Short Cuts: Summary Reviews #13

Alive!
Noah Zacharin
Independent
1999
15 tracks

Zacharin's vocal style should by now be considered old-fashioned, reflecting as it does the vocal interpretations of such mid-century singers as Dick Smothers, Norman Greenbaum, Keith Carradine, Peter Yarrow, and Paul Stookey to name a few. Yet his approach is not at all old-timey. Zacharin comes across not as old-fashioned or contemporary but timeless. The simplicity of both his vocals and his instrumental arrangements takes his music outside time to give it universal appeal no matter when or where it may be heard.

There's a sorrow in Zacharin's vocals, in his voice, that seems to go deeper than simply good acting. Beyond the lyrics, Zacharin's performance projects a sense of loss or longing for something past and gone. This is perhaps another difference between his interpretations and those of many contempory singers who give a cheerful lilt to even the most terrible story. Zacharin seems to be sincerely in touch with the humanity which resides within the lyric tales he sings.

Of the songs on this release, I prefer the blues numbers. I always liked the variant on the blues represented by artists like Canned Heat and Norman Greenbaum. Zacharin has the same feel for the blues, taking the listener back to a time when you could still distinguish hometown blues from mediocre classic rock. His performance on acoustic guitar, while simple enough, is earthy and expressive. His vocals are raw with feeling.

The balance of the songs on Alive! are singer songwriter performances with a folkish edge, sometimes slipping over into the pop world. While they are well sung and played, they pale in comparison to the blues songs.

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The Chris Chown Band
The Chris Chown Band
Hotrod Records
2000
10 tracks

If rock and roll were to be reborn, this is what it would sound like. The music of Chris Chown is some of the best rock and roll I've heard in a long time. This is the solid, rocking sound that ripped its way into American culture when young musicians, black and white alike, in Memphis and across the nation discovered The Blues and made it their own. This is the slow, driving beat that rolled over the world a decade later when young musicians in Great Britain traced rock and roll back to its roots and released it from a death of commercial pap. But is it The Blues? You bet it is.

At root, at its deepest level, the music on this release is pure blues. There are other sounds here too. Sometimes the songs sound like the sort of Motown material put out by artists like Jimmy and David Ruffin. Sometimes the songs sound more like early Jimi Hendrix and other times like Stevie Ray Vaughan. Other times, they could have come out of the same Sun Records studios that produced such artists as Charlie Rich and Sil Austin. And, of course, it often sounds like the blues greats of the past. Is it rock and roll or is it the blues. Semantics just means that what I hear and what you hear may be the same thing wearing different clothes. Chris Chown calls it The Blues, and he plays and sings it very well.

That Chown has a real understanding of this music becomes clear when you realize that he wrote all but two of the eleven songs [one's a bonus instrumental track with that Memphis beat]. Listening to this release without a songwriters list, it's impossible to distinguish the Chown compositions from the older songs. Any one of these songs would fit easily into a Forties or Fifties ambience. Only a writer immersed in The Blues could write these lyrics or compose these tunes.

To attempt to describe any one of the tracks on this release would do the others an injustice. All the songs are of equal high quality and need to be heard to be appreciated. I'm confident that, if you do hear them, you will appreciate them. Chris Chown is a very talented young man worthy of your attention as he grows into his art.

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Biggsongs
D. G. Biggs
Independent
2000
12 tracks

After more than three decades writing and performing songs, Winnipeg's D. G. Biggs seems to have not yet decided what he wants to be when he grows up. Although the quality of the songs and performance on his debut release do reflect his many years' experience, it would be hard to lock him into any specific genre category. While Biggs might arguably be classified into some generic country music category, he slips across the board from folk to jazz to blues and gospel to somewhere not quite in any genre except his own. This is not a bad thing. Rather than such artificial classifications, what holds this set together is Biggs' simple acoustic approach to making music.

