Short Cuts
: Summary Reviews #12Name of CD release |
Artist/Group |
| Undisputed | The Rubes |
| This Way Home | Cindy Kallet and friends |
| Urban Suite | Leonardo |
| Six Strings North of the Border | various artists |
| Brotherhood | Grant Lyle |
| Street Culture | Paul Tobey |
| Open Up And Say Wah! | Frank Cosentino |
| Exact Change | Sandy Cash |
| Souvenirs | John Prine |
| Ish | Alex Baird |
| One Foot on the Train | Steve & Jenny Moss |
| 3 Minute Song | Arielle Silver |
| Tale Of The Fingers | Dave Young Trio |
  live at Newlands Pavilion |
|
|
Since Saturday, February 19, 2005 musicians and fans have read the reviews on this page, originally created October 4, 2002. |
Undisputed
The Rubes
Barnyard Productions
2000
16 tracks
If the music of The Rubes reaches any audience at all, it's sure to be a niche audience that actually gets what's going on here. These songs are quirky, sometimes to the extreme, and the performance is raw and, some would say, less than musical. I know there are critics who will dismiss this music as amateurish and just plain not well done. I know there are some professional musicians who may describe the performance as bad or simply not music at all.
Reviewers who have academic music training and musicians who work in a pop (rock, county, formal jazz, etc.) or classical media often tend to have a narrow view of what is or is not "good" music, a view which may even turn into an extreme case of tunnel vision. These individuals like what they understand and if they don't understand [or get] it, then they dismiss it. [That is, their very narrow attitude is that "I don't know much about art, but I know what I like."]
My background is less formal and far more eclectic. I grew up in rural Alberta with a pair of very well educated parents (one a professional musician; the other a hardcore fan) with broad and eclectic tastes. In the community, I grew up with the old-timey sounds of square dances and round dances and barn dances. On the CBC, I heard music ranging from maritime to pop to country and classical. At home I heard music ranging from cowboy songs to rockabilly and R & B to The Carter Family and other hillbilly music to Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie and Burl Ives to the Boston Pops and European pop stars. My exposure to music was very wide-ranging indeed.
So why won't you like this music? For starters, Kevin Wilson has a very distinctive, raw edged voice and rough, non-musical vocal style. This ain't no pop star. Wilson's singing on this release reminds me of such other niche artists as Leonard Cohen (on such songs as "Diamonds in the Mine" or "Let's Sing Another Song, Boys"), Kris Kristofferson ("Sunday Morning Coming Down"), Gilbert Bécaud, or Tom Waits. It's not so much about making beautiful music as it is about expression. The music has a random feel to it, rather like rockabilly meets jazz meets the symphony tuning up. While there is a certain structure to the music, it seems as much based on anarchy as order.
At least some of you will probably not like most of the music on this release. I highly recommend that you give it a listen anyway. It may broaden your horizons. In this music I have heard echoes of artists as disparate as Eric Clapton, The Doors, Kris Kristofferson, Leonard Cohen, Johnny Horton, Gilbert Bécaud, Tom Waits, Jimmy Buffet, The Rolling Stones (in songs like "Far Away Eyes" and "I Want My Baby Back"), The Beatles, George Gershwin, and others. Who knows whose influence you may hear?
This Way Home
Cindy Kallet and friends
Stone's Throw Music
2000
14 tracks
More than simplistic and mawkish tradition (a pale imitative shadow of the past), true heritage pervades This Way Home, drawing our past into the present and reminding the present of the past. Even the newest creation on this release brings with it a depth of time that draws the listener into a past often only dimly recalled. This sense of an infinite time beyond chronology issues partly from the writing of the words and music, but also from the very sensitive performances of Cindy Kallet and her musical friends.
While the songs on this release all tend to fall loosely into the Scots-Irish tradition which has made a major contribution to the voice of American folk music, within that parameter these songs tend to be quite eclectic. Some sound quite Scottish; some definitely Irish. Some explore the heritage of the people who inhabited North America long before the Europeans came. There's one wonderful cowboy song. Some sound like old English folk ballads and others are just downright American. There's more than one paean to nature. And there's even one lovely instrumental piece. And amongst all this variety, there's a marvelous unity.
