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GUITAR SHORTYI N T E R V I E W E D

PLAYING HOUSE OF BLUESARMED WITH NEW ALLIGATOR CD

September/October 2006 • Issue 286PAGE TWO

Published by Martin WahlCommunications

Editor & Founder Bill Wahl

Layout & Design Bill Wahl

Operations Jim MartinPilar Martin

Contributors

Michael Braxton, Mark Cole,Dewey Forward, Steve Homick,Chris Hovan, Nancy Ann Lee,Peanuts, Mark Smith, DaveSunde, Duane Verh and RonWeinstock.Photos of Guitar Shortycourtesy of Alligator Records

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GUITAR SHORTYI N T E R V I E W E D

There are few times in life thatyou have the opportunity to speakwith someone who has forgottenmore about the blues and music ingeneral than most peoplewill remember in a lifetime. I recentlyhad the opportunity to not only lis-ten to, but to learn from a true certi-fied blues ”Road Scholar,” who nar-rated for me an exciting musical jour-ney spanning five generations andwhose career continues not only tothrive, but flourish to this day.

Born in Houston, Texas in 1939,David Kearney (Guitar Shorty)struggled through the breakup of hisparents’ marriage at a very youngage. At the age of six David went tolive with relatives in Florida. It wasduring this time that he found refugein the sounds of the guitar. ”I was soamazed by the sound of myUncle Willie’s guitar, we would justsit on the porch after dinner, I wouldsit on my uncle’s lap and I would putmy hand in his and press down onthe strings and we would justplay and imitate the sounds wewould hear all around us,” said Davidspeaking from his home in Los An-

By Dave Sunde

geles on a rare off day from the road.“I would come home from school andsneak in to my uncle Willie’s bedroomand try my best to imitate him playingthe guitar. I couldn’t hardly get myarms over the guitar, so I would falldown on the floor and throw tantrumsbecause I couldn’t do what I wanted.Grandma finally had enough of all thatand one morning she told my UncleWillie point blank, I want you to teachthis boy how to ‘really’ play the guitarbefore I kill him,” said Shorty

Fast forward through years of latenight static fi l led AM broadcastscrackling the southbound airwaves outof Cincinnati that helped further de-velop David’s appreciative musical ear.T. Bone Walker, B.B. King and Gospelinnovator Sister Rosetta Tharpe werethe late night companions who spentlate evenings influencing Shorty’s fu-ture singing and playing style. Davidcredits his grandmother for influencinghis desire to sing in the church choir. “Ihad such a high pitched voice at thetime, but I really loved singing in thechoir and I really enjoyed those times,”said David.

David’s uncle soon realizedthat he needed a real guitarteacher. His grandma was instrumen-tal having David meet his guitarteacher “WASH.”

“He was left handed, played theguitar r ight handed, and at f irstI thought he was a midget, but laterI learned he was actually a dwarf. Wewould meet twice a week forlessons and I picked up things so fastand found myself getting bored eas-ily. I would skip ahead and complete 2-3 lessons ahead of time,” David said.

It’s during this chapter of the storywhere David said WASH told him“Someday he would be paying to seeme play the guitar.” David stated that“I just shrugged it off and couldn’t com-prehend it.” After much practice, Davidbecame good enough to start travel-ing to Tampa to play gigs with WalterJohnson’s band on a regularbasis. ”Walter would sit me on a stool

September/October 2006 • Issue 286 PAGE THREE

in front of a music stand and he would have me turn myvolume all the way down and go through the motions likeI was playing. He would tell me what key I was in and tellme to follow along with the band and act like I was play-ing with the rhythm section. He told me eventually hewould allow me to turn up the volume and that is how Igot started playing in a band,” David relates.

It’s during this time where the nickname “GuitarShorty” comes into being. “There was a promoter in Floridanamed Dewey Richardson. I was playing weekends withWalter Johnson when at the end of the show, Richardsonannounced that there is going to be a very exciting newguitar player named Guitar Shorty at next week’s show. Iwas very curious and excited, but at the same time I be-came very nervous. Now everyone else in the band wasin on the joke except me. I spent the entire next weekpracticing to be sure that I was ready when I got to playwith this new guitarist. When it was time for the gig, I waspeeking thru the curtain and trying to get a glimpse of thismysterious guitar player. I sat backstage with the rest ofthe band while the promoter was introducing him to thecrowd. The announcer says Ladies and ‘Gentleman,please welcome Guitar Shorty.’ I start looking aroundat the rest of the band and they were all looking back atme laughing. I then realized the joke and it hit me that Iam supposed to be the exciting new guitar player. I frozeand several of the band members had to pick me up andcarry me out on the stage. Once I thawed out, I started toplay and the crowd went nuts.”

The time spent playing with Walter’s band openeddoors for other gigs playing with Ray Charles, Guitar Slim,

Otis Rush, Sam Cookeand others. It was dur-ing this t ime thatS h o r t y ’ s g u i t a rteacher’s words cametrue. “One Night as Iwas playing on stagewith Ray Charles, Ilooked down in frontand there WASH, myguitar teacher, holdingtwo tickets and pointingto his heart, remindingme of the almost pro-phetic words he hadsaid years earlier,” saidShorty.

Over the ensuingyears, Shorty has con-t inued to del iver asteady stream of rockin’ albums showcasing that full,deep resonant voice, intricate razor sharp guitar playingand the time tested desire to serve up enough lowdown blues to permanently cement his reputation as asolid, “one of a kind” live performer.

The story takes a interesting turn - forwardto Vancouver, 1962. In the midst of nonstop playing andrecording, Shorty meets and falls in love with a girl namedMarsha, who just so happens to be the sister of one JamesMarshall Hendrix, better known in music circles as JimiHendrix. After meeting Hendrix at a family reunion,

September/October 2006 • Issue 286PAGE FOUR

By Mark Smith

Shorty finds out that not only is Jimi familiar with Shorty’smusic, but Hendrix tel ls Shorty how much hehas influenced his style and how he had patterned his play-ing style after him. “Jimi told me he would go AWOL fromthe military just to see me play. He said I was one of themost amazing guitar players he had ever seen,” saidShorty

And that is not the end of the story, either.......Just when you think the story can’t get

any better, Shorty’s current projects with Alligator Recordshave delivered a one-two punch that blues music loverswill still be reeling from years down the road.

With the first release of WATCH YOUR BACK (Alliga-tor 2004), Shorty delivered the goods to an audience des-perate to hear music packing power and passion. It wasclassic Shorty - strong vocals, witty lyrics and enough inyour face screaming guitar to satisfy even the most jadedlistener. On his new release for Alligator, WE THE PEOPLE,produced by Wyzard and Brian Brinkerhoff, Shorty doesn’tjust rest on his past laurels and pick up where he left off...onthe contrary, he decided to kick the ballistic buffet into over-drive, playing with a zeal and passion that is very hard toimitate, and all but unmatched in today’s music scene. Hislyrical insight adds color and dimension to the black andwhite reality of everyday life... “We The People” and thetrack “Cost Of Livin” is a social commentary right out oftoday’s headlines. Without a doubt, Shorty has recordedhis benchmark “THIS IS HOW TO ROCK” album that artistsfollowing his footsteps will be referring back to for years tocome.

When asked what major differences he noticed on WETHE PEOPLE compared to the previous release, Shortysaid “I had my producer’s wife, who is a voice teacher,share some vocal tips with me. She noticed while Iwas singing I would throw my head back when I hit thehigh notes, and as a result, my voice would get hoarseand I could hardly talk at the end of the night. She taughtme that I needed to keep my head down on the high notes,and since I have been doing that it has been an amazingdifference,” said Shorty. The album WE THE PEOPLE hasa raucous sound to it, like it was recorded live in the stu-dio. Check out the cut “Sonic Boom” to see what I mean.Shorty said it best, “That is what I was going for. I wantthat real live sound...dark and loud like a thundercloud.”

The one and only disappointment I had with the al-bum is the lack of clear disclaimer gracing the cover. It isonly fitting that Alligator run a label on future copies stat-ing the clear truthful facts: PLAYING THIS CD AT LOUDVOLUME LEVELS MAY RESULT IN A LACK OF ABILITYTO KEEP YOUR VEHICLE WITHIN THE LEGAL SPEEDLIMITS - PLEASE DRIVE AND LISTEN TO THIS ALBUMAT YOUR OWN RISK.......

Guitar Shorty’s Latest Release WE THE PEOPLE isavailable now on Alligator Records. Cleveland area read-ers can see Guitar Shorty live in concert September 21opening for Johnny Winter at the House Of Blues.

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New Release Blues..... WOW, with a release schedulethis hot you won’t soon be missing the warmth of summer: G.Love- Lemonade; Maria Muldaur-Heart of Mine: Love Songsof Bob Dylan; Anthony Gomes- Music Is the Medicine; KellyJoe Phelps- Tunesmith Retrofit; Jeremy Spencer- PreciousLittle; Albert Cummings- Working Man; Chris Whitley- Dis-location Blues; Delbert McClinton- Live From Austin, TX; RoryBlock- The Lady and Mr. Johnson; Bill Perry- Don’t KnowNothing About Love; Fiona Boyes- Lucky 13; Otis Rush-Troubles, Troubles; Professor Longhair-Rock ‘n Roll Gumbo;The Nighthawks- Blue Moon in Your Eye; Johnny Winter-Rockin Bluesman; Studebaker John & The Hawks- Self-Made Man; Johnny Adams- The Great Johnny Adams R &Bl Album; Don Nix- I Don’t Want No Trouble; Rory Gallagher-Live at Montreux; Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames- YehYeh; Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown- Down South in theBayou Country; Guitar Shorty- We the People; Robben Ford-City Life; Sherman Robertson & BluesMove- Guitar ManLive; Lil Dave Thompson- Got To Get Over You; JohnnyLee Schell- Schell Game; Trudy Lynn-I’m Still Here; The KellyRichey Band- Speechless; Andy Fairweather Low- SweetSoulful Music; Memphis Slim- Memphis Slim; Buddy Guy-Everyday We Have the Blues; Bill Lupkin- Where I ComeFrom; Jeff Lang- Prepare Me Well; Tab Benoit- Best of theBayou Blues; Barrelhouse Chuck and the All Star BluesBand Featuring Kim Wilson- Got My Eyes on You; ChrisSmither- Leave the Light On; Furry Lewis- Fourth & Beale;Canned Heat- Instrumentals 1967-1996; Billie Holiday- GodBless the Child: The very Best of Billie Holiday; MitchKashmar- Wake Up & Worry; Sue Foley- Live in Europe (DVDonly release); Watermelon Slim- Big Shoes to Fill; The Rob-ert Cray Band- Live from Across the Pond; Snooks Eaglinand His New Orleans Friends- The Sonet Blues Story; Vari-ous Artists- Battle of Hastings Street: Raw Detroit Blues & R& B From Joe’s Record Shop 1953-1954; Ruth Brown- BrownIs Beautiful; Billie Holiday & Lester Young- The CompleteRecordings; Fabulous Thunderbirds- Live From London(DVD only release); Kilborn Alley Blues Band- Put it in theAlley; Dave Gross- Take the Gamble; Memo Gonzalez &Bluescasters- Live in the UK; Katherine Davis & The Chi-cago Boogie Ensemble- Rock this House- Live!; EddieBurns- 2nd Degree Burns; The Calvin Owens Show- I Ain’tGoona Be Yo’ Dog No Mo’: Blues Orchestra Volume 2; PhilGuy- He’s My Blues Brother; Barbara Carr- Down LowBrother; Mark Hummel- Ain’t Easy No More; William LeeEllis- God’s Tattoos; Eddie Kirkland- Democrat Blues; BoRamsey- Stranger Blues; Porterhouse Bob and Down tothe Bone- Shoutin’ at the Grave.... More awards blues.....Well, the Grammy’s Æ and the Blues Music (formerly W.C.Handy) Awards are now a matter of history. So what’s left inthe blues award world? Well how about magazine awards?

