Sweet Baby James, at Hugh's Room (Jan.4/13)

The drive to Hugh's Room on a Friday evening is not as bad as it might be. You don't have to go on the Gardiner, so you save a lot of trouble and if you know enough to stay to the left as you go up Parkside, it's pretty smooth sailing. Free parking at the grocery store lot across the street is a real bonus in the Big Smoke. Then it's a short stroll across Dundas to the best (or certainly one of the best) music venues in Southern Ontario. A Man Called Wrycraft is dining with the musicians who will perform James Taylor's songs tonight, and as my wife and I enter the room his voice booms, "Kidney!...and, ummm, Mrs. Kidney!" It's nice to be noticed. There's a buzz in the room tonight, there was a full page article in the Sun today announcing this show, another in a series of Wrycraft organized tribute concerts. The way he does it is, select an artist (he does Tom Waits every year, Paul Simon, James Taylor, Randy Newman, The Beatles and even Pink Floyd) and ask eight singers/bands to do two songs each. Then you pays yer money and you takes yer chances! We take our table, order a drink, order dinner, dine and wait for 8:30. Michael Wrycraft is a big dude, wearing a black t-shirt with a design of his own creation on the front. He has a great head of hair and a finely trimmed beard, and a voice like Orson Welles. He knows a lot about music, and he especially knows what he likes...and he LIKES James Taylor. Me too. I first saw JT at Mariposa in 1970. The Sweet Baby James album was just being released so no-one knew what to expect. He'd been on Apple Records, and if he was good enough to pass the Beatles test, he was going to pass ours. We spent the day on Toronto Island listening to David Rea, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, and many others. JT was playing the big show at night. He seemed shy, self-effacing, maybe a bit clumsy...and he couldn't get his electric guitar to work when he tried singing the Coke ad for us. I bought his album the very next day! and have bought everything he's released ever since. Even records on which he sings harmony are in my collection because his harmonies are just downright amazing. Listen to "Back In The High Life" by Steve Winwood if you don't believe me! Anyway, suffice it to say expectation were high for a good time tonight. It started off well enough as Sam Turton and a few friends took the stage and did acceptable renditions of "Shower the People" and "Mexico"...and they were followed by Ivy Mairi who introduced "Blossom" a song she claimed to have heard on the Amchitka live album. "Blossom" is an older tune, from 1970's Sweet Baby James album, and the Amchitka concert was in October of '70, but the album wasn't released until 2009! Well, you can't expect everyone to have such a long history with these artists as old guys like me (and Wrycraft) do! Mexican guitarist Quique Escamilla did a reggae spiced "How Sweet It Is" and a rough "Gorilla" (Wrycraft had requested this tune, a forgotten gem from 1975's album of the same name). Then The Donefors provided the first real highlight of the night by doing spot on versions of two songs which are personal favourites of mine. First "Copperline" from 1991's New Moon Shine is almost perfect, harmonies, rhythms, instrumentation...aah! Then they top it with "In line, in line, they're all in a line, my ducks are all in a row..." The first half ends on a high! Dessert arrives during the break, and a cup of coffee. i run out to the lobby to pick up a copy of the poster Wrycraft designs for each of his tribute shows, and grab Sam Turton's CD since he mentions that he plays a lot of slide guitar, "this is my Ry Cooder hand, and this is my James Taylor hand" he says. I'm curious to hear how those two hands work together. Jory Nash opens the second half with powerful takes on "Fire and Rain" and "Something in the Way She Moves". Burke Carroll gives a two song workshop on the beauty of the pedal steel guitar, if Jadea Kelly (who joined him for vocals) had seemed familiar with the songs it would have been a highlight, too. She didn't even get the melody right for "Bartender's Blues". Her admission that the first time she heard James Taylor was on an episode of The Simpsons was terrifying! This iconic songwriter and singer is a yellow faced ink sketch now! (Shudder!) Jacob Moon proved that he takes his job seriously. All week he'd been promoting this Tribute Concert on facebook, and on his YouTube site. He posted a series of solo performances of JT tunes, and ran a little contest for free tickets. He sang a lovely version of "Song For You Far Away" from JT's That's Why I'm Here album. Next Jacob played the song that made him the absolute star of the night. He had remixed some of Taylor's own recording of "Traffic Jam" and sang and played guitar over JT's backing. It was stunning and deserved all the applause and cheers! Wrycraft admitted, "I don't even know what to say about that." If you can render Michael speechless you're really doin' something! Unfortunately the night reached its nadir right after Jacob's mountaintop experience. The duo Scarlett Jane took the stage and murdered both "You've Got a Friend" and "Steamroller". Their harmonies were off, their grasp of the blues non-existent, they acted as though they'd been practising looking 'sexy' in front of the mirror at home. They should've listened to the original recordings a couple more times. Hugely disappointing. Then Michael called all the artists back on stage for a rousing romp through the classic "Sweet Baby James". These closers are usually as loose as a goose (or a flock of geese) and Friday night was no exception, but it did help to take the sting off a bit. Out into the cold for an easy drive home, and a weekend spent listening to the originals. Gotta love that sweet lovin' man JT! Baby, don't you loose your lip on him!

