E Man Grooving

A Few Years Pass Like Nothing These Days...

2011-01-09T21:01:00.000-08:00

Wow. I can't believe it's been so long since I've checked out my blog action, let alone added anything to it. "Absinthe makes the heart grow fatter"

Last year was a stressful time, and when it wasn't stressful, it was party time.

I work at a few jobs, and I have never lived such a "normal" life. I miss a few people and scenes but life has been flying by so fast...

So I want to give concert reviews another shot, if only to complement some of my radio show content, and perhaps feel less compelled to talk as much as I occasionally do on-air(!)

I am still hosting Veritable Infusion, heard Monday nights 8-10p.m. on CIUT 89.5 fm, and online any time at www.ciut.fm.

Besides my radio show blog, all my other blogs are on ice until I figure out whether I want to get rid of them or fire them back up. One introductory blog should never have been posted, I just hadn't the time to go through a respectable amount to media to warrant much analysis and get that project underway. I still think it's a good idea.

My Flickr page is still at www.flickr.com/emangrooving. My Youtube page doesn't get much stuff, mostly songs I have shot live around town over the last few years, performed by everyone from P-Funk (natch) to Leroy Sibbles to Acid Mother's Temple. Sooner or later I'd like to attach these clips to show reviews contained in here, or at least pictures from the shows or other graphic elements to make this page worth coming to. Thanks for looking!

Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band; Monday, March 3/08 Copps Coliseum, Hamilton

2008-03-21T14:42:00.000-07:00

If there is one Canadian city Bruce Springsteen has never visited, but should play at least once, it’s Hamilton, Ontario. The city shares many traits with American rust belt towns; places where too few employers wielded too much influence over an entire region, before leaving behind a trail of toxicity and unemployment lines.

Luckily for local fans tonight, scalpers were taking a big hit outside Copps Coliseum. The rain didn’t help them, nor did the fact that upcoming tour stops in Rochester and Buffalo kept many American fans at home tonight. This was to be a show for local fans, which was most promising, after a less than brilliant performance by Springsteen in Toronto last October. While Toronto has its share of Boss fans, we also have too many well connected people who end up attending big ticket concerts, only to talk through the show and spend more time coming and going with food and beer than actually watching the concert. While the alleged aloofness of Toronto audiences is overblown, quite a few music fans who regularly attend shows in other cities have described the A.C.C. as a cold place for concerts. Tonight, in Hamilton, the vibe would be different.

Copps Coliseum slowly filled up until the show began. The Boss led the temporarily reformed E Street Band on stage at about eight thirty. They kicked off with a one-two punch of “No Surrender” and “Radio Nowhere” which have been prominent on this “Magic and Loss” tour. “Magic” was sung with a subtle falsetto, reminiscent of Roy Orbison. This is usually performed as a duet with Patti Scialfa, but Springsteen’s wife and E Street back-up singer was absent on this stretch of the tour as was Danny Federici. Bruce explained Patti had to “make sure the house doesn’t burn down” and that Danny’s spot was being filled by keyboard player Charles Giordano. Giordano recorded and toured with Bruce for “The Seeger Sessions”, so he was naturally familiar with the material and a good fit with the band.

Bruce wailed on his harmonica introduction to the souped-up boogie of “Reason To Believe” which kept the crowd on it’s feet. A searing version of “Because The Night” followed, which featured some of the most intense guitar playing one still hears from Miami Steve and Nils Lofgren. Bruce is a fine guitar player too, but he doesn’t play those shredding assaults that he used to pull out. After “She’s the One”, Bruce introduced a new song, “Livin’ In The Future” with a few words about the rapid erosion of civil rights in the United States these days. The song itself borrows liberally from the classic “10^th Avenue Freeze-Out” on the 1975 classic “Born To Run” album.

“The Promised Land” and the title track of Springsteen’s 1978 “Darkness At The Edge of Town” record followed. There were a few more vintage songs about disillusionment during hard times, which went over well in this crowd. Much of the audience kept sing along with tunes like “The Promised Land” and especially “Badlands” while they kept quieter for songs like “The River”. Bruce sang in his mournful falsetto for end of “The River”, to a great response from the audience.

After the sing-along blow-out of “Badlands”, Springsteen dedicated “The Girls In Their Summer Clothes” to the ladies of Ontario, although it’s been hard to imagine anybody wearing summer clothes around here, lately. We were treated to a rare performance of one of Bruce’s seminal finales from the old days; “Kitty’s Back”. The old time fans recognized the opening immediately, and those who were unfamiliar with this song caught on soon enough that this song is works really well in a live setting.

Baritone sax player Clarence Clemons, “The Big Man”, has kept a lower profile on recent tours, resulting in much speculation about his health. The man is 66 years old, but when he sauntered out to centre stage for jams like the middle part of “Kitty’s Back”, there was no doubt the man can still blow. Much of the “Wall of Sound” that people mention when describing the production and band sound of the “Born To Run” album borrows as much from the Motown sound as Phil Specter’s style. The follow-up to “Kitty’s Back”, “Born To Run” kept Clarence and the audience busy. While the days of three and four hour concerts are behind them, the E Street Band still brings an amazing amount of energy to the stage. They played encores of “Dancing In The Dark” and the tour’s finale “American Land” before the house lights came on. The show lasted almost two and a half hours, and the crowd was thrilled through out tonight’s concert. The E Street Band should come here more often. If only…

Concert Review; George Clinton and P-Funk; Monday, February 25/08 Phoenix Theatre, Toronto

2008-03-08T09:00:00.000-08:00

On a good night, nobody else playing on any stage can top these guys. Their off nights are usually pretty impressive as well. Unfortunately, George Clinton and P-Funk (also known as Parliament and Funkadelic and both, as a compound word) almost never visit Toronto, the city they once called home. Those who wanted to party Monday night and those who wanted to get knocked down by some deep funk all got together and filled the Phoenix for a long, hot and sweaty night.

Tonight was a special treat for die-hard fans. The band tore into a searing version of “Red Hot Mama” which was followed by an extended oldies jam of “You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks”, “I’ll Bet You” and “I Got A Thing”.

The horn section has been reduced to a section of one, but Greg Thomas makes the most of his moments in the spotlight. His playing was devastating through the James Brown tribute led by one of several back up singers, Gene “Poo Poo Man” Anderson. This was worked into “Up For The Down Stroke” which kept the house moving with the music. Kendra, one of the newer singers in the band, led the charge through “Bounce To This” and Belita Woods sang a couple of songs as well. Michael Clip Payne is still the master of ceremonies, introducing members as they came and went from the stage.

Michael Kidd Funkadelic Hampton took charge for a typically intense guitar blow out on “Maggot Brain” which George Clinton dedicated to The Hawk’s Nest, Ronnie Hawkins’ long gone Yonge Street bar where the band used to play when they lived here. Drummer Rico was on duty for “Maggot Brain”, and he stayed with Hampton for the duration. Rico is a great addition to drummer Kash Waddy, no slouch himself. Lige Curry still plays bass and sticks mostly in the background. The man isn’t always easily seen, but he could be heard loud and clear all night long. While many funk bass players get carried away with slapping and plucking like Les Claypool, Lige fills the bottom of the band’s already dense live sound. He doesn’t get in the way of the rest of the band, like a lot of bass players who too often sound like frustrated guitarists playing funk.

The 1978 hit “One Nation Under A Groove” started off as a slow a cappella number before the band kicked in and brought out the usual arrangement. One thing that helps the band’s stage longevity is their willingness to try different styles of playing old songs. They are acutely aware that they are certain to remain a bigger concert draw than a music-retailing powerhouse.

P-Funk stayed on the late seventies tip for the rest of the set with the exception of George’s “Ludicrous” rap. “Knee Deep” featured all hands on deck, as Belita Woods came back out to sing “Sentimental Journey” before the guitars restarted their night-long duel. With Garry Shider taking over some of George Clinton’s stage directions, the band was still as funky as ever. George came and went from the stage while the band ran through “Bop Gun”, “Gamin’ On Ya” and “Undisco Kidd” and “Flashlight”. They wrapped it up with their regular “Atomic Dog” finale. This usually ends with a sizable portion of the crowd dancing on stage. Happily, most of the crowd stayed on the floor instead of crowding the stage. I wish George Clinton had faith in some of the band’s other material to pull out as their closing song blow-out. P-Funk were definitely having a good night, but “Atomic Dog” has become an almost anti-climactic ending for their shows; it’s one of their few songs which you know pretty much what to expect for the remainder of the gig. “Atomic Dog” sounded just fine, but if they segued into another tune, newbies and long time fans alike would certainly embrace the change. As it was, the concert left everyone in an exhausted, sweat-drenched state of funky euphoria. So few acts can still pull off three and a half hours of hard funk on stage, one can forget P-Funk are still such a hot act. Their last local appearances have been either three hours away at the Kee to Bala or the short set they delivered at the CNE a few years ago. Now that the Canadian dollar is hovering around par, one might hope there is now an incentive to bring up bands like P-Funk more often.

Pictures at; www.flickr.com/photos/emangrooving

Concert Review- New York Dolls; Monday, February 18, 2008- Phoenix Theatre, Toronto

2008-03-07T14:46:00.000-08:00

Cashing in on a well-past-one’s-prime reunion tour used to be generally derided by serious rock fans, and punk fans in particular. These days, the Spice Girls can fill the A.C.C. night after night on their reunion tour, the Eagles' first reunion tour still deserves credit for pushing concert ticket prices through the roof, and one band after another has reunited to great acclaim. The New York Dolls started out trading on youthful exuberance more than on musical dexterity. Their songs were not as catchy as the Rolling Stones', but they were certainly as sloppy as the Stones ever were on stage. They tempered their Stones-clones approach with harder edged songs and took effeminate flamboyance to a whole new level for straight guys. This earned the Dolls a place in music history, by inspiring the seventies punk bands who would have been reluctant to have cited contemporary arena rockers like the Stones as an influence. The New York Dolls finally fell apart around 1975, but David Johanson and Sylvain Sylvain played together in the David Johanson Band after the Dolls were done. One could argue this is a David Johanson Band reunion as much as a Dolls reunion, now that three fifths of the band have passed on. One could not be faulted for having lo expectations of the reunited New York Dolls, especially after a lackluster performance from some British festival was released to an underwhelming response.

Tonight was the second time around for the current incarnation of the Dolls. Their last c.d. has one of the best titles for a reunion effort, the self deprecating “One Day It Will Please Us Even To Remember This”. As it happens, this is one reunion effort that has proven to be more solid than most; and the Dolls’ career in this millennium will have lasted longer and surely have made more money than the original band ever did. After all these years David Johanson still looks and moves like Mick Jagger, but given the historically campy nature of his stage persona, this is not a bad thing.

There were two surprises waiting upon entering the Phoenix tonight; first, the New York Dolls packed the place on a Monday night, and second, David Johanson’s voice has defied the odds and improved since the band first got back together. The band put on a surprisingly good show, and sounded tighter and better rehearsed than the original band ever did.

Sure, guitarist Steve Conte looks and acts like Johnny Thunders, but he can sure play those riffs. Sylvain Sylvain’s guitar playing still has its bite, and took a few opportunities to cut loose and play some of the Stones’ “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking?” along with other chunky rock nuggets. The band tore through Dolls favourites with energy that must have been feeding back and forth between them and the contingent of hard core fans in attendance tonight. They still do a good version of Bo Diddley’s “Pills”, and the show gathered momentum as they played “Subway Train”, “Jet Boy” and a particularly loud rendition of “Trash”. The “first finale” of “Dance Like a Monkey” proved the Dolls can still come up with a decent song (preferable to the ballad sung for Johnny Thunders) and when they came back out, they ran through a raucous take of “Personality Crisis”. Who’d have thought the ’08 Dolls would be so damn good?

Concert Review; Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings- November 2007 Phoenix Theatre, Toronto

2008-03-05T15:06:00.000-08:00

A little after the fact, along with the next few reviews as I dig through my hard drive and upload some more...

Sharon Jones and her incredible back up band revisited Toronto back in October. They put on another excellent performance, steeped in the James Brown soul-funk tradition they have been reviving for most of this decade. Their live reputation has spread largely by word of mouth and the occasional t.v. appearance, but that was enough for Amy Winehouse to hire them for recordings and live dates. While the Dap Kings’ Lee’s Palace and Horseshoe concerts will surely be remembered as some of this city’s funkiest moments in recent years, Sharon Jones and company have ‘moved up’ (spatially, at least) to the Phoenix where they played to an enthusiastic house last time they were in town.

Adhering to the live Revue tradition, the band started things off with an instrumental, and Binky Griptite sang a slow groover before Sharon came on stage and kicked off her heels. Unfortunately, her microphone was turned off, and when the sound man did activate the microphone, it sounded terrible. Sharon made a joke about not being a rock singer, and asked him to change the sound. It took a while for the club to get their microphones working properly, but Sharon was good natured about it.

They performed a solid set which was heavy on new material and some of their earlier cuts, but for some reason they largely ignored their brilliant 2005 c.d. “Naturally”. The new material like the title track of “100 Days” is strong, but Sharon Jones and the band passed over much of their best-loved material tonight. There were certainly a few tried and true crowd pleasers like “How Do You Let A Good Man Down?” and “That’s the Way It’s Got To Be”. Altogether, it was an excellent performance, running almost two hours, including their standard encore set which usually includes a couple of James Brown nuggets. Tonight, we got “It’s A Man’s World” rolled into the encores, and Sharon delivered a blistering rendition. The audience put out a warm reception, and the band still seems to enjoy them selves in this city. Let’s hope Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings keep Toronto as a regular tour stop. If you like soul music, especially in the James Brown and Stax/ Memphis tradition, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings hold their own on stage and off, against many well loved and respected soul veterans.

Photos can be seen at- www.flickr.com/photos/emangrooving

Concert Review; Hugh Masekela and the Chissa All Stars- Friday, February 15, 2008; Phoenix Theatre, Toronto.

2008-03-05T14:51:00.000-08:00

This is a special tour for Hugh Masekela, a man who has played tiny clubs and packed stadiums from Canada to South Africa. For a rather small number of dates in the States and in Toronto and Ottawa (his only Canadian stops) Hugh has brought along a few artists from his recently revived Chisa label, now with an extra ‘s’, forming the Chissa All Stars. Hugh has probably done more for South African music than any other single person. His hybrid of Township and American jazz sounds, swaying deep into each territory (and beyond) through his fifty year career, has inspired audiences and musicians around the world. Hugh’s accompaniment this time included an excellent horn player who took on some intense solos, and a violin player who added a new element to the band’s sound. There were also a couple of guest singers; Busi Moholgo and Kwaito singer Corlea, who proved to be an audience favourite. Often described as African hip hop, a lot of Kwaito music has more in common with modern R&B than any rap I ever listen to.

The most stunning of Hugh’s guests tonight was a lady he introduces as his sister, Sibongile Kuhmalo. She performed with Hugh at Harbourfront about eight years ago, and her voice is as powerful as ever. Her operatic style brought the house down with the sheer strength and control of her voice. She even seemed to have caught some of her band mates off guard, tonight.

The Phoenix was packed tight, and this was created by somebody’s plan to place seats across most of the club’s floor space, leaving only the perimeter of the room for standing. While the band was well received from the start, nobody encroached upon the bare patch of floor in front of the stage until Hugh invited the ladies in the house to do so. It was still pleasing to see such a strong turn out, especially after Hugh’s sparsely attended concerts at the Comfort Zone some years ago.

Hugh alternated between singing songs about his homeland, where he grew up in a Township shebeen (an illegal bar which are common in South African Townships which pay off the police to stay in business), and simply playing trumpet or flugelhorn or leaving the stage to let various Chissa All Stars take over. While they sounded unmistakably African, the band features decidedly western instruments including a giant bass guitar and a set of timbales in the back, near the drum kit.

“Grazing In The Grass” turned into an extended jam that thrilled the crowd. I wish Hugh would perform “Riot”, his follow-up single, but the brass interplay through “Grazing In The Grass” was such a treat, that one can easily forgive Hugh for ignoring much of his late sixties output.

The African continent was well represented both on and off stage. As Hugh called out the home towns, countries and townships of each of the Chissa All Stars, some people in the crowd hollered back in recognition, every time.

Before announcing the encore “Bring Him Back Home”, Masekela’s 1987 tribute to Nelson Mandela, Hugh cited Toronto as a stronghold of anti-apartheid activism. Many in the audience sang along with this finale, and the crowd, at least those who weren’t still seated, danced one last time. Hugh Masekela doesn’t play here that often, making this night all the more special.

Pictures can be seen at; www.flickr.com/photos/emangrooving

Book Review- Iggy Pop; Open Up and Bleed, by Paul Trynka

2007-08-25T12:29:00.000-07:00

Warning; This is a rather lengthy book review. Paul Trynka wrote a lengthy, but well researched biography of Iggy Pop, a very influential performer. I had hoped to convince one of several music publications to run this review, but there were no takers. Ho hum. Anyhow, once upon a time, publications like Rolling Stone ran in-depth reviews of products associated with preferred artists. I don't want this review to sit in my hard drive forever, and the book is still rather current (summer 2007), so here is my review of Iggy Pop; Open Up and Bleed by Paul Trynka. I hope it isn't too long for a blog post.

Iggy Pop; Open Up and Bleed, By Paul Trynka. (Broadway Books)

Open Up and Bleed is the most extensive book written about the life of James Osterberg, better known as Iggy Pop. Previously, all fans had to go by were Iggy’s less than completely reliable 1983 autobiography I Need More and the excellent, but brief Per Nilsson book The Wild One. The English writer and Mojo Magazine editor Paul Trynka has, over the course of many years, managed to track down pretty much everyone from Iggy’s past who was willing to discuss their relationship with Iggy.

Indeed, the coverage of James’ Osterberg’s childhood is more thorough than that of his seventies concert tours. Former school mates and ex-girlfriends are consulted along with other people from Iggy’s Ann Arbor days.