Beyond the overall high quality of the writing, performance, and production of this release, I'm especially taken with the vocals of both Cindy Kallett and Gordon Bok. At first blush, Kallet's voice reminded me of Gogi Grant and then later of Ann Murray. While both are, in my opinion, folk artists, there is clearly a strong pop music element in their greatest hits. Kallet is clearly singing in a very traditional folk-music mode, but the depth and power of her voice very much invokes Grant and Murray in the mind of at least this one listener. Bok, on the other hand, brings to mind the deep vocal renditions of artists like Oscar Brand and Stan Rogers, with their very traditional treatments.
Did I happen to mention that I like and am very impressed by this release? It's true. If you want to hear some very contemporary folk music that draws past and present together in a most wonderful way, then This Way Home is a CD you simply must own. I personally look forward to hearing more from both Cindy Kallet and Gordon Bok.
Urban Suite
Leonardo
Independent
2000
11 tracks
Leonardo makes a nice start with the first song on this, his third release, setting the listener up with a quiet folk-storyteller ambience that harks back to artists such as Harry Chapin ("WOLD") or Roger Whittaker ("New World in the Morning"). Some later songs suggest that Leonardo may owe a debt as well to rocking folkies such as Jim Croce ("I Have to Say I Love You in a Song"). There's a promise here, but it never really materializes.
There is a sameness to these songs that early on makes the overall set monotonous at best and at times just boring. Mostly this sense derives from the over-regularity of both the guitar backing and the lead vocal and could probably be fixed quite easily by adding more variation to some or all of the songs.
By high school English standards, Leonardo's lyrics are well written. Except for a couple of inverse phrasings, it's hard to fault them at that level. However, there's little or nothing to make them stand out from the crowd. While he does tell stories, most of the stories are really not very interesting. This is compounded by the fact that Leonardo is at best a mediocre storyteller. Even in the one story that has potential to be interesting, Leonardo's writing and performance fails to rise to the occasion.
Were this a debut release by a beginning artist, I would tend to see potential in this release. The technical skills are present at a certain level and there's definitely room for growth in the areas of storytelling and presentation. Because this is already Leonardo's third release, I wonder if with his fourth release he can rise to the next level. It will be interesting to find out.
Six Strings North of the Border
various artists
The Borealis Recording Company
2000
15 tracks
There is much that is remarkable about this compilation of recordings by Canadian acoustic guitarists. Like the country from which it is drawn, this musical anthology is a study in contrasts and similarities. This music spans a wide range of styles and cultures reflecting a significant segment of Canada's cultural makeup, yet there is also a homogeneity to these tracks, a unity of sound that gives this release strength and integrity. Without too much of a stretch, it might be said that this recording is like a metaphor of Canada and her many peoples.
Although some of these guitarists have been known to push the envelope in live performance and on other recordings and excellent though these performances may be, the selections on this release reflect a conservative bent on the part of producer Bill Garrett. The performances tend to be quiet and gentle. Listening to Six Strings North of the Border is a lot like revisiting those boxed album compilations direct-marketed by organizations like Reader's Digest a few decades ago. The performance is excellent, but there's little here to stir the heart.
The quality of these recordings is indisputable. To choose a favourite from among these tracks would be difficult and would most likely derive not from the performance itself but from the specific musical tastes of the listener. As an anthology of Canadian acoustic guitarists, Six Strings North of the Border is an excellent sampler for listeners looking to discover artists not yet heard and a must have for anyone interested in the state of our musical heritage in the new century.
Brotherhood
Grant Lyle
Independent
1998
10 tracks
Grant Lyle dares to be different. Most Ontario blues bands pump out a hard-rocking electric blues that recalls artists like Muddy Waters or B. B. King or the rock artists influenced by them. Lyle's band tends more toward a cowboy boogie shuffle that might have come out of the old Sun Records studios. The resulting blues with a rockabilly edge is a quirky and refreshing rarity on the Ontario blues scene.
Taken as a whole, Brotherhood is a blues album. Blues classics like "Ain't Nobody's Business" and "All Your Love" set much of the overall tone for the set. At its core, though, Grant Lyle's roots seem to be set not in the electric blues aped by so many of his contemporaries but in a long line of country-blues artists stretching back as far as Jimmie Rodgers. The result is a contemporary sound that reaches back and mines a largely untouched treasure trove of great blues stylings.