Bert Jansch...

I also post reviews on a blog called Sleeping Hedgehog. It's a pretty interesting site to browse, but I have a new review posted there, of a re-issued Bert Jansch album. Skip on over here to read my take on Heartbreak a 2 disc set produced by John & Rick Chelew. Bert Jansch is an under-appreciated guitarist whose last couple of albums brought him back to where he belongs. A re-issue campaign has provided some real treats for fans of acoustic guitar playing.

L.A.Turnaround came out three years ago. It had been unavailable for nearly thirty years. Produced by ex-Monkee and country-rock pioneer Michael Nesmith it makes a fine companion piece to Heartbreak. It includes a short film taken in 1974 at the time of the recording.

Crowbar (together again)

My wife and I went to see Crowbar (and Steve Strongman) at Mohawk College this weekend. I've written a more in-depth review over at Critics at Large, but suffice it to say...we had a ball! Kelly Jay, Roly, Rheal, the Ghetto and Sonnie along with all the support rocked the joint! Saw Skip Prokop out in the foyer! Steve Strongman and his band were excellent as usual. This weekend it's off to Hugh's Room for another of Wrycraft's Tribute Shows, this one to Tom Waits. Sounds like fun to me. We want to wish the McMaster Marauders best of luck in the Vanier Cup this weekend too! Go Mac, Go!

Judy Collins at Hamilton Place (Nov.3/12)

Had to miss my niece's wedding out in Red Deer, but belated congratulations to Amy and Jason! Hope you had a great party, and wish you all the best! Saturday night we went to the Studio Theatre at Hamilton Place to see Judy Collins! She walked out on stage at precisely 8pm, accompanied by her pianist and musical director Russ Walden. The stage was fairly plain, except for a dozen red roses in front of the grand piano. Russ took the bench and Judy came to centre stage carrying her 12-string Martin. She began with "Chelsea Morning" the first of a number of Canadian composed songs she would sing this evening. She forgot a word or two, but the audience (which seemed to be entirely made up of rabid Judy Collins fans) helped her along. They would do so again.

Between songs Miss Collins told long, rambling stories of the early days of folk music, how she started her career playing Mozart on piano, and switched to guitar when she fell in love with the olde folk songs. Her high soprano voice was rivalled only by Joan Baez at one time. These days it gets a tad shrill in the higher registers. The tales often drifted without a point, but if you knew about her history you could usually fill in the details. It's getting sad going to concerts by these legendary performers any more. When BB King can hardly finish more than one verse and a chorus, or Judy Collins has trouble with lyrics and range you have to wonder if it's worthwhile to go to these shows. Whatever her failings, Judy put on a fine show. She's a trouper! And as I mentioned, she looked great, in her purple tights, high pointy boots and sparkly top, she was the epitome of elegance. At the end she thanked the theatre and Elizabeth Arden. Nothing lined up in the next couple of weeks, although I'm looking forward to seeing Dave Swarbrick at the Pearl Company. Another old folkie!

Recent reviews...

Although from time to time this poor Rylander Quarterly blog may seem ignored by its creator...one explanation is that I am writing reviews that appear elsewhere. For instance I recently reviewed Pete Townshend's autobiography Who I Am for Critics at Large. You can read that by following this link link. Before that I read Neil Young's book Waging Heavy Peace which I also wrote about at Critics at Large. I've been reading quite a few books by musicians lately, including this fascinating one by Talking Heads' David Byrne. Not an autobiography, really, but certainly a book informed by the life and career of its author! I wrote about a few new blues albums here. And about a Jesse Winchester Tribute album here. I even discuss new CDs from Bill Bourne and Annabelle Chvostek. Over at Sleeping Hedgehog I reviewed a new 2 CD collection of all of Dion's singles on the Laurie label! Great stuff.

So I haven't been ignoring the scene...just submitting my thoughts elsewhere. Pay attention to Critics at Large. My associates on the staff also write some pretty good stuff. It's a daily blog, and with the Herculean efforts of Kevin Courrier and the rest of the editorial gang, it's much more regularly updated than Rylander. After all...I only promised to be Quarterly!

"Which one's Pink?"