Iggy Pop, or James Jewel Osterberg (named after his father James) was raised in a close knit, if uptight family where both parents worked and the preferred recreational father and son activity was golf. James, or Jim, as just about everybody in this book including its author calls Iggy when he’s in his “normal” persona, was an exceptional student as well as quite the social climber, while growing up. Interestingly, Iggy’s father was raised by a Jewish couple who adopted him, but Iggy would later make some rather anti-Semitic remarks on stage, as well as record most of his best music with a guitarist who had a Nazi fetish which included wearing SS outfits on stage. This incongruity is seldom addressed in Open Up and Bleed, but the author doesn’t gloss over or ignore Ron Asheton’s Nazi predilections, either. Trynka mentions Ron’s Nazi paraphernalia was still a fixture of life in his mother’s basement in Ann Arbor, where he was living in 1996 when the author stopped in for an interview.

One interesting observation that comes up early in the book is that being raised in a trailer park, Iggy’s stern school teacher father left no public misconceptions about his family’s social or economic status around affluent Ann Arbor. While trailer parks have long been associated with poverty and stereotyped as populated only by white trash, Jim lived in a solid community which was ultimately razed to make room for a highway.

Jim was apparently popular with the girls from a young age, which was presumably helped by his well built body and rather large penis which comes up, so to speak, through the course of the book. Suffice to say, even when he was a broke has-been, which happened several times in his remarkable career, Jim never had a problem finding girls, even if some of them were underage.

By the time The Stooges were formed with the thuggish Asheton brothers and the late Dave Alexander, playing Michigan clubs, their music was taken to be either avant-garde or merely bizarre. One early show was busted by the police who found a naked Iggy fronting a loud band. Thinking they had stumbled upon some illegal gay strip club, the cops had to promise not to beat up the naked singer before Iggy could be persuaded to emerge from hiding.

Various lingering debates among Iggy fans over such matters as how much input came from the respective producers of the three Stooges albums are discussed at some length in Open Up and Bleed. Over the years, Iggy and the Stooges have lamented the production on all of their records, especially the first and third releases. An early and long time champion of the band, Danny Fields (who got them signed to Elektra Records with the MC 5 in 1968) managed to get the well respected John Cale to produce the Stooges debut, and regardless of Jim’s comments about Cale and his input, it would seem the producer was indeed an active and effective producer for The Stooges. The 1973 classic record “Raw Power” was produced by David Bowie. He was later referred to as “that fucking carrot top” who destroyed a brilliant recording by Iggy and the rest of the band. The Stooges used to describe their mix as heavier, and without the yelping sound on the original record. Unfortunately for the Stooges, their preferred mixes have been well distributed among fans and sold by bootleggers over the years, and the record as produced by Bowie sounds undeniably livelier.

In any case, David Bowie would prove to be Jim Osterberg’s best friend for many years. David suggests they grew apart in the nineties after Jim was sick of discussing David Bowie in every single interview. Paul Trynka asserts the both Jim and David recorded much of their best work collaboratively over their time living and recording in Berlin in the mid-seventies, and he has a point. In fact, many long time fans probably feel the 1978 album “Lust For Life” is Iggy’s last great record.

David Bowie came to Jim’s aid several times before their retreat to Berlin. In 1972, Bowie got Jim signed to his MainMan management company and despite what became of MainMan, David was clearly looking out for Jim. He would repeat the favour a couple of years later, and even after their time in Berlin, the two would work together again in the late 1980’s.

In 1972, the original Stooges had blown apart. MainMan saw Iggy as a solo artist rather than the Stooges as a group. The afore-mentioned Danny Fields, is one of the book’s most engaging raconteurs. He described the Stooges highs and lows from that brief two year period when they looked to be poised for success. Iggy himself was a big hit with the trendy regulars at Max’s Kansas City during several visits to the New York City night spot, and Danny Fields had the presence of mind to have recorded a few of the New York Stooges performances for posterity. Whether these include the recently discovered 1970 recording from Ungano’s, a New York City club, is not mentioned, but Danny’s perspective is interesting.

Danny also introduced Jim to cocaine in Los Angeles during the “Fun House” recording sessions in 1969. Jim, or perhaps more accurately Iggy, would have problems with coke and other drugs for almost two decades. Nonetheless, this unfortunate introduction was bound to happen, as cocaine suddenly appeared all over Ann Arbor when Jim returned from L.A. Paul Trynka blames President Nixon’s 1969 crackdown on marijuana for the rise in cocaine use at this time. Apparently, Michigan stoners first had to content themselves with opium-laced hash from Canada, then cocaine made a splash, and heroin came on the scene. By the fall of 1970, the author described heroin as “flooding” Detroit. The Stooges, like many other Detroit musicians, ended up strung out on junk before long, and by 1971 they were often getting paid in cocaine or heroin. Danny Fields described a double bill featuring Alice Cooper and The Stooges, and each act was getting paid 1500$. Danny saw Alice Cooper’s band getting ready with their make up and wigs while he pulled a needle out of Iggy’s arm, squirting blood on his face. It was obvious at the moment, he said, that one of the two bands in the room was on the verge of stardom while the other was heading for the bathroom floor.

In 1971, Iggy and MC 5 guitarist Wayne Kramer even had a heroin selling business, which seemed to involve Iggy steering clients for Wayne who had a good heroin supplier in Detroit. The partnership was terminated at gunpoint by Kramer, who returned from an MC 5 tour to find no money or dope or Iggy- he had been hospitalized for an overdose.

By the time David Bowie visited Jim in rehab in 1975, the singer’s post-Stooges L.A. accommodations ran the gamut, from living off rich girls to sharing a garage floor with some male hustler to a forced stay in a mental hospital. The following year, he was invited to join Bowie’s “Station to Station” tour, and a year later the two would be recording the Iggy Pop “comeback” album, “The Idiot.”

There are a few topics which are covered all too briefly in Open Up and Bleed and Iggy’s 1970’s live career is one of them. While Paul Trynka talked to Michael Tippin, who recorded some of the Stooges Detroit concerts, including the notorious final show at Michigan Palace, the final Stooges tour is written off as a doomed waste of time. “There were no good shows” is one quote used, but there was surely more that could have been written about this period of Jim’s life. The 1977 tour is barely discussed at all; this was Jim’s triumphant come-back tour, the shows were often very well received, and the up and coming band Blondie shared the bill. Debbie Harry discusses this tour more in her book than Trynka’s scant coverage here. In fact, she describes Iggy and some of the Blondie members playing an after-show in Seattle, where Iggy sang Doors and MC 5 covers for a few lucky fans. There were also other events on this tour, like Jim jamming with old friends in Ann Arbor. Given he would later share a tour with Wayne Kramer, last seen robbing Jim for revenge in 1971, there must have been a few interesting tales left out of the book. The subsequent “Lust For Life” tour receives little coverage, and when the topic of Jim’s stage work does come up, the author suggests Jim’s constant touring from 1979-82 did more harm than good for his creativity and his career.

I have to disagree with this assessment, especially in the case of singers like Iggy Pop, who’s reputation comes from his live appearances more than his records. “New Values,” “Soldier” and “Party” are described as being mediocre to dreadful records, in descending order. Road-testing new material would have quite likely saved Jim the trouble of recording some of the turkeys he released in the early eighties. Iggy Pop was a steady live draw, and it was his concerts (and definitely not his new records) that kept his fans around during those years. Touring was also the only way for Jim to make any money; his records were expensive to record, and kept tanking. The expenses of studio bills and a cocaine habit took a lot of road work, and Jim was living night to night.

The author proposes “Lust For Life” should have been a strong seller, having made the English charts upon release, but at this time, in the summer of 1977, Elvis Presley died. This meant RCA Records virtually shelved all non-Elvis projects, and went into overdrive rush-releasing Elvis product through the rest of the year. Once the first pressing of “Lust For Life” sold out in the U.K. there were no subsequent pressings, and the l.p. disappeared from stores. This notion hasn’t been brought up before, but it would be interesting to see what other well-regarded records fell off the radar over the years due to circumstances that had nothing to do with the artist.

Paul Trynka gives the reader a stronger appreciation for Jim’s backing bands over the years. The Stooges, for all their perceived incompetence, were one of the most adventurous sounding groups to emerge from the musical hotbed of the Motor City, and later players included the famous Sales brothers (bass and guitar), Ivan Kral from Patti Smith’s band, Fred Sonic Smith, Carlos Alomar from David Bowie’s group, and many others. For all the debauchery and antics of an Iggy Pop performance, the band’s playing was usually tight, and surely helped Iggy Pop get repeat bookings when album sales might have suggested it wasn’t worth bringing Iggy Pop to one’s town.

After bottoming out again in 1983, Iggy pulled himself together and apparently quit cocaine again. Quitting such a destructive drug was obviously a sound move, but the influence cocaine on Jim’s studio work is unclear; if coke helped ruin albums like “Party”, suggests Trynka, then it must have helped during the equally coke-infused “Lust For Life” sessions, or it might not have had much effect on Jim’s recording sessions. The author also paraphrases the photographer Robert Matheu on the topic of being “clean”; “drug-free simply meant that it was not cool to share your cocaine anymore; instead, everyone snorted in private.”

Regardless, Jim’s relative good health was matched by David Bowie’s when they got together to record “Blah Blah Blah.” This was described by many fans and critics as the best 1980’s record that Bowie never made, and clearly his influence is all over the poppy album. “Blah Blah Blah” was the best selling Iggy Pop album in many years, and his cover of “Real Wild Child” was a hit in England, where Iggy records always sold better than they did Stateside. The record is described as a pristine, crisp recording, and the author seems to quite like the record. Many long-time fans certainly found it too slick and watered down, but they were waiting for him when Iggy hit the road again in 1986. This is cited as a particularly strong tour, but despite the longer sets, the energy level seemed to wane a little with all the synthesizers and sound effects that characterized these shows.

The follow-up “Instinct” record and tour is decried by Trynka as corporate rock, and lamented Iggy’s going on tour with a “hair band”, but only one “hairy” newcomer was on that tour. It was also hailed by a lot of fans as Iggy’s return to hard rock, after drifting dangerously far into Bowie-territory over the previous two years. Of course, the quality of Iggy Pop records and tours is as debatable as any esthetic argument, but almost everyone was surprised when the follow-up record, “Brick By Brick” became the best selling Iggy release to date. In fact, the nineties were Jim’s most prosperous decade ever; his old songs suddenly became hip, as one popular new artist after another insisted on singing Iggy’s praises. The smash hit movie “Trainspotting” featured a generous helping of Iggy music in the soundtrack, and “Lust For Life” enjoyed a second life as a hit song and a third life as a catchy jingle, minus the “liquor and drugs” reference (at least until the song is licensed by some private rehab-clinic). A string of increasingly predictable releases followed, but once again it was the live performances (as well as “Lust For Life” by this point) that kept Iggy in demand. One drawback with Iggy Pop recording sessions for many years now has been the steadfast desire for one record company after another to hook him up with a hot-shot producer-du-jour who was expected to get a commercial success out of the work. One would have thought this unreliable method would have lost favour by now, but perhaps the need for record company staff to cover themselves for slow sellers requires they only release the most commercial sounding music they can.

Trynka suggests Iggy’s constant touring was an attempt to make up for wasting so much time, blowing off potential work right through the early and mid-seventies. It could well be the case, as Iggy is hardly desperate for cash, as he was on those early eighties tours.

Finally, in 2003, twenty years after publishing his often petty autobiography, the impossible finally happened; the Stooges reunited. They played on some of Iggy’s c.d. “Skull Ring” and even performed a few dates together. The shows presumably went well, because The Stooges have been playing on and off ever since. Earlier this year they recorded a new c.d. together called “The Weirdness.” Open Up and Bleed is nothing if not up to date.

Overall, this huge undertaking has paid off in an enjoyable and informative read. Anyone interested in this book is presumably an Iggy fan already, but there Paul Trynka adds plenty to the already well known facts about Iggy Pop. There are a few points where the author might have dug a little deeper, most notably on Iggy Pop’s live career. There are plenty of bootlegs and other live recordings, as well as other people’s accounts of those shows. Similarly, the infamous Skydog label is barely discussed, and erroneously cited as beginning operations in 1973 with the release of a Flamin’ Groovies album. In fact, Skydog released a (terrible) performance of Jimi Hendrix with Jim Morrison in 1970, as well as the first Velvet Underground bootleg, using Brigid Polk’s Sony cassette recording that was later used for the “Live at Max’s Kansas City” set. There was a lot of controversy over the “Metallic K.O.” Skydog release in 1976; it was by all accounts a bootleg, and Iggy claimed the label’s owner Marc Zermati never had permission to release the set. “Metallic K.O.” must be one of the most influential rock albums of the seventies, and the controversy surrounding it surely contributed to its punk cache. In fact, a complete discography of The Stooges that included the bootleg and quasi-legitimate releases through the seventies and eighties would have been an excellent addition, and it has after all been almost twenty years since Per Nilsson’s book (with it’s extensive discography and listing of available recordings) book came out. More pictures would have been most welcome as well. That said, there is a decent collection of pictures featured, covering Jim’s entire life on and off stage. Open Up and Bleed is one of the more ambitious recent books about any rock star, and the research is complemented by some particularly well informed interviews.

Concert Review; Ernest Ranglin and Tabarruk; Sunday, August 5/07, Harbourfront, Toronto

2007-08-09T13:27:00.000-07:00

The guitar player Ernest Ranglin has been touring and recording for more than fifty years. By the mid 1950's, the accomplished musician had already played the Jamaican hotel circuit and toured the Caribbean. In 1958, he led his own five piece band when one Chris Blackwell caught them playing at the Half Moon Hotel in Montego Bay, and he was inspired to record the band for his new Island Records label. While there is an obvious jazz leaning in Ernest's guitar style in the mento days, Ranglin's subsequent recordings at Federal Records by Coxsone Dodd were recorded after the mento music style had waned and been replaced by American R&B. These instrumentals sounded a little like R&B records, but with the beat shifted, and some insist these Coxsone productions of Ernest Ranglin's group are the very first ska recordings. After a brief stint working as an in-house arranger for JBC radio, Ernest Ranglin was summoned by Chris Blackwell to London, England, where Ranglin quickly established himself at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club. With more commercial success in mind, Chris Blackwell had Ranglin and other musicians back Millie Small for "My Boy Lollipop" which was the first Jamaican single to break out as a world wide hit.
Despite his renowned status, Ranglin has recorded only sporadically since the early seventies, including 1970's "Boss Reggae" and "Sound and Power" in 1975. He toured as a member of Jimmy Cliff's band in the mid-seventies, and he didn't release his next record "In Search of the Lost Riddim" until 2000. That release saw Ranglin recording in Africa, and returning to the stage. His appearance at Hoarbourfront that summer precipitated several successful return appearances at Hugh's Room.
The sound check took place before noon, when hardly anyone was milling about Harbourfront. Everybody seemed to be in good spirits, and Ernest's local backing band, Tabrruk, have played enough shows with him to guarantee a comfortable fit between the guitarist and Tabarruk. Local singer and fellow reggae veteran Jay Douglas joined the show for a song, but most of the concert consisted of the smooth (but not slick) instrumentals that have defined Ranglin's sound in recent years. Tabarruk was augmented by the two-man horn section of Nick "Brownman" and Marcus Ali, who have provided a fantastic addition to plenty of local concerts by various artists around town over the years.
There was another nod to the roots of reggae with "54-46 (That's My Number)" but Ernest Ranglin's sophisticated live performance arrangements lend themselves to his earlier jazz influences, such as Wes Montgomery. This daytime show got the attention it deserved from the audience, for the most part. While Harbourfront's daytime concerts bring out a high ratio of audience members just passing through, there were enough fans of both Ernest Ranglin and jazzy guitar performances (the latter group surely converted to Ranglin fans by the end of the show) to ensure an enthusiastic and appreciative crowd. Ernest and Tabarruk played for an hour, and despite the brevity of this performance, everyone on stage and off seemed to have had a great time.

Barrington Levy; August 5/07 Harbourfront Centre, Toronto

2007-08-07T12:35:00.000-07:00

A rare local appearance from Barrington Levy seemed like the perfect end to Caribana/ Lord Simcoe weekend. The singer has been recording since his 1977 single "My Black Girl", and he was entertaining dancehall crowds since the age of 14. In the early 1980's, Barrington Levy and his producer Junjo Lawes made hit records and popular live appearances in England. Backed by the Channel One All Stars (subsequently renamed the Roots Radics), Barrington's records and performances did well enough, but in 1985 "Here I Come" gave Barrington and his new producer Jah Screw a major international reggae hit. They scored again with "Under Me Sensi", which has been resurrected more than once, and it is probably Levy's most enduring classic. Levy has also had success covering old songs himself, such as "Too Experienced".
Tonight, Barrington Levy and his reliably hot band played a pounding, solid set of old and new music occasionally punctuated by a few flashy guitar licks. He must have been pleased by the turn-out as the entire area was packed shoulder to shoulder. The heavy Jamaican presence presumably helped too, but Levy was clearly enjoying himself. Many people in the audience knew the words and sang along even to lesser known songs like the "Black Roses" and "Danger". Barrington tried a couple of new tracks out as well, and they too were well received.
Other songs like "Reggae Music" and "Dangerous Times" (about a sloppy philanderer) were stretched out by the band, but "Here I Come" got a particularly raucous response, as Barrington broke down to all the song's rude components for the delighted crowd. Levy broke into a capella singing and rhyming several times during the show, and even after 30 years in the business, he can easily belt out rapid-fire lyrics as well as the best rappers and dancehall singers. This was a high energy event that must have been one of Barrington's best North American audiences in a long time.
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No pictures, I was too far away, it was too dark outside, and shots of Barrington were too blurry.

