKOSOUND RECORDS (DUTCH)Xilke is a Dutch singer who has

just issued a most impressive new CD,presumably her debut release. The lis-tener can easily become mesmerizedright off the bat with her low and verysmooth voice over the slow groove ofthe title track, sparsely backed bybackground voices, Fender Rhodesguitar, piano, bass and sampleddrums.

After an interlude, she breaks intothe driving funk of “Temptation,” withpretty much the same instrumentationas “Await” though with very differentresults – and with a real live drummeron hand. Although she has said thatDiane Reeves was a major influence,by the third song in we are definitelyhearing flashbacks to the best workof Grace Jones, and beyond...and thatcontinues on. And, by all means...thatis a good thing. Every song on thisdisc is a fresh and different treat, withdiffering backings, some of which in-clude horns.

Xilke has taken her intelligentlywritten lyrics and performed them ina program where she mixes jazz,groove, Euro-Lounge, funk, pop,blues, new soul (nu-soul), world, spo-ken word and God knows what else.She and her musicians also inject Af-rican influences in some tracks, forexample...it sounds as though thereis a Kalimba (African Thumb Piano) -or at least a sampled one - in the slowgroove/funk cut “Nothingness.”

Some of the music, such as thepretty much straight jazz (clarinet andall) “Ancient Visions” is rather, let’ssay normal; while other songs, suchas the next, and closing, cut “Leav-ing” are very strange, perhaps even abit spooky. And that is what makes

this disc such a joy to l istento...incredible diversity and some veryunique instrumental arrangements fora singer who is very intriguing herself.Definitely a fantastic listening experi-ence from start to finish.

You should most definitely checkXilke out at www.xilke.com. Bill Wahl

HARMONICA SHAHListen At Me Good

ELECTRO-FIIt’s no insult to call this old school

style blues. With nary a nod to rockor soul, the 12 cuts featured on thisdisc could just as easily have comefrom an early 1960s Chess Recordssession.

Backed by the top notch crew ofWillie “Big Eyes” Smith on drums, MelBrown on guitar and Julian Fauth onpiano, Harmonica Shah lays his vo-cals and just right harmonica workover the hard hitting electric blues thathave kept Chicago’s working classblues bars filled for years.

This isn’t the feel good party bluesfavored by the tourists. This is bluesabout the senselessness of gun fights,“Bullets Don’t Care,” the agony of get-ting dumped, “Standing in the ColdRain,” being too broke to even helpthe bums, “I’ve Got to Help My OwnDamn Self,” disgust at someone whobends the truth a bit too much, “Lies,Lies, Lies” and the need to get outfrom under a string of problems, “IWish a Thief Would Steal All My Bur-dens and Pain.” There’s nothing theleast bit fancy here.

All the tunes percolate at a mid-tempo pace which requires carefulplacement of every note since theuncluttered production leaves nowhere to hide. With the exception of“Detroit Jump” Shah mostly leavesthe harmonica pyrotechnics for an-other day and instead focuses on cap-turing just the right feel with as fewnotes as possible.

Shah delivers his vocals in thesame direct, unadorned fashion asMuddy Waters, who would feel rightat home with this line up of tunes.

Mark Smith

www.jazz-blues.com

August 2006 • Issue 285 PAGE FIFTEEN

LISA BELLIt’s All About Love

SELF-PRODUCEDFollowing up her 2002 release, Dare To Be, which fo-

cused on renditions of standards, the ultra-talented Colo-rado-born vocalist Lisa Bell delivers an array of 12 tunes,including eight co-written originals. Accompanied by a finecrew of home-base musicians and backup vocalists, theversatile Bell displays a rich mid-range voice and rich stylethat holds appeal for crossover fans of pop, country, andblues.

There’s not a dull tune in the bunch. One entertainingnumber is the bluesy “Ain’t Divorce Grand,” co-writtenwith Lance Bendiksen and her regular pianist JohnArmstrong. While Bell’s in peak form at any tempo, bal-lads such as “Here I Am” and “Faraway Friends” show offher lovely voice that has enthralled fans at jazz clubs andmajor festivals as well as performances with various vo-cal ensembles, orchestras, musical theater productionsand more.

Bell’s been inspired from a young age by vocalistssuch as Dionne Warwick, Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McRae,Karen Carpenter and others. Her teen-age talents won hera scholarship to the Conservatory of Music at the Univer-sity of Missouri-Kansas City where she graduated with aB.A. degree in Communications and Vocal Performance.