Biggs has a voice that ranges from sweet pop to old style [some might say hokey] country to an even older style of blues vocal with a jazz edge. He has a comfortable, almost conversational vocal style that suggests years of singing in smaller venues and folk clubs where he is personally known to his audience and he knows the face and name of each listener. The acoustic sound of the music backing him underlines this cosy at-home ambience.

At first glance, I had wondered about the hokey album title but, as I listen to these songs, I wonder if that title actually serves to set the mood at the outset for this suite of very restful performances. I'm not sure if this is the sort of release that can break out of the comfortable acceptance of the hometown club circuit, but it's certainly one that deserves to be heard across Canada.

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Deep River
Tony Quarrington
Cordova Bay Records
2000
9 tracks

Jazz may be considered an American art form, but over the years many of the finest jazz musicians have come from Canada. It can be argued that guitarist Tony Quarrington is one of those exceptional Canadian musicians. Deep River is no Wes Montgomery solo gig but a collaboration between Quarrington and four other talented jazz musicians. It is in his choice of musical collaborators that Quarrington' wisdom especially shines through.

While Quarrington is clearly talented as a player and as a composer, the musicians playing with him provide the well-crafted setting very diamond must have to truly shine. Pat LaBarbera (sax), Neil Swainson (bass), Greg Pilo (drums), and Doug Riley (keys) bring talent to the mix equal to Quarrington's own. The result is a polished, perhaps flawless performance [you can always find a flaw if you look hard enough] sure to please the most exacting jazz fan.

On many releases, it may be that one song stands out from the others as better or perhaps just different in some way. On some releases, there may be several such songs. Where I find such a song, I will discuss the reasons I feel that it does stand out from the others. Deep River is uniformly well played and well produced so that no one song can be said to differ from the others in these regards. Pick a song at random and all you'll hear is exceptional jazz music exceptionally well played.

Whether for foreground or background, Tony Quarrington's Deep River is easy listening sure to be a welcome addition to any collection of Canadian jazz or of jazz, wherever it may be from.

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Waterproof
Terence Martin
Good Dog Records
2000
11 tracks

The voice is old and a bit raw, a sound reminiscent of Pete Seeger or Oscar Brand and, in later years, Stan Rogers and his imitators. The guitar as often as not has that lilting quality Gordon Lightfoot brought to the music. The songs lean more toward what today is termed "singer-songwriter" music, but with a difference. Many in this genre write and record songs because they can and not because they are particularly able. Few so-called singer songwriters are equally good at writing lyrics, composing and arranging music, and performing. The bright spots must shine through the flaws. Not so Terence Martin, whose flaws, if any, are well disguised indeed by the quality of his writing and perfomance.

That the work of Terence Martin differs from that of many other singer-songwriters may have to do with the direction from which he comes to the music. In my experience, most of those who choose to call themselves singer-songwriters are instrumentalists, usually piano or guitar, who decide to try their hand first at singing and then at writing lyrics. Terence Martin started from the words, becoming a poet [yes, a published poet] who performed his poetry live at readings and an English teacher before he became a songwriter and performer of his own songs.

With some exceptions, the performances here remind me of two different bands situated in time two decades apart but similar in many respects: Dire Straits and The Wallflowers. Some songs sound more like the one band and some more like the other, but mostly the sounds blend as required by the particular song. This sound sets Martin's work in what is becoming a tradition, ranging from the late Twentieth century until now, of eclectic poetry-tinged rock music. It's an ideal frame for Martin's words.

Anyone who thinks it's all about the music and the words don't matter should check out Waterproof by Terence Martin. In this release at least, the words do very much matter. Anyone who does think the words matter should also check out this release. It's that good.

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Fiddlesong
Anne Lederman
Falcon Productions
2002
11 tracks

Anne Lederman is a talented and innovative multi-instrumentalist as well as a singer in half a dozen different languages. On this release, Lederman's talents are enhanced by the support of a dozen other talented musicians drawn from Canada and around the world. The result is a delightful melding of cultures and world musics into one joyous sound.