Concert Review; Kathy Brown and Tabarruk, Sunday, August 5/07 Harbourfront Centre, Toronto

2007-08-07T12:34:00.000-07:00

As part of Harbourfront's "Island Soul" festival this weekend, we were treated to several free performances. The first two were afternoon shows, featuring one veteran of Jamaican music and one relative newcomer. Ernest Ranglin and Kathy Brown both gave excellent performances on this sunny afternoon. They both play music that is restrained and refined, which was fitting for the mellow atmosphere around Harbourfront. All of Sunday's live performances were broadcast live on CIUT 89.5 fm.
Kathy Brown is a pianist who had a remarkable back-up plan; she is also a medical doctor in her native Kingston, Jamaica. This afternoon was her Canadian debut, and she had the compatible and versatile Jason Wilson and Tabarruk backing her up. Long time Jamaican-Canadian drummer Everton "Pablo" Paul has been playing percussion regularly with Tabarruk, and the two drummers (Paul plays hand drums in this band) gel seamlessly for a steady rhythm section that did not interfere with Kathy Brown's piano playing.
Brown opened with a tune called "Rasta Journey", which combines elements from older melodies such as "Rastaman Chant" and "Rivers of Babylon". That was followed by a cover of "Get Up Stand Up" that was introduced as a Bob Marley song, but it was barely recognizable. It was a treat to hear a cover like the well worn "Get Up Stand Up" played with significantly different arrangements from the familiar Wailers versions. This was followed by an unusual take of "The Flintstones" theme. Kathy's eclecticism shifted to the appropriately titled "Latin Groove" which, Kathy said, was inspired by Cuban rhythms which used to be very popular in Jamaica. A cover of "Afro Blue" came next. While the familiar notes trickled out from the stage, Kathy and Tabarruk got to stretch out a little. Kathy described the track as "a song of communication" which seemed fitting. The last song was another instrumental cover of a Wailers hit, "Could You Be Loved?" which featured the pianist and Jason Wilson the organist trading off keyboard licks. Kathy Brown was very well received by the surprisingly attentive crowd. Daytime Harbourfront audiences are often a finicky bunch, composed of as many tourists out for a stroll as there are fans of the artist performing. Holding this audiences attention was no small task, but Kathy Brown's piano playing provided a rare moment of an audience listening closely to a relatively unknown musician.
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Pictures at www.flickr.com/pictures/emangrooving

Various Comedians; Just For Laughs Festival, July 27/07 Massey Hall, Toronto

2007-08-07T12:32:00.000-07:00

The Just For Laughs inaugural run in our city included free outdoor shows and other events including a couple of promising bills at Massey Hall for Friday and Saturday. When Lewis Black was added to the M.C. slot as well as his scheduled performance for Friday's show, it looked like an amusing night was coming up. Richard Lewis, a veteran comic and more recently showing up on the television series "Curb Your Enthusiasm" was also scheduled to perform, along with some lesser known stand-up comedians.
There was a brief introduction and the band at the back of the stage played a few bars from various tunes, which they would do between the other artists' sets. Lewis Black delivered two hilarious monologues which the audience loved. During his opening set, Black apologized for George Bush and launched into a classic Black style tirade about a trip to Salt Lake City, Mormons, a trip to a local Jesus museum, complete with a 14 foot high pop-up Jesus model, before he continued to suggest those who can't get to Salt Lake City check out Las Vegas on Christmas Eve. Despite being Jewish, Black explained, he knew there must be something wrong with a casino's giant games rooms, packed with angry slot machine gamblers, cursing to a background of Christmas carols. Lewis Black left the stage to uproarious applause, promising to come back later.
Bob Marley and Ardal O'Hanlon were the next two artists. The Irish O'Hanlon described Irish immigration as a recent reversal to the historic emigration that defined the Emerald Isle, but neither comic was stunningly funny. An MTV host delivered a few jokes as well, with some recurring gag about her wet vagina, but the next truly funny monologue came from Richard Lewis.
Lewis came out dressed in black, with his hair slicked back, "looking like Captain Kirk's Rabbi", because, he explained, he is now sixty years old and "doesn't give a fuck" - about anything. His balls hang below his penis, his parents are now dead and therefore he now forgives them, he stopped caring about seeing a shrink, because he doesn't give a fuck anymore. On a happier note, he said he felt honoured to share the Massey Hall stage with Neil Young (albeit 36 years apart), which was an honour compared to his 1977 debut at the O'Keefe Centre opening for Sonny and Cher. Richard Lewis described Bill Clinton as a possible sex addict, but at least he didn't speak English as a second language. Given how many comics quit drugs and alcohol, as Richard Lewis did, and emerge from the clean-up palpably less funny, Richard Lewis must have been pleased with his well received set.
Lewis Black returned for another monologue which went over as well as his earlier appearance. He talked about health care briefly before asking why old stem cell samples, which used to be tossed out unceremoniously, are now reclassified as sacred babies-in-waiting. Black then recalled how America has had illegal immigrants for as long as anyone can remember, yet suddenly, in 2007, it became a new hot-button issue, complete with a resulting border fence built, at least in part (and Black did not make this up), by labourers working illegally in the United States.
Jeremy Hotz is an African-born, Canadian-raised, and America-residing comedian. He made a few funny observations, comparing integration in Canada, South Africa, and in the United States, citing the de facto segregation that exists across the States. Hotz said he was awaiting a green Card, which would define him as an "African American" although he is white and grew up in Canada.
For much of the audience, the surprise of the evening must have been the night's final act, Filipino-American Jo Joy. His act bounced between discussing Asians in North America and comparing male and female organs. Koy called Chinese people "the rudest Asian people" and imitated an impatient waiter in a Chinese restaurant. He then described the vagina as a loving, intricate and detailed work of art from God, while the penis must have been an afterthought. Jo then said His afterthought, the penis, looks awful; "like a drunk falling out of the back of a car". That joke alone got a round of applause, but most of Koy's act was strong enough to keep the crowd laughing. If Lewis Black and Richard Lewis were the dependable comedic draws for this evening, Jo Koy was definitely the biggest surprise. He greeted a few fans outside Massey Hall after the show, (as did Lewis Black) and many outside seemed to agree he was one of the funniest artists of the evening.
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Lewis Black picture can be seen at www.flickr.com/photos/emangrooving.

Concert Review; John Fogerty; Friday July 20/07, Molson Ampitheatre, Toronto

2007-07-25T11:42:00.000-07:00

John Fogerty has probably visited Toronto more often in the last 10 years than he did in the 25-odd years since Creedence Clearwater Revival folded. The leader of that legendary band wrote and recorded almost as many hits as the Rolling Stones, and all within a few frantic years starting with the band’s 1968 self-titled debut. For almost two decades, he refused to perform C.C.R. songs in public, until Bob Dylan met John Fogerty, and joked that the world might only remember “Proud Mary” as an Ike & Tina Turner song. Since that legendary club meeting and live jam in 1987, John Fogerty, the writer and voice of C.C.R. has played many of his hits in concert. The man can still sing very well, and his band is as good as Creedence ever was. Like C.C.R, they still rarely jam or improvise on stage, preferring to play the songs straight. Fogerty’s band works as a tight, well rehearsed live juke box, and the hits pour out nightly.

John Fogerty kicked off with “Travellin’ Band”, postponing his standard opener, “Born On The Bayou” until later on. He played the odd vintage surprise, such as “Ramble Tamble” from the first Creedence record, but Fogerty mostly stuck to a rather conservative set list. There were a few “Centerfield” cuts, along with the well received “Déjà vu (All Over Again)” from 2004, during which the video screen displayed the coffins of American soldiers returning from Iraq.

That was followed by “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”, one of the few songs that featured some stretching out among band members, although even this rendition virtually matched the 1969 extended Creedence version. The guitar playing was split between John and Billy Burnette, while drummer Kenny Aronoff held the dueling guitars together.

John introduced the next song, a new one from his forthcoming release, and dedicated it to his daughter. The new song “Don’t You Wish It Was True?” is classic Fogerty- irresistibly catchy and easy to remember. It was played on the P.A. system at the end of the night for good measure.

From here, the band launched into the old C.C.R. finale “Keep On Chooglin’”. This was a surprisingly short version too, but it did give the band one more chance to show off just a little bit. Tonight’s version was surprisingly short, but the band was perhaps wary of the 11 p.m. curfew in effect at the Ampitheatre.

The cowbell in the follow-up could only have been the start of “Down On The Corner”. These were followed by a couple of songs from the 1986 record “Centerfield”- the title track, “Rock and Roll Girls”, and “The Old Man Down the Road”.

On the 2004 “Vote For Change” tour, “Fortunate Son” was practically dedicated to George W. Bush. That political slant was replaced tonight by a lot of “God Bless You’s” between songs, but it was still a treat to hear John sing that particular song. In fact, it sounded more energetic than the brief finale of “Bad Moon Rising” and “Proud Mary”. John Fogerty’s current touring band naturally consists of well seasoned players, and one wonders if John is needlessly resisting any urge to change some of the live arrangements of the songs they perform. Surely he has heard the Ohio Players’ deep, slow, thick-as-molasses funky version of “Proud Mary” or Gene Harris’ gospelized version of “Green River”? Still, Fogerty’s voice and playing have survived the last few decades largely intact, and that alone is no small feat.

Mini Review; The Black Lips, Lee's Palace, Toronto, Spring 2007

2007-07-18T15:25:00.001-07:00

In the wake of so many pretty-boy punk bands hyped by the music industry in an ever increasingly desperate attempt to remain current, I was prepared to dislike this Atlanta-based group. Instead, the Black Lips were surprisingly energetic, and used their sheer nerve to overcome obvious comparisons to fellow hard rocking Stooges disciples like Thee Hypnotics. In fact, they showed a few of us aging cynics that there are bands still eager to rock hard, without pretending to be hardened street punks.
The Black Lips' high energy music is complemented by raucous performances, although the antics that are becoming part of their reputation generally took a back seat to the music tonight. There were occasional moments of gratuitous silliness, which was only mildly distasteful, but thankfully the band seemed more intent on getting across with their music instead of the odd bit of spitting or drooling. With respect to stage antics like this- either do something crazy or don't, but mere drooling between verses is hardly shocking or necessary at a show that is rocking in it's own right; the band didn't seem particularly inebriated and the audience was with them from the first song. Altogether, the Black Lips put on a pretty hot set at Lee's Palace, although in retrospect their slot as the opening act perhaps ought to have been reversed.

Note; I slapped this quick review together, saved it with notes on a different topic altogether, and came across it while looking for something else entirely. Pictures of this entertaining night are at www.flickr.com/photos/emangrooving in the 'Live Pics' set.

Concert Review; Dennis Coffey, Saturday July 14/07, Harbourfront, Toronto and the Orbit Room (with The A Team)

2007-07-18T15:24:00.001-07:00

After playing regularly for years around Detroit, the ex-Motown session guitarist Dennis Coffey has played a few rare of out-of-town shows. He rocked the South By South West festival in Austin earlier this year, and at long last a Toronto date was arranged for a show at Harbourfront.
It was a fine Saturday evening to enjoy Harbourfront, but once again the drawback to free concerts here is the number of curious bystanders who often come and go, with cell phones and loud children in full effect. Luckily, Dennis Coffey seemed to have attracted a more pensive element, because the crowd was paying attention to the music. One other drawback is the strict deadline imposed by the city, requiring the last notes at outdoor concerts be played by 11 p.m. sharp. As an opening act, Dennis Coffey had only an hour to show Torontonians what we've been missing, and he made the most of it. Dennis was augmented by a few local musicians, recruited by a local bass player introduced only as "Adrian". Together, they performed about a half dozen instrumental tunes.
The audience was able to get into the groove right away with the infectious opening number, "It's Your Thing". Dennis' cover of this song is on his first solo record, "Hair and Thangs". There was virtually no talking between songs, save for a couple of "Thank You's" for the audience and the backing band, who did an excellent job.
After a meandering instrumental, Dennis Coffey returned to familiar ground, when he played "Just My Imagination". For all the intense sounding guitar effects he still uses, Dennis Coffey led the band with a surprisingly subdued sound. The resulting guitar sound is almost reminiscent of Eric Clapton with Derek and the Dominoes, when he was still willing to cut loose, but not in his Cream style, with the guitar as loud as possible.
Dennis introduced his next number, the funk/ blaxploitation classic "Black Belt Jones". While replicating the distorted, effects laden vocals on this song would be next to impossible on stage, Dennis substituted that motif with a tight jam, bouncing between his guitar and the Moog and Fender Rhodes keyboard flourishes. Not surprisingly, the set's closer was Dennis' biggest solo hit, "Scorpio", from the 1971 Detroit Guitar Band record "Evolution". This track was both a certified dance floor smash back in the proverbial day, and it also joined a select few instrumentals like "Apache" in creating the base for the beginnings of hip hop. While samples of music from James Brown and P-Funk eclipsed "Scorpio", this instrumental was an integral part of the seventies hip hop parties that took off in the Bronx before taking over the world. Tonight's version was in the Dennis' current jazz-funk groove, rather than the hard funk that characterized much of those Detroit Guitar Band records. Dennis Coffey played as well as ever, before he thanked the crowd, and "Adrian", who did a commendable job in assembling the back up band. Adrian also got an opportunity to demonstrate his own considerable capabilities during this final number. Altogether, this was a damn fine and overdue debut from one of Detroit's finest session guitarists.
"Scorpio" wrapped up his Harbourfront set, but Dennis wasn't finished playing to Toronto funk fans; word quickly spread Dennis would likely drop in at the Orbit Room later on this Saturday night.

Dennis Coffey and The A Team; Saturday July 14/07 Orbit Room, Toronto.

This was a huge treat, and a surprise until word started getting around at Harbourfront that Dennis was ready to play some more. Local band The A- Team was the scheduled act, but they were lucky to have been playing this popular little spot on the same night Dennis Coffey was in town, and dropped in with his new bride (they married last weekend) and a couple of friends. The A Team's guitar player, as capable as anyone else in this tight band, was gracious enough to lend Dennis his guitar when Dennis broke a string.

After the band played a few eighties R&B covers, Dennis got up on stage while they were playing Chuck Brown's classic "Bustin' Loose". Dennis certainly did bust loose in here, bringing the funk on harder than he did earlier for the Harbourfront audience earlier this evening. A packed, sweaty club should be funkier than an outdoor stage, in front of a seated audience, in daylight. Sure enough, Dennis didn't disappoint. He went through an array of his effects, throwing all manner of licks, notes and riffs at the appreciative crowd. The extended jam morphed into Terrence Trent D'Arby's eighties pop hit "Wishing Well", and even that soft song rocked with Dennis' help. While he was only on stage for two songs by definition, the protracted demonstration of guitar-led funkiness that Dennis laid out for us was as gratifying as his earlier set. The notion of playing one show, and going to jam later at another venue has all but died out in recent years, so let's also thank Dennis Coffey for reminding us of that grand tradition as well.

Pictures of both concerts can be seen at www.flickr.com/photos/emangrooving.

Concert Review: Various Artists- Afrofest, July 7-8, Queen's Park, Toronto

2007-07-18T15:23:00.001-07:00

How appropriate that Toronto's first big, free, summer music party comes right after Dominion Day. There are always plenty of events competing for folks' attention, from the re-named Steelback Indie to the official Yonge Street party, but that is what makes Afrofest one of the city's best loved music events among Africans and the sonically adventurous, and one of Toronto's best kept secrets, simultaneously.
For the nineteenth year, Music Africa have once again excelled in booking a wide array of talent featuring African music (with a dash of samba on Saturday) from the continent and more locally sourced grooves. There were no less than three stages set up at Queen's Park, including one for hand drummers looking to do their thing with like minded people. There was also the "Village" full of food and souvenir vendors, selling everything from incense to dvd's to large exotic insects preserved as paperweights. This is also one of the few truly all-ages events in this city, where all ages usually means "all" of those years from 16 to 18, or else family events geared more for little children than anyone else. Afrofests brings out families, singles, couples, and people of all ages and colours seeking a good time. Once again, the entire event was broadcast live on CIUT 89.5 FM (http://www.ciut.fm/ online), complete with between-set interviews with some of the artists.
Saturday saw a few local acts demonstrate their dancing and drumming, and local act Samba Squad fit right in despite their obvious Brazilian-inspired sound. Cameroonian singer Nya Soleil led his band through an upbeat set of melodic, almost gentle African grooves with his band. Unfortunately, so few people in the audience spoke French, so basic stage chatter like introducing the band and inviting the audience to sing along were largely lost on the crowd. HAJAMadagascar and The Groovy People followed Nya Soleil, playing even more upbeat music for the growing mass of spectators. Dancing in the crowd picked up during HAJAMadagascar's set, creating what the Afrofest Official Guide describes as "a real riba satrana"- or dust ball, referring to the dust that kicks kicked by dancers on the ground. HAJAMadagascar (sic) is a musicologist and multi-instrumentalist who led his band The Groovy People through different genres of Malagasy music. This was yet another excellent Canadian debut for an African artist performing at this festival. It is also likely one of the few places in North America where one can expect a decent turn-out of people from the home countries of most Afrofest performers, from Madagascar to Morocco. Saturday night's final performance ended at 11 p.m. as required by law, but not before the Mali-Quebec collaboration Abdoulaye Diabate and Source played a rousing set that kept everyone on their feet. Their Afro-fusion sound was augmented by Japanese keyboardist Emi Yabuno, and the band was led by Abdoulaye Diabate and Quebecois musician Sylvain Leroux, who stood side by side for most of the performance.
Sunday started at a leisurely pace, with a dance performance getting things underway. Pekoce, a keyboard player and M.C. from the Democratic Republic of Congo went over particularly well with the younger members of the audience. Isaac Akrong & African Dance Ensemble followed, featuring a percussion section backing a dance, which was choreographed by musicologist Isaac Akrong for Music Africa to celebrate fifty years of Independence in Ghana. This ensemble included a large, cubic, drum, which one could hit from the side, or straddle while playing the front surface. In a weekend packed with exotic drums, this one stood out in particular.
Maroc'N'Real followed with Hassan El Hadi, who is one of Morrocco's best loved oude players. Singer Sabah Lachgar's vocals maintained a North African feel to the music, which was complemented by flute playing from Marie Saintonge. Their music was enjoyed, but the audience's excitement rose palpably between sets, with the anticipated arrival of the Cape Verde singer, Lura.
It was a mere coincidence that Brazilian rhythms would return for a second day at Afrofest, but Lura's Bossa Nova sound was very enthusiastically received. Despite the sudden rain, Lura danced around the stage and seemed to enjoy herself. Her songs, in Portuguese, are apparently in the Cape Verde Batuku style that describes local issues, but like calypso and reggae, one can talk politics and keep the groove flowing, as Lura demonstrated.
Samba Mapangala and Orchestra Virunga closed Afrofest with another drum-heavy set that inspired the crowd to keep on dancing despite the long day. The Congolese born Samba Mapangala got his musical start in Uganda and later in Nairobi, Kenya. With his group Orchestra Virunga, Samba recorded a number of African hits through the 1980's. He has since relocated to Maryland, but he brought several Virunga alumni for this appearance. Queen's Park was by now filled with eager fans dancing away, but the show still ended on time.
Next year, Afrofest turns twenty. It has slowly but steadily grown into one of the most musically reliable events of the season, despite bringing in acts which few people outside the various African and World Music communities have even heard of. This is a challenge which is only compounded by recruiting acts which would normally be prohibitively expensive for promoters to bring to Toronto. Adventurous music fans who missed Afrofest this year should keep this festival in mind for 2008.
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Pictures of Afrofest are posted at www.flickr.com/photos/emangrooving, check under the "Live Shots" set.