September/October 2006 • Issue 286 PAGE FIVE

At the Rock Hall...

Living Blues has just published its list of winners as voted uponby its critics and readers. As is often the case the critics andreaders found little common ground. Here’s a few of the morenotable awards: Blues Artist of the Year- Male: Little Milton(critics), B.B. King (readers); Blues Artist of the Year- Female:Irma Thomas (critics), Shemekia Copeland (readers); BestBlues Album- Contemporary; Eddie Burns- 2nd Degree Burns(critics), Buddy Guy- Bring ‘Em In (readers); Most outstand-ing musician-guitar: Magic Slim (critics), Buddy Guy (read-ers); Most outstanding musician- harmonica- Big GeorgeBrock (critics), Sam Myers (readers); Most outstanding mu-sician- keyboards: Floyd Dixon (critics), Pinetop Perkins(readers); Best live performer- Bobby Rush (critics), ChickWillis (readers); Most outstanding blues singer: Etta James(critics), Soloman Burke (readers). Congratulations to all thewinners!! That’s it for this month. See ya!

CLEVELAND – On September 20, the Rock and Roll Hallof Fame and Museum will present a screening of GandulfHennig’s remarkable film, Fallen Angel: Gram Parsons. Thefilm examines Gram Parsons and his musical legacy. Parsons’sister, Diane, will appear with filmmaker Gandulf Hennig toscreen the film and field questions about both the project andParsons.

Hennig’s film, described by The Observer as “A must-seefor anyone who cares about music,” features appearances byKeith Richards, Emmylou Harris, Dwight Yoakum, BernieLeadon and others. Fallen Angel, which is available on DVDfrom Rhino, engages with the mythology surrounding its sub-ject and, finally, helps its audience to see just why Gram Par-sons has cast such a long shadow.

At only 26 years of age, Gram Parsons died on Septem-ber 19, 1973. Celebrated as a pioneer in the area of countryrock, Parsons preferred to call his genre “Cosmic AmericanMusic.” After forming a series of early bands, including theInternational Submarine Band, Parsons joined the Byrds andgave focus to their celebrated recording Sweetheart of theRodeo. After leaving the Byrds, Parsons would go on to forma deep kinship with Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, formthe Flying Burrito Brothers with Chris Hillman of the Byrds,and make two solo recordings featuring a young EmmylouHarris and members of Elvis Presley’s band, including inducteeJames Burton.

The presentation will take place at 7p.m. in the Rock andRoll Hall of Fame and Museum’s Fourth Floor Theater. Thescreening is free to the public with reservations. Guests cancall 216.515.8426 for to reserve tickets.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is the non-profit organization that exists to educate visitors, fans and schol-ars from around the world about the history and continuingsignificance of rock and roll music. It carries out this missionboth through its operation of a world-class museum that col-lects, preserves, exhibits and interprets this art form andthrough its library and archives as well as its educational pro-grams.

The Museum is open seven days a week from 10:00 a.m.to 5:30 p.m. On Wednesdays the Museum is open until 9:00p.m. Museum admission is $20 for adults, $14 for seniors(60+), $11 for children (9-12) and children under 8 and Mu-seum members are free.

We only bring you

the Cream of the Crop!

JOE LOVANOStreams of Expression

BLUE NOTESaxophonist Joe Lovano leads a large ensemble (ex-

panded from his Nonet) for two suites that encapsulate1950s Cool and 1960s avant-garde.

The Birth of the Cool Suite, a three-part suite conductedby Gunther Schuller (who also plays French horn), flirtswith Fifties Cool and showcases tightly arranged horns. Itbegins with the languid “Prelude/Moon Dreams.” Part 2 in-cludes two interludes continuing on a similar theme butpicks up the tempo, and Part 3, “Boplicity/Postlude,” swingslightly and spotlights fine soloists.

The more adventurous five-part Streams of ExpressionSuite demonstrates the collective spontaneity and ideas thatcan flow within an ensemble. The suite was written forLovano’s ensemble and commissioned by the 2001Monterey Jazz Festival to honor Miles Davis’ 75th birth-day, but due to 9/11, the ensemble was unable to perform

September/October 2006 • Issue 286PAGE SIX

at Monterey.Not part of the suites, three other

varied pieces – “Blue Sketches,” “Buck-eyes,” and “Big Ben” – admirably show-case Lovano and friends.

At his expressive best, Lovanosizzles on the front line, supported bycolleagues Tim Hagans and Barry Ries(trumpet), Larry Farrell (trombone),Charles Russo (clarinet, bass clarinet),Steve Slagel (soprano & alto sax, flute),Michael Parloff (flute), George Garzone(tenor sax), Ralph Lalama (tenor sax,clarinet), Gary Smulyan (bari sax, bassclarinet), James Weidman and JohnHicks (piano), Dennis Irwin (bass) andLewis Nash (drums). On some parts,Lovano uses a specially designeddouble soprano saxophone, anAulochrome which sounds like two so-prano saxes playing simultaneously. Itwas designed specifically for him byfamed instrument maker FrancoisLouis.

Lovano shows the full range of hisskills on this CD and encourages stel-lar contributions from his talented mu-sicians. Full of color and harmony, thereare plenty of surprises in store for thelistener on this enticing addition toLovano’s discography. Nancy Ann Lee

GUITAR SHORTYWe The People

ALLIGATORAs testimony to the adage that “age

ain’t nothin’ but a number,” GuitarShorty’s new disc sounds even strongerthan his very respectable 2004 outingWatch Your Back.. This Sunshine Statesexagenarian plays with an energy andattitude that sounds several decades hisjunior, triangulating blues, rock and r&binto the most infectious of hybrids. It’s amix that years ago inspired his youngbrother-in-law - some kid namedHendrix- and hasn’t lost its power in thenew century

From the title number (with acerbiclyrics so a propos for the imminent elec-tion season) on Shorty piles on trackafter ear-grabbing track, building a mo-mentum, instrumentally and lyrically,that barely lets up anywhere during theset. What songs he didn’t contribute onare replete with irony (“I Got Your Num-ber”) or double-entendre (“FineCadillac”) tailor-made for his blues-savvy vocals. The only problem Triple-A or satellite radio programmers mayhave with this set is settling on a par-

ticular track or two for airplay- there areplenty of candidates.

If justice prevails We The Peopleshould make a star of Shorty. Pick thisdisc up and try to decide if it’s the guitarlicks, the tunes or the vocals that are theultimate attraction. Worth the money!!

Duane VerhGuitar Shorty is appearing live at Houseof Blues Cleveland on Thursday, Septem-ber 21 on a bill with Johnny Winter.

AL DI MEOLAConsequence of Chaos

TELARCAl Di Meola’s fifth Telarc album be-

gins a “new and refreshing period” forhim, as he returns to playing solid-bodyelectric guitar, backed by his marvelouscore team (keyboardist Mario Parmisano,drummer Ernie Adams, percussionistGumbi Ortiz) and special guests: pianistChick Corea, drummer Steve Gadd, pia-nist-keyboardist Barry Miles, bassist JohnPatitucci and others.

After performing around the world,Di Meola retains the flavor of his specialmusical blend—a stunning mixture ofjazz, World, funk and rock—with prettymelodies, uncomplicated textures, anarray of colors and beats, appealing har-monies and an uplifting, modern sound.Written 12 years ago but recorded on bothelectric and acoustic guitars for this al-bum, his ballad “Azucar” (performed withGadd, Miles, Patitucci and Ortiz) cries forlyrics. Likewise, his ballad “Cry For You,”performed as a duo with Corea, has atuneful romantic bent. Yet, there’s plentyof power in core group tunes such as thefunk-Latinate numbers “San Marco,”“Tao,” “Red Moon,” and “Tempest.”

Di Meola was born in Jersey City,New Jersey on July 22, 1954. He beganplaying guitar at age eight and by histeens was fortifying his technique withjazz, bossa nova and a little classical.While at Boston’s Berklee School of Mu-sic, he got a call from Chick Corea invit-ing him to New York for a Return to For-ever band rehearsal before a CarnegieHall performance. That was his big break.After three landmark fusion albums, RTFdisbanded in 1976 and Di Meola beganhis solo career. He made his Telarc debutwith 1998’s The Infinite Desire, followedby Winter Nights (1999), The GrandePassion (2000), Flesh On Flesh (2002).

Every tune on this CD is a gem. Andthat’s what you’d expect from an award-winning jazz-fusion pioneer who’s soldmore than six million records (including

three gold albums) and who continues tomusically explore and grow. This is asplendid recording with music so capti-vating you’ll want to listen again andagain to pick up all the nuances.

Nancy Ann Lee

WILLIAM CLARKEThe Early Years Vol.1The Early Years Vol. 2

WATCHDOG RECORDSIt’s been way too long since William

Clarke passed away. While his Alligatorrecordings are central to his recordedlegacy, his widow, Jeannette Clarke-Lodovici continues to supplement thatbody of music with previously unissuedrecordings. Two volumes of Clarke’sEarly Years have been issued on Watch-dog Records, and will certainly be of con-siderable interest to fans of Clarke, mod-ern blues harp and the West Coast mixof jump and Chicago blues.

Clarke certainly sang with as muchauthority and conviction as he playedthe harmonica with his big fat tone (onregular harp as well as on chromatic har-monica), showing the influence of hismentor, the late George ‘Harmonica’Smith. Smith is heard on both of the twovolumes with playing on a terrific un-titled slow blues on Volume 2, whileClarke’s harp is heard behind Smith’svocal on Teenage Girl on Volume 1. Oth-ers who make guest appearances hereinclude Smokey Wilson on Fine LittleMama on Volume 1 and Johnny Dyeron Volume 2. A bonus on Volume 1 isthe presence of Hollywood Fats on sixtracks including Clarke’s easy rockinginstrumental in the vein of Off the Wall,Hittin’ Heavy, the slow midnight afterhours feel of a feature for his chromaticplaying, Blues Afterwhile, as well as theimaginative rearrangement of SonnyBoy Williamson II’s Keep It To Yourself,set to the Help Me/Green Onions melody.

