Short Cuts
: Summary Reviews #18Name of CD release |
Artist/Group |
| Not Black and White in gratitude to Louis Armstrong |
Clyde R. Forsberg, Jr. |
| A Certain Distance | Dave Nachmanoff |
| Conversations | Hunter Moore |
| The Blues Daddy | Terry B. |
| Floating | dr j |
| Zucchini Alley | Tom Mawhinney |
| Beyond Appearances | Brent Titcomb |
| Self Titled | Brown Ale |
| Walking Tracks | Eric Westbury |
| Burnt Down House | Ken Waldman |
| Routes | Beyond the Pale |
| Speed of Sound | Rosie Flores |
| The World is Only Air... ...and a Very Dangerous Hat |
Mike Stevens |
  live at Newlands Pavilion |
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Support Sound Bytes |
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Not Black and White
a jazz musical
in gratitude to Louis Armstrong
Clyde R. Forsberg, Jr.
Kingston Jazz-Theatre Productions
2001
36 tracks, 2 discs
Clyde Forsberg's Not Black and White is more than just music. The first disc is a powerful, almost indefinable theatrical experience, a philosophical exercise, and a whole lot of catharsis. Taken seriously, it can be emotionally draining. And Clyde R. Forsberg, Jr. is nothing if not serious. The second disc features performances of freeform jazz, what Forsberg calls "derangements" of Louis Armstrong songs, all with a haunting, dreamlike quality that is sometimes calming and sometimes disturbing.
This play demands that you drop everything and just listen. The words reach out and grab you. The emotions grip and tear at you. Try this, though. Put the play on and then walk around the house doing other things. Remember years ago, when you were just starting out and lived in that low rent room with the paper thin walls. Played in the background, the voices of this play invade the room with all the pathos of that angry family whose voices had come through the walls of your low rent dwelling. You may begin to feel like you had once lived next door to the Forsberg family.
It may even be that you recognize some elements of your own family in Forsberg's. You may recognize only bits and pieces and they may have not been so powerful or so near the surface, but you may nonetheless recognize the memories. In even the most perfect families, there are flaws. The flaws of the family in this play differ from every family's flaws only in number and severity.
Forsberg's "derangements" are organic links between the torn family of his play and the world of jazz into which young Clyde had escaped. The music is intense and evocative, demanding not just to be heard but to be actively listened to. It helps that Forsberg has chosen musicians with whom he had played and jammed for years, musicians who will understand instinctively where he is going with this music.
I'm most reminded of the sort of jazz music that was being released by some of the finest musicians of the day, usually but not always on small labels, during the late Sixties and Early Seventies. There is a haunting quality to the music, a seemingly chaotic interweaving of instruments, and disembodied echo-ridden vocals might be the score to some perhaps unresolved dream. Throughout can be heard elements of an eclectic set of classic jazz songs deconstructed then, infused with a new vitality, brought together again.
A Certain Distance
Dave Nachmanoff
Troubador Records
2000
11 tracks
This is comfortable music. It's easy-listening, relaxing music that can carry you away to somewhere peaceful. Not quite new-age, this music nonetheless has that sort of non-intrusive quality. The songs are well-performed and well-produced. This may not necessarily be a good thing. It's too easy to drift away with the music and not hear Dave Nachmanoff's words. The words are worth a listen. They're worth a read. It would be a shame if the words got lost in the flow of the melody.
Behind Nachmanoff's simple, unaffected performance of these songs, his words have an earnestness that falls somewhere between hippie songs and songs of protest as they were being written some thirty and forty years ago. His songs express a certain longing for connectedness that finds its expression variously in a search for truth, in tales of love and loss and grieving, in new birth and remembrance of family roots, in the Holocaust and survival of community, in the harsh reality of poverty, and in the joy of a loving relationship between man and woman.
While the music on this release would better serve the ideas (and ideals) of Nachmanoff's well-crafted lyrics if it were not so conservative and tentative, this quiet presentation is excellent in its own way. I would have preferred to see more innovation in the music to better bring out the lyrical content, but A Certain Distance does stand up well as it is, both as a work of art and as a commercial product. It's well worth a listen and, especially, a read.