When Pink Floyd played Hamilton's Civic Stadium (now Ivor Wynn, and soon to be replaced by the PanAm Stadium) my grandmother (Nana) asked me, "Are you going to see Purple Harold?" I laughed, and replied that living as close to the stadium as we did...we didn't need to buy a ticket. Sure enough, we could hear Purple...err...Pink Floyd quite well until the wind changed. On Friday night at Hugh's Room in Toronto the wind changed a few times as a diverse group of Ontario musicians came together for The Great Gig in the Sky. This was another of Michael Wrycraft's tribute shows. He does about 5 of them a year. So far I've seen a Beatles show, Randy Newman, and last year's Tom Waits tribute and they've all had fine music, community spirit and lots of fun. That's how music should be.

Sure there are songs which don't sound like much fun. Roger Waters has written more than his share of them! The Final Cut album is full of them! No laughs there! Paul Neufeld & Denis Keldie (on keyboards and accordion) sure made that clear. Their versions of 2 songs from that album provided the emotional downturn. Don't get me wrong, they sounded dandy, it's just that the songs are such downers. The rest of the acts chose from Floyd albums Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, and The Wall. Wrycraft advised to stay with the hits, he "[didn't] care about Syd Barrett anyway!" [And there I was wondering who would do "Bike" or "Arnold Layne".] The songs that worked best were the hits, "Have a Cigar", "Money" and "Wish You Were Here" all done very differently than Roger, Dave, Nick and Richard did 'em, but all keeping the melody and treating them with respect. The love this group of musicians showed for the songs of Pink Floyd was incredible. When Retrocity began the night with vocalese versions which included percussion and guitar solos I wondered how anyone would top them. Every time another act stepped onto the stage, the same thought ran through my mind, and yet, each one was just as mind-blowing as the last. The loopers were extraordinary, although David Celia had some trouble with the lyrics, his construction of Pink Floyd's audio wash was amazing. Jean-Paul deRoover added a roomful of new fans with his energetic set. Michael Occhipinti and Elizabeth Shepherd, Andrea Koziol, the remnants of LAL (essentially Ian deSouza on bass) and Dominic Mancuso all provided stunning renditions of Floyd classics. If I'd had a pen with me I could've credited each performer with the correct songs but I was so entranced by the concept, and the incredible music that I can only say, everyone played beautifully, and all the favourites were covered (except maybe for "Bike" and "Arnold Layne"). An extraordinary evening topped off by a stage full of tired singers and players rambling through "Another Brick In the Wall", "Hey...teacher...leave those kids alone!" Thanks Michael...just remember though...some of us like Syd Barrett!

So THAT'S a House Concert!?!

Dr. John has a great song called "Such a Night". And it is the perfect theme for last night's house concert at Jacob Moon's backyard. He dubbed it Yardstock but there was no rain, or mud, no bad trips, they didn't have to close down the QEW, and Richie Havens didn't show up. Just 40 or 50 music lovers and a couple of really fine music makers. To get to Jacob's backyard, you have to go through his house. Gee, is it always so tidy? Suzie Vinnick stood at the front door greeting and welcoming everyone. We dragged our lawnchairs into the yard and found a spot with good sightlines. Had to move just a little because the playhouse ladder was in the way. But there were really no bad sightlines. The next door neighbours were in their yard, with other spectators, a BBQ cooking sausages and a cooler full of cold beverages. All the money went to charity. The night couldn't have been more perfect. The sky was clear, a full moon shone through the trees, and the yard was filled with peace and love. Jacob played the first set, showing off his precise guitar playing and his clear tenor. He mixed originals from his most recent CDs with some well chosen covers and pleased the crowd with every tune. He did a fine cover of Bruce Hornsby's "That's Just the Way It Is". Suzie Vinnick joined him for Paul Simon's "Under African Skies". The guy is a master looper, and showed it. After 40 minutes he announced a short break. People mingled, they grabbed another bevvie or sausage, Alison Kraus sang over the PA and the lineup for the lavatory finally diminished. Then it was Suzie's turn. After she introduced herself with the Tim Horton's jingle, she sang blues from her 2 most recent CDs. Dirty blues, funny blues, even silly blues. Between the blues she sang some originals from other albums. "Happy Here" and "Looking For a Kiss" from the Stephen Fearing produced album, and "I Need a Cowboy" from 33 Stars. She even got the audience to join in a couple times. She called Jacob to join her on a trio of blues tunes and he was only too happy to oblige. His guitar leads were looser and wilder than the carefully structured things he plays on his own songs. It was a pleasure to hear him let go. The night ended with an old spiritual which we all sang along with, and it was time to go. All I could think of was Dr.John...And it's such a night / it's such a night / Sweet confusion under the moonlight / It's such a night, such a night / To steal away, the time is right. "Sweet confusion?" Maybe not...but it sure was such a night under the moonlight...hopefully the time'll be right for Yardstock III soon enough!