Volume 2 sports his interpretation ofLouis Jordan’s Early in the Morning, andhis strong singing on The Feeling’s Gone,and Bloody Tears on My Pillow. I wouldargue that none of his contemporarieswere as strong as Clarke both a singerand harp player, not to mention that hewas a fabulous songwriter.

These latest two posthumous discsare more than welcome additions to theavailable recordings by Clarke as theycontain a number of superb perfor-mances. The only quibble is the CDpackaging could be printed a bit more

September/October 2006 • Issue 286 PAGE SEVEN

Off to the Races, Donald Byrd Here to Stay, Freddie Hubbard Happenings, Bobby Hutcherson

Demon’s Dance, Jackie McLean City Lights, Lee Morgan Doin’ the Thing at the Village Gate, Horace Silver

The Cooker, Lee Morgan It Might as Well be Spring, Ike Quebec

The Congregation, Johnny Griffin

Another Workout, Hank Mobley

Trompeta Toccata, Kenny DorhamRoyal Flush, Donald Byrd

THE RUDY VAN GELDER EDITIONSTHE RUDY VAN GELDER EDITIONSTHE RUDY VAN GELDER EDITIONSTHE RUDY VAN GELDER EDITIONSTHE RUDY VAN GELDER EDITIONSFrom 1953 to 1967, Alfred Lion produced a body of work that ranks as the most innovative series of recordings in modern jazz.Almost all of these masterpieces were documented by the extraordinary Rudy Van Gelder; a self-taught engineer who morethan set a new standard. Devoid of caution or timidity, he captured the full power and rich sound of jazz ensembles withdazzling clarity. His contribution to the focused approach that Blue Note took at every stage of any album was immeasurable.Decades later, Rudy agreed to take a second look at the original recordings, bringing them into the digital domain with thesame skill and focus. More RVG Editions have just been released. If you think you’ve heard these gems before, listen again.

Plus...Six More RVG Titles Will Be Released September 12Plus...Six More RVG Titles Will Be Released September 12Plus...Six More RVG Titles Will Be Released September 12Plus...Six More RVG Titles Will Be Released September 12Plus...Six More RVG Titles Will Be Released September 12

Available In Stores & Online • www.bluenote.com

September/October 2006 • Issue 286PAGE EIGHT

sharply, but the music is wonderful. Thisis available from bluebeatmusic.com aswell as amazon.com and other mail or-der specialists. Ron Weinstock

STEFON HARRISAfrican Tarantella:Dances With Duke

BLUE NOTEVibraphonist Stefon Harris and his

exceptional chamber jazz ensemble builtaround his acoustic quartet (pianistXavier Davis, bassist Derrick Hodge,drummer Terreon Gully) and featuringGreg Tardy (clarinet), Steve Turre (trom-bone), Anne Drummond (flute), JunahChung (viola), and Louise Dubin (cello)deliver two re-orchestrated DukeEllington suites and a work by Harris.

As reworked by Harris, Ellington’sNew Orleans Suite, is a melodic tour-de-force, providing for some soulful ren-derings in the three movements:“Thanks for the Beautiful Land on theDelta,” “Portrait of Wellman Braud,” and“Bourbon Street Jingling Jollies.” Col-orful and melodically engaging, thepieces allow space for Harris’ intelligentimprovisations as well as spotlightedmoments from other musicians.

The movements of Queen’s Suitecontain graceful passages without sac-rificing soul. The bluesy “Sunset and theMocking Bird” and the pensive ballad“The Single Petal of a Rose” again allowfor inspired solos from Harris and solidorchestral accompaniment from his co-horts.

The final masterpiece, The Gar-dener Meditations, is Harris’ commis-sioned work from The Wharton Centerat Michigan State University and con-tains three parts, “Memoirs of a FrozenSummer,” “African Tarantella,” and“Dancing Enigma.” This lovely workdraws from personal experiences andspeaks to Harris’ “transition into theworld of jazz.”

Harris’ outstanding sixth Blue Notealbum places him at the vanguard of thecurrent jazz scene. Still in his early 30s,Harris shows musical maturity beyondhis years. It’s no wonder that he’s beenconsistently recognized in critics pollsand with Grammy nominations for hisbroad-based talents.

On this outing, he excels. His ar-rangements and performances sparklewith passion, elegance and creativity,making for a totally absorbing listen.

Nancy Ann Lee

FIONA BOYES & THEFORTUNE TELLERS

Lucky 13YELLOW DOG

An Australian Bonnie Raitt? Anoutback Memphis Minnie? By the timethis review is over, Fiona Boyes couldpossibly have more tags on her than theclearance rack at a Goodwill store, thanksto Lucky 13, her first American label re-lease after toiling Down Under for at leasta decade.

And, much like the fabled Clevelandweather, if you don’t like what you aregetting, wait three minutes or so becauseit is going to change. Boyes leaps fromstyle to style, starting with Mark “Kaz”Kazanoff’s harp pushing “Chicken WantsCorn” out of the starting gate before StanSmith’s clarinet and Marcia Ball’s pianotakes “Celebrate The Curves” in a honkytonk direction. “Stranger In Your Eyes”is a mix of jazz and blues as “High Cot-ton” is an all out revival of sorts. “PigmeatLover” visits New Orleans as Boyes thenchannels the spirit of Jackie Wilson dur-ing “Hold Me.” Basically you name theform of music, any form, and it is onLucky 13.

“Steady Rollin’” Bob Margolin isBoyes’ secret weapon, though, workinghis slide magic throughout and giving aheartfelt duet with her on “Red HotKisses.” She even takes a crack at south-ern mountain jazz aka rockabilly via“Rockabilly On The Radio.”

Lucky 13? Not at all. There’s nochance of fate here, just the talent of FionaBoyes turned loose on the American lis-tening public. Peanuts

CEDAR WALTONOne Flight Down

HIGHNOTERecorded in April 2006, this nine-

tune studio session by pianist CedarWalton adds agreeably to his voluminousdiscography. Performing with bassistDavid Williams, drummer JoeFarnsworth and guest Vincent Herring(alto sax), Walton demonstrates why heremains one of jazz’s greatest treasures.

The first two tracks, “One FlightDown” and “The Rubber Man,” are lyri-cal, upbeat Walton originals spotlight-ing Herring. Although Walton’s a splen-did composer, the most enjoyable trackshere are the trio versions of standardsby Billy Strayhorn (“Lush Life,”“Raincheck”), Duke Ellington (“Day-

dream”), and others. Veteran Walton iswidely known for his collaborations withRon Carter and Billy Higgins and is athis best transforming tunes in a three-some.

Walton’s light, melodious stylingsunderpinned with astute accompanimentfrom his team, lend sparkle, vitality andingenuity to the selections. “Lush Life”becomes a swinging gem spiked with aquote or two. It’s hard to imagine thatanyone could refresh the warhorse “TimeAfter Time,” but under Walton’s lead it’sgiven a swinging new tempo. Williamsplays melody head and plucks solos ona lively interpretation of the Sam Jonescomposition, “Seven Minds.” Originallywritten for a bass choir and containingunison passages from Williams andWalton, it’s a captivating piece inWalton’s regular repertoire. The finale,Freddie Hubbard’s “Little Sunflower,” isa pulsating nearly 10-minute spree, fullof quotes (one from “I Love Paris”), styleshifts and imaginative improvs.

This trio excels. Farnsworth hasn’tbeen with Walton as long as long-timecolleague Williams (who anticipatesWalton’s every move), but thedrummer’s flexible and astute enough toknow how to intuitively build excitementinto each tune. This “keeper” recordingcaptures 72-year-old Walton in transcen-dent form, performing this studio ses-sion with the same flowing dynamismas in his live performances.

Nancy Ann Lee

THE ROBERT CRAY BANDLive From Across The Pond

NOZZLE RECORDS 2-CD SETPrior to the release of Robert Cray’s

breakout recording, Strong Persuader, Ihappened to listen and record off the ra-dio a live broadcast of the 1982 LongBeach Blues Festival among whose high-lights was a young Robert Cray. Onecould hear a definite Albert Collins influ-ence even if Cray’s guitar playing didn’tquite have Collins’ fretful sound. YetCray’s serpentine guitar playing had itsown charms.

Over two decades later, Cray remainsone of the few blues acts to break throughand reach a pop audience in that period.After many studio albums, Cray and hisBand have just issued this live 2-CD setfrom shows at Royal Albert Hall wherehe was opening for Eric Clapton.

He perhaps has left behind the JesseFortune number Too Many Cooks, but still

September/October 2006 • Issue 286 PAGE NINE

performs Phone Booth, and several songs from Strong Per-suader, including Right Next Door (Because of Me), I Guess IShowed Her and Bad Influence; along with other numbers thathe has added over the intervening years such as Poor Johnny,and his anti-Iraq War number Twenty from his recent studiorecordings. Perhaps because of his success, Cray has beencriticized by some for the clean sound. Some would accuse hismusic of being antiseptic, although the performances here beliethat claim as Cray invests quite a bit of passion into his perfor-mances. Cray’s clean, urbane delivery of songs and his guitarplaying should be viewed as more of style than relating to thesubstance of his performances. This music comes off muchmore successfully than the heavy metal sound of some bluesrockers and is a good summing up of what he has meant mu-sically for over two decades.

A very nice release that will please his fans...and even somewho have shied away from his more recent work.

Ron Weinstock

FRI 1 .......KRAKER BROTHERSSAT 2.......ROB ‘C’ AND THE HYPNOTIKFRI 8 .......TUMBLIN’ DICESAT 9.......COLIN DUSSAULT & THE BLUES PROJECTFRI 15 .....CITY HEATSAT 16.....WALLACE COLEMANFRI 22 .....BIG DADDY & THE VOODOO MENSAT 23.....SWAMP BOOGIE BANDFRI 29 .....KINGBEESSAT 30.....COLIN DUSSAULT & THE BLUES PROJECT

FRI 6 .......MIKE LENZ BANDSAT 7.......K.G. BLUESFRI 13 .....ARMSTRONG BEARCAT BANDSAT 14.....THE TONY KOUSSA JR. BANDFRI 20 .....THE CHOSEN FEWSAT 21.....THE TRAVIS HADDIX BANDFRI 27 .....AFTERTHOUGHTSAT 28.....KRISTINE JACKSON & BASICALLY BLUE

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SUNDAY OCTOBER 8SPECIAL EVENT: CHICKS WITH PICKS & STIX

JOHN MCLAUGHLINIndustrial Zen

VERVEDarting, dancing thematic lines and solos of equally high

velocity are, not surprisingly, the order of the day on the fu-sion guitar pioneer’s latest set.