Concert Review; Antibalas; Friday, June 29, 2007, Opera House, Toronto.

2007-07-18T15:20:00.000-07:00

Bands that rise slowly and steadily are few and far between these days. It seems more efficient to hype somebody into large venues, and hope to get at least one or two high-earning tours out of them before a new flavour hits the scene. Antibalas went from playing to a handful of us at their Lee’s Palace debut, to packing the Horseshoe, and this time they played to a rather full Opera House. They have worked hard on the road to present the tight Afrobeat Orchestra which has earned a dedicated following. Their c.d.’s might not be monster sellers, but their presence in your town is as safe a bet as any for a stellar live performance.

Tonight, Martin Perna led the band through one longer set rather than the two shorter sets they used to spring on unsuspecting audiences. Despite cutting their playing time, their performances are so good that nobody leaves an Antibalas show frustrated at the end of the night.

As the band’s catalogue has grown, they have dropped the Fela covers in favour of their own songs. These have grown beyond Afrobeat to include the jazzier sounds on their current “Security” c.d. and the Latin jams they now bust into, along with those spacey flourishes from organist Victor Axelrod.

They played songs like “Filibuster XXX” from the new disc, and older Afrobeat jams from the band’s early days after their brief incarnation as The Daktaris. Singer Amayo still sings almost all the songs, filling in with the percussionists during the instrumental passages. Everyone keeps busy on Antibalas’ stage, which is no small feat when dealing with thirteen odd performers, including a full horn section. This time out, band leader Martin Perna stepped further away from the spotlight while some of the other members cut loose and take turns fronting the band. Jordan McLean vamped and played trumpet and flugelhorn for an extend jam, while Amayo was supporting the percussion section.

The audience seems to recognize more of the band’s self-penned tracks, particularly songs with a catchy chorus, such as “Government Magic” from a 2005 release of the same title. The final encore tonight, the irresistible “Che Che Cole” also comes from this release, but the vocals for the live version come from guitarist Marcos J. Garcia.

The Fela influence can never leave a band dedicated to the genre he pioneered, but Antibalas have diversified their sound, especially in the last few years, to go beyond that of Afrobeat revivalists. Stateside, they might be passing that torch to fellow Americans such as the Chicago Afrobeat Project and Ann Arbor’s Nomo. Antibalas consistently put out intense, musical energy through their concerts, and tonight was no exception. The added bonus is the band, while moving in new directions, is not abandoning their cherished Afrobeat sound, but adding to it. If the new “Security” c.d. sounds a little subdued, fear not; Antibalas’ concerts are the same high-energy events they always were.

Pictures are at www.flickr.com/photos/emangrooving.

Brian Auger & Oblivion Express; C.D. Review; Looking In The Eye Of The World (Fuel 2000)

2007-07-18T15:11:00.000-07:00

This latest offering from the English Hammond B3 King finds him on familiar ground. Brian Auger’s current incarnation of Oblivion Express features his daughter Savannah and his son Karma on vocals and drums respectively. There are a few different bass players Brian recruits, for touring, but Dan Lutz is handling bass duties on "Looking In The Eye Of The World". Featuring thirteen tracks and clocking at just over 70 minutes, this is a rather ambitious release.

The disc opens with the short, mood setting “Happy Overture”. The keyboards are funky, while the entire band remains in a subdued groove.

Savannah displays a versatile singing through the disc, from smooth cooing of “Butterfly” to the raspier, sensual approach which she uses effectively on a cover of Marvin Gaye’s “Trouble Man”.

Much of the disc veers between jazzy funk and funky jazz, as has been Brian Auger’s style for many years. The tight arrangements sometimes sound reminiscent of the Kudu record label’s seventies output. Brian’s organ playing is still funky, and a lot of the riffs he casually drops over the course of "Looking In The Eye Of The World" would work well as hip hop samples.

“Meet Mr. Eddie” features Brian cutting loose on another keyboard excursion, using various effects while he maintains his steady Hammond B3 groove.

Savannah sings the often covered “Light My Fire” in a sultry, soulful vein which is complemented buy the restrained but still swinging arrangement. “Season of the Witch”, a song Brian covered in the late sixties with the singer Julie Driscoll, features Brian and the band playing the song somewhat differently while his daughter handles the vocals. It is a fine rendition, but it doesn’t render the Julie Driscoll version obsolete.

Bass player Dan Lutz gets to strut, in measured doses, on cuts like “The Night Town” and particularly on a track called simply “Soundcheck”. It has the feel of a live jam, but it certainly doesn’t sound like any mere sound check. The bass playing and drumming are tightly intertwined through much of this disc, which was produced by Brian Auger’s son and drummer Karma.

Despite the strong playing throughout "Looking In The Eye Of The World", it seems to run a little longer than necessary. If the disc was edited down to just under an hour, it would make a livelier c.d. and a fine record as well. Given how many of Brian’s younger fans are actually interested in vinyl records, this market deserves to be considered. Nonetheless, "Looking In The Eye Of The World" is a fine c.d. which works well as low intensity party music, or as something to play for a subdued mood.

Concert Review; Brian Auger & Oblivion Express at Healey's Roadhouse, Wednesday June 6, 2007

2007-07-18T15:06:00.000-07:00

For people alive at the time, or those of us who scraped a little deeper into sixties British blues-rock than the Rolling Stones and the Animals, there were a few figures from the dawn of British blues who ran musical training camps for musicians who later rose to the top of the English music scene. John Mayall saw Eric Clapton, Peter Green and Mick Taylor come and go on to join huge acts; Brian Auger is another English band leader who has helped start the careers of singers like Julie Driscoll, and no less than two drummers who ended up joining seventies chart-toppers The Average White Band. In later years, he toured with fellow English soul-man Eric Burdon. They appeared at the enormous German Rockpalast Festival, and recorded a live c.d. about a decade later. So far in this millennium, Brian Auger has been touring and recording with his drummer and son Karma (to whom, along with his wife Ella, the 1975 album “Closer To It” is dedicated) and his daughter Savannah, who sings and sways to the music. They are also on Brian’s new c.d. “Looking In The Eye of The World” (Fuel 2000 label). Both would have a few opportunities to prove themselves on stage tonight, although the sound system had Savannah’s voice turned up too high for this medium sized room.

This rather under-attended show at Healey’s Roadhouse (a more elegant milieu than the former Healey’s at Queen and Bathurst) started early (the first set was finished by about 10:30), but late-comers could at least enjoy the second set. During the break, Brian Auger graciously signed a stream of autographs, and talked to everyone who had gathered around him. There were also c.d.’s and DVD’s for sale, including one of a live performance from 2005, which presented fans with something to have autographed.

The second set kicked off with Brian introducing “Whenever You’re Ready,” the opening cut from the “Closer To It” album, which is presumably one of Brian’s favourites as he regularly plays material from it. This steadily building funk jam allowed Brian to stretch out a little on the keyboards. His classic Hammond B-3 organ sound in full force, it was a treat to hear keyboard improvising that didn’t drown itself in a sea of synthesizers.

Bass player Ernest Tibbs, well regarded in his own right, was also given a chance to let loose during some passages. Drum solos by Karma Auger were kept to a minimum, as the drummer concentrated on providing the rock steady pounding deserved by Tibbs and Auger Sr. The set concluded with a slow burning cover of “Light My Fire”. The Oblivion Express treatment is paced almost like a slower rendition of Jackie Wilson’s version of this oft-covered hit, but Savannah’s sultry vocal delivery gives the song a sense of longing that few cover versions have effectively captured over the years. After a brief good-bye and walk-off, Brian Auger and Oblivion Express returned one more time for an encore of “Compared To What?” (also on the “Closer To It” record) which featured Savannah sending her voice soaring across the room, while she led the bad through the Eugene McDaniels’ soul-protest classic. While the house sound was less than stellar, Savannah’s powerful but still controlled voice was able to work with the poor mix. The concert was well received by the modest sized, older crowd. Toronto’s finicky concert-goers seemed to have stayed at home tonight, which is unfortunate because opportunities to catch live funky music in this city are already too few and far between.

NOTE; This review first appeared in Live Music Report.

Concert Review; Brian Auger & Oblivion Express; Wednesday June 6/07, Healey's Roadhouse, Toronto

2007-06-08T12:23:00.000-07:00

Bass player Ernest Tibbs, well regarded in his own right, was also given a chance to cut loose during some passages. Drum solos by Karma Auger were kept to a minimum, as the drummer concentrated on providing the rock steady pounding required by Tibbs and Auger Sr. The set concluded with a slow burning cover of “Light My Fire”. The Oblivion Express treatment is paced almost like a slower rendition of Jackie Wilson’s version of this oft-covered hit, but Savannah’s sultry vocal delivery gives the song a sense of longing that few cover versions have effectively captured over the years. After a brief good-bye and walk-off, Brian Auger and Oblivion Express returned one more time for an encore of “Compared To What?” (also on the “Closer To It” record) which featured Savannah sending her voice soaring across the room, while she led the bad through the Eugene McDaniels’ soul-protest classic. While the house sound was less than stellar, Savannah’s powerful but still controlled voice was able to work with the poor mix. The concert was well received by the modest sized, older crowd. Toronto’s finicky concert-goers seemed to have stayed at home tonight, which is unfortunate because opportunities to catch live funky music in this city are already too few and far between.

C.D. Review; Edip Akbayram - Self-titled compilation (Shadoks)

2007-03-23T13:25:00.000-07:00

Little known outside his native Turkey until fairly recently, Edip Akbayram's early recordings are only now being released on c.d. for his growing international audience. The music on this double c.d. is culled from vinyl; old singles, and Edip's first two albums with the Turkish band Dostlar. Since the music is licensed from Edip, there were presumably no old studio master tapes available to use in producing this collection. There is a booklet with pictures and notes about this little known music. After winning a song contest in Turkey in 1972, Edip recorded a few singles and albums with the group Dostlar, who play an intriguing, mix of indigenous sounding Turkish music with western popular music trends, especially psychedelic and progressive rock. Their 1974 debut album was itself a collection of previously released singles, and one can hear the psychedelic influences throughout these songs. The transition from psych to prog-rock seems to have been a more gradual process in Turkey than it was in the west, where psychedelia had all but died out by the time Edip and Dostlar started recording in 1972. The movement apparently had a greater impact in Turkey than previously recognized, as demonstrated by several exciting vintage Turkish psychedelia collections released over the last couple of years.
This collection features sweeping vocals from Edip, and wafting, complex music arrangements. The saz, a Turkish variation of a lute (lest comparing to a Bouzouki be taken as a provocation!), is featured prominently through out this collection. Some songs have a more western sound than others, but the Anatolian sensibility is always present, even on songs that sound like something Led Zeppelin could only have wished to have recorded, instead of their own clumsy attempts to fuse Western and Eastern music. Perhaps it is just as well that Jimmy Page never got to hear "Yakar Inceden Inceden", or it would surely have been recorded by his band, complete with Robert Plant's screeching instead of Akbayram's soaring, but controlled vocals.
Edip Akbayram was apparently known for his socially conscious lyrics, and one of his hits in Turkey is "Kolum Nerden Aldin Zinciri", a powerful, driving song about a prison.
There are smatterings of organ throughout the two discs, used sparingly but to great effect on some songs, in particular "Kas, Larin Karasina".
The murky, brooding sound of "Mehmet Emmi" benefits from a haunted house style organ that complements the other keyboard effects on this track.
"Arabam Kaldi Yolda" starts off on a jazz-funk tip, a la C.T.I. Records, before the vocals come in and remind the listener this music isn't from around here. The C.T.I sound continues with the keyboard playing on "Haberin Varmi", but Edip Akbayram and Dostlar use more strings than keyboards on this double disc. Guitars are as prevalent as the saz or any other sound. The singing is robust, right to the end of the plaintive sounding final cut, "Birak Beni".
This music is so approachable, to open minded fans of rock and other music styles, it is surprising Edip Akbayram stayed under the radar of non-Turkish music fans for so long. Indeed, many of these songs, if sung in English, wouldn't have sounded out of place on some long lost vintage English prog record.

Concert Review: Jay Douglas, Mighty Pope and Others; From Jamaica To Toronto- Second Reunion- Friday March 2/07, Lee's Palace, Toronto

2007-03-21T09:18:00.000-07:00

Various Artists; From Jamaica to Toronto Reunion, Friday March 2, Lee’s Palace

Last summer saw the release of a delightful compilation of domestic soul and reggae recorded in Toronto by Jamaican ex-patriots. “From Jamaica To Toronto”, compiled by Vancouver’s D.J. Sipreano was an ambitious labour of love uncovering an all-but-forgotten segment of the early Canadian music scene. The c.d. release was followed by a grand reunion performance of many of the artists featured on the disc backed by many of the original musicians augmented by talented locals such as Jason Wilson and the Ali brothers. The concert was broadcast live on CIUT 89.5 fm and well received by people on and off the air.

The success of this project has inspired an ongoing follow-up, including such hopeful projects as a tour later this year and a documentary about the people involved with the music featured on “From Jamaica To Toronto”.

Tonight’s event was covered widely this week, but the weather seemed like a more powerful force than the local media, and the turn-out wasn’t as large as it surely would have been on a decent night. Regardless, there were many serious fans in the house who weren’t deterred by the snow storm, and the CBC also showed up to document the evening for some unspecified future use.

The backing band was smaller than last summer’s extravaganza, and there were fewer singers as well. Noel Ellis wasn’t around tonight even though Sipreano and the people at the Light In The Attic label reissued his 1983 album on c.d. at the end of last summer.

Bob and Wisdom pulled out just before the event (they were on the bill as of Thursday) and certain musicians were conspicuously absent, including Lloyd Delpratt. The keyboard player’s sublime instrumental “Together” was a highlight on the c.d. and at last summer’s Harbourfront reunion. Bernie Pitters handled the keyboards instead, along with a second keyboard which was shared by other musicians. The first singer ran through a couple of soulful reggae staples including Dennis Brown’s classic “If I Had The World”. Jason Wilson played guitar for a change (he usually plays keyboards), Everton Paul was on drums, and the bass player kept a rather low profile, remaining near the back of the stage near Bernie Pitters.

Glen Ricketts was the next singer up. He wasn’t on the bill originally, but presumably he was brought in to round out the set since Bob and Wisdom would not be in this evening. He ran through a few reggae and soul covers including “If Loving You Is Wrong”. Glen sounded good, but his repertoire was standard opening fare at local roots reggae revue shows. The actual songs on the c.d. being celebrated tonight were all but ignored during this first set. Closing this reggae-heavy first set with Johnnie Osbourne’s instrumental “African Wake” would have worked particularly well.

The second set kick started the soul celebration. Mighty Pope, who was one of the highlights of last summer’s Harbourfront reunion, put on an excellent show. He sang the obscure RAM gem “Love Is The Answer” which he presumably used to sing regularly when he front Wayne McGhie’s RAM project at Wasaga Beach during their 1972 summer residency there. Sadly, Wayne continues to refuse to play in public despite his support for the “Jamaica to Toronto” project.

Jay Douglas, whose new c.d. was for sale at the club tonight, was the final performer of the evening. Jay kicked off leading the band through a wonderful rendition of the Jackie Mittoo single “Soul Bird”. Many in the audience immediately recognized this infectious nugget, which had Jay sustaining the energetic vibe built by Mighty Pope. He then ran through a few James Brown covers, but the highlight of his set was the Temptations cover “I Wish It Would Rain”, featured as a Bob and Wisdom single on the c.d. but performed by Jay Douglas tonight as a duet with one of the Mullings sisters who provided backing vocal through the evening. They are daughters of the late Karl Mullings, and Carrie Mullings was instrumental in connecting c.d. compiler Sipreano with many of the singers and players involved with the performances on the c.d.

Jay Douglas’ energetic set ended the night on a high note, but an encore or two would have been better. Nonetheless, the show was long enough, if perhaps padded with some overplayed covers that are not particularly relevant to the legacy of these artists. Adding “Soul Bird” was an excellent choice, but one James Brown cover is enough.