While Brotherhood contains some solid blues performances, what distinguishes it is the number of elements added to the mix which, while blues-influenced, are not strictly "the blues" as many in today's audience would perceive the blues. The distinctive fusion of blues and country sounds in Lyle's release is a welcome breath of fresh air which may broaden the musical horizons of many bar-blues fans, in Ontario or elsewhere, who hear his music.
Street Culture
Paul Tobey
Arkadia Jazz
2000
9 tracks
This is conservative jazz. It's conventional and it's comfortable. What makes it stand out is not quirkiness or eccentricity but how extremely well it's done. As a composer and arranger, Canadian jazzman Paul Tobey excels. The songs on Street Culture would blend well into any set of standards. The performance is of the highest calibre and the production brings the talents of Tobey and his colleagues to centre stage, where they can shine.
The music sounds old. Not traditional necessarily, but old, like the jazz themes that pervaded television shows in the Fifties or were released, usually by jazz specialty labels, on so many wonderful albums in the Sixties. While there's a great deal of originality and inventiveness in these songs, they still have the comfortable feel of an old sweater on an autumn day.
Tobey is blessed [or very clever] in his selection of musical partners whose skills are the equal of his own. The combination of Tobey on piano, Jim Vivian on bass, Terry Clarke on drums, and Mike Murley on tenor sax provides an ideal setting for his compositions. This may or may not be the ultimate jazz combo, but it's certainly the quintessential combo to present this music.
This year, Street Culture received a Juno Award nomination for "Best Traditional Jazz Album." I would certainly recommend that anyone interested in what's happening in Canadian jazz today give Street Culture a listen. I have to wonder: if an artist comes out of the gate with a release this good, where can he go from here? It'll be interesting to find out.
Open Up And Say Wah!
Frank Cosentino
Onyx
2000
8 tracks
Frank Cosentino is a breath of fresh air on the Ontario blues scene. There are a lot of bands in Ontario putting out solid blues. It seems that about every town and city has its own talented local blues band. Most of these bands perform a style of blues that I think of more as just plain rock and roll. The sound is borrowed from Chicago and other American electric blues by way of early-Sixties British rockers. After a while, it all starts to sound the same. Not Frank Cosentino. Here's an Ontario bluesman who has not followed the well-worn path. The result is impressive.
Open Up And Say Wah! is a short recording, only eight songs that take up less than forty minutes. What this release lacks in duration it more than makes up for in content. This is forty minutes of solid blues and not a bad song in the bunch. More than just rock and roll, this one will rock your soul.
The variety of blues styles on this release is impressive, ranging from freewheeling wails that remind the listener of Albert King or Stevie Ray [and, less obviously, of Hendryx] through blues based rock ballads to sounds that are as much jazz as they are blues. Throw in a bit of funk and a bit of gospel for spice and Cosentino has quite a blues stew going on.
Besides his obvious skills on the guitar, Frank Cosentino is a soulful vocalist and a talented songwriter. Open Up And Say Wah! is a showcase for all of Cosentino's talents and is, in my opinion, a must listen for anyone interested in discovering a brighter facet of Ontario's blues scene.
Exact Change
Sandy Cash
Muso Productions
2000
11 tracks
Sandy Cash is an interpreter of songs, and a fine one at that. Only two of the songs on this release were written by Cash. The rest were clearly selected for their sense of story and for the power of their telling. Given the wide variety of material from which she could have chosen, Cash demonstrates a finely honed instinct for excellent writing and for stories certain to move an audience.
Cash has a powerful voice and an evocative, theatrical vocal style. This is not the voice or style we would usually associate with a folk singer. Rather, Cash has the power and broad interpretive style of a Bette Midler or Barbra Streisand or, in earlier years, perhaps Ethel Merman or Martha Rae. This is big, open performance that is as much acting as it is singing.
In the name of the title song, there's a deeper pun than the one on the name of Sandy Cash. The song plays around the idea that we cannot simply wait for change to happen but must exact it even though there may be costs associated with doing so. Of the two Cash songs on this release, "Exact Change" especially demonstrates that she has a way not just with interpreting the stories of others but also with writing and performing her own.