With dense and busy rhythmic and textural business un-derneath, McLaughlin has not slowed down in his matureyears. Personnel varies track by track but the basic mix ofacrobatic bass guitar, hyperactive drums and various syn-thetics behind the leader and saxists Bill Evans and Ada Rovattiremains fairly uniform in sound and energy.

Guests appear on some of the most interesting cuts. (Rela-tively) young guitar-slinger Eric Johnson joins in on “NewBlues Old Bruise” and tabla master Zakir Hussein adds fire to

“To Bop or Not To Be”. Rovatti contributes the most jazz-likepresence to what’s primarily a feast for hard-core fusion fans.

Duane Verh

JOHNNY “GUITAR” WATSONBest Of The Funk Years

SHOUT FACTORYHaving issued the excellent two CD compilation of Johnny

‘Guitar’ Watson, as well as all of his DJM recordings and hislast CD, Shout Factory has continued their releases with aspecial value CD of the original Gangster of Love, Johnny“Guitar” Watson,

Best of the Funk Years. This is taken exclusively fromhis DJM recordings, Ain’t It a Bitch, A Real Mother For Ya, INeed It, Superman Lover, What the Hell Is This, and I Want toTa-Ta You Baby.

Obviously anyone compiling this volume could have doneit slightly differently, but this does have the most well-knowntracks from this time of his career and is a representativeslice of his influential recordings from this Watson era.

Ron Weinstock

JEFF HEALEY & THE JAZZ WIZARDSIT’S TIGHT LIKE THAT

STONY PLAINWidely known as the guitar phenom with the peculiar “lap”

playing style, the Canadian blues-rocker leads a second life asa traditional jazz trumpeter. It’s an incarnation well known topatrons of Healey’s popular Toronto music club (where the foodain’t bad either). It’s Tight Like That is as hot a session of anygenre one might run across these days. Packed with early jazzhotties including “Basin Street Blues” and “Shiek of Araby”,Healy and his pals turn out jams that are true to the form andbust-out fun as well. Reedman Christopher Plock and violinist

September/October 2006 • Issue 286PAGE TEN

Drew Jurecka are standouts in a lineup graced by the pres-ence of British “trad” pioneer, trombonist Chris Barber.

For those whose only exposure to early jazz might bethe end credits of a Woody Allen film, It’s Tight Like That mightbe the ideal entry path. It’s solid, entertaining fare in any case.

Duane Verh

MITCH WOODSBIG EASY BOOGIECLUB BB DVD/CD

As the anniversary of Katrina passes, it’s still rough to en-vision New Orleans as a place of merriment but Bay Area jumpboogie pianist/vocalist Woods helps ease the lingering painwith this intimate tribute to the masters that birthed the Cres-cent City’s distinctive r&b sound. It’s a sound that spawnedstacks of hits for hometown artists such as Fats Domino andErnie K. Doe and was exported to the West Coast as a numberof Big Easy fellas became session stalwarts for SpecialtyRecords and other imprints.

This two-disc set highlights Woods’ session and stage workwith members of Fats Domino’s band and supervised byDomino’s working partner Dave Bartholomew. Woods’ origi-nals are cast in the classic New Orleans mold and made moreauthentic thanks to the support of legends including drummerEarl Palmer and tenor man Herb Hardesty. DVD interviews in-clude both of these gents plus recording pioneer CosimoMatassa. Any fan of this sound or anyone looking to get toknow it would be well served with this set. Duane Verh

PATRICIA BARBERMYTHOLOGIES

BLUE NOTEWith the 2003 Guggenheim Fellowship award singer-pia-

nist-composer Patricia Barber received, she created one of themost ambitious works of her career for her fifth Blue Note re-cording, her tenth overall.

Mythologies is a song-cycle based on Greek mythology,using parts of Ovid’s epic poem, Metamorphoses, as a founda-tion for the 11 tunes on this disc featuring Chicago-basedBarber’s regular quartet and guests. While the subject mattermay seem stuffy, Barber’s varied compositions, her soft mid-range vocals, meaningful lyrics and piano accompanimentengage the listener as she sings about the sculptor who fell inlove with a statue he made (Pygmalion), the god with artificialwings who flew to close to the sun and fell into the sea (Icarus),the daughter of Zeus and Demeter abducted by Hades to reignwith him over the underworld (Persephone), and the vain youthdoomed by the goddess Nemesis to fall in love with his ownreflection, waste away and drown in Echo’s pond (Narcissus).

Barber, guitarist Neal Alger, bassist Michael Arnopol, anddrummer Eric Montzka are supported on this project by spe-cial guests (including background vocals from Choral Thun-der) on some tracks. Alger shines in the spotlight, especiallyhis raging electric guitar solos on the jazz-rock tunes, “Opheus/Sonnet” and “Whiteworld/Oedipus.” Saxophonist Jim Gailloretodeserves mention for nicely enhancing three tracks, most no-tably for his heartwarming solo on the lovely ballad, “Narcis-sus.”

I’ve been hooked on Barber’s creativity since her bare-footed live performance at the Chicago Jazz Festival more thana decade ago and I’ve enjoyed every recording project she’s

released. Barber’s a unique talent whose imagination seemsunlimited. She’s an intelligent musician whose ideas are al-ways cutting edge, yet accessible and ear-pleasing. As withher previous albums, Barber has written tunes containing pleas-ing melodies, storytelling lyrics and a lot of surprises.

Nancy Ann Lee

VARIOUS ARTISTSEisenhower Blues

EMPIRE MUSICWERKSWhile J.B. Lenoir waxed a blues protesting the hard times

during the administration of President Eisenhower during the1950s, most of the recordings compiled on

Eisenhower Blues lack such a topical center but simplyare strong blues recordings with most having a down homeflavor. Long-time collectors will have some or many of theseperformances, but these remastered sides sound really strong.Others will discover a number of little-known artists that havemuch to say.

There are a couple of gems from Lenoir, including the titletrack and the lively medium tempo boogie, Fine Girls. The CDopens with John Brim’s topical Tough Time, with Jimmy Reedon harmonica. Others heard here of note include Jody Will-iams (as Little Papa Joe) doing a peppy Lookin’ For My Baby;Harp player and vocalist Dusty Brown (recently heard onSevern’s Chicago harp anthology) on his fine downhome Yes,She’s Gone; more downhome harp and vocals from LittleSammy Davis (who is still active and is occasionally on Imus’radio show) doing 1958 Blues based on the Rollin’ & Tumblin’riff; and Joe Hill Louis’ Jealous Man (as Johnnie Louis) whichsports a wild guitar break.

There is Sunnyland Slim’s Goin Back to Memphis, anotherRollin & Tumblin’ variant; Willie Egan’s wild Fat Domino-in-spired rocker Wow Wow Wow; a couple from Baby Boy War-ren with Calvin Frazier on guitar and Washboard Willie (I be-lieve on washboard), including Mattie Mae, adapted from a JohnLee ‘Sonny Boy’ Williamson recording; an early Albert Kingrecording (showing a bit of Elmore James influence), (Be onYour) Merry Way; and Little Willie Foster’s tough Fallin’ RainBlues.”

There are other equally fine songs by others on this collec-tion with annotation from Bill Dahl making for a treasure trovefor the blues fan. Ron Weinstock

HOT CLUB OF DETROITHot Club of Detroit

MACK AVENUEFormed in 2003, The Hot Club of Detroit makes their re-

cording debut with this 13-tune collection in the style of DjangoReinhardt and company in 1930s Paris.

Led by guitarist Evan Perri, these talented musicians keepthe gypsy spirit vibrantly alive, performing Reinhardt favoritessuch as “Belleville,” “Stompin’ at Decca,” “Anouman,” andtunes by other composers, including Fats Waller’s “HoneysuckleRose” and two by Perri (“Swing One” and a variation on “TheGodfather” theme). Performing with Perri are accordion playerJulien Labro, bassist Shannon Wade, clarinetist Dave Bennettand rhythm guitarists Paul Brady and Colton Weatherston. Whileall of the cats can play, Labro stands out, especially on Perri’sbrisk number, “Swing One.”

The son of a jazz guitarist, Perri started out playing bass

September/October 2006 • Issue 286 PAGE ELEVEN

Colin Dussualt’s Blues Project “Recorded Live at theMain Street Cafe” - The 10th compact disc from thehardest working band in northeast Ohio.Available October 2006!

Available online at: www.colindussault.comAvailable online at: www.colindussault.comAvailable online at: www.colindussault.comAvailable online at: www.colindussault.comAvailable online at: www.colindussault.comor at any of the bands’ live shows.or at any of the bands’ live shows.or at any of the bands’ live shows.or at any of the bands’ live shows.or at any of the bands’ live shows.

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while growing up in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. He began play-ing rock guitar when he was 18 and was introduced toReinhardt’s gypsy jazz while attending college. When he re-turned to Detroit, Perri decided to form his own gypsy jazz groupand, while at Wayne State studying music, taught a few of thebest guys to play the music. The group went through somepersonnel changes and won first place in the 2004 Detroit In-ternational Jazz Festival competition and a 2006 award forBest Traditional Group. They continue to play various clubsand festivals as well as holding their own “Djangofest” eachyear.

New and old fans of this style of music will love this re-cording. The HCOD’s polished light and lively performancesmake for satisfying listening and should grab new generationsof fans not aware of the Reinhardt legacy. Nancy Ann Lee

WALTER TROUT AND FRIENDSFull Circle

RUF RECORDSFor his first studio disc in five years, guitarist/singer Walter

Trout has assembled a number of the high profile blues artistshe has played with over the course of his 35 plus year careeras a blues musician including John Mayall, Jeff Healy, GuitarShorty, Junior Watson, James Harman, Coco Montoya, Ber-nard Allison, Deacon Jones and Finis Tasby.

This assembled talent gives Trout a chance to try on vari-ous shades of the blues rather than focusing solely on thescorching guitar on which he has built his reputation. “SheTakes More Than She Gives” is a slow, grinding blues with aringing guitar tone straight from the Santana bag of tricks while“A Busy Man” features James Harman’s laid back vocals and

harmonica but with a hard twist of a Trout guitar solo that sepa-rates the track from Harman’s typical hipster jive which tendsto wear a bit thin over the course of his own discs. “Workin’Overtime” could have been lifted straight off any number of70’s blues rock discs with its crunchy riffs and power chords.Mixing things up even more, Trout grabs the acoustic for“Firehouse Mama” with Eric Sardinas, throws down an overthe top West Coast instrumental jumper with Junior Watson on“Slap Happy” and provides a steamy counterpart to DeaconJones’ cool B-3 grooves on “After Hours.”