The performers involved in this reunion should probably tighten up the set list and add a few more vintage soul tracks to their repertoire, especially if they want to take this revue on a non-reggae tour based on the popularity of the c.d. itself, with its emphasis on soul more than reggae. A couple of Wayne McGhie cuts and the riveting Jackie Mittoo track “Grand Funk” from the c.d. would be a great start. Reggae performed by Jamaican ex-pats in Toronto is no secret among reggae fans, but the funk and soul side of these performers’ musical output is what makes the whole “From Jamaica To Toronto” reunions all the more intriguing. The performers involved are all in great form either as singers or players, and they are in a position to present a rare and possibly final glimpse of a long gone exciting local soul and funk music scene. A reunion revue tour is a great idea whose time has come. The clock is ticking.

C.D. Review: The Bongolian - Blueprint

2007-03-20T13:45:00.000-07:00

The Bongolian is the alter-ego of Nasser Bouzida, from the English funk outfit Big Boss Man. On his 2003 self-titled solo debut, The Bongolian played and wrote all the music himself. On Blueprint, Nasser the Bongolian has recruited his new touring band to help out. With drummer Reinis Axelssonon and guitarist Jerry Haglund, along with fellow Big Boss Man alumni Trevor Harding on bass, The Bongolian has put together a tight little funk band. Nasser plays keyboards, bongos, and other percussion.
One's first impression of this concept might be of the Incredible Bongo Band who were based in Vancouver in the early seventies, but The Bongolian owes more to French recording artist Jean Jacques Perry than to the Incredible Bongo Band. Many of the instrumentals that make up Blueprint have the Perry-sounding ephemeral keyboard and drum interplay with a sprinkling of bells and chimes.
Occasionally, the music toughens up. There are some fine Dennis Coffey style flourishes on this disc as well, most notably "Del Ray" with its fuzzy guitar and pounding drums. "Psyche Yam" is another pounding number that has a restrained but ongoing bass line that sounds like something John Entwistle might have played at top volume for an instrumental like "The Ox".
The sound-scape motif is never far away on Blueprint though, and the funk is often muffled by the ephemeral keyboard playing. Nasser Bouzida is a decent keyboard player in the spirit of Robert Walter or early Azimuth for that matter, but the keyboard riffs rarely intensify enough to justify their prominence throughout this c.d. At their best, the keyboards recall Booker T Jones on tracks like "Soul Caravan", while other tunes find the keyboard's wafting gets in the way of serious funkiness. Blueprint closes with a track called "Routemaster Ride" which piano leads that sound like Parliament's "P-Funk Chant".
Overall, Blueprint is a funky enough record, but it sounds like one to play on low volume at a cocktail party, rather than a disc to crank for a sweaty dance floor. Nasser and this band sound like a collaboration between Booker T & the M.G.'s and Jean Jacques Perry; for that sort of musical mood, Blueprint fits the bill perfectly.

C.D. Review; Do The Shing A Ling (Goldmine)

2007-03-18T18:51:00.000-07:00

This is another confounding Goldmine compilation. On the one hand, there are plenty of seriously rare, quality soul cuts on here to make the disc worthwhile (even if it is a mere 50 minutes long), but once again, it is a typical no-frills, information-free package.

The collection celebrates the Shing A Ling dance a couple of times, and a few other dances along the way. The Isley Brothers were the first to popularize the Shing A Ling, at least in song-form, but an Ohio garage band called The Human Beinz also had some success with this upbeat dance number. The two versions of the title track featured here are by the Bean Brothers and the Liberty Belles respectively. Apparently the Shing A Ling was a big dance around 1967-68.

The dance party motif is as thematic as any Goldmine compilation ever gets these days, but the dance craze quickly gives way to a random selection of other singles, including some very easily available songs like the Ohio Players’ “Love Slips Through My Fingers” and Rose Batiste’s “I Miss My Baby”, which Goldmine seldom misses a chance to slap on to another Detroit soul compilation.

Then again, the seldom heard tracks that show up on Goldmine releases are what keeps them in business. Honey Townsend’s “The World Again” is one of those quirky tunes that has probably not been heard by many people, and this rather limited release on an obscure soul compilation from a small British label is probably the most exposure this cut has ever had. It would be a typically enjoyable Detroit soul instrumental, presumably recorded as a backing track intended for someone to sing over, but the violin playing is not syrupy, but instead it is more countrified than one would expect to hear on a soul release. Then there is something that sounds like a sitar on Tojo’s “Broken Hearted Lover”, but in such small doses that the song doesn’t lose a drop of its soul to psychedelia. The closer, an instrumental called “Midnight Brew” by Melvin Carter borrows liberally from “Respect”, but it’s changed up enough to create an acceptably ‘new’ track and title. As usual, the paltry running time and the lack of information are the drawbacks associated with Goldmine product, while the obscurity of many of these cuts renders Do The Shing A Ling a worthwhile collection.

C.D. Review; 45 Phobia (Goldmine)

2007-03-18T18:41:00.000-07:00

This is another no-frills Goldmine release, but this time the company upped the ante; while Goldmine c.d.’s usually contain mostly rare 7” singles, 45 Phobia consists entirely of outtakes and a few album cuts. The vocal tracks are all competent vintage soul with a few terrific highlights, including Sharon Soul's "Girl Crazy" and Tommy Knight's credible Levi Stubbs style delivery on the lo-fi sounding, but still exciting "Don't Bring Back The Memories". Johnny Sayles' upbeat love song "I'm Satisfied" is another high point on 45 Phobia.

Since this collection comes from surviving studio tapes, there are a few instrumentals on here, like the sublime “Satisfy Me Baby” and the spare “Say It Isn’t So” credited to the Popcorn Orchestra, which presumably refers to whomever producer “Popcorn” Wylie had hired for the recording session.

Another factor that makes this a more interesting soul compilation is the inclusion of a few oddities that have some peculiar element, like the violin on Robert Knight's "Branded" and the high school marching band motif of The Charades' You Better Believe It.

Once again, this disc is lean on running time (50 minutes) but it contains so many rarities that serious soul fans should still keep an eye out for 45 Phobia.

Record Review; Lefties Soul Connection; Hutspot (Melting Pot)

2007-03-18T11:17:00.000-07:00

Amsterdam funk band Lefties Soul Connection play mostly spare, driving instrumentals which invoke American funk bands like Mickey and the Soul Generation; a little less polished than the Meters, but still working that restrained-funk angle. Lefties Soul Connection are a tight band, although the singing (only one song on here, a medley of "It's Your Thing" and "Hey Pocky Way") is not as strong as the musicianship. The band's cover of "Organ Donor" stands out with its interplay between the pounding drums and haunted house organ. "Organ Donor" might be the highlight of Hutspot but there are some other contenders. "Bouncing Ball" and "Bam Bam" keep things pretty funky, as well as the title track which closes the album. As is the case with many of today's skilled funk acts, Lefties Soul Connection would surely sound great if they were teamed up with the right singer, but they are still worth checking out as an instrumental outfit.

C.D. Review; The Sisters Love; Give Me Your Love (Soul Jazz)

2007-03-18T10:47:00.000-07:00

This is one smoking compilation, and, in a way, the debut album from this L.A. group formed in 1968 by former Raylettes. The founding four singers were Merry Clayton (who soon left to pursue a solo career with Ode Records), Odia Coats, Gwen Berry and Lillie Fort. Clayton and Coats were subsequently replaced by Jeanie Long and lead singer Vermyetta Royster. For some reason, they never got to make an album. They were signed to A&M Records but some singles were issued by Motown, and their entire catalogue was only available on (often rare) 7 inch singles recorded in the 1960's and 70's. After all these years, Soul Jazz has collected most of their output on one terrific compilation.
Apparently the sheer rarity of The Sisters Love's singles relegated them to cult status for many years, popular among serious disco fans after a few influential New York City deejays such as Larry Levan played them. Fans of gospel vocals fronting some intensely funky music will be thrilled to discover The Sisters Love. Fans of Clydie King, Sunday's Child and early Labelle albums are certain to wonder where these ladies have been hiding all these years. While Give Me Your Love doesn't have everything The Sisters Love released, every minute of it is strong, driving soulful funk. Even ballads like the closing track "The Bigger You Love" with its string arrangements packs a slow rolling punch. As irresistibly catchy as these songs are, they haven't been used on many compilations (or any, that I can think of). This is one of the more exciting Soul Jazz projects of 2006, and definitely worth seeking out.

C.D. Review; The Bamboos; Step It Up (Ubiquity)

2007-03-18T10:00:00.000-07:00

This is a fine specimen of new funk, and one of few to emerge from Australia. This record was originally released by the small Melbourne label Bamboo Shack before Ubiquity co-ordinated a North American release for the record.
Besides two collaborations with the talented English soul singer Alice Russell, the tracks on Step It Up are instrumentals. Most of it is played in the spirit of the J.B.'s, particularly that busy-but-tight drumming, courtesy of Danny Farrugia. Their take of the soul classic "Tighten Up" lets the band play around as they introduce themselves in this jam. Band leader and guitarist Lance Ferguson lets the horns do their thing, before Hammond organ player Ben Grayson take turns leading the song.
Other elements of funk can be heard, and the final track, "Voodoo Doll" effectively channels The Meters. These instrumentals aren't exactly jaw-droppingly funky, but they are solid, straight-forward honest slices of funk from a promising band. Now if only they could team up with a producer who will have them really cut loose.

C.D. Review;Old School Young Blood Volume 1 (Peckings)

2007-03-18T08:40:00.000-07:00

This is a fun concept; recruit some of the current crop of roots reggae singers, and have them sing a mix of old and new lyrics over some classic Duke Reid riddims. The "riddims" are instrumental backing tracks, in this case from the golden years of the legendary Jamaican record label Treasure Isle. Clocking in at just under 80 minutes, this is indeed jammed with Jam-Down jams imported by the British for a most effective collection of new-old reggae.
Assembled by the Pecking label in Europe, the singers featured here seem to be better known in Europe than they are on this side of the Atlantic.
The renowned Jamaican sax man Dean Frazer has a couple of instrumental cuts on here, but many songs on this collection come from several surprisingly good British singers. Bitty Mclean steals the show on here, with several excellent cuts. It has been suggested Bitty would be a huge reggae star if he was from Jamaica instead of England, and it's probably true. He holds his own against any Jamaican-based reggae singers touring these days. Peter Hunnigale and Vivian Jones (who left Jamaica at age 10, in 1967) are excellent singers as well. Lady Lex adds her sultry vocals to a few tracks, which retain a vintage rock steady groove on her three songs. After a very strong showing in the late seventies and early eighties, English reggae acts seemed to fade away from these shores for a while. Old School Young Blood suggests it's time to check out the English reggae scene again.

C.D. Review; Sensacional Soul (Vampi Soul)

2007-03-17T15:23:00.000-07:00

After a few years of releasing some of the most exciting Latin music collections from around the world, Madrid's Vampi Soul label have put together a double c.d. of some home grown Spanish grooves.
One of the hallmarks of garage bands is their ability to clumsily merge a couple of monster hits of the era, and turn out an enjoyable romp. It might sound uncannily like the riff from "Foxy Lady" or something equally well known, it won't soar to the top of any chart, but the brazenness is outmatched only by the sheer energy on the best sixties garage tunes. Such is the case on Sensacional Soul. Songs like "Black Cat" by Los Dixies, which borrows liberally from "Going To A Go Go" and the Spencer Davis song "I'm A Man", epitomize much of the spirit of garage rock.
Sensacional Soul lives up to its name though, and the funk flows surprisingly freely over this double disc compilation.
A lot of the music is upbeat, go-go sounding pop with groovy Hammond leads such as the Martes 13 cut "Espejo Roto". Some songs are heavier on the lounge tip than they are soul, but the music is completely enjoyable throughout. A few cuts are translated covers of hits like "Get Ready", "Keep On Running", and "Raise Your Hand", all enthusiastically delivered. The funk jams run the gamut, from restrained instrumentals like "Golden Soul" by Conjunto Nueva Onda to the chunk-a-funk J.B.'s stylings of The Presidents.
The second disc kicks off with "Tabasco" by Los Pekeniques, which sounds like a late sixties Yusuf Lateef style jam. Each disc only runs for about 55 minutes, but at least there is no obvious filler on these discs.
There are a few covers of funk songs on the second disc, including "Kool and the Gang" (from that band's first record) and a version of "Family Affair" that sounds almost like Sly himself singing.
Another track under the influence of Sly and the Family Stone is a driving slice of funk by Las Cuatro Monedas Y Gregory, featuring plaintive vocals backed by singers imitating the background vocals on "Dance To The Music".
Overall, Sensacional Soul is an excellent primer for funk fans and collectors unfamiliar with sixties Spanish soul, even if the running time is on the lean side. There are plenty of 'newly reissued' funk nuggets here which haven't shown up on other compilations, that make this double c.d. an excellent additiion to any funk collection.

C.D. Review; Soul Food (That's What I Like)

2007-03-13T15:17:00.000-07:00

Here is a neat idea from the people at Harmless Records. Soul Food (That's What I Like) mixes eating with soul tunes and the results are appealing if not appetizing. While there are plenty more songs about soul food and soul songs about food in general to leave room for a few sequels, there certainly could have been a little more music thrown on this fifty minute c.d. Interestingly, the song "Soul Food (That's What I Like") by Lonnie Youngblood is not on this collection.
The disc is a healthy mix of well known soul food classics like "Green Onions" and "Pass The Peas" with some rarities including The Vibrations' "Ain't No greens In Harlem" and The Bad Boys' twangy instrumental "Black Olives".
While "Green Onions" is included here, at least Harmless Records was hip enough to use a cover version by Mongo Santamaria, recognizing the likelihood that nobody purchasing Soul Food (That's What I Like) is still missing the Booker T hit in their collection. There are a couple of novelty songs on here as one would expect on a food-themed compilation. Obie Plenty's "Beef Stew" is a lament about the only dish his mother ever serves. The doo-woppy funk of "Pop Your Corn" is another amusing ode to eating. Over all, this is fun listening, but with so many food-themed songs to pick from, the rather lean running time on this c.d. leaves one, ahem, hungry for more.

C.D. Review: Absolute Funk Volume 2 (Body & Soul)

2007-03-13T13:54:00.000-07:00

The unoriginal title and the uninspired cover art don't do justice to the overall quality of this series by the Body & Soul label. This is in fact a well researched and compiled dose of serious funk. All the tracks on Absolute Funk Volume 2 are from strong vinyl sides, and in a couple of cases we get the B-side sequel as well. Many of the twenty cuts on here are still fairly rare in the digital age, while some of the better known tracks like the opener "The Sad Chicken" have popped up on other compilations. Cuts like "Iron Horse" by The Marlboro Men and The Showmen chestnut "The Tramp" which are on compilations put out by the likes of Goldmine and Soul Patrol sound cleaner on the Absolute Funk series, even if they are still mastered from seven inch vinyl singles. This series also has more information than a typical Goldmine release, while many other funk reissue labels such as Soul Patrol never have any information accompanying their collections.
Licensing issues aside, Absolute Funk Volume 2 stands in its own right as great, greasy grab bag of obscure gems.
Sundia's two part "Stand Up and Be A Man" is a rare free flowing hit of feminist funk. The male-partner-as-deadbeat topic comes up again on the lighthearted Good Time Charlie song "Rover or Me" (guess who wins).
Kim Tamango's "Not By Bread Alone" is an intense burner of a song, with its pounding, but spare percussion and Llyn Collins style delivery. There are low budget recordings of popular sounds, such as the Stax-flavoured "Can't Nobody Love Me" by The Soul Duo. The main reason these cuts are so rare is they were seldom re-pressed, and many were only distributed in a small geographic area. Of course, that means most of these songs were recorded on a tight budget, in small local studios. A lot of this material is to soul music what 1960's garage bands were to rock stars; less polish, but the boundless energy and sheer quirkiness of a lot of great lost funk treasures rewards the adventurous listener.
Even the flagrantly derivative songs like "The Tramp" (both parts) have a boisterousness that is too infectious to overlook in the pursuit of originality. Harvey Scales and the 7 Sounds' dance song "Get Down" closes Absolute Funk Volume 2 on an upbeat tone. Perhaps somebody should compare the different songs instructing listeners on how to do dances like "The Breakdown" and "The Freeze" and see if they give similar moves. In the mean time, this is a hot funk c.d. for one's listening or partying needs.

C.D. Review; Spanky Wilson with The Quantic Soul Orchestra- I'm Thankful (Ubiquity)

2007-02-28T12:12:00.000-08:00

This is a strong new recording from an inter-generational collaboration. The Quantic Soul Orchestra who provide the music on this new Spanky Wilson c.d. were recruited in L.A. for a week of recording by Quantic, A.K.A. Will Holland. Holland has released numerous remixes and original projects over the last five years and is one of the more prolific new producers to have amassed so much output so far in this century.
Spanky Wilson grew up in Philadelphia, which she left for L.A. in 1967. Apart from fifteen years spent living in France, Spanky has remained in L.A. for most of her singing career. Her powerful voice on sixties songs like the rare "You" and her recently reissued 1968 cover of "Sunshine of Your Love" have endeared her to serious soul collectors for many years, but following a series of well received live performances with the Quantic Soul Orchestra, this latest outing should attract the same expanding crowd who have embraced fellow ladies of soul Bettye Lavette and Sharon Jones.
Spanky's singing is still top notch, and the playing on I'm Thankful is funky in an Earthy, spare mood. The backing tracks all feature a rock solid rhythm section pounding behind sparsely arranged horn lines and subtly embellished with some chicken scratch guitar playing. The J.B.'s are clearly being invoked throughout, especially on the two two-part songs, "Don't Joke With A Hungry Man" and "I'm Thankful", which opens and closes this disc.
"That's How It Is" is a resigned look back at Hurricane Katrina and it's ongoing aftermath. The music is almost light-hearted for such a sad song, which adds to its sense of resignation.
"I Don't Need This Trouble" is a good soul-shouter in the spirit of the ladies of James Brown's sixties revues, but the highlight on this c.d. must be "Waiting For Your Touch", with its bouncy-but-brooding sensibility.
The Quantic Soul Orchestra provide a strong, solid backing for Spanky Wilson. Funk music shouldn't be tweaked much with studio techniques which all too often either disco-fy or suck the life out of raw funk. Quantic/ Will Holland seems to appreciate this, and his production is subtle. His previous work with Sharon Jones suggests he has a good feel for the funk, and he is thankfully willing to maintain a polished sound that isn't too slick for its own good.