Clever and catchy, the songs on this disc hold appealfor a wide-ranged audience. This should be a benchmarksession for other female vocalists. Bell’s pleasant voice,original and diverse material, accomplished side musi-cians, and sense of humor make this the best vocal al-bum to come across my desk in ages. Bell is definitely atalent deserving of wider exposure. Check out her websiteat www.lisabellmusic.com. Nancy Ann Lee

BUTCH CAGE & WILLIE B. THOMASOld Time Black Southern String Band Music

ARHOOLIE RECORDSThis new release is one of those rare recordings that

features an African-American blues fiddler - namely James‘Butch’ Cage. He and guitarist Willie B. Thomas are heardon a disc with a title that is slightly misleading, insofar asthe two are heard on a program of mostly down-in-the-alley blues with Cage’s vigorous, rough-hewn fiddlecomplemented by Thomas’ rhythmic guitar.

The duo was recorded by folklorist Dr. Harry Oster inZachery, Louisiana in the 1950s and selections by themwere issued on the Folk-Lyric album, Country Negro JamSession (later available on Arhoolie who had acquired theFolk-Lyric label). Arhoolie issued several other selectionson the CD I Have to Paint My Face. With the exception ofone track, the music here is previously unissued. Much ofit is comprised of traditional blues themes or their rendi-tions of blues standards such as Some Day Baby (theSleepy John Estes song sometimes known as Worried LifeBlues), Mean Old Frisco, The Dirty Dozen, Rock Me Mama,Easy Rider Blues, Careless Love Blues, Since I Layed MyBurden Down and You’ve Gotta Move. On the latter two,Rosalie Wilkerson takes the lead on vocals – (with Cageand Thomas enthusiastically joining her – while Robert

Jenkins sings on I Had a Dream Last Night (All I Had WasGone).

This is far from polished and one can imagine thehouse parties with the corn liquor flowing as the two keptthe music running all night long. As the blues would getshouted, Thomas would keep a good beat with his rhythmand Cage’s fiddle would be like a buzzsaw. A good timecan be has listening to this. Ron Weinstock

DVDs

OTIS RUSH & FRIENDSLive At Montruex 1986

EAGLE EYE MEDIA DVD & EAGLE RECORDS CDThere is no question about it, Otis Rush is one

bluesman I can never get enough of.To quote our own Ron Weinstock in a recent review of

a Rush reissue on Delmark first time...”One of many bluesartists in the post-B.B. King style....Rush, a Mississippinative, moved to Chicago and became part of the WestSide Chicago blues scene playing some blistering guitarand singing with great fervor.” Right, while some bluesartists are obviously more gifted in either their guitar orvocal work, Rush is equally adept at both. This mix adsup to a performer who is on top of his game both in thestudio or in a live club or concert setting. He’s influencedmany other bluesmen, and also many big blues-rocknames such as Eric Clapton (in a big way) Peter Green,Jeff Beck, Mike Bloomfield, Stevie Ray Vaughan and manyothers.

Apparently Clapton was instrumental in setting up thisRush appearance at Montreux. Rush and his band play adriving, spirited set including “You Don’t Love Me,” Otis

THE JEFF HEALEY BANDLive At Montreux

EAGLE EYE MEDIA DVDBlues-rock guitar phenom Jeff Healey leads another

musical life, which this publication will deal with in thenear future. But in the meantime this live set from the1999 Montreux Jazz Festival will be good news for themany fans of this Toronto-based axe-meister. Packed withsolid on-stage renditions of Healey favorites, including hisdebut smash “Angel Eyes”, Live At Montreux is the sortof straightforward no-frills performance set this label hasconsistently turned out. For those who’ve never eyeballedthis blind guitarist’s unique “lap” style, the close-ups pro-vide a perspective on Healey’s remarkable technique that’sbound to impress. Then there’s his unexpected active stagepresence that pushes aside preconceptions of what somefolks can do.

Healey’s singing and playing are in fine form and hisband delivers solid support. Bonus tracks from 1977 re-veal a longer-haired Healey and some equally strong per-formances. Live In Montreux is an excellent package anda must-have for Healey fans. Duane Verh

August 2006 • Issue 285PAGE SIXTEEN

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books

originals “Tops,” and “Right Place, Wrong Time,” AlbertKing’s “Natural Ball,” and T-Bone Walker’s “Mean OldWorld.” Then there is more fun in store as Clapton joinsRush and company for “Crosscut Saw” and two more Rushoriginals, “Double Trouble” and “All Your Love (I MissLoving).” Then it all steps up a notch as Luther Allisonjoins Rush and Clapton for a version of “Every Day I HaveThe Blues.”

That’s the CD version. Now if you’d rather listen andwatch as well, you can pick up the DVD version of thislive concert, which offers excellent video and sound ineither stereo, Dolby 5.1 Surround or DTS. The programis different too. All the songs from the CD are here, butfour additional tracks are added, including the Rush origi-nal that closes the set, “If I Had Any Sense, I’d Go BackHome.”