Some of these songs are symphonic in their scope, taking a simple song or medley of simple songs and building on that theme, musically transforming a village into a universe. There is a richness here that, outside the work of such composers as Charles Ives or Aaron Copland, is rarely heard in what is, at root, folk and traditional music.

This music blends fiddle, played interchangeably in a variety of Canadian and European styles, with guitar, bass, piano, electric piano and electric guitar, saxophone, accordion, harmonica, kit drums, a wide variety of traditional hand drums and other traditional percussion instruments. This music is way big and shows a great potential for cacophony, yet it all holds together and the resulting strains weave together to form a seamless fabric.

There's a lot more to hear and a lot more to discover in the music of Anne Lederman's Fiddlesong but, as with a well-written novel, it will spoil the tale if I reveal it all here. I recommend that anyone whose interest has been whetted rush right out and buy a copy of Fiddlesong.

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7 Cats
Anne Lederman
Falcon Productions
2000
11 tracks

Were this recording a meal it would be a smorgasbord, and a tasteful one at that. Although 7 Cats lists eleven tracks, these tracks comprise twenty-eight songs presented individually or in medley. Anne Lederman serves up each song with its own delightful flavour, and she's not afraid to slip in one or two surprise ingredients to spice up the mix. 7 Cats is a delicious selection of old-timey fiddle tunes, but Lederman's eclectic selection and electrifying performance make it far more than just that.

Anne Lederman is widely respected in Canada and beyond, not just for her innovative performance but for the level of care and scholarship she has brought to her research of the music she plays, including making field recordings and carefully recreating traditional songs in her own performances. The selection of songs in this set only serves to underline how well-deserved indeed is that reputation.

Each song in this set has a distinctive feel that sets it apart from the others. There are songs with a distinctive Scots or Irish or Canadien ambience. There are songs that seem, without words, to tell a story. There are songs that invite you to listen and others that demand you dance. Yet there is also a flow from song to song and a sense of unity that binds them together, much as the cultures from which they are drawn have joined to make and define our country. From the sounds of step-dancing that start the set off to the calming waltz that takes us home, there's an implicit assurance that in these songs we can indeed connect with our roots.

If you're interested in Canadian music, music from around the world, or just good old-time fiddle music played the way you remember (or perhaps remember hearing about from your grandparents), then I do recommend that you give a listen to Anne Lederman's 7 Cats.

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Sings
Emilie-Claire Barlow
Independent
2000
11 tracks

Usually, when a jazz singer's CD is released, the singer is a strong focal point while the band plays an important supporting role. Whether unintentionally or because someone feels this singer's performance needs bolstering beyond mere support, this band tends to steal the stage. The recording feels in many ways like a concert by a big jazz band in which Barlow plays the role of "the girl singer" who is not the centre but merely another instrument in the mix.

Hearing Barlow's performance in some of the less instrument-heavy numbers in these set, it becomes apparent that she might perform better in the more intimate context of a trio or quartet. In these songs, or sometimes parts of songs, Barlow sounds more confident and less like she's fighting to be heard against her massive instrumental backdrop. Indeed, the few weaknesses I hear in her performance may result from a lack of confidence that she can break through this wall of instrumentation.

Taken as a whole, this is an excellent set of standards by a talented singer and an excellent jazz band. Any weaknesses are minor and don't detract from the overall strength of these recordings. I note them only because it's unfortunate that the subdued nature of Barlow's performance combined with the power of her band tend to thrust her into the background instead of up-front where she was intended to be.

Emilie-Claire Barlow's Sings is, in my opinion at least, a perfect example of how not to showcase a jazz singer. This is a great jazz album. I'd recommend it to anyone. However, the focus is not on the singer as intended, but on the band. The song that comes across most strongly, and is probably the best on this release, is an instrumental number that only barely includes the singer it's supposed to underscore. It will be interesting to hear Barlow in a context more supportive of her apparent talent.