Conversations
Hunter Moore
Independent
2001
10 tracks
Most of these songs are built around monologue or dialogue, giving them a very close-up and personal feel. Each story is like a candid photograph, one of those fifteen second video clips you can get from your digital camera, only with a lot more depth, a lot more crammed into each second. The poetry of these songs is not in the very prosaic form and style, but in the skilled compression of imagery and emotion that drives every one of these stories.
Conversations includes stories of everyday America, reminiscences of the war in Vietnam., observations of interesting individuals and ordinary people, the stuff of American literature. If Hunter Moore had not taken to music, he might have become a playwright or a novelist in the tradition of the great literary writers of the American South. He certainly has the ability to discover and tell the stories that lie in everyday life.
The words and music of Hunter Moore should be required reading for anyone who would lump all American singer-songwriters into one bag. This writer has managed to avoid that sameness and to create something exceptional and powerful. Even those who may not like this kind of story-song should have this release just so they can see that much more is possible than the mediocrity so often seen in so called singer-songwriters.
The Blues Daddy
Terry B.
Rootetoot Records
2001
11 tracks
There's nothing slick or commercial about the music on this release. The performance is gritty, aggressive music from half-lit, blue-aired rooms filled with the smell of smoke and alcohol. This is the music that creeps under the doors of side-street bars and into the street outside, taking hold of passers-by and drawing them in to the dark room behind the door. This is good rock and roll. This is good blues.
A studio recording, the music on The Blues Daddy sounds live. It has the sound of a too old sound system pushed to its limits so the music can push through the crowd and be heard. It's music best heard over a brew or a shot in a crowded smoke-filled room, but this set brings the bar room home. All you have to do is dim the lights, pour a drink, and relax. These blues will bring you back to where you want to be.
It doesn't hurt that Terry B. is supported by nine excellent blues musicians and three solid backup vocalists. The sound is full and driving, the sort of music that may let you sit in one place but won't let you doze off. Even the slow songs are driven by a groove that's made to get people up and dancing.
An independent release, The Blues Daddy brings live music to the car stereo and the living room with a level of authenticity that's rare in studio-produced blues records. This release should be added to any collection of contemporary Canadian blues.
Floating
dr j
Independent
2000
10 tracks
With a couple of notable exceptions, the quality of Floating is consistent and demonstrates that dr j knows the nuts and bolts of songwriting, performance, and (depending on how much input he had as co-producer with Robert Walker) production. Having avoided many of the flaws and errors to be found in many first-time independent releases, Floating is a precision-built, technically well-constructed project.
Most times, it's not enough to build a practical package. What matters more is the content. If the package is the craft, then surely most of the art must come in the content. For me, the making of art in any form is a political statement, a declaration of independence, an affirmation of love, a grieving that follows personal or national loss. I prefer my art to say something with deeper meaning, if not to me then clearly to the artist. In this release, I feel that dr j is holding back, that he has built a solid box but is unable or unwilling to release the intended emotional content into that container. I'm left wanting to ask, like Peggy Lee, "Is that all there is?"
The performances here are safe, conservative, unlikely to offend anyone but also not likely to perk the listener's interest. (On the other hand, a couple of the lyrics, performed differently, are likely to offend more than a few listeners.) This performance comes across like it has not just been homogenized but pasteurized as well and then served up with the cream skimmed off to leave 1% milk. Like the 1% milk, this music is still good, but it lacks a certain richness of flavour.
With obvious abilities as a songwriter and performer, dr j comes across as not having confidence in his own ability. There is a definite sense that he is holding back, being careful only to present what is safe so as not to offend or draw negative criticism. Even within this safe haven, there are clues to what dr j might accomplish if he'd only let go. Those few clues suggest that any audience reaction might not be negative but very positive indeed.
Zucchini Alley
Tom Mawhinney
Calliope Music
2000
27 tracks
Tom Mawhinney is a bit of a phenomenon, at least around the town where I live. I'm sure he's known in other parts of Canada, but in Kingston, Ontario, it seems that every parent and child knows his name and associates it with the mythical street Zucchini Alley. Performing with large, sometimes impromptu choirs of children, Mawhinney seems to have found the secret to entertaining kids and their parents too. This release, the long title of which is 27 Original Songs from Zucchini Alley, perfectly showcases the man's talent.