Those that need their fix of Trout’s blistering guitar workwill find plenty of it spread over the balance of the tracks. “Who’sListenin’ In” re-unites Trout with former Bluesbreaker band mateCoco Montoya who joins Trout in a twin lead that sounds likethe two have been sharing the stage together for the last 20years rather than having gone their separate ways that longago. On “Wrapped around Your Finger” and “Clouds on theHorizon” Trout gets sucked into aggressive guitar duels withGuitar Shorty and Joe Bonamassa who cut their host no slackand have the favor returned.

While bringing in guests on every track often reflects theneed to pump up a flagging career that isn’t the case here:Trout is simply sharing his guitar wealth with some well knownfriends. Mark Smith

DID YOU MISS DUKE ROBILLARDAT THE SAVANNAH?

If so, you didn’t have to. It was booked to late for our July-August issue, but we covered it in our August Web Special.Be sure to check our site for updates. It was a great show!

www.jazz-blues.com

September/October 2006 • Issue 286PAGE TWELVE

RARE BLENDStops Along the WayTOUGH STREAM MUSIC

Having spent an inordinate amount of time this year withAlton Brown and Bobby Flay this disc comes to me...

Rare Blend, could be coffee... no, perhaps exotic teasfrom far away lands, or a interesting blend of various anddelicious spices to bring back sweet audio aromas of the past... Eureka!

Now, before you laugh, hear me out. In the same sensethere was a very identifiable progressive rock sound in themid to late 70s, think of it as... andouille sausage, and choppedfresh oregano. There was also a very identifiable fusion sound,say... blue crab claw meat and roughly chopped garlic. Therewas a tone, a timbre to the recordings, the feel of both timeand space and genres borrowed from each other blurring thelines between both. The result–musical Gumbo... Rare Blendseems to do just that...a mix of very identifiable sounds andinfluences all blended artfully so you can pick each one outand savor it on its own, or enjoy the mixture as a whole. Here’sthe recipe.

The Stock:2 cups Tangerine Dream, Pink Floyd, Jan Hammer1 cup Weather Report, Brand X1 lbs Bebop Deluxe w/extra dash of Bill Nelson’s tone2 cups Tony Williams, Bill Buford2 tbls. King Crimson, Gentle Giant2 cups Beck, Keaggy, Santana and Di Meola

The Roux:1 portion Victor Samalot (Electric and Acoustic Guitars)1 portion Bobbi Holt (Keyboards / vocals)1 portion Jeff Scott (Fretted and fretless bass guitars)1 portion Vince Broncaccio (Drums & Percussion)

Place in CD player and cook over medium heat for 60minutes or until all 13 tracks are done. Let stand off the heatuntil the mixture in the gumbo pot has finished playing.

Good eats! Visit www.rareblend.net Jim Martin

NICK MOSS AND THE FLIPTOPSLive at Chans

BLUE BELLA RECORDSBy now the story is part of blues legend: College kid Bruce

Iglauer was so taken with the raw power of Hound Dog Taylor andthe Houserockers that he used a small inheritance to fund therecording of a disc that served as the launching pad for what isnow the world’s largest independent blues label, Alligator Records.So, why the Alligator Records history to start out this review?Well, this could be the sound of history repeating itself. Blues fansBob McLaren and Roy Souza have been so taken with Nick Mossand the Fliptops over the years that they hounded the band intorecording this live disc in their home stomping grounds of RhodeIsland. Joined by Monster Mike Welch on a number of cuts theband (Moss on guitar and vocals, Gerry Hundt on bass, guitarand harmonica, Victor Spann on drums and Willie Oshawny onpiano, organ and bass) reveals ample justification for the zeal oftheir fans. While all too many bands pepper their live sets withchestnuts pulled from the tourist campfires like “Sweet HomeChicago” or “Reconsider Baby” Moss and crew mix hot wire ren-ditions of lesser known classics from Freddie King, “I love theWoman,” Jimmy Witherspoon, “Your Red Wagon,” Buster Bentonby way of Magic Slim, “It’s Good in your Neighborhood,” and EarlHooker, “Wine-O –Baby Boogie,” with Moss’ own material to cre-ate a fantastic set of Chicago blues that will shake the tailfeathersof everyone from the beginner to the most hardened of blues fan.Skipping the caution that too often creeps into the mix when thetape is rolling live the band plays with an abandon that surely hadthe crowd at Chan’s on the dance floor flailing about as the boogiesand shuffles connected to their hips and feet.

With the abundance of guitar talent found within the bandthis could have been little more than a six string delight but theband wisely takes advantage of Oshawny’s prowess on keyboardsto produce a well balanced collection that will find the air guitar-ists in the crowd fighting for space with the piano aficionados thatkeep the likes of Mitch Woods and Miss Honey Piazza in business.Produced by music fans for the sheer joy of sharing their secretwith fellow blues fans who haven’t had the chance to catch Mossand the Fliptops live this is one of the best live discs to hit myplayer in some time. Sign me up as a convert. Mark Smith

SUGARCANE COLLINSWay Down The River

SUGARCANECOLLINS.COMAustralian vocalist/guitarist Collins’ self-released work

is packed to the gills with the sort of energy and enthusi-asm for traditional blues that charged the work of Brit re-vivalists such as Duster Bennett.

A powerful and engaging singer, Collins keeps this setof sparsely-backed originals varied and interesting struc-turally.

His romanticism might not sit well with everyone- allwon’t be persuaded by fictional tales of Texas prison breaks-but his obvious love for the genre comes through on everytrack and certainly suggests that he’s a strong live per-former. This one is available now at Collins’ website atwww.sugarcanecollins.com, where you can sample some ofthe tracks. A U.S. release is set for November. Duane Verh

Globe Trotting

Martin’s Cooking Corner

MIKE STERNWho Let The Cats Out

HEADS UPGuitarist Mike Stern first came into the limelight through

his work with Miles in the early eighties, and I well rememberbeing very impressed with his performance at a Davis con-cert in Cleveland. He’s had a good number of solo albumssince then, showing that he is equally comfortable in a num-ber of styles with the different releases.

For his Heads Up debut Stern reassures us of that fact,and does it all within one program of 11 well crafted originalpieces – delving into straight-ahead, fusion, funk, Caribbean,blues, rock and whatever...and it all works. Not unlike I wit-nessed at a recent Duke Robillard performance, Stern showsus here the many facets of electric guitar in a set so variedthat never comes close to bogging down with the “sameness”heard on too many CDs and live performances these days.

With musicians such as Dave Weckl, Jim Beard, RoyHargrove and others in various groupings, Stern and cohortsdeliver what may just be his best outing to date. Bill Wahl

September/October 2006 • Issue 286 PAGE THIRTEEN

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

Jazz & Blues Report 2006 Gift Guide • Part 1For most of the past 30 years, we have featured our annual Holiday Gift Guide on the November-December issue.This year we are changing that. The 2006 Gift Guide begins with this issue and will carry over the next issuesthrough the end of the year. That would include the November-December print issue as well as the October andDecember web issues available for download at jazz-blues.com. We’ll probably wait until November to call it theHoliday Gift Guide. After all...it is still going to be warm, sunny and nice outside (or, so we hope) for quite sometime...so no need to rush things. We will also be featuring a stand alone Gift Guide on our site which will combinethe items covered in these columns along with boxed sets, DVDs and other goodies from previous issues, and evenearlier years, which we feel would make great gifts. You’ll also note that we go beyond jazz and blues to featureitems that would make great gift ideas for your friends or family who might not be jazz or blues fans at all. Keep inmind, these in our regular issues are all newly-reviewed titles, so although they appear in the gift guide, you’llprobably want to pick up some of these for yourself. You’ll see more next month, but it all starts now!

CHICK COREA & GARY BURTONLive at Montreux 1997

EAGLE ROCK ENTERTAINMENTAppearing together at the Montreux Jazz Festival for the

first time in 1997, pianist Chick Corea and vibraphonist GaryBurton deliver a scintillating seven-tune duo set. Performingmostly tunes from their new album, Native Sense, released threemonths after their Montreux collaboration, they prove how com-patible they are as musician-improvisers.

There’s not a dull moment on this DVD, partly because ofthe excellent camera work and effective use of video techniques,partly because both piano and vibes are melody instruments,but primarily because these two musicians had begun perform-ing occasionally together in 1972 with the release of their ECMalbum, Crystal Silence and would work together on many fu-ture recording projects such as Duet (1978); In Zurich, 1979;The Lyric Suite for Sextet (1982) and other albums.

As they weave their way through lively numbers such as“Love Castle,” “Native Sense,” “Rhumbata,” and others, theyprove how well they anticipate and pick up on the other’s linesand improvisations and, together, keep each tune moving alongat an invigorating pace. Close-up camera angles captureBurton’s four-mallet work and Corea’s fingerings.

Thoroughly enjoyable, this DVD documents one of the bestlive-recorded jazz concerts and it’s as fresh today as it wasnearly 10 years ago. The varied fare includes a couple ofLatinate pieces, a Monk composition (“Four In One”) as wellas Corea’s compositions. Liner notes by Michael Heatley puteverything into proper context. This is the only known Corea/Burton DVD and it’s a treasure! Nancy Ann Lee

NORMAN GRANZ’ JAZZ IN MONTREUXPresents Joe Pass ‘75

EAGLE ROCK ENTERTAINMENT (DVD)Norman Granz signed Joe Pass (b. 1927—d. 1994)zto Pablo

records in 1973 and for the next two decades would continue torecord and nurture the guitar legend to international fame.

This new DVD captures two nights of solo performancesand the Montreux Jazz Festival in France by the then 48-year-old Pass.

Recorded on July 17 and 18, 1975, these are enthrallingperformances to absorb, in spite of some minor restorationglitches. Pass plays 16 tunes (about 79 minutes). The first night’sconcert includes the pensive ballad “More Than You Know”; aswinging uptempo version of “It’s A Wonderful World” (where

you can really appreciate his picking/strumming technique); agentle take on the Brazilian jazz classic, “Mahna De Carnaval”; abrisk “Joe’s Blues”; a lovely well-constructed ballad reading of“I’m Glad There Is You,” and more.

By popular demand, Pass was brought back for a secondnight. He plays an imaginative version of “Summertime” featur-ing single note lines, slides, and chords. His take on “Li’l Darlin’”is delightfully light and cheery. Other tunes include “The VeryThought Of You,” “You Are the Sunshine Of My Life,” “How LongHas This Been Going On,” and others.