Exact Change is an interesting artifact: music which is clearly American springing up in the middle east. However, this is music which, in its stories, transcends borders and cultures and resonates not just in the hearts of American expatriots but in anyone who can truly hear its human stories. Sandy Cash has a very special gift, that more than a singer, she is an excellent storyteller.
Souvenirs
John Prine
Oh Boy Records
2000
15 tracks
I'll admit up front that I don't come to Souvenirs as an unbiased listener. I have long been aware of the words and music of John Prine, as much through the interpretations of other artists as through his own recordings. His polished lyrics tell their stories with no words wasted and his simple country melodies have a dignity and grace unmatched in contemporary folk music. So I came to this release expecting to hear something pretty special.
I wasn't disappointed. Continuing a long tradition of storytelling in American country music, Prine's songs open windows on the lives of everyday Americans, often telling their stories in their own distinctive voices. The melodies have a traditional feel, a simple down home sensibility, yet are complex enough to be able to cross genres with ease, artists in each genre emphasizing one aspect or another. The lyrics are sparse and compact, simple and conversational yet packed with story and not one word wasted.
Prine's raw vocal style has improved with age, as though his voice has grown into the stories he tells. On this release, he sounds like an old man sat in front of some store or house telling tales of the community in which he has lived for so long. This is an old man's voice, but at the same time young and vital and eternal. I can only think of two artists who have a similar vocal style when telling their stories: Tom T. Hall in America and our own Stompin' Tom Connors. There is an honesty in Prine's presentation that enlivens the reality of the stories he tells.
Sometimes an artist who is a shining light in his youth may fade substantially as he grows older, repeating over and over his past triumphs or perhaps just becoming not very good at that in which he once excelled. Fortunately, that is not the case with John Prine, who appears to be at the peak of his powers, as good as if not better than he has ever been.
Ish
Alex Baird
Hunt the Sandman Inc.
2000
12 tracks
Baird's publicity labels her music as "Melodic Groove Pop for the 21st Century" then describes it in terms of a series of eccentric opposites that might have been dreamed up by Alanis Morissette: "wistful yet bright" and "simple and accessible yet a little off balance" and so on. The seemingly cryptic album title derives from the specious claim that "Alex's unique style is hard to draw comparisons to - it's simply Alex Baird-ish."
In fact, Baird's music falls mostly into that genre which these days passes for R&B music. Within that definition, partly because of her lyrical content and partly for stylistic reasons, her songs at times approach the sort of folkish pop epitomized by Joan Osborne, Edie Brickell, or even, in her less rock and roll moments, Alanis Morissette.
Were it possible to draw comparions, I'd say that Baird's vocals, both in voice and style, remind me most of Belinda Carlisle, Joan Osborne, and, in at least one song, Melissa Etheridge. The resemblance, however, is only that, and Baird has some distance to go before she'll attain the quality heard in the work of these artists.
Baird's lyrics are simple almost to the point of being simplistic. What saves her words from being consigned to some limbo of hackneyed themes is that each song tells a story, however simple it may be. These are simple pop lyrics with little depth, but they serve their purpose here, in what are in fact pretty basic pop songs.
Alex Baird has some real talent. Unfortunately, this release obscures much of her potential both as a songwriter and as a performing artist. The undistinguished arrangements and over-digitized production effectively undercut anything that might have differentiated Baird's music from the run of the mill. Rather than try to be like everyone else, it can make all the difference, as Frost said, to travel the road not taken. It would be interesting to see what Baird could do were she to find a direction all her own.
One Foot on the Train
Steve & Jenny Moss
Excess Baggage Music
2000
14 tracks
The performances on this release set me to wondering about the respective musical influences from which this husband and wife duo have come. On the whole, this is country music with an old-time feel, but the vocals reflect a confluence of two styles which are quite distinct and yet not so far apart after all. Listening to most of the vocals of Jenny Moss, one is reminded of artists such as Jean Sheppard, Kitty Wells, or Loretta Lynn, with their hard-edged and [some might say] whiney vocals. Steve Moss seems to be more of a folk artist along the lines of Peter Sarstedt or perhaps James Taylor, imbuing the lyrics with certain sweet quality.