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Penultimatum
AutoCad/Pantheist Audio
Independent
2000
8 tracks

Through his band [no other names mentioned, so the "band" may consist of several aspects of Park's own personality], Thomas Park has been involved with music for more than two decades. This ASCAP artist has written more than 200 songs and has more recently signed a deal with Pivotal Records of Hillsborough, North Carolina, a label founded in 1998 with the expressed intention "to spread quality electronic art and culture." So it can be argued that Park is a serious artist, a professional in his field.

Right, you say. And just how is this electronic stuff roots-related? Well, in several ways, but I can narrow it down to two.

Firstly, the music is roots related in the types of sounds Park chooses to incorporate. Many of the rhythms used are primitive. Here are the simple beats we hear in the earliest, simplest music, including variations on the human heartbeat. Here are other biological rhythms replicated through mathematical recombination. Here are rhythms based on AAVSO variable star data, the very rhythms of the universe.

Secondly, in a very quirky way, in the 21st Century, this electronic music actually could be described as "roots" music. Often, when we talk of roots music, we really mean the blues of the early twentieth century, the folk music recorded by field archivists like Alan Lomax, and other music that, while its antecedents may be very old indeed, truly dates in forms we recognize from the past two centuries or so. Electronic music and the instruments with which it is created actually predate much of that.

Thomas Park's music has no lyrics to review. The music is created almost entirely outside the analogue realm we normally associate with traditional music, whether we call that folk or roots or something else. The process of composition is partially directed but at least as much random. And yet, this music is drawn from the roots of our nearer, modern world experience, and the sounds it carries carry the rhythms and emotions of the millennia.

Much of Park's music is based on the same sort of mathematical science that creates those pretty recombinent and moving geometric drawings on your home computer screen, those fractal images. Says Park, this music "Focuses on Fractal Ambience (often danceable) of the Jackson/Strohbeen school. Generally, natural or mathematical data are used to create logarithmic music. For example, biosequence data was used to generate songs [so that] listeners will be able to listen ... and appreciate the world around them by doing so."

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Bergers with Mayo
Live at Pete's
The Renovators
Berger Platters
2000
10 tracks

This is rock and roll the way it was meant to be: not some glossy production programmed for a world-wide marketing campaign but the music you might expect to hear some boys playing for fun at a club with a simple name like... well, like Pete's. The music here is down and dirty, with no evidence it was ever intended to be otherwise. These raw sounds strip rock and roll down to its bare bluesy roots. At Pete's, the special of the day is no cordon bleu cuisine but down to earth homegrown Bergers with Mayo.

Bergers with Mayo is Bob Mayo on guitar, Ted Hemberger on drums, and Al Hemberger on bass. All three sing lead vocals on this release. Together with Bob Rasero on guitar [not on the menu for this release], they make up Bronxville, New York's hard hitting blues-based rock and roll band, The Renovators. On this release, they've lived up to their name, taking ten once-new songs that may be getting old and tired and renovating them with driving beats and gutsy vocals.

If you hunger for rock and roll that's gritty and blues served up with a groove that's guaranteed to rock you, then you may find a good serving of Bergers with Mayo is just what you need to satisfy your taste.

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Tumbleweed
Clay Greenberg
Kinkajou Records
2000
10 tracks

Clay Greenberg is what I tend to call a cowboy singer. Although I mean this as a compliment, some artists are offended that I call them cowboy singers. They shouldn't be. It's from these and other working class figures that the most powerful folk music in Canada and the United States has evolved. The original words and music crossed the ocean from those distant islands with our disposessed cropper ancestors. Once here, it transformed to carry tales of the fisheries, of the mountains and the plains, of working men and women across the country. Later, it moved from the countryside to become the music of labour and of protest and justice. And it lives on today.

Here's what I like about Clay Greenberg's songs. He keeps things simple. The music features simple melodies that actually do sometimes sound like cowboy songs and always have the folkish feel to them. The words tell simple tales in simple language. There's no attempt here to be excessively poetic or to drown the listener in metaphor. This is down to earth country music. This is what I think. Whether or not Clay Greenberg will agree is another thing.