From all angles, the camera work is excellent especially thezoom shots that show Pass’ fingering and strumming. Somesound glitches on the first night (on only a couple of tunes) areworked out by technicians before Pass continues and do not

September/October 2006 • Issue 286PAGE FOURTEEN

reoccur the second night.Joe Pass was such an inventive player. His improvisations

remain as fresh today as they were 31 years ago. This DVDinvites you to fall in love with the jazz guitarist and his formi-dable talents, whether you’ve heard him before or not. Nancy Ann Lee

APPEARING AT WILBERT’S IN DOWNTOWNCLEVELAND ON SATURDAY, OCTOBER 21

MILES DAVISCool & CollectedCOLUMBIA/LEGACY

This brand new compilation from Columbia/Legacy wouldbe a fantastic introduction for anyone who is only somewhatfamiliar with the late, great Miles Davis. Those who have per-haps only heard his name associated with the term “jazz gi-ant,” or have maybe only heard his version of Cyndi Lauper’s“Time After Time” on a smooth jazz station can get an insightinto who Miles really was, musically speaking, all contained onone tidy CD.

Starting off with the classic “So What” from the likewiseclassic Kind Of Blue album, the listener is taken on a some-what career-spanning journey, culminating with a brand newremix of “It’s About That Time,” originally from In A SilentWay. The remix, though a short 3:40, features new recordedparts by Carlos Santana, and others. In between there are elevenmore songs, including several with John Coltrane and Can-nonball Adderley. There is one, “E.S.P.”, with the Shorter/Hancock/Carter/Williams quintet, and one, “Summertime,” with

an orchestra arranged and conducted by Gil Evans. Two ofMiles’ 80s crossover recordings, the above-mentioned “TimeAfter Time” and the Michael Jackson hit “Human Nature” areincluded as well, filling in some of the later years. Some of theearlier songs on the set include “Milestones,” “Stella By Star-light,” “Round Midnight,” “Bye Bye Blackbird,” “Fran Dance”and “Seven Steps To Heaven.”

Indeed, this is a very cool and very listenable set of musicfrom Miles. It is obviously aimed at both the jazz and non-jazzmarkets, hence it is understandable why certain periods wereomitted altogether – as including them would have defeatedthe purpose. Again, this would make a great, inexpensive giftfor someone you might want to introduce to Miles. Bill Wahl

KING CURTISLive At The Fillmore West

RHINO/ATCO

ARETHA FRANKLINLive At The Fillmore West

RHINO/ATLANTICRhino Records has recently released two classic soul al-

bums from 1971 featuring King Curtis and Aretha Franklin,both recorded live at The Fillmore West in San Francisco.

The King Curtis CD features the saxophonist with BillyPreston on organ and “The Kingpins,” Curtis’ band which in-cluded Cornell Dupree on guitar, Truman Thomas on electricpiano, Jerry Jemmott on bass, the super-funky Bernard “Pretty”Purdie on drums and Pancho Morales on congas. Also on handwere The Memphis Horns, led by Wayne Jackson and AndrewLove. Curtis and friends, many of the big names in soul andfunk in that era, were in top form for the three nights of con-certs represented in these recordings. The setlist includes Curtis’own “Soul Serenade” and “Memphis Soul Stew,” along withsongs such as “A Whiter Shade Of Pale,” “Signed, Sealed, De-livered, I’m Yours,” “Mr. Bojangles,” Ode To Billie Joe” and“Buddy Miles’ “Changes.” This reissue contains 5 bonus tracksnot on the LP or previous CD issue on Koch Records. All arealternate takes of songs from different nights, except the pre-viously unissued version of George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord,”with Billy Preston on vocals. Sadly, just after the album enteredthe charts King Curtis was murdered – knifed outside his Man-hattan apartment in August of ’71. This album went on to be-come his best-selling ever, and reached #9 on Billboard’s R&BChart, later breaking into the top 60 on the Pop Chart.

The very same 3 nights in March of 1971 Aretha Franklinperformed concerts at the same venue, which were recordedas well. Both on the same nights...what a bill. That, of course,made it very handy to have King Curtis, The Kingpins, BillyPreston and The Memphis Horns back up Aretha as well. Re-corded at the height of her career, hitwise, Aretha delivers anoutstanding performance with more energy and all around partyatmosphere than heard on her many studio sides. The originalLP issue is represented on Disc One of this two CD set, with tentracks including “Respect,” “Spirit In The Dark,” “Make It WithYou,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “Don’t Play That Song,”“Dr. Feelgood” and “Love The One You’re With.” The song“Spirit In The Dark” is reprised near the end of the set as RayCharles, spotted in the audience, is brought up to perform withAretha. Both versions of that song were edited on the originalLP, but are included in their entirety here. The second CD con-tains 13 additional bonus tracks , which are alternate record-

September/October 2006 • Issue 286 PAGE FIFTEEN

Cleveland Fats

The Schwartz Brothers

DC and the

Continentals

For Bookings Contact

HONEYBEE ENTERTAINMENT

4786 Dressler Rd #145

Canton, OH 44718

330-904-0454

Pblues@hotmail.com

ings from other nights and the previouslyunissued cuts “Call Me,” “Mixed Up Girl,”“Share Your Love With Me,” “You’re All INeed To Get By” and “Don’t Play ThatSong.” This album would go on to topthe R&B Charts and made the Top 10 inPop.

Both releases were remixed for CDreissue and have good sound for the pe-riod. Both also have a booklet with pho-tos and well-written, newly-penned notesby David Nathan. Very nice, feelgood stufffrom the King and Queen. Bill Wahl

VARIOUS ARTISTSThat’s Entertainment! The

Ultimate Anthology ofM-G-M Musicals

TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES/RHINO MOVIE MUSIC

Turner Classic Movies Music andRhino Movie Music revisit the center-piece of their longstanding collabora-tion with this expanded and upgradedversion of their 1995 five-disc collec-tion from the golden age of M-G-M stu-dio musicals. This new six-CD set in-cludes songs from the earlier set, plusmusic never before released.

Documenting the three patchwork“That’s Entertainment” musical films(released in 1974, 1976 and 1994), thiscollection provides nearly eight hoursof listening pleasure, 135 tracks col-lected from original M-G-M musicalsreleased between 1929 and 1957. In-cluded are unforgettable soundtracksfrom more than 75 musicals such asThe Wizard of Oz, Meet Me In St. Louis,Singin’ In the Rain, Easter Parade, KissMe Kate, Brigadoon, An American InParis, Show Boat, Gigi and more. Songsare performed by big stars such as JudyGarland, Fred Astaire, Tony Martin,Lena Horne, Bing Crosby, Frank

Sinatra, Debbie Reynolds, Gene Kelly,and numerous others.

Gems such as “I Got Rhythm,”“Thou Swell,” “Easy To Love,” “TheyCan’t Take That Away From Me,”“Dancing In The Dark,” “FascinatingRhythm,” “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes,”“Taking A Chance On Love,” “LoverCome Back To Me,”

“The Lady Is A Tramp,” “Just Oneof Those Things,” and other songs onthis set have also become jazz stan-dards.

Among tracks added that were notincluded in the original 1995 set are:three Bing Crosby duets (with FrankSinatra, Louis Armstrong, Grace Kelly)from the 1956 film, High Society; DorisDay singing “Ten Cents A Dance” and“Shakin’ the Blues Away”; Elvis Presleyleading the prison band through “Jail-house Rock”; and a performance fromSilk Stockings, spotlighting Fred

Astaire and Janis Paige. The sixth discfeatures 25 demos, outtakes and com-plete versions of songs never releasedbefore. Still, even with sound qualityimproved on 30 percent of the tracks,it may not be enough incentive for own-ers of the 1995 edition to purchase thisnew edition.

While it may bother some listenersthat CD tunes are not arranged in chro-nological order, it apparently makesmore sense in the onscreen versions.Enhancing the attractively packagedset is a well-organized, informative,four-color, 108-page book containinghistorical facts about M-G-M studios,the musicals, the original films, and in-dividual songs and artists.

An American Songbook treasurefor both music and film fans, this CDset will have listeners reminiscing aboutall the great Metro-Goldwyn-Mayermusicals. Nancy Ann Lee

September/October 2006 • Issue 286PAGE SIXTEEN

TOMMY EMMANUELThe Mystery

FAVORED NATIONS CDLive At Her Majesty’s Theatre,

Ballarat AustraliaFAVORED NATIONS DVD

Fans of finger style guitar will wantto check out these two new releasesfrom Australian born TommyEmmanuel. Playing guitar since fourand performing professionally at six,Tommy was inspired by Chet Atkins,who he got a chance to record with onthe Grammy-nominated album, TheDay The Finger Pickers Took Over TheWorld.

His new CD on Favored Nationsfinds him recording solo in the studioon a program blending folk, country,jazz, and pop with ease on twelve songs,mostly his own compositions. Two ofthe three that are not are Billy Joel’s“And So It Goes” and Merle Travis’“Cannonball Rag,” which he performsalong with his own “Gameshow Rag.”

He does some amazing workthroughout, often playing two parts atonce, and due to his broad scope ofmusic, the proceedings never fall intoa rut. One song, “Walls,” features a fe-male singer, his fiancée ElizabethWatkins, as they do a duet on a folk/country/pop oriented piece. Emmanuelsings and plays all the instruments forthat song on an otherwise all soloacoustic guitar outing.

If you like the CD and want more,or if you prefer to watch Tommy at workon your home theatre system, check outthe just-released DVD recorded live liveat Her Majesty’s Theatre in Ballarat Aus-tralia. Tommy presents another diverseset of music, again performing solo, thistime live before an audience of fellowAustralians.

Those who question whether heoverbubbed any parts on the studio CDwill have any doubts squelched afterwatching his performances here. Hedoes sing on a few cuts, and Elizabethjoins him singing four others. Some ofthe 16 songs from the set are heard onhis Favored Nations CDs, including thenew one reviewed above. Some com-mentaries and personal tidbits fromTommy are seen between some songs,which does understandable bothersome people who would rather watchthe concert by itself and view the ex-tras later.

But, that being the only flaw, I’ll add

that the camera work is very well done(with just enough close-ups of his fin-gers), as is the sound, which is offeredin Dolby Digital Stereo and DTS Sur-round.

Two very fine of ferings fromTommy Emmanuel. Bill Wahl

CLASSIC MUSICALS FROMTHE DREAM FACTORY

WARNER HOME VIDEO 5 DVD SETMaking their debut on DVD, this five-

DVD box set contains newly remasteredfilms from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’sgolden era of the Hollywood musical.Each film runs about 100 minutes or soand each disc contains special featuressuch as interviews about the making ofthe film, classic cartoons, theatrical trail-ers and more.

It’s Always Fair Weather (1955) fea-tures Gene Kelly, Dan Dailey and MichaelKidd as three World War II buddies who,reunited 10 years later, find they strongly

ROY ORBISONThe Essential Roy Orbison

GEORGE JONESThe Essential George Jones

JOHNNY CASHMan In Black DVDLEGACY RECORDS

Except for the recent exceptionalBig Al Anderson CD on Legacy, wherehe mixed country, jazz and pop – wedon’t cover country music very often.But with the gift-giving season shortlybeing cleared for takeoff - these threeitems would all make very good optionsfor the right person on your list.