So choose your weapon, but whether it is the CD orDVD version of this show in Switzerland twenty years ago,you’ll be in for one fine experience. Bill Wahl

LOUIS ARMSTRONG’S NEW ORLEANSby Thomas Brothers

(NORTON 2006)Thomas Brothers, a professor of music at Duke Uni-

versity and the author of Louis Armstrong: In His OwnWords, has written a fascinating book on the upbringingand development as a musician of the great LouisArmstrong. The book interweaves an account of early twen-tieth-century New Orleans with a narrative of Armstrong’slife. As the book cover describes,’“Drawing on a stunningbody of first-person accounts, this book tells the rags-to-riches take of Armstrong’s early life and the social andmusical forces that shaped him.”

The dark-skinned Armstrong grew up with low expec-tations for him in a world of Jim Crow legislation and vigi-lante terrorism, yet also grew up in the midst of a richculture that included the ecstatic music of the sanctifiedChurch, the blues of street musicians and the tradition ofragging a tune. It was a world of the clash of cultures evenwithin the African-American community as the worlds ofthe uptown Negroes like Armstrong was distinct from the‘cultured’ downtown ‘Creoles of color,’ although the pres-sures of Jim Crow would undermine the rigid barriers be-tween the two and Armstrong would benefit from the dif-fering musical standards from both communities, the moreformal and learned performances by the Creole musiciansas well as the uptown musicians playing by ear and theirtraditions of ragging the music.

In the words of Armstrong and his contemporaries weget a vivid sense of the world and the richness of the cul-ture in which Armstrong was raised. We follow the young-ster as he gets in trouble with the law and sent to the NewOrleans Waif Home, working on the streets, marching inthe second-line and carrying King Oliver’s horn. Othershave focused on the poverty he was raised in and empha-sized Armstrong’s music as a compensation for the defi-ciencies of his early life, but Brothers emphasizes that he

may have been poor but the culture he grew up in wasvery rich indeed.

Also interweaved in this account are the emergenceof early jazz and the lives of legendary figures as BuddyBolden and King Oliver whose lives are recounted by theircontemporaries such as Bunk Johnson and Armstronghimself. And of course an account of the Storyville Dis-trict as well as the various locations at which jazz emergedin the twentieth century.

This is an invaluable contribution to our understand-ing of early jazz and its most important figure. It is won-derfully put together and brings the world of the youngLouis Armstrong alive. Ron Weinstock

BLUE MONDAY: FATS DOMINO ANDTHE LOST DAWN OF ROCK’N’ROLL

by Rick Coleman(DA CAPO 2006)

Antoine ‘Fats’ Domino is one of the most significantperformers of the last half of the twentieth century, yetbecause of his easy-going persona and his rather quiet lifeoutside of performing, his contributions to blues androck’n’roll have not been given their due. This biographyby Rick Coleman, who authored the booklet for the BearFamily box set of Domino’s Complete Imperial Record-ings, is twenty years in the making and hopefully will re-sult in Domino being recognized as the pillar of modernAmerican music that he is. The fact that Fats is unappre-ciated perhaps reflects a certain Eurocentrism that marksmuch of pop music writing and rock media that inflatesthe importance of popular, but derivative rock artists atthe expense of true music innovators. After all LynardSkynard is inthe Rock’N’Roll Hall of Fame, but the muchmore original Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson is not.

Domino is a private man and somewhat shy, despitehis ability to thrill audiences when performing. Colemantraces his biography and development as a musician inthe context of the times including his father’s move to theNinth Ward area, then a relatively rural area near the In-dustrial Canal, to the horrible events around HurricaneKatrina which devastated Domino’s home that was still onthe same tract of land his father had purchased decadesbefore.

Domino grew up in one of the most remarkable musi-cal cities this country has ever had. Coleman traces itshistory, including the infamous history relating to segre-gation of the races which is invaluable in understandingDomino’s impact, not simply on music but in bringingpeople of different backgrounds together. Given the gen-eral easy going image of Antoine ‘Fats’ Domino, one islikely to be surprised when reading this about the riots hislive performances often engendered. These riots were mostoften the result of those who objected to whites and blacksattending an event together, and even worse in the racisteyes of many, dancing and socializing together.

Influenced by Amos Milburn especially, Fats Dominowas one of the greats in a long-standing New Orleans pi-ano tradition. Roy Brown’s Recording of Good Rockin’ To-night, is the earliest shot in the musical revolution of mod-ern rhythm and blues that generated rock and roll. Fromwhen he went in the studio and cut his speeded reworking

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August 2006 • Issue 285

of the traditional New Orleans song Junker’s Blues as TheFat Man, Domino had a recording career that for about adecade and a half outsold anybody except for Elvis, andhis music inspired performers including Elvis, Jerry leeLewis, John Lennon and countless others.