While some of the songs on Tumbleweed do contain purely contemporary elements, most, and certainly the best among them, have a distinctly traditional feel in both the music and the words. Whether they go back to Kenny Rogers and Don Williams or reach back to Jimmie Rodgers and earlier, these songs bring with them a sense of our rural roots and of the music our ancestors brought with them from across that broad ocean.

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Gardener
Rebecca Riots
Appleseed Recordings
2000
16 tracks

Although this recording is ostensibly of the trio, most tracks are built around a band that can include up to six additional musicians. The overall sound is quite large, more a folk orchestra at times than a trio based on acoustic guitar, mandolin, and harmonica. Although the apparent genre of the songs tends to range fairly widely, there is also a unity to the sound that suggests the final arrangements are as important as the individual compositional skills of the songwriters. I do notice that credits on the lyrics are to individual writers but overall credits in the notes say the songs were written by Rebecca Riots. Based on what I've heard, this seems appropriate.

The set was arranged and produced by Rebecca Riots and they, along with sound engineer Gary Mankin and mixer Dave Wellhausen, are to be applauded for the excellent, clean sound they have achieved. This is one of the better productions I've received during the time I've been writing these reviews.

It's not clear which of the three women in this trio sings lead in each song, but it is clear that each has a different vocal style. All have rich, beautiful voices and definitely know how to interpret a song. One has a sweet voice that can shift from folk to pop to rock like a latter day Sandy Denny. One has a solid rock voice more consistent with, say, the Wilson sisters of Heart. And the third has a harsh, raw voice more reminiscent of Kim Carnes around the time of "It's a Heartache" or perhaps even such male singers as Bryan Adams or Rod Stewart. And all three sound just great.

There's a depth here that wants to be explored. The three women in Rebecca Riots are all fine lyricists and excellent musicians. In my opinion, what they lack is focus. This may derive from them believing their own publicity too much. I don't know. I'd like to see them find their own direction without worrying about what their publicists, the public, or the reviewers [including me] may think. They have the ability to create something very special; not a potpourri of genres and styles but a focussed and powerful release. I'd love to see them do it.

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Moments
Catherine Dupuis
Bearheart Records
2001
13 tracks

While jazz may often tend to feel timeless, like most popular music forms it evolves from one era to another and sometimes swings back on itself, drawing upon the styles of previous eras to recreate itself in nostalgic yet fresh new form. Since the dawn of this new century, the jazz sounds I've most heard resurrected come from the mid-Twentieth century, especially the Sixties. The songs may be drawn from any era or be brand new, but the instrumental and vocal treatments bring back the popular (and sometimes not so popular) jazz of some forty years ago. The music on Moments has that sound.

The songs on this release range from the traditional through jazz classics to songs which are relatively contemporary. Even with all this variety, this music has a certain unity that is built on the similarities in the songs, the excellent arrangements, and the equally excellent performances by all involved. Forced to define the overall sound, I would say that it's a sort of big city jazz meets show tunes, all with a distinct Sixties flavour. If there's one word that defines the music on this release, it can be said to be dramatic.

While Dupuis clearly has been performing long enough to have developed her own style and interpretations, her work is transparent enough that at least some of her influences shine through. Depending on the song, I hear sometimes strong and sometimes subtle echoes of Eartha Kitt, Della Reese, Dinah Washington and other great jazz singers of that bygone era, yet I also hear the dramatic effects of such theatrical artists as Barbra Streisand. If influences are apparent, however, they have seamlessly been incorporated into what is special and unique about Dupuis' own style.

Coupling the talents of Bill Mays as a conductor and arranger with the vocal talents of Catherine Dupuis backed by some excellent musicians, this release will be a definite plus for any collection of contemporary jazz vocals. I'll be watching for more from Dupuis. It's bound to be good.

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