Although Roy Orbison is not a coun-try singer, he actually did start there priorto passing through rockabilly and rock& roll before pretty much forging his ownmusical genre with a slew of lost loveballads. The Essential Roy Orbison onMonument/Legacy briefly covers hisearly years on Sun Records beforeheavily focusing on the Orbison most arefamiliar with. That would be his Monu-ment Records years, a label he beganrecording for in 1959. A year later hiscareer took off with a bang with the firstbig lost love ballad titled “Only TheLonely,” which hit #2 on the pop chart.This set is loaded with Orbison hits afterthat, such as “Love Hurts,” “Crying,”“Candy Man,” “Dream Baby,” “Leah,”“Falling,” Mean Woman Blues,” “BlueBayou,” It’s Over” and “Oh, PrettyWoman.” We are now only up to 1963,and soon that song would reach #1.

Also included on this 2-CD set areanother 19 cuts on disc 2 covering hisyears on MGM, Virgin, Warner Bros,Mercury and Orbison Records. It isloaded with gems, starting off with “YouGot It” and four more tracks from hisposthumous Mystery Girl album andends with “Life Fades Away” from theLess Than Zero Soundtrack, released in1987. Ironically, Roy Orbison died ofheart failure the next year. A greatsounding, well put together retrospec-tive for an American music legend.

A country music legend is repre-sented with a recent Legacy

reissue...that being George Jones. TheEssential George Jones on Epic/Legacycovers his long and storied career be-ginning in 1954 and sampling his King,Mercury and United Artists recordingsbefore delving into his Long associationwith Epic Records. The Epic period be-gins with the last 5 songs on disc one,1971-3, and continues on with the first19 out of the 20 on Disc 2. The finalsong, “Choices,” was recorded in 1999for an Elektra album. Another goodsounding set of recordings, this wouldmake a great gift for a “true” countrymusic fan.

If you know someone who is into thelate Johnny Cash - Man In Black: Live InDenmark 1971 on Columbia/Legacy isa good choice. This live DVD catchesCash filmed before a small audience cov-ering such songs as “A Boy Named Sue,”“I Walk The Line” “Folsom Prison Blues,”“Me And Bobby McGee” and others be-fore turning the stage over to Carl Perkinswho does “Blue Suede Shoes” and“Matchbox.” Then the Statler Brotherscome on for two more songs before Cashreturns with June Carter Cash for anotherthree and The Carter Family do one be-fore the four remaining songs featuringCash, The Carters, and The Statlers withPerkins joining in for the finale.

Legacy Records has long beenamong the leaders in our annual gift guidewith their marvelous reissues in jazz, bluesand classic rock. Now after the mergerof Columbia Records with BMG, the la-bel has been reissuing much more mate-rial from the two labels and their subsid-iaries’ vast catalogues, which includeEpic and RCA. More are on the way overthe next issues as they are released, sostay tuned for your shopping ideas.

Bill Wahl

September/October 2006 • Issue 286 PAGE SEVENTEEN

books

dislike each other. Mix in a little ro-mance, attempts at reconciliation andan effort to exploit their reunion on tele-vision and you have the plot. Highlightsinclude the threesome’s “trash-can lid”dance and Gene Kelly’s solo dance onroller skates. But, although the musicby Andre Previn is great, there are nomemorable songs.

Summer Stock (1950) featuresJudy Garland as Jane Falbury, a youngcountry gal struggling to run the familyfarm by herself. Gloria DeHaven starsas Jane’s sister who returns home witha theatrical troupe that plans to stage amusical in the barn. Highlights includeGarland’s performance of the HaroldArlen-Ted Koehler number “GetHappy,” Gene Kelly’s “shuffle-squeak”dance routine using a sheet of newspa-per and a loose floorboard, and Phil Sil-vers and Gene Kelly doing a countrybumpkin dance.

Three Little Words (1950) is one ofthe best in the pack. The story takesplace in 1919 and is about the Tin PanAlley songwriting team of Bert Kalmarand Harry Ruby. The film features theirsongs but takes some liberties with theiradventures. Stars Fred Astaire (asKalmar), Red Skelton (as Ruby), Vera-Ellen, Arlene Dahl, and DebbieReynolds. Among the most familiarsongs featured are “Who’s Sorry Now,”“Three Little Words,” and “Neverthe-less.”

Ziegfeld Follies (1946) featuresFred Astaire, Lucille Ball, LucilleBremer, Fanny Brice, Judy Garland,Kathryn Grayson, Lena Horne, GeneKelly, Red Skelton, Esther Williams,William Powell (as Ziegfeld) and othersin a revue format of comedy sketchesand musical production numbers withno real story line. High points are LenaHorne’s singing of “Love,” the song &dance team of Fred Astaire and LucilleBremer doing “Limehouse Blues” on anelaborate Chinatown set, and a hilari-ous comedy sketch (“A SweepstakesTicket”) starring Fanny Bryce andHume Cronyn. Songs are by HarryWarren and Arthur Freed; George andIra Gershwin; Ralph Blane and HughMartin; and Kay Thompson and RogerEdens

Till the Clouds Roll By (1946) tellsabout the music and life of composerJerome Kern and features about 25stars, including Judy Garland, LenaHorne, Van Johnson, Tony Martin,Dinah Shore, Frank Sinatra and Robert

Walker (as Kern). Songs include “AFine Romance,” “Yesterdays,” “All theThings You Are,” “Long Ago and FarAway,” “Why Was I Born,” “Ol’ ManRiver,” and more. Horne triumphs withher version of “Can’t Help Loving ThatMan” and Sinatra closes with a render-ing of “Ol’ Man River.”

These are entertaining films forviewers inclined to reminisce. Films arein color and offer subtitles in English,French and Spanish. The special fea-tures are equally entertaining and in-formative. A minor drawback is the lackof any liner or jacket notes listing thesongs and composers. Suggested re-tail price for the set is about $60; indi-vidual titles, $19.97. Nancy Ann Lee

CHICAGO BLUES:PORTRAITS AND STORIES

By David Whiteis(UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PRESS 2006)

David Whiteis’ new book, ChicagoBlues: Portraits and Stories, is a col-lection of portraits of blues performersand venues that provides a sense of thediversity of the Chicago blues scenewith an emphasis on its evolution as aliving tradition among the city’s Afri-can-American community. There arechapters devoted to departed mastersas well as to a number of contempo-rary performers representing a diver-sity of approaches to the blues, and inthe process provides an enlighteningoverview of a still evolving blues sceneand tradition. The portraits are derivedfrom articles that Whiteis wrote for avariety of publications including theChicago Reader, Juke Blues and Liv-ing Blues, and it would be welcome forno other reason than making theseavailable, but the book is more thanthat.

The first part of Chicago Blues isdevoted to Elder Spirits, and includeschapters on Junior Wells, SunnylandSlim and Big Walter Horton. What issurprising is how little has been writtenon these three and Whiteis’ chapters arewelcome for recounting the lives ofthese pioneers and masters of the post-war Chicago blues scene. As Whiteisnotes, these three mentored him as hedeveloped a knowledge and love of theblues, and his affection for them is ob-

vious as can be gleaned from what hestates about Sunnyland Slim, “Weweren’t what you would call bloodbrothers. I don’t claim to have been hisintimate confidant. Nevertheless, I hon-estly believe that no one else evertaught me so much about life thanSunnyland Slim did. To hear that voicegrowl through the octaves, build into aliontine roar, and then soar into a leo-nine roar, and then soar into high-tenordeclarations of freedom-bound bluespassion’— or just spend time in thepresence of this tender-hearted giant ofa man — was to learn life lessons ofthe most profound and lasting kind.”

The Second Part, “We Gon’ Pitch aBoogie Woogie!” is an examination ofblues venues past and present. Thereis a chapter on Florence’s Lounge, theneighborhood lounge where Hound DogTaylor and Magic Slim had held regu-lar gigs before they began their yearsof touring which closed in the early1980s; the celebrated Maxwell StreetMarket whose rich history is recountedalong with the gentrification of Chicago,expansion of the Chicago campus ofMaxwell Street and its destruction of thishistorical area with a promise of arestored and improved, but ultimatelysanitized, area. Whiteis’ bittersweet ac-count of the last day of Maxwell Streetbrings the community that the Univer-sity destroyed alive for us. The finalchapter of this part, Clubbing the Cur-rent Chicago Scene, provides sketchesof different venues including the DeltaFish Market and its successor, Wallace’sCatfish Corner; the Starlite Lounge andthe late Harmonica Khan who was a starin this neighborhood juke; and then tak-ing in Denise LaSalle’s show at East ofthe Ryan which includes a nice over-view of her career in addition to his per-ceptive analysis of her oft salty perfor-mances that, like those of other mod-ern soul and blues artists, transcend thedichotomy between sacred and pro-fane.

The Next Part, Torchbearers is inWhiteis’ words, ”the heart of the book.”The portraits of currently active per-formers who carry on the traditions ofthe elders. Perhaps these are not allmajor stylists but each “is representa-tive of the music that remains preva-lent on the contemporary scene, andeach one’s story exemplifies importantfacets of the ‘blues life’ as it is lived bycontemporary artists… .” Chapters de-voted to Jody Williams, Bonnie Lee,

September/October 2006 • Issue 286PAGE EIGHTEEN

Billy Branch, Sharon Lewis and LurrieBell, give us an insight into their personalhistories, the ups and downs they havefaced and how they continue to preservewith their art. It is a reminder that bluesis more than “just notes” or “just a feel-ing,” devoid of any broader context. Ofcourse, one has to be a bit careful inobjecting that the music’s cultural his-tory is obscured and challenging thesuccess of some teenage white prodi-gies while veteran blacks stay in obscu-rity and then be labeled as an ‘ignorantracist,” as Billy Branch, one of the mosteloquent teachers of the blues as wellas a blues performer of the highest or-der. Chapters on Bonnie Lee, who firstcame up under Sunnyland Slim and laterwas associated with the late Willie Kentand Sharon Lewis, were revelatory abouttwo women who keep doing what theylove to do the most, while the chapteron Lurrie Bell detailed the travails of hislife as well as his triumphs (musical andpersonal).

Part IV,”The Soul Side of Town, isdevoted to Artie ‘Blues Boy’ White (whonotes even down south some of the ven-ues he used to play have closed), CiceroBlake and Little Scotty (the later a so-cial activist as well as singer). The bookconcludes with a’Coda, as Whiteis ru-minates on the current state of the mu-sic and its future, observing that thereseem to be new obstacles today to themusic surviving, but also reminding usthat the blues seems to have this abilityto reinvent itself, and its new manifesta-tions and performers may confound usand our expectations of what the bluesshould be, “yet again reveal itself to bea musical language that, once incubatedand nurtured in its cultural milieu, canexpand its scope and speak to a univer-sal audience.”