Coleman traces Domino’s recording and performingcareer as well as the major events of his personal life, butwithout focusing on scandals and then continues whenDomino had ceased to be a major recording artist but re-mained a powerful live attraction on the oldies circuit andin Las Vegas. From when he first traveled to Europe in themid-sixties, the adulation he received overseas led to regu-lar tours there. And furthermore the level of his music re-mained consistently high. There is plenty of material herethat was unfamiliar to me. I was not aware that of the manyDomino-Bartholomew compositions, Domino’s chief con-tributions were the lyrics and the basic music, whichBartholomew worked and elaborated on. Also, I was notaware that Bartholomew generally played a very limitedrole in Domino’s live touring as we are given the details ofthe various persons who were members of the band andsome of their foibles as well as musical contributions. Butnames like Earl Palmer, Roy Montrell, Herb Hardesty, LeeAllen and other names familiar to rock’n’roll and R&B col-lectors are part of this story as is label mate Rick Nelson.

Coleman has put together an impressive work that islong overdue. There is a factual quality of much of this,but again that is partly the result of Domino’s own privatenature. He is best when describing some of the recordingsand performances and there is a thorough list of sourcesalthough a list of recordings would have been very wel-come here, or at least a listing of available recordings. Butthis is simply a small quibble on a most impressive workabout a true Giant and Legend. Ron Weinstock

THE LANGUAGE OF THE BLUESby Debra DeSalvo

(BILLBOARD BOOKS 2006 )This is self-described as an anecdotal dictionary of

the blues, but it suffers some serious flaws, and whilethere is some useful information, it is far from authorita-tive or comprehensive. While it has some usefulness, itcan be improved in so many ways. There are some 150words and phrases which Ms. DeSalvo, former Blues Re-vue editor, focuses on, in a volume that emphasizes theAfrican roots of the blues, but at times does not focus onother meanings the terms have. One review in Blues &Rhythm notes the focus on sex and hoodoo, but oddlyenough very little on traveling which is a significant themeof the blues.

Much is made of the fact she interviewed a number ofblues performers and included the material with variousentries. However much, if not most, of the interview ma-terial is irrelevant to understanding the language of theblues, or the entry. For example she briefly discussescrossroads focusing on the African conception whichleads to a discussion of the Robert Johnson meeting thedevil at the crossroad myth and notes that some believeit. Then she included a discussion of Robert Lockwood,Johnson’s stepson, which bears very little relationship tothe discussion of the term. This would have been better

www.jazz-blues.com

included in a sidebar about Johnson and Lockwood. Itwould have also been instructive to include lyrics of sev-eral songs for specific terms to show contrasting mean-ings. As an example, Elmore James’’Standing at theCrossroads, clearly does not have the connotation thatsome impute to Johnson.

Also some of her sources are not exactly scholarly.In an entry on the Delta, she discussed Charlie Pattonworking for Will Dockery. She provides as her referencecorrespondence with Stephen Lavere. There are lengthypublished biographies on Patton by John Fahey, andStephen Calt and Gayle Dean Wardlow that should havebeen cited. There is no excuse to not citing these sourceswhile citing private correspondence. Then there is thisstatement “In ’34 Blues’, Patton nails the desperation andanxiety of unemployment, but something good came outof leaving the plantation this time-Patton went to NewYork and recorded twenty-nine songs for the AmericanRecord Company. When these recordings were reissuedin the mid-1960s, they sparked great interest in this Deltacropper who came to be known as the father of the blues.”On the same page there is Patton’s picture which notedhe recorded for Paramount and became that label’s big-gest selling artist. It was the reissue of Patton’s record-ings by Yazoo, which presented mostly the Paramountrecordings that led to this recognition of Patton’s music.

Discussing Canned Heat which some strained to drinkthe alcohol from, DeSalvo notes that Canned Heatadopted their name from the Tommy Johnson recordingand that the members of Canned Heat used their fame tohelp their blues heroes citing their collaboration in JohnLee Hooker’s The Healer. Hmm, I would think that it wasthe classic double album, Hooker and Heat, recordedwhen Alan Wilson, the Blind Owl, was still alive that notonly was the recording that led to Hooker’s crossover butit stands up with the best recordings Hooker ever made.It was an album the ghost band that is Canned Heat istoday would be incapable of producing. Sorry for per-haps going off topic, but so many entries here go off topic.(Again sidebars would have been useful). However thefact she is so imprecise with this, makes me suspect theaccuracy of some other entries.

She does include some suggested recordings, butmore lyric quotes for the entries would have been veryhelpful. Also there should have been more cross entries,such as in her discussion of policy numbers, cross refer-ences back to that entry should have been provided forsome of the policy combinations. And there are numer-ous terms that are not discussed here. This is a reallyrough first effort and this work needs some serious re-working if it is going to be a useful tool, which probablyalso means she should find herself a collaborator and takeinto account the serious criticisms if she wants to puttogether a work that will stand up as scholarly and a ref-erence. Ron Weinstock

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August 2006 • Issue 285