Co-starring the "Elginburg Spontaneous Zucchini Choir" of fifteen children, this release also features guest appearances by the "Percy Street Spontaneous Zucchini Choir" and Randi Helmers. The overall effect is of a large children's party filled with fun and song, all directed by a brilliant Oz at its centre.
Over all, Mawhinney's songs are well-written and well-performed, falling into a standard format that seems to have pervaded Canadian children's music for several decades. Had he ever made the move to national television, he might have been right up there with other top Canadian performers like Sharon, Lois and Bram or Fred Penner. Certainly the quality is there.
Beyond Appearances
Brent Titcomb
Manohar Records Inc.
2001
11 tracks
As with much of the best Canadian art, Brent Titcomb's work is not narrow or regional. His songs are most Canadian in the way that they draw upon diverse cultural influences from around the world, retaining their origins yet imbuing them with a strong sense of the Canadian cultural landscape. In this respect, Titcomb's words and music are perhaps an examplar of what is at once universal and native in Canadian art.
Beyond Appearances is a powerful blend of personal and socially conscious lyrics, interesting musical approaches, and strong vocals. At all levels and in every song, the quality is consistently strong. These are well-crafted songs performed with the skill and style that comes with experience and a well-honed talent.
If there is unity in this set, it is accomplished through the caring attention of the writer and performer of the songs. Observed more closely, each song is different and special, presenting its own unique story in a style all its own. The strong link that brings it together as a whole is the accomplished hand of the artist, Brent Titcomb.
Self Titled
Brown Ale
Independent
2003
18 tracks
While they were going down the road from Canada's Maritimes to Brampton, in Ontario's industrial heart, Glenn McFarlane and Les Smith seem to have gathered more than a few outside influences. Far from hard-core traditional, the music of Brown Ale is a joyful, eclectic Mulligan stew that blends a hodgepodge of mixed genres with a grab-bag of traditional roots. As in a stew, the flavours flow together, the ingredients complement each other, and the result becomes indeed a tasty dish.
Although the performance on this release shows more polish than Brown Ale's earlier recordings, Glenn McFarlane and Les Smith remain true to their roots. This is still pub music, the sort of Scots-Irish Maritime music that will get a room full of students and workers rocking. The set is programmed with the sort of variety that will hold the attention of even the most rowdy pub crowd and will sell a lot of brew to boot. With more aaccomplished performance and with addition of some more eclectic elements, this set should also come off well in a concert setting.
I've never seen Brown Ale perform live, but I imagine it must be quite the experience. The music on this release is enough to inspire the listener to seek out the nearest Irish pub and a tumbler of tasty brown ale. I'll be watching for this duo to come to my town. You should too.
Walking Track
Eric Westbury
Barreltown Records
2000
12 tracks
Quirky doesn't quite cover it. Unusual? Maybe. Certainly eccentric comes into the mix at some point. It's hard to tie down exactly what it is that Eric Westbury does. Whatever it is, I like it. And I'm not quite sure why I like it, except perhaps that it's different from the usual folk-singer songwriter material I receive.
With growth and experience, Eric Westbury could become a storyteller in song on a par with artists like America's Tom T. Hall or Canada's Stompin' Tom Connors, bringing well-told stories of real people to listeners across his nation. Time will tell.
British Columbia's Eric Westbury writes literate and interesting lyrics and performs his songs with raw-voiced pathos that will appeal to many listeners. In his writing and in his performance, Westbury is just quirky enough to be interesting without crossing the line to weird. His work is an intriguing deviation from the mainstream of Canadian folk music.
Burnt Down House
Ken Waldman
Nomadic Press
2001
17 tracks
Ken Waldman's sometimes eccentric interweaving of poetry and fiddle music wavers between authentic American folk-art and something more literary. Waldman's poetry, both the writing and the reading, falls somewhere between Henry Gibson and Carl Sandburg. Waldman's fiddle creates a musical wallpaper of traditional hoedown music as backdrop for his words. Somewhere in the mix, the totality of Waldman's work transcends just the music and the words to create an extraordinary experience. This is both traditional folk-art and something original and unique that has come out of the world of Ken Waldman.