C.D. Review; Soulshaker Volume 3 (Record Kicks)

2007-02-28T12:09:00.000-08:00

The is the third installment of new funk cuts to be compiled by Milan-based label Record Kicks. Some European labels have shown at least as much dedication to carrying the funk torch into this millennium as American labels-of-love like Daptone and Ubiquity.
There is a variety of funk on this collection, but happily there are fewer House-inspired moments than other discs covering new funk. The English singer Alice Russell is the hottest voice on this volume in the Soulshaker series. The disc's opening cut, "Transcend Me" (with The Bamboos) has a hot Marva Whitney influenced delivery, but her controlled singing on "Pushin' On" (backed by the Quantic Soul Orchestra this time) shows Alice is not a skilled copy-cat, but an inspired singer in full control of her powerful voice.
A couple of these songs like "La Valla" by Bronx River Parkway and the Sweet Vandals' "Do It Right" have already popped up on other recent compilations, but Soulshaker Volume 3 still contains a solid hour of funk culled from enough singles that aren't the easiest to find, and which require a turn table to enjoy. At an hour in length, this could have been a little longer, but there is still enough funk on here to go around. There are a few new acts brought to my attention on this compilation, which alone makes this volume worthwhile.
"Ratpack" by Big Daddy Moochin' features some Eddie Harris style honking over a solid rhythm. The Soldiers of Twilight's "Believe" has some nifty, almost Latin-sounding piano licks, and there are a few other pleasant surprises on here. There are also a couple of dependable purveyors of new funk, by way of The Budos Band and Breakestra. Soulshaker Volume 3 is a strong collection which might not be indispensable, but if you are on the look-out for new funk, this is a great disc to check.

C.D. Review; Intoxica! Strange and Sleazy Instrumental Sounds From the SoCal Suburbs (Ace)

2007-02-24T13:33:00.000-08:00

The English label Ace Records have undertaken an intriguing project for fans of 1960's instrumental rock; reissuing long lost singles and previously unreleased gems from the obscure 1960's Downey label's recording studio.On top of that, the sounds on Intoxica! travel well beyond the scope of surf music, which traditionally dominates compilations of 1960's rock instrumentals. The small, family run record label's master tapes collected for this series of reissues, starting with Intoxica! is Downey Records, based in the back of a record store in the L.A. suburb of Downey. Once upon a time, America was full of such tiny, independent labels. Few of these labels were especially profitable, but they seemed to be an efficient meeting point for creative entrepreneurs and unknown musicians. Regional sounds flourished in this atmosphere, before consolidation of the radio and recording businesses led to fewer, more homogenized music trends, like California soft rock in the seventies.

As compiler Brian Nevill describes in the liner notes, the store in question, Wenzel's Music Town, was in operation long after the Downey label stopped releasing records. A 1978 visit to the store revealed the master tapes were being stored in a bathroom in the record store. Some 13 years later, Brian Nevill interviewed the record store's proprietors for Goldmine Magazine and now, fifteen years after that interview, the bathroom-vault of Downey Records can at last be enjoyed by anyone with the inclination to dig into these instrumental romps.

Although Downey's biggest hit record was the surf hit "Pipeline", R&B and Latin tinged jams were popular among these musicians, too. This first installment of the Downey Records story affirms this notion with its emphasis on some unusual sounding instrumentals. Some of these would fit in on one of the "Incredibly Strange Music" volumes, but the tunes are always approachable if not easily danceable. While Brian Nevil stresses surf was not the beginning and end of California sixties instrumentals, that is still the most prevalent sound on Intoxica. The best known track on here the Revels' "Comanche", revived for the Pulp Fiction soundtrack in 1994. One hint as to how ubiquitous surf music was in this milieu is in the bands' names and the titles of their instrumentals; the Revels, Rumblers, Hustlers, Hindus and Blazers have tracks with names like "Intoxica", "Eight Ball", "Bandido", "Frenzy" and "Comanche". Fasten your seat belts.

The killer opening cut and title tracks from the Revels is a hard surf number, which sets the tone for Intoxica! with the sound of drinks being poured. We hear a a girl's laughter before a male voice solemnly declares "Intoxica". The sounds of laughter cut in between horn leads over a solid rhythm.Many of the quintessentially Surf Music tracks on this collection employ a few weird elements besides the popular sound effects. There are early forays into guitar effects enabled by novel (in these early days) devices like the fuzz box and various keyboard effects, as well. A great example of these fuzz-boxed guitars comes from one of Ed Burkey's cuts on here, "Night Rider".

Not all the guitar playing on here is aggressive. There are a few jams on here like the Hustlers' "Inertia" which feature another side of surf guitar, that high pitched, gentle poking pioneered by Les Paul.

"Sa Acabo" by the Del Rio Brothers is an upbeat instrumental that wouldn't have been out of place on one of the more soul-laden Fania albums from the late 60's by the likes of Johnny Pacheco or Joe Bataan.

The R&B influence on these musicians is most apparent in the horn playing. Junior Walker must have been a huge inspiration when songs like "Shotgun" and "Cleo's Mood" topped the charts in 1965. The Chuck Higgins tracks are probably the most soulful sounding cuts on Intoxica! with "Water Wheel" and "Night Scene", with its jazzy piano leads.

A suburban Californian take on the exotic Middle East is represented with a couple of exciting numbers, like the tingling slow burner "Sound of Mecca" from the Blazers, and Ginny and the Gallions' "Hava Nagila" recalling a B-movie scene complete with belly dancers and a barbecue in the Sultan's tent. Ginny and the Gallions actually made the trip to Downey's studios from their Las Vegas base.

There are a few other tracks that stand out for their sense of adventure. The percussion playing on the Hindus' "Theme of Etiquette" and the string arrangement on "The Ghost of Mary Meade Part 2" both come to mind. On the latter tune, the strings push the Muzak-envelope for their syrupy, ephemeral sound, but the horn playing lends a jazzy, punchier counterpoint that makes this an interesting contribution from Little Caesar and the Ark Angels. The closing track on Intoxica! concludes the collection with a classic, special effects laden (think "Lost In Space") 1960's take on the Space Age. "Space Battle" is credited to Stories In Sound, whose straight-forward rhythm section and boogie piano is "modernized" with what could be a theremin,* ending this compilation on an optimistic, experimental note.

Intoxica! is a fun collection, and one which is both easily enjoyed by casual fans of (predominantly Surf) sixties instrumentals and serious collectors alike. The material is strong throughout, six previously unreleased songs do not stand out as obvious outtakes. One cut, Ginny and the Gallions' take of the "Third Man Theme" sounds like a live recording which leaves one curious as to what other live recordings, if any, exist among the Downey Records tape reels used to create this series from Ace Records. Using original studio tapes is always preferable when possible, and Intoxica! is no exception; the sound quality is terrific. At almost seventy minutes, there was certainly room for a little more music on this compilation, but the running time is respectable for a c.d. and on the lean side for a double record. The material is strong throughout, so cutting the release off at 26 tracks is hardly an egregious shortfall.

*- The Theremin is an early electronic instrument whose eerie tone was popular in horror movies and some rather experimental music in the early twentieth century, before falling out of popularity. Its last use in an international hit song must have been the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations".

Lee Fields- Stand Up (7" Record) (Daptone)

2007-02-03T15:03:00.000-08:00

This single was released last spring. I am not aware of a full length release from Lee Fields since this song. It's divided into two short parts like a lot of late sixties and early seventies James Brown singles. Once again, Brooklyn's Daptone Records are excelling in the field of delivering new funk.
This single features Daptone label mates Neal Sugarman (Sugarman 3 leader and sax-man), some greasy funk from Dave Guy's trumpet, and Al Street on guitar. It's another Lee Fields soul shouter in the spirit of James Brown, with a slow, bubbling background spread over the two sides. Side B is a continuation of the song rather than an instrumental take.

Willie Bobo- Lost and Found (Concord- Piquante)

2007-02-03T13:57:00.000-08:00

This came out in the fall of 2006. The tapes were from a stash discovered at Willie Bobo's widow's place, by their son Eric who struggled against his mother's misgivings to push these tapes through to the light of day.
Willie Bobo was a well known percussionist who blended soul with his Latin boogaloo, creating some very funky albums for Verve and other labels through the years. Everything on Lost and Found was recorded between 1970 and 1976. In 1996, his percussionist son Eric found the tapes in a closet, and spent a decade digitizing the tapes and preparing them for release. There are happily no over dubs on here, although session credits for the other players would have been most welcome. On the other hand, this information might not have been available to Eric, either. Consequently, for instance, one can only guess who is the "Steve" on trumpet on the last song (named by Willie during the song itself), or whom else was playing with Willie on these recordings. The cover features a tape box, and there are family pictures in the package, suggesting the omission of session credits was not due to laziness. The disc runs for almost an hour, and there is no filler on here.
Many of the tracks are instrumentals, but there are some songs featuring soulful singing in English, like "Pretty Lady" and "Fairy Tales For Two".
The upbeat opening song is sung in Spanish. It has a funkier bass presence, like Pucho's records rather than the more laid back Fania Records approach to recording Latin music during the same period. The following cut is one of Willie's hits, "Broasted Or Fried". This is a different version from the popular version covered by the likes of Santana. "Ci Ci" is one of the funkier jams on this collection. It starts of with a gentle two minutes, but then more percussion is added and the whispered vocals kick in.
"Pretty Lady" is an other deceptive cut, starting like a mellow Ripple tune, which steadily builds intensity as more percussion enters the song. If it was faster, it could probably have been a Spanish disco hit, but the music sways with too much funk to give in to the commerciality of the day.
"Lost Years" sounds like a lost CTI take of a Blaxploitation movie theme, with spare horn arrangements punching through the thick base provided by rock steady drumming. "Soul Foo Young" is another slow funk jam, which captures Willie in a steady groove.
Lost and Found concludes with a soft love song called "A Little Tear". It is one of those love songs preceded by a monologue, which a number of well known artists were doing in the early seventies; James Brown, Bobby Womack, and of course Isaac Hayes. In "A Little Tear", Willie describes the sort of songs he likes singing to himself and his family in private moments, before thanking Ray Gilbert for writing the song and giving it to Willie. This is a hot Willie Bobo album, which stands on its own, rather than a rag tag collection of obviously unfinished jams that could only appeal to an artist's die-hard fans.

Various Artists; Pow Wow (Jazzman)

2007-01-31T14:11:00.000-08:00

Jazzman are one of the best regarded reissue labels among funk fans. They put out excellent 7" singles of forgotten funk nuggets, well-remembered rare nuggets, and some fine c.d. compilations to boot. This collection is culled from the last bunch of 7" records released by Jazzman. The only superfluous cut is the collection's opening song "Hercules". Of course it's a funk classic, but so is "Sex Machine" and we don't need to see that on another compilation again, either. Now if it had a hot B-side that only a lucky few have been aware of... that would have been fantastic. However, anyone buying this compilation surely has a copy of Aaron Neville's "Hercules" somewhere in their collection already. Given this is the only over-exposed song on Pow Wow, that is easily forgiven. Jazzman's latest crop of re-pressed rarities includes some hardcore funk.
Carla Whitney's "War" is a rare side of Toronto funk, released by Attic Records in 1975. It is not a cover of the Edwin Starr hit, but rather it is a bubbling few minutes of funk with some heavy, rumbling bass. Too bad the album featuring this song sank without a trace, as Carla seems to have long disappeared from public.
Bajka's "The Only Religion" is a 1990's recording, despite it's Earthy, almost folk sound. There are a few cool instrumentals along the way, but the funkiest boogaloo jam I've heard in a long time is from Manny Corchado. It this compilation's namesake, "Pow Wow". The faux-Native motif might seem bigoted with it's asking Kemosabe to share his smoke, but I can't help but assume Manny meant no harm on this 1967 tune (although I can not understand the other words on this Spanish song, either) .
Elsie Mae's "Do You Really Want To Rescue Me" is an answer to the Fontella Bass' hit, but Elsie's response is slow and brooding rather than upbeat like "Rescue Me". Apparently this former James Brown back up singer only cut a couple of singles. This one was issued by King Records in 1966, and fits right in with James Brown's music from that era.
The Jonathon Richman cut "Egyptian Reggae" looked like an odd selection until hearing this 1977 track. A throwback for the disco era, this instrumental sounds more like a pre-Ska era instrumental from the Jamaican Count Ossie. The percussion is quirky, rattly and still funky. The final track is the only strange sounding piece of music on here. The Modern Egyptian Dance Band cut sounds like someone who enjoyed "Flight of the Bumblebee", and decided to try something more percussive, with sci-fi effects periodically beaming through a keyboard. A quirky end to a funky disc.

C.D. Review- Various Artists- 45 Kings Volume III (Fat City)

2007-01-31T12:59:00.000-08:00

Various Artists; 45 Kings III (Fat City)
This is the third volume in this particular series from Manchester's Fat City label. Apparently many of these songs are remarkably rare, but I still have a hard time accepting this 41 minute release as a double album. I still don't understand why compilations pulled from a wide assortment of 7" records covering multiple musical genres should have short running times. If there was a mind-blowing sonic improvement that only wide vinyl grooves could transmit, there might be an argument in favour of such short records, but repressing old vinyl singles can hardly justify the sonic-superiority argument.
With that aside, there certainly are some rather compelling tracks on 45 Kings III. The opener, Jimmy Gray Hall's "Be That Way" is a gently upbeat song that isn't exactly soul, but sure is soulful in it's resigned delivery. More conventional disco-funk comes through on "Crescent Boogie" by Soul On Delivery. Mike Harper lays on a thick, dancefloor-cut slice of soul with his "Lay It On Me Baby".
"Wanderin' Soul" is a gospel-sounding number from Gary Atkinson, who sounds a bit like Arthur Prysock on here. John Fitch's "Romantic Attitude" is a cynical anti-love song which should probably have been titled "I Don't Care".
Another fine cut is Estelle Levitt's "All I Dream" is a hauntingly groovy pop song that sounds like some forgotten movie theme with the strings and rhythm interplay backing Estelle's moody vocals. Lilly's "Starin' At The Wall" is a good funky blues song a la Denise LaSalle, while a few tracks end the album in a quirky mood. Nino Nardini is probably the best known artist on this collection- he contributes a suspenseful instrumental that sounds like it could have been recorded for the 1980's "Knight Rider" t.v. series about a technologically advanced car and the crime fighter who drives it. Nardini recorded music for French television, so the premise is not without consideration. The spare, bassy and synth-heavy arrangement moves along for almost three minutes, bringing this short collection to a close.
Despite the appeal of many of these rare songs, there are barge loads of great long-forgotten old 7" singles. Given 45 Kings III seems to have been compiled without rhyme nor reason, there is no theme that would have been compromised by tossing a few extra songs on here, or leaving it as a single l.p. It's an interesting collection, but there are plenty of those around, so I would hesitate to implore anyone to run out and get this one.

C.D. Review; Nomo- New Tones (Ubiquity)

2007-01-24T15:02:00.000-08:00

Following in the wake of Antibalas' success in importing a convincing Afrobeat sound to an American band, groups like Toronto's Mr. Something Something and Ann Arbor's Nomo have embraced the sound, and play unabashed Fela Kuti inspired loose jams played over tight rhythm sections.
Nomo is led by saxophone player Elliot Bergman, and consists of 8 core members along with sundry guests at live appearances. This is their first release on San Francisco based funk revivalists Ubiquity Records and it came out last spring. It came to my attention around Christmas, but then there are only so many hours in a day and not even all of those can be spent listening to music.
The disc runs for close to an hour and provides an enjoyable sojourn into a mix of Afrobeat and more techno- influenced elements like the ever present but always subdued bass lines that characterize much of New Tones. This release consists of 11 instrumentals, although some, like "One to One" sound like they could sound fantastic behind the right singer.
While the Fela Kuti and Africa 70 influence is obvious, the horn lines are often more subtle and sound more like earlier jazz arrangements that inspired Fela himself. In fact, Nomo sound more like Fela's drummer Tony Allen's seventies albums recorded with the same band (Africa 70). Allen’s efforts feature tighter arrangements than Fela-led songs with the band, but more restrained riffing. As far as the horn playing sounds on New Tones, Coltrane and Sun Ra are invoked as much as Afrobeat. Some tracks like "Hand and Mouth" have a free jazz vibe like some of the seventies records by Detroit's Tribe collective.
The band adds a few home made percussion instruments to their rhythm section, which worked well enough for Kinshasa’s various Congotronics groups. Indeed, the Congotronics effect is heard in full on this c.d.'s opening cut "Nu Tones", with its distorted finger piano leading the charge on this fast paced tune. The snappy "Fourth Ward" has a dirty-funk sounding introduction which belies the very approachable horn lines that lead the tune, which at under three minutes is the shortest cut on New Tones.
The next couple of tracks feature some elegant harp playing while Nomo continue their Americanized repatriation of African jazz, adding to the loop of each continent influencing music in the other. The meandering horn solos held tog by an unwavering groove give way to some quirkier, more aggressive horn bouts on the fifth track, "New Song" (another instrumental despite the title's implications).
"We Do We Go" adds some flute and a larger dose of Erik Hall's guitar playing. The omnipresent rumbling bass playing gets a little louder at times, but it never predominates on any track, sounding more like an approaching storm that never quite passes right over the listener's head. The album closes with a meditative track, featuring one last return to the band's gamelan set, as it backs the horn charts' final tribute to John Coltrane.
New Tones is too jazzy to be a dance-funk album, although some cuts might work on some dance floors. The Afrobeat definitely takes a side seat to post-Bebop American jazz, and the techno-sounding production adds a cold sound to this c.d. The playing is great, the music is compelling, but it sounds like something to wind down with, or to play while in a contemplative mood. New Tones is certainly compelling listening, but I suspect Nomo's live performances are more entertaining.