Chicago Blues: Portraits and Sto-ries, is invaluable for its lively, informa-tive portraits of a variety of performersthat help us appreciate aspects of theblues life. Furthermore, it raises signifi-cant questions of what the blues is, thatgoes beyond the current trend of focus-ing on playing notes and ignoring theculture and community the blues aroseout of.

As Whiteis reminds us, the musicis still deeply rooted there and contin-ues to live and evolve, aiding us to ap-preciate the music in a deeper and moreknowledgeable manner. Ron WeinstockEnd of Pt. 1 - More of the Gift Guide next month!

FRED ANDERSON,HARRISON BANKHEAD,

HAMID DRAKETimeless:

Live at the Velvet LoungeDELMARK DVD OR CD

Tenor saxophonist Fred Andersondelivers four tunes (about 66 minutestotal) with bassist Harrison Bankheadand drummer Hamid Drake, recordedbefore a live audience in July 2005.Three cameras superbly capture thewell-lit stage activities and SteveWagner’s editing makes the visualsflow smoothly.

As for the musicians, Andersongets a nice, hearty tone from his tenoras he works his way through his free-jazz improvisations. Hunched overand blowing streaming phrases andshort bursts, he plays before a smallaudience in his club that used to be aneighborhood bar (Tip’s Lounge).Anderson tended bar there for an oldfamily friend who died in 1981. After-ward, Anderson took over the bar andstarted offering music, but it would beawhile before his venue would becomeof one of Chicago’s most notable jazzclubs.

Anderson is a storyteller whosephrasing style is almost conversa-tional. His tonalities are crisp andclear and you hear influences of theAACM (Association for the Advance-ment of Creative Musicians), a con-tinuing cadre of black musiciansformed in the early 1960s. The seem-ingly shy tenor man doesn’t resort toaggressive high-pitched hawking andsquealing. Instead, his playing is de-liberate and very musical, mostlyemanating from the mid- and lower-register, and his ideas are fertile andengaging. He and his trio mates arefascinating to watch as they respondto and spur one another.

Although all of their performanceshere are superb, the exciting ancient-to-modern finale (the title tune) is abreakout number that lasts for more

than 23 minutes and gives each playerwell-executed moments in the spot-light as they freely improvise, shifttempos, add surprises and excel ontheir instruments.

Anderson’s DVD was recorded athis old Velvet Lounge, then at 2128 ΩS. Indiana. The club was soon to bedemolished and re-established onnearby Cermak Road this year. TheDVD contains an interview withAnderson—a brief but informative oralhistory that reveals his personal ex-periences and his musical path. Thisproject is also available as a DelmarkCD. Nancy Ann Lee

DAVID ‘FATHEAD’NEWMANCityscapeHIGHNOTE

David ‘Fathead’ Newman has cer-tainly come a long way from his ini-tial appearance on wax, a session byTexas Blues Man, Zuzu Bollin (andNewman played on Bullin’s rediscov-ery album decades later). Best knownfor his fat sound while a member ofRay Charles’ legendary band in thelate fifties and early sixties, Newmanhas had a distinguished career sinceleaving Charles and continues to per-form and record showing little dimi-nution in his music.

His latest HighNote release hashim on tenor, alto and flute, leading aseptet which includes his rhythm sec-tion of David Leonhardt on piano,John Menegon on bass and YoronIsreal on drums. They are joined byHoward Johnson on baritone, BennyPowell on trombone and Winston Byrdon trumpet and flugelhorn. The notesobserve that the septet format recallsthe classic Ray Charles band of thefifties that Newman was part of, al-though a comparison that perhapsraises false expectations as this bandis more of a straight Hard Bop aggre-gation that does not have the tightsound of Charles’ legendary band.

There is a nice mix of material in-cluding originals as well as standardssuch as the opening rendition of thetheme from the James Bond movie,Goldfinger, Billy Strayhorn’s lovely AFlower is a Lonesome Thing and It Wasa Very Good Year, that most associ-ate with Frank Sinatra. Goldfinger isan attractive but hardly startling fea-ture for Newman who sounds stron-

MORECDs & DVDs

Hang On...We Are Not Done Yet!

September/October 2006 • Issue 286 PAGE NINETEEN

ANSON FUNDERBURGH& THE ROCKETSGUITAR SHORTY

RONNIE EARLThe Best Of…

BLACK TOP REISSUES

SHOUT FACTORYShout Factory has been reissuing

product from the catalog of the BlackTop label, arguably the label that fromthe mid-eighties through its demise inthe nineties, had the strongest catalogof blues releases in that period. Earlierreleases included the discs of SolomonBurke and a Hubert Sumlin. Three newreleases are “Best of” collections cen-tered on three of the label’s artists thatdo include recordings these perform-ers made for other labels.

It was ironic that I received, BlastOff — The Best Of Anson Funderburgh& The Rockets the day word that SamMyers, the great Mississippi vocalist hadpassed away. Its odd that this reissuedoes not mention featuring Sam Myerswhich appeared on most of the Rock-ets discs after Myers joined Anson andhis varying lineup, especially since theband took off as one of the preeminentblues bands after Myers became fea-tured. Not to say that the band wasshabby with the original vocalist DarrellNulisch who certainly turns in an ami-

ger on flute with a bit of Mid-Easternflavor for the lively Pharoah’s Gold,with Howard Johnson providing anarrangement of the 5/4 ClaudeJohnson theme, while Newman’stenor caresses the Strayhorn classicwith the muted horn riffs of the othersadding atmosphere.

Howard Johnson’s original, HereComes Sonny Man, has Newman onalto on a number that sounds like itcould have been written as a themefor a seventies TV show. Newman re-turns to tenor on a romantic It Was aVery Good Year, which suggests thatin his golden years, Newman still re-mains an authoritative player. Anotherflute feature is Newman’s original,Flankin’, dedicated to his wife’s latemom where he is backed just by hisrhythm trio.

While the septet here perhapslacks the tightness and authority thatRay Charles Band had, this is a strongset of straight-ahead jazz that shouldplease many. Ron Weinstock

able performance on Earl King’s ComeOn, but a younger Nulisch simply hadnot developed the authority that Myersbrought with his singing and harp asevident on A Man Needs His Loving,Moose John Walker’s Ramblin’ Womanor Buddy Guy’s reworking of BarrettStrong’s Money, $100 Bill. AdditionallyMyers brought his considerable harptalent to the recordings and live dates.Anson himself displays his sizzling play-ing as well as his impeccable taste,and is featured on Down at JJ’s. Whilethe backing personnel changed over theyears, they remained a tight, swingingoutfit. There are numerous pleasures tobe heard on all 17 selections, which arecompiled from all nine Rockets record-ings, including selections from the twoBullseye Blues albums and the two withNulisch. One certainly hopes that atleast a few of the Rockets CDs featur-ing Sam Myers including Sins, Rack‘Em Up, and Tell Me What I Want toHear, are issued in their entirety.

David Kearney, best known as Gui-tar Shorty, was among the three majorrediscoveries that Black top made(Robert Ward and Bobby Parker are theother two). The Florida born singer-guitarist was heavily influenced by Gui-tar Slim who made some choice record-ings for Cobra Records and the LAbased Pull label. For a period he wasmarried to Jimi Hendrix’ stepsister andwould swap ideas with the future leg-end. Kearney had recorded a wonder-ful My Way or the Highway for the En-glish JSP label before joining Black Topwhere he recorded three albums, TopsyTurvy, Get Wise To Yourself, and RollOver, Baby. After leaving Black Top,there were live albums on Collectiblesfollowed by Evidence’s I Go Wild andmore recently he signed to Alligator.Shout Factory’s The Best of GuitarShorty: The Long and Short of It, istaken from the JSP album, the threeBlack top CD and the Evidence. It isnot as consistent because Shorty’s lat-ter albums are more tailored for rockaudiences and lack some of the subtletouches and superior bands used byBlack Top. Even still, the stunning re-make of Hard Life, You Better Get Wiseto Yourself, Swamp Dogg’s I Want toReport a Crime and a duet with CarolFran, I’m So Glad I Met You are all fineselections. The two cuts from the JSPdisc, No Educated Woman and Red HotMama, are almost equal to the BlackTop discs but using such first-rate play-

ers like Lee Allen Zeno on bass, HermanErnest III, Shannon Powell or RaymondWeber on drums, David Torkanowskyon keyboards, Kaz Kazanoff on sax.Oddly the only number from Black Topthat had South Central, his workingband of the nineties, was a credible ren-dition of Hey Joe, a tribute to Hendrixwhich is ok, but there are some otherselections that are missing, especiallyhis rendition of Al Kooper’s (I Love You)More Than You’ll Ever Know, derivedfrom Donny Hathaway’s recording.Hathaway was a major influence onShorty as a singer, but you would neverknow it from most of which has beenwritten about him that focuses on hisguitar playing and Hendrix connection.Given the more rock-oriented produc-tion of his recent recordings, his vocalsalso suffer. But if this gem had replacedthe tracks from the Evidence album,then the title would be more accurateas opposed to really being Almost TheBest of Guitar Shorty. Still this will haveto do until Topsy Turvy and Get WiseTo Yourself are reissued. The JSP maystill be in print.

Ronnie Earl has established alengthy catalog since leaving Roomfulof Blues with albums on Bullseye Blues,Telarc and Stony Plain in addition to hisfine discs on Black Top. On Heart andSoul; The Best of Ronnie Earl we hearEarl expanding his musical palette in-corporating jazz influences in his play-ing and repertoire over the years lead-ing to his instrumentally recordings ofrecent years. Vocalists supported byEarl include, Sugar Ray Norcia, withwhom Earl recorded as Ronnie EarlHorvath in the late seventies before hejoined Roomful of Blues, handling Gui-tar Slim’s You Give Me Nothing But theBlues; Darrell Nulisch on the fittinglytitled Soul Searchin’; Kim Wilson on ISmell Trouble; and Mighty Sam McClainon the stunning Earl original, A SoulThat’s Been Abused from HubertSumlin’s Blues Party. Instrumental fea-tures include a wonderful interpretationof Earl Hooker’s Blue Guitar as well astrading licks with Duke Robillard onWhat have I Done Wrong, from a 2005Stony Plain recording, before closingwith an instrumental rendition of DrownIn My Own Tears, that features the greatDavid ‘Fathead’ Newman. I am not surewhether this is really a Best of, but itcertainly is a solid career retrospectiveof Mr. Earl’s music.

Ron Weinstock

September/October 2006 • Issue 286