Ken Waldman, who calls himself the Alaskan fiddling poet, is one of those unique artists who transcend the worlds of folk-art and high art and reside in a special world of their own making. Often such an artist can just seem weird. Waldman has avoided that label and has discovered a way to bring literature to the front verandah and the kitchen table while at the same time making folk-art acceptable in literary circles. This is a remarkable talent.
Routes
Beyond the Pale
The Borealis Recording Company Ltd.
2001
12 tracks
Toronto folk ensemble Beyond the Pale brings to klezmer a freshness that is rare in the world of folk music today. As performed by this group, this is not dead or dying music of some past era but something alive and vital growing out of today's culture while retaining the best of the past. Although clearly serious about playing this music well and with respect, Beyond the Pale brings to the performance a certain sense of humour that adds a further dimension to this multi-facetted genre.
Beginning with the apparent pun in its title, Routes [routes music?], this release plays with the nature of klezmer music while keeping intact its traditional nature. It would be hard to listent to this music and remain serious for long.
Like a dozen Kinder Eggs, the songs on this release at first present a simple surface but each has at its centre a wonderful surprise. In some songs, the prize is near the surface and easily discovered. In other songs, some assembly is required and it takes a few listens pick up all the nuances and discover what a treat the song really is. In the end, the entire album is a delight not just for the ears but for the intellect.
Speed of Sound
Rosie Flores
Eminent Records
2001
10 tracks
Rosie Flores has slipped through a time-warp and settled down in early-Fifties America. This is pure Fifties radio, filled with the music that Alan Freed called Rock and Roll, a loose blend of blues, jazz, swing, and country music with a rebellious edge. The style seems to span a half-dozen years, from the pre-rockabilly style of artists like Bill Haley and his Comets, Bunny Paul, and Kitty Kallen through the very country-influenced rockabilly that came out of Sun Records in the mid-Fifties.
Add a local announcer's homey commentary or perhaps some livelier jibes by Alan Freed pumping up the music he named, and you'd swear this was a radio program from somewhere around 1955. The up-tempo Rock and Roll hits are interspersed with sweet love songs and torch songs, but even these have the edge of Rock and Roll at their heart. Four of these songs were written by Rosie Flores and two more date from closer to the turn of the century, but on this release even they seem to come from a half century ago.
If Rosie Flores brought her band to a highschool gym near me, I'd probably head out there on a Saturday night to be transported back to an earlier, simpler time and dance my heart out. Like an old-time radio show, this is not just sock-hop music but also good music to play in the background while doing something else around the house.
The World is Only Air...
...and a Very Dangerous Hat
Mike Stevens
Borealis Recording Company Ltd.
2001
10 tracks
If it is nothing else, this release is quirky, very quirky. As an enhanced CD with content that can be viewed on computer, it falls just slightly over the edge with sometimes humourous results. The conceit that drives the musical content - a harmonica playing fiddle tunes - is just weird enough to actually work. Even in such an eccentric box, though, this artist seems unable to stay within the lines. The result is an interesting, enjoyable experience.
Put into a CD-ROM, The World is Only Air... presents a documentary about Mike Stevens, produced by Brian W. White. This feature is as quirky as the musical content. It turns out there is no movie but only a series of 22 clips referred to as "channels" or what DVD users will recognize as "chapters" in a commercial movie.
The performance on this release is of uniform high quality. This is a set of nostalgic old-timey tunes enthusiastically played and certain to get folks out on the dance floor. What adds interest to this set is the concept that drives it. This is a set of old time fiddle tunes where much of the fiddle music is being played by an outstanding harmonica player with support from some equally talented fiddlers. The idea seems to work in spite of itself.
Taken simply as performance, The World is Only Air... is a breath of fresh air in the sometimes stale world of folk music. Not really traditional, Mike Stevens' treatment of these songs nonetheless brings to this set the joy and vitality of these old time songs. Add in the quirky video presentation and programming of the set, and the whole package is an interesting experiment in traditional music.