Concert Review; Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, Tuesday January 23/07 A.C.C. Toronto

2007-01-23T22:23:00.000-08:00

Bob Seger represents many things to many people. To plenty of rock fans, unfortunately, he penned the theme song for Ford, heard regularly in commercials for about twenty years now. To others, Bob recorded more than his share of classic rock n' roll, and enjoys one of the most loyal fan bases in the business. To others still, Bob Seger is some old rocker who gained success from Hollywood in the 1980's when two of his songs were featured in immensely popular movies ("Old Time Rock n' Roll" in Risky Business, "Shakedown" in Beverly Hills Cop II, not to mention songs in a few non-blockbuster movies). The Harley Davidson and Jack Daniels t-shirts adorned by so many fans at his concerts can't do much to dispel people's conceptions about Bob Seger, favourable or not. On the cover of the new c.d. Bob is on a Harley under an open Midwest sky. On the other hand, Bob Seger rarely sings about getting drunk, and he doesn't have many songs about riding motorbikes either. In fact, Seger's back catalogue has a high proportion of songs about failed relationships. To borrow from one of the few covers he played at the A.C.C. Tuesday night, "You Never Can Tell".
To those fans of Bob Seger before "Like A Rock", the man and the Silver Bullet Band have always represented musical integrity, and hard working live gigs to cement the faith. Bob's two double live albums are testaments to the energetic shows he was putting on for many years. The touring dropped off as the eighties wore on, and Bob Seger has toured about once a decade since the mid 1980's. This might be his last road trip, with Toronto the only Canadian stop.
"Face The Promise" is Bob's first new c.d. in many years, and several of its songs have caught on. The disc is selling well, so the A.C.C. was predictably full. Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band must have been thrilled by the nearly full house, after so many years off the road. They hit the stage shortly before nine o'clock.
"Roll Me Away" kicked off the show, but it was marred by a poor sound system which muffled Bob's singing and at other times drowned out Alto Reed's baritone saxophone playing. The sound improved marginally over the next few songs until it finally sounded alright.
The second song was a tried and true crowd pleaser, "Trying To Live My Life Without You". The band started to sound better over the course of this song, but they were still searching for the knock-out punch quality of their live records. The Silver Bullet Band has a few additions, too. Bob has had the same back up singers for decades, and veterans Chris Campbell and Alto Reed are still around. Don Brewer (fellow Michigander and ex-Grand Funk Railroad drummer) is back on the road with Bob. Guitarist Mark Chatfield is another relative newcomer, as is Jim "Moose" Brown, who is helping out with guitars and keyboards. The live arrangements were fairly straightforward. Alto Reed played the solos on "Main Street" faithfully to the record, but the band did get to stretch out on occasion. Reed was augmented by the four piece Motor City Horns. Bob still alternates between playing guitar and piano on some songs, like "We've Got Tonight". For some reason, the guitar technicians in charge of having the correct guitar tuned and ready for the next song seemed to take an unusually long time to exchange instruments with the Silver Bullet players. The show continued with a mix of new songs like "Wreck This Heart" and "Face the Promise" and vintage Seger standards like "Old Time Rock n' Roll" and "Betty Lou's Getting Out Tonight".
As the band slowly loosened up, Bob delivered an excellent rendition of "Turn The Page" before wrapping up with the "Travelling Man" and "Beautiful Loser" medley that is on "Live Bullet".
There was a brief intermission before the band resumed with some new material. Bob introduced the next song as dating from 1968, which of course referred to his first hit, "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man". That got the audience on its feet, although the song's pounding organ wasn't loud enough in the A.C.C. mix. The next song was a Chuck Berry cover; many long time fans were probably expecting to hear "Let It Rock" which the Silver Bullet Band has played for many years, but surprisingly the band burst into "You Never Can Tell". There were a few more new songs featured during the second set, along with "The Horizontal Bop" and "Katmandu". The band left the stage, but there was no doubt encores were certainly pending. Many of Seger's best loved tracks were played, but of course some omissions were certainly missed. "Like A Rock" was conspicuously absent from the set list, but fans of Seger's older material probably didn't mind. As predictable an encore as it might have been, Seger played older favourites "Night Moves" and "Hollywood Nights" instead. After another brief pause, the final two encores played were "Against The Wind" and the particularly appropriate "Rock n' Roll Never Forgets", with its topic of simultaneous aging and rocking. The concert ran for a couple of hours, and the Silver Bullet Band was in fine form by the end of the show. Unfortunately the sound problems at the start of the show did nothing to help the band relax and gel. Bob still sings much better than one would expect of a sixty year old, long semi-retired rocker, and his back-up singers have held up well over the decades as well. The Silver Bullet Band took a while to find their groove but once they did, they reminded the audience why Bob Seger's live output rivals his best studio work. This is probably the last chance fans will have to catch Bob Seger in concert, so check him out if you can.

Review; Good God! A Gospel Funk Hymnal (Compilation c.d./l.p.) (Numero Group)

2007-01-20T17:31:00.000-08:00

This one came out last fall. Numero Group has released a lot of soul and funk that was previously beyond obscure; some had not been released at all, while the other tracks the Numero Group has dug up were so rare, few collectors were even aware of them. Their collections culled from studios in Columbus, Chicago, and Detroit have brought a generous helping of funky new nuggets to current fans of the genre. The music on their compilations is easy to enjoy, and one doesn't have to be obsessed with rarity or recording studios to enjoy the grooves spread through the Numero Group's c.d.'s. With this in mind, that one doesn't have to be a connoisseur to enjoy Numero Group releases, one certainly doesn't have to be an evangelical Christian or even religious to dig the rich, thick soul on Good God! A Gospel Funk Hymnal.
The music on this collection was recorded between 1968 and 1980. The disc runs just under an hour, but the 18 tracks on here are so enjoyable the length of the c.d. is less of an issue than collections that are short and padded with tracks the consumer is certain to have in their collection already. This is one compilation that is highly unlikely to contain anything the listener already owns.
As the liner notes mention, funky gospel was not a movement within either funk or gospel artists, but many gospel acts had the odd slice of funk in their repertoire. One studio in Ecorse, Michigan yielded no less than three heavy sides of funk on this c.d. from as many acts. Detroit's 20 singer plus one manic drummer ensemble the Voices of Conquest round out the south Michigan contingent on here.
The starter, "Jesus Rhapsody (Part 1)" by Preacher and the Saints sounds like an early seventies Curtis Mayfield track, with Edwin Starr singing. The low budget, somewhat muddy but ever funky mix between the vocals and music sets the tone for the rest of this disc. It is followed by a gospel take-off of Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" called "Bad Situation", with new words that would have fit right in on Stevie's original.
"God Been Good To Me" sounds like the late sixties Temptations backed by Sly and the Family Stone. This is the first of the Ecorse Michigan songs recorded at Revival Studios and unearthed for this release. The next one is a Sam and Dave style shouter "I Thank The Lord". There are a few other obvious inspirations coming from well known soul hits, like "Shaky Ground" (check the Modulations'"This Old World Is Going Down") and "Love and Happiness" laid the ground work for "Childhood Days" by the Universal Jubileers. James Brown's singing style is naturally emulated on a few cuts, which makes sense given the gospel fervour James Brown injects into his own rather secular minded songs.
Detroit's Voices of Conquest's drummer Benjamin Wilson pounds away in His name, while the choir's haunting delivery of "O Yes My Lord" is reminiscent of Missa Luba, the Congolese opera, which must have been one of the first non-Miriam Makeba African music albums that sold well across Europe and North America. An intense slow-burner called "Jesus Will Help Me" by the Gospel Comforters follows.
Trevor Dandy's "Is There Any Love" features a spare keyboard arrangement in the spirit of Timmy Thomas' 1972 hit "Why Can't We Live Together?" which keeps with the low budget sound of this whole album.
A dose of fire, brimstone and rolling percussion wrap up the c.d. The song features a lonely Satan, in Hell of course, reminiscing about how popular the place used to be. The parties, the hedonism... LaVice and Company sound quite fond of the whole scene. This track apparently comes from a musical performed in a church basement. For some reason, neither LaVice nor his company double checked their spelling, but the song "Thoughs Were The Days" (sic) is a great, final dab of murky soul that ends the collection on a questionable high note- if people are no longer going to Hell en masse, as the song laments, are things not expected to have improved on Earth? Regardless of what theological arguments one might bring to the table, the music absolutely kicks on this disc. There are a couple of soulful gospel compilations that have come out in the last couple of years, but Good God! A Gospel Funk Hymnal easily sounds the most raw. This one is highly recommended, regardless of one's religious beliefs or doubts.

Review; Antibalas - Security (Anti)

2007-01-20T14:28:00.000-08:00

The new Antibalas album is ready for release, although the band seems to be waiting a little longer before sending out their latest missive to the world. The seven tracks on Security run for about 55 minutes. It could perhaps have used a little trimming, at least on some of the slower, more atmospheric tracks on here, but overall this is a strong addition to Antibalas' discography. On their new outing, Antibalas have signed with the Anti-label which teamed them up with producer John McEntire. The 12 piece band spent a month recording the album in Chicago last year, and they continue to live up to their self-designation as an Afrobeat Orchestra. Celebrity producers certainly can't guarantee success no matter how much they change a band's sound to something deemed more accessible. Despite being concerned about Antibalas' sound getting watered down to something like Stereolab with horns, John McEntire let Antibalas do their thing. Some cuts sound a little soft for a 12 piece band that has rocked concert stages everywhere for hours on end, but Antibalas are still pumping out Afrobeat sounds like few bands can. The c.d. is funky, the arrangements spare, and the smoothness comes naturally on Security.
The first track, "Beaten Metal" has a rather symphonic sounding introduction, with a single horn heralding the first movement. The instrumental develops slowly, with the percussion slowly building before the bass and guitar creep in. Keyboard player Victor Axelrod gradually takes over until he duels the horns for space by the end of the tune.
The second song, "Filibuster XXX" finds Amayo singing about typical Antibalas fare, which has a catchy 'tic tack toe' motif, but the Dick Cheney reference will date this song the way Reagan songs characterize so much 1980's punk music.
"Sanctuary" has the band returning to their Fela Kuti-inspired roots, with a brooding introduction featuring a relentless bass line punctuated by blasts of brass. Amayo doesn't start singing for some six minutes, but then belts out the words about heading for the hills. The fourth track does bring us near Stereolab-territory, with its soft, ephemeral arrangement combined with the most subdued vocals on the disc. Antibalas return to the Afrobeat style at which they excel for much of the disc, combining it with the almost classical style horns of "Beaten Metal" on the instrumental "I.C.E." The brooding stops abruptly, and the band kicks back into Afrobeat mode for the last part. The final track "Age" concludes Security on a jazz tip which end the disc on a particularly mellow note for Antibalas.
This c.d. certainly sounds like the band is looking to expand its sonic horizons beyond Afrobeat, funk or the Latin sounds they have been laying down for a few years now. Antibalas live dates later this year should be interesting if they decide to test their more subdued new jams on the road. They have great stamina on stage and can be counted upon to put on an excellent show, so watch for tour dates if you like Fela Kuti-inspired extended Afrobeat jams.

New Reissue; Mustafa Ozkent ve Orkestrasi; Genclik ile Elele

2007-01-18T12:10:00.000-08:00

This Turkish album first came out in 1973. The zany cover art (a monkey messing around with a reel to reel tape recorder) suggests this is a lighthearted endeavour, but the album contains some serious funk that holds its own against the relentless grooves of American funk gods like the Meters. Despite this release being so funky, this decidedly western-sounding record never strays too far from Mustafa Ozkent's Anatolian musical heritage. The guitar player started performing in Ankara in 1960 and was a well respected musician by the time this record came out. It apparently didn't sell particularly well, but Andy Votel at the Finders Keepers label was sufficiently knocked out by a copy he found that his label has recently reissued this lost slice of Eastern funk.
The record is just over half an hour long and there are no extras on this package. Ten brief instrumentals cram as much funk as possible into a half hour on wax. From the opening cut, the upbeat, almost Surf-like "Uskudar", through merciless drum breaks on tunes like "Dolana" and the pounding percussion throughout the record, the funk comes on relentlessly. Psychedelic guitar licks abound, but they never hide the Turkish roots of Mustafa Ozkent's music. The bubbling organ playing through out the record sometimes comes close, infusing a sixties Go-Go feel to the record, but Ozkent manages to gel east and west like few musicians. The last track fades out during a pounding drum solo, leaving any funk fan hungry for more. This album is well worth checking out.

Review; Various Artists; New Testament of Funk Volume 5 (Unique Records)

2007-01-15T17:28:00.000-08:00

This is the fifth volume in a series started in 1999 by the Dusseldorf-based Unique club label. The twelve tracks on here run for almost an hour, with the majority of the songs on here being released for the first time ever and three others having only been available in limited vinyl pressings until now.
Few new funk acts can pull off that classic American soul sound, especially now that quality vocals are all but an afterthought on most new recordings. The music on here sounds pretty slick, and as funky as it sometimes gets (the "Apache"-inspired Soul Snatchers' "Sniffin' and Scratchin'" comes to mind), it seems soul singing is almost a thing of the past.
The tracks on The New Testament of Funk Volume 5 all sound pretty smooth and tight, and some are particularly derivative, hook-by-hook. The first song starts off as a run through of "Thank You For Letting Me Be Myself" with a chant of "Burning Down The House" in the background. Curtis Mayfield's "Move On Up" provides much of the inspiration for another song, "You'll Never Know What You Can Do". The use, or re-use of such well known samples and riffs works better on the Malente song "For The Revolution", whose hook comes from a Doors song.
The songs all work well enough as background music for any party filled with groovy people, but it's hard to imagine someone packing a dance floor with anything from this collection. Bandura's "Lost Luggage" and Tim Wood's "Birdy Nam Nam" are examples of music on here that sounds like it was recorded specifically not to be turned up too loud.
The strongest cuts besides the Soul Snatchers instrumental are Boca 45's soul-shouter "Makes No Sense" the Sweet Vandals' "Do It Right". Naturally, they are also the best vocal performances on the collection. The Go-Go Hammond organ on the latter track suggest the Sweet Vandals are one of the most promising acts on the Unique label. This compilation seems like it was geared to be played in restaurants at least as much as in any dance club or party; if that's your thing, it is sure to please. Folks who like their funk harder and deeper will probably not be overwhelmed by this one.

Review- Ultimate Brazilian Breaks and Beats (Murge Discos) -Compilation l.p.

2007-01-15T17:25:00.000-08:00

This is a hot collection of Brazilian funk. Named after a mountain in Rio de Janeiro, the Sugarloaf Gangsters put this record out, and they apparently limited the record to 1000 copies. Whether it's samba like ("Batucada Tropical" by Brasil Tropical), Tropicalia, or Bossa Nova flavoured (like "Sultana" from the Aquarius Band), the music is jumping and every cut on this record is funky. Some tracks are definitely more American flavoured than others. There is the "Kool and the Gang" cover (the instrumental by the band of the same name), along with the cut "Big Splash" by Sos, which is clearly influenced by The Meters.
The opening song sounds like a "God Made Me Funky" era Headhunters jam, until the Portuguese vocals and background party sounds kick in. "The King's Bounce" is described as a supremely rare B-side from the Free Som Orchestra, and it's one of the more bass-heavy tracks on this collection.
The raunchy funk classic "Jungle Fever" is featured here, but more likely for it's rarity; this cover doesn't top the original, but it's a credible rendition which kicks off the second side of the record. The final non-"bonus" cut on the record is "Melo Do Mao Branca", a mid-tempo dance-floor groove, complete with telephone calls and sirens, along with those casual outbursts of laughter that pop up on many Brazilian dance records.
There are three bonus cuts all credited to 'Unknown' which seems a little suspicious in and of itself, but they at least bump the record's duration to a shade over forty minutes. The first bonus track is an instrumental, disco-fied variation of "Mas Que Nada", titled "Disco Chuva" on here. This version is highlighted by some pounding drums. The second is a brief snippet that's catchy enough but happens too fast, at 22 seconds. The final 90 second 'Bonus Track' (titled simply "Guitarra" on the record, even though the keyboards are at least as prominent here) sounds like a funky t.v. show theme that Banda Black Rio or early Azimuth might have put out.
Notwithstanding the needless gaps in the information availed with this compilation, Ultimate Brazilian Breaks and Beats' is a seriously funky record.

2007-01-15T17:13:00.000-08:00

Studio One Rarities Volume 2- C.D. compilation

This is an excellent mix of popular songs by legendary toasters like Dennis Alcapone and rarities alike. The old Trojan collection "Dee Jay's Choice" started the tradition of compiling work by various deejays singing over other artists' records, often referred to as "sing-jaying". This disc features more from Clement "Coxsonne" Dodd's enormous stable of talent, and features hard to find songs by the likes of Jah Jesco and Little Joe along with rare pictures and an essay by English reggae expert Steve Barrow.
All the tracks on here are strong, making this an appealing collection for serious reggae fans and newbies alike. They also left the legendary U-Roy off of this compilation, as if to reinforce the rarity element here. This makes "Studio One D.J's -Volume 2" a particularly successful Soul Jazz collection; the label's releases are often short (this one being no exception, running at a little over an hour for a c.d. or double album), which can be infuriating when contemplating a promising new Soul Jazz release, which is padded with material easily found elsewhere. With Trojan practically giving away their enormous back catalogue in the form of really cheap box sets, it is hard for a premium priced label like Soul Jazz to justify putting out tracks like "Phoenix City" for the hundredth time on any of their compilations. This collection also uses a decent variety of musical backing tracks; they are a healthy mix of familiar seventies 'riddims' and older ska sounds punctuated by some lively horns on cuts like Jah Jesco's "West Gone Black".
Prince Jazzbo's "Crab Walking" and Lone Ranger's "Keep Coming A' The Dance" are both extended versions. The former is an upbeat number about dancing to upbeat tunes, using the well known "Skylarking" record, including its chorus, in this re-take. It is edited to include the instrumental version before the vocals return for the last two minutes of the song. Lone Ranger's second cut on this disc, "Keep On Coming a the Dance" ends this compilation. It too is edited to segue into itself. Given the plethora of available tunes for these collections, and in light of "Studio One D.J.'s Volume 2" clocking in at less than sixty-five minutes, Soul Jazz ought to add a few more songs to these releases. It's an excellent package, but it would be easy to make it better; about twenty- five percent better, for running time, would be great.