While with ten performers the band here is quite large, the arrangements are restrained and tasteful, supporting rather than overcoming the vocals. I especially enjoy Keith Baumann's work on dobro and mandolin and T. C. Furlong's ornamentation on the pedal steel guitar. On a couple of tracks, Don Sternberg takes over with some excellent mandolin work. While I mention these examples, the skilled playing of all the members of this band add to the professional quality of this recording.
In general, the songs on One Foot on the Train are well done. The lyrics are well written and, with one possible exception ["The Whiskey Says" seems far too cheerful given the subject matter], the melodies and arrangements complement the words. Performances by instumentalists and vocalists are above average. Yet the whole thing feels like there's something missing. There's an emotional flatness to this release that doesn't do justice to its otherwise overall high quality. Everything feels pulled back just a bit too much: sounding too much "recorded" and not suggesting enough live contact with the meaning and feelings behind the words.
This is a debut release by Steve and Jenny Moss, so it's possible they were just trying too hard to get it right and didn't have time to have some fun while they're at it. Given the quality of their songwriting and performance, I look forward to hearing their next effort.
3 Minute Song
Arielle Silver
LionsRoar Records
2000
12 tracks
In printed information received with 3 Minute Song, we are told that Silver wants to "share her earnest lyrics and yearnful voice with the acoustic folk world." This comment, most likely written by Silver herself, is a clue that Silver has not yet arrived at a clear vision of what she is doing. Silver may believe that, because she is performing with just voice and guitar, she is a folk singer. In fact, while this is clearly so called singer-songwriter material, it's quite removed from what many would consider folk music. If I had to categorize it at all, I would say that what Silver does is rather music-as-art or, more accurately, art-as-music.
The performance is very dramatic. Silver's vocals are less Joan Baez than Roberta Flack, concerned less with musicality than with acting out the feeling at the heart of the words. Rather than a folk singer, Silver falls loosely into a group of songwriters who usually perform not with guitar but with piano, artists such as Tori Amos, Carole King (after she broke with rock and roll), or Carly Simon. If she approaches a folk sound at all, it's more like Janis Ian at her most dramatic.
Although she clearly comes from a background and education in music, Silver's work suggests that, rather than writing songs in the traditional sense, she is writing poems to be placed in a musical setting. This is reflected in the musical tracks which are, by her own admission in the case of at least one song, minimal. It's also reflected in the long-lined, angst-ridden verses which pass for song lyrics on this release. Listening to the songs on this release, rather than purely folk artists, I'm reminded more of writers like Leonard Cohen or Janis Ian who have successfully set their poems to music.
Arielle Silver is a young artist with a lot of room to grow. She's clearly competent both as a musician and as a writer of words. She has a powerful singing voice and vocal approach which in fact is what most had reminded me of Roberta Flack. The artist she has become is not bad, not bad at all. I look forward to discovering the artist she will grow to be. She has the potential. Now she has only to find her own artistic voice and develop it.
Tale Of The Fingers
Dave Young Trio
Justin Time Records Inc.
2000
10 tracks
Beyond the superb musicianship present here, what makes this release stand out is production quality. I'm always impressed when I hear jazz tracks recorded and mixed in CBC studios. The sound is invariably sharp and clear and well-balanced. Each instrument is sharply defined and every nuance, however subtle, makes it unsullied from studio floor to disc. The result is recorded music that can be heard as it was intended to be heard live.
If this release were a location, I'd be thinking more Mississippi than Ontario. The mood set by songs like "The Night is Long" and "Ode to the Southwest" evoke that humid, lazy, weeping willowed atmosphere of an ante-bellum south remembered from an old movie or romance novel. This music is slow and moody and leaves one longing for a mint julip even if one has never tried one before. With piano and drums pulled back to provide subdued support, these songs, both written by Young, focus on Young's tasteful fingerings, sometimes restrained and sometimes more elaborate but always tasteful and always right on.
The first song of the set, "Bremond's Blues" sets the mood perfectly. This song features the talents of all three partners in this performance as they roll through a variety of moods and allusions. This is a fun piece to listen to more than once. Each listen brings new insights and exposes new references to other tunes recalled from some past time. By the time the listener has heard the full five minutes plus of this song, there's no going back. The rest of the songs simply must be heard.
For anyone interested in hearing some of the best Canadian jazz, some of the best jazz anywhere, I highly recommend Tale Of The Fingers by the Dave Young Trio, one of the finest bass-led jazz trios performing today.