El Michels Affair- Cream B/w Glaciers of Ice -7" Single (Now and Again Records)

2007-01-15T17:10:00.000-08:00

El Michels Affair- "Cream" B/w "Glaciers of Ice" - 7" Single (Now and Again Records)

This is a funky pair of instrumental covers from saxophone player Leon Michels' band. Based in Brooklyn along with everyone else keeping classic funk alive these days, El Michel's Affair have been around for a few years. More recently, they teamed up with Wu Tang Clan, adding a deeper funk dynamic to the 'Clan and apparently improving their live appearances according to people who have witnessed the pairing in action on stage.
The A-side, "Cream", is a slow, simple but brooding jam highlighted by some tasteful keyboard licks.In fact, horns practically take a back seat on both of these jams. The bass line is a little heavier on the "Glaciers of Ice" B-side. It's a little faster than the A-side too, but the murky, almost trance-like sound of both these cuts must have knocked out the Wu Tang guys. This single is definitely worth grabbing whether you dig funk or if you're a hip hop head. Let's see who's the first to slap their own rap on one of these tracks.

DVD Review- Funkadelic- Live, Fall '79 Uncle Jam Tour

2007-01-14T13:50:00.000-08:00

This DVD comes from a well known bootlegger who inserted his name and e-mail address on the screen for the duration of the whole DVD. The bootlegger distributed a previously unknown P-Funk DVD from a 1978 show in Passaic, New Jersey and once again the material on this DVD hasn't been around most collectors until now. That said, this review is not meant to encourage bootlegging, but simply to comment on a newly unearthed vintage P-Funk performance. The only easily available footage of the late 1979 Uncle Jam tour was a half hour of mediocre (for a boot, no less) quality video which was ostensibly from Houston. I haven't double checked, but I am quite sure the previously available video was in fact from Washington D.C. because the familiar looking portions on this new DVD like "Sadie" resemble the half hour that has been floating around for years. The band repeatedly refer to "D.C." and "Chocolate City", before the source changes to a completely different performance which is definitely from Houston. The segment that die-hard fans already had is now twice as long; there is almost an hour from this performance, which has its lulls ("Sadie", "Uncle Jam") but also features some stellar moments like "Red Hot Mama" and a terrific Bernie Worrell solo before a hot version of "Maggott Brain" which fades out while the DVD cuts to the Houston concert from the Uncle Jam tour.
The Houston portion of this DVD kicks off with a twenty-three minute blow-out of "Knee Deep" before the band launches into comparatively short versions of "One Nation Under A Groove" and "Flashlight". Maceo Parker leads the Horny Horns through some blazing jams in both the Houston and D.C. clips. The "Mothership Connection" encore is pretty hot, and the Houston show ends. The house lights are turned on and we see the audience leaving before a montage of stills from the performance are displayed while the studio recording of "Freak of the Week" plays. The Houston segment is about 45 minutes long.
Gary Shider and Philippe Wynne lead the band through most of these performances. George Clinton is on stage as the Washington D.C. gig cuts in during "Night of the Thumpasaurus People", wearing his blond wig. This is about all we see of him in this DVD. Once he leaves the stage, though, the band takes direction from Gary or Philippe. Of course Gary was a veteren of Parliament-Funkadelic by the end of the seventies, but Philippe Wynne seemed to have been a sudden and awkward fit. He didn't tour with the band again. Presumably, the ex-Spinner's solo album produced by George helped land him a spot on the Uncle Jam tour, but his Spinners stage attire (a dark suit) looks as odd on a P-Funk stage as "Sadie" sounds when played by the band that just finished a searing blow-out of "Red Hot Mama".
The DVD starts off with some amusing promo-spots for Uncle Jam related product; albums from Parliament, the Sweat Band and the afore-mentioned Philippe Wynne l.p "Wynne Jamming", which are interspersed with a funny clip of Wynne, Bootsy Collins, George Clinton and Maceo Parker being interviewed at a hotel in Houston on the Uncle Jam tour. The band clowns around in the hallway while a rather energetic and fast talking George Clinton tells the interviewer he's not really Uncle Jam at all, but rather Sir Nose. A telling moment, indeed.
As far as the quality, this DVD is for serious fans only. Regardless of what one thinks of the Uncle Jam tour, there are better quality videos of P-Funk in action.
For some reason, Houston and Washington D.C. are a great couple of cities when it comes to finding unreleased videos and DVDs. Performances of Prince, Kiss, the Who and P-Funk going back to 1975 have been floating around collectors' circles for years, while there are also a number of videos of P-Funk from the Washington D.C. area recorded over the years. It seems the DVDs and videos of these shows were taken from whatever would have been shown on a large screen inside the venue. Such is the case with many well known videos of 1970's concerts, like a Springsteen show on his birthday in 1978 when he marvels at the size of the screen in the Capital Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey. While collectors routinely refer to these as 'pro-shot' performances, there doesn't seem to be any consensus as to how these documents started making the rounds. Of course, nobody is complaining either. Sonically, the DVD is a pleasure over all, but the sound levels fluctuate noticeably between the left and right channels. The image is decent, but pretty dark, with the clarity level comparable to previously circulating VHS tapes of this footage. In fact, the DVD even has the same diagonal lines streaming off at the top of the screen as my old video tape copy, which could probably have been cropped out, but the guy who compiled this was too busy making sure his name and contact information was on-screen to try improving the image of these performances. The Houston footage looks a little more grainy than the Washington D.C. portion, and the image is a bit shaky sometimes, especially if anyone on stage is moving quickly. It's still watchable for a boot, and certain to be a welcome addition to any die-hard fan's P-Funk collection. This performance has been uploaded for free on-line more than once, so it should be easy enough to find without having to pay for a copy.

Vinyl Review; Bronx River Parkway- "La Valla" -7" single

2007-01-14T13:48:00.000-08:00

This is one promising slice of wax, apparently taken from a forthcoming album from this Brooklyn-based eight piece Latin band. Bronx River Parkway have captured that classic seventies/ Fania record label sound in a way that too few Latin artists seem to care to re-visit. The group has been together for about six years, but so far they have only released a few singles. New York City based Truth and Soul Records have put this record out and will presumably release the full length debut from Bronx River Parkway in the near future. As of January 14 (yesterday) the full record had not come out yet.
The A-side "La Valla" was recorded in early 2006 in Puerto Rico, and features Jose Parla singing in front of some deep Latin grooves. It's a little harder than the B-side, which sounds like it could have come from on of those Fania All Stars live albums. The casual flow of the music and lyrics should make this one a warm weather favourite. Tito Cruz sings on this one, called "Nora Se Ve". This single has whet my appetite for a full album from these guys, and one must give credit to Truth and Soul Records for doing their part to keep current funk and other organic party sounds alive for current users.

C.D. Review; Bosporus Bridges; Turkish Jazz Funk 1968-78

2007-01-14T13:38:00.000-08:00

Bosporus Bridges; Turkish Jazz Funk (1968-'78) (TWIMO 001)

I have read more than one person suggest this album might be a bootleg. The cover art certainly looks like a boot, but this is a well compiled collection. The record sides split the funkier cuts from the more jazz oriented tracks. Lasarus and Roskow have done a commendable job of collecting some serious rarities and adding information that plenty of collections do not bother providing. Of course, at a shade over forty minutes, the album could have fit an extra track or two, but the material on here is strong, and "Bosporous Bridges" doesn't overlap with existing collections. This one came out in early 2006, following on the release of a few exciting compilations of Turkish recordings like the "Hava Narghile" set, featuring a decidedly West-meets-the-Mid-East hybrid sound.
The opening cut by Emin Findikoglu is a flute-led slow cooker of an instrumental which wouldn't sound out of place on a Bluenote compilation. The next few cuts get funkier, until the sixth tune which is devastating, with it's unrelenting bass line and some sirens thrown in to boot. Surprisingly, this piece of music, ("Bermuda Seytan Ucgeni"), performed by the Aksu Orkestrasi comes from a Turkish television special on the Bermuda Triangle, and it is the thickest slice of funk on "Bosporous Bridges". It is followed by a track by one Ferdi Ozbegen which starts with a psychedelic moment that sounds like the beginning of the Temptations' "Cloud Nine" before the Turkish singing starts.
Other songs like Erkin Koray's "Karli Daglar" feature that soaring, Middle Eastern singing style, which serves to remind the listener this music is from Turkey, after all. Unlike many Latin and Brazillian compilations feature songs in English mixed liberally with those in Spanish or Portuguese, but I have yet to hear a Turkish compilation featuring any songs in English.
The jazz-oriented B-side of this album has some rather ordinary sounding tunes like Erol Pekcan's "Senlik", along with spacier efforts like the Okay Temiz track "Denizalti Ruzgarlari" which sounds like something Jean-Jacques Perry might have recorded. Overall, this is a great record, but it might have worked even better if Lasarus and Roskow split their funk and jazz picks over two whole albums, instead of encompassing such a wide array of music on one record. It is still well recommended to those with a musical sense of adventure.

2006 Reviews- Last Call, Part 1

2007-01-14T13:26:00.000-08:00

I want to collect and post a few reviews of various discs released in 2006 while the year is still sort of fresh. Some of these c.d.'s are well known among music nerds, but most of them cover sounds only ever heard off the beaten path.
I also want to mention we should be in for some good times in the world of vintage soul re-releases. I believe Concord, having taken over Fantasy Records (including Fantasy's most soulful asset, the Stax back catalogue), is planning to reissue quite a few lost gems.
The releases being reviewed here are in no particular order, and I hope they bring something new to the attention of discerning listeners! Once again, I might as well point out my role in the music business is purely altruistic; I host a radio show on the non-proffit, left end of the f.m. dial, but I do not receive anything from record companies.

White Cowbell Oklahoma at Lee's Palace, Saturday December 15/06

2006-12-20T10:28:00.000-08:00

Toronto Chainsaw Massacre

In what might be a new seasonal tradition, White Cowbell Oklahoma played a Christmas show at Lee's Palace last Saturday. They were sharing the bill with Montreal prog-punk veterans Grim Skunk who haven't been seen on a Toronto stage in years.
Last year's Christmas 'Cowbell show at the El Mocambo featured plenty of the same stage act complete with Santa's giant juice-shooting prosthetic ahem, appendage, but a few repeated gags can be forgiven at a festive gig like this. Besides, this year they were joined by Grim Skunk who played to a good sized crowd given they went on stage by around ten p.m.
By the time White Cowbell Oklahoma hit the stage with a typically grandiose entrance, Lee's was packed. Five guys flailing away at various guitars and bass guitars led the group through a rousing opening song about getting high. By the end of the song, there were about a dozen people up on stage, including a judge and a couple of strippers prancing around the band. The judge was to preside over a trial between good (White Cowbell Oklahoma who love broads, booze and boogie) and evil (Satan representing the music business). The strippers were doing their thing. Although the simulated-lesbian-dominatrix-stripper schtick is a well worn cliche, the crowd loved it, and the White Cowbell Cowgirls (Cowbelles?) were happy to oblige. Much of the band's success derives from their visually charged stage act, which is at least amusing to even jaded members of the audience. They have Chainsaw Charlie sawing cowbells on stage with sparks flying everywhere, and a supporting cast of characters from Santa to a snowman, to the afore-mentioned judge and Satan himself to round out the band's already hefty stage presence.
White Cowbell use a lot of imagery associated with poor white American Southerners to present a raucus take of a religious revival meeting held in a strip club. They have southern-sounding pseudomnyms, they do interviews "in character" and dress like redneck extras from some lost Dukes of Hazard episode. While they are an obvious spoof of Southern Rock in the spirit of Spinal Tap, one wonders if the joke is on the audience- at least those who bought their trucker hats and bowling shirts at Urban Outfitters. White Cowbell Oklahoma is an odd but enjoyable mix of parody and sincere appreciation of seventies Southern and British rock.
They play better than spoof acts normally do, but their songs rarely stick out amongst each other. They all borrow liberally from the same early seventies English and American hard rock, with that Southern accent. Their flashier tunes, the ones where they can line up the various guitar players like Hollis on double-neck, the Sergeant, Clem (the band's main interviewee if not its leader) and the ebulliant Arland Stillwell III, all wailing at once, worked really well on stage. Anything less excessive would have sounded like a house band in some biker bar scene in a movie. While I haven't heard their c.d. "Casa Diablo", listening to White Cowbell Oklahoma without watching their stage antics wouldn't be the same. Luckily, they have a d.v.d. available, too.
Every few songs, the mock trial of the band versus the devil resumed, with the rightly dishonourable Judge interrupting the assorted guests running and gyrating around the stage and amplifiers. The band would start vamping on the introduction to Deep Purple's "Highway Star" (led by keyboard player Jesse, complete with what looked like Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord's floppy hat) until the trial recessed- they never did play the whole song, but we would hear more Deep Purple yet. The band wrapped up their set with their catchiest song, the charmingly meat-headed "Put The South In Your Mouth". Of course, the packed house demanded more, and the band was ready to oblige. They called members of Grim Skunk on stage to join them for an encore of "Space Trucking". Of course, nobody could surpass Deep Purple in over-doing this song. Anyone who has heard Purple on a twenty-five minute blow-out of their stage finale "Space Trucking" knows it ranks with "Dazed and Confused" for the most over-blown cock rock classic on any live album. White Cowbell Oklahoma's take of this seventies staple was spare by comparison, but still well worth the effort. Most of the audience left the show happy as soon as the song was over and the house lights came on. Surprisingly, after about fifteen minutes, the 'Cowbell returned for one last encore which caught the remaining crowd off-guard.
White Cowbell Oklahoma put on an entertaining concert, regardless of whether they are joking around or taking themselves seriously. Although their stage act is as important as the music itself, White Cowbell Oklahoma are not to be confused with some Weird Al Yankovic take on southern rock. The clearly appreciate the genre's music and they are eager to laugh at its excesses. The parody would wear thin very quickly if they were simply joking around and weren't playing well; imagine watching Sha Na Na playing a ninety minute set. White Cowbell Oklahoma seem to be courting true fans of southern rock as well as the trendier 'Everything Should Be An Ironic Joke' crowd. Holding on to both groups should be a challenge. In the mean time, they put on one hell of a show, that, ahem, most anybody can sure 'nuff enjoy.

Trouble Every Day

2006-12-20T10:13:00.000-08:00

Of course, the title is a nod to Frank Zappa, but this is not a post about music. Unfortunately, I have been confounded by the 'Word for Blogger' software which I have installed in two computers, only to experience the same 401 error that won't let me upload text from my hard drive. Hence, this post will ignore the notion that blog entries about stalled blogs are a poor substitute for interesting writing and discussion, and I will take the time to kick start this blog before Christmas, as it were. Until I work out my Word for Blogger difficulties (as well as new, greater problems with my main computer), I will only be able to write material within the Blogger template.
Word documents awaiting their premiere here are mostly reviews I have written over the last while. The semi-recent ones include November 2006 appearances by Bettye Lavette, Prince Buster with Willi Williams and a bunch of other people at the Phoenix, and some recent music news. The idea is to cover many under-appreciated artists whose music finds its way into my hands, or whose performances I am able to see.

Now Getting It Ready...

2006-12-10T15:27:00.000-08:00

This title borrows from a movie in which Peter Sellers is "getting it ready"... basically, my computer is keeps crashing and I have been busy with various other endeavours. In the mean time, I would like to post concert reviews I have written over the last while. I have covered dozens of concerts by artists who are hardly suffering from over-exposure, and I hope having reviews available here might force some direction and progress on this blog. I know I mentioned non-musical interests in my introduction, but I think I want to focus this blog on music matters; reviews and articles, which I hope will ultimately generate enough interest among fellow music nerds that we can learn a thing or three from each other.

Greetings

2006-11-13T12:24:00.001-08:00

Hello, and welcome to my first attempt at creating a web page of sorts. I haven't decided yet if this blog will focus on music-related musings, or if I will discuss other themes here as well. I write about quite a few topics from politics to book reviews, but I will likely start by writing about music here. I am not sure what the space limitations are here, but I intend to cover various issues pertaining to music, along with reviews of concerts, new releases, and new finds which seem obscure enough to warrant mentioning as 'new to me'. I would also like to engage people in discussing rare and unreleased recordings, about which there is often little information.
If I can figure out how to convert Word files into something I can upload here, I will also put up reviews of rarely discussed concerts from the few years. This is primarily in response to what I think is a lack of information about many of the artists I have reviewed over the years.
I should also take this opportunity to plug my radio show; it's called Veritable Infusion, and runs Mondays from 8 to 10 p.m. in Toronto on CIUT 89.5 fm or www.ciut.fm.
Finally, my name is Erik and the names I wanted for this page were taken, so I picked a song and album title by the Jimmy Castor Bunch instead; "E-Man Grooving" which also works for me. I was tempted to run with "Veritable Infusion" but I want to write about things that might bore the average radio listener to tears, so I am not sure how closely related this blog will be to my radio show. I know there are a few of us music freaks who could easily blow a few hours discussing the best P-Funk tour or how the Rolling Stones' "Garden State 78" album came to be, or finding out a recording of some gig from long ago has recently surfaced and is now easily available at dimeadozen or some place. I might expand this blog or change topics altogether to cover various aspects of life in Toronto, let's see where it goes...