Your sponsorship doesn’t have to be large.  Pledge what you can afford, but please pledge.  I don’t want anyone to give more than he or she can afford. Even the smallest donations add up fast. It all adds up.  Previously, those who could made larger pledges, but much of what I raised was because of friends pledging smaller amounts, even sometimes as little as five or ten dollars. If you’re in Kingston, you can also give me your cash or cheque in person and I’ll pass it on to the MS Society.

I know people, have friends who have been diagnosed with MS, and I’ll bet you do too. MS is a far-reaching disease that can affect anyone anywhere.

Let’s work together to find a cure for MS. Please help me to help researchers stop this devastating disease.

Thank you.

Bob MacKenzie

MS Society of Canada

Escaping the oppressive heat and humidity of my home in the Eastern Ontario summer, I left at the last minute to catch GUH, a Toronto band, in concert at The Artel in Kingston. Even though they’ve been performing live and releasing recordings since 1991 and have toured the world, I had never heard of GUH before this Kingston engagement on June 12, 2010. Having now seen GUH in action, I’m surprised that I had been unaware of the band or that they don’t have a higher profile in the Canadian and international jazz scene.

GUH got my attention almost at the beginning of the first piece they played and held my attention throughout their performance. This music defies categorization, yet it’s easy to hear what it is not. It is not American pop, is not jazz standards, is not the blues, is not perhaps any sort of music to which a label can be attached. The closest I can come to defining the music of GUH is as a sort of progressive jazz-fusion, yet that’s not really accurate either. This music is something very special.

Throughout a concert that lasted almost two hours without an intermission, the full-house audience was rapt as the music carried them into wide and varied musical realms that were both diverse and consistent. There were wonderful musical surprises at every turn as these musicians played their phrases like kites soaring and floating above and through the audience. Not just sonic, this music tends toward a tactile and visual sense that lends to its magic.

Hearing GUH for the first time, I could sense powerful and lasting roots in the progressive jazz of the Forties and Fifties and the later jazz-fusion born of that movement. Throughout this concert could be heard the influence of the most creative artists of that era. Laid over that foundation, I could hear the newer sounds of the jazz greats who came out of cities like Detroit and Montreal in the Seventies and moved forward the leading edge of jazz. Floating through this mix: influences of many genres and cultures adding colour and depth to the sound. There’s something else in this music as well, something subtle and new that cannot quite be defined.

This is not music everyone will enjoy. Its closest relatives are the leading edge of progressive jazz or perhaps the works of modern “classical” composers such as Stravinski or Glass. To some ears, it can sound harsh and strident or even not musical at all. To listeners firmly ensconsced in more standard musical forms, this music may seem quite incomprensible. I know excellent musicians with broadly eclectic tastes in music, who reserve their greatest dislike for so-called “atonal” music. Most musicians I know, no matter how brilliant, claim to have no idea how to play such music, which breaks through the formal bounds in which they’ve learned to play and listen. This is music to which you must either be naturally attuned or which you must learn to understand and love.

I suspect this music is not so new after all, but reaches back into our primitive roots. The formal nature of most music we hear performed today has been built up gradually over several centuries of our rational age, during which influential segments of society had perceived a need to civilize and control every aspect of life, including art. From the sweet melodies of Henry VIII and Versailles through European classical music to the popular musical forms of the Twentieth Century, the old music has been usurped and changed to suit the mood of the day. We are natural multitaskers, designed to receive and evaluate many messages in order to survive what had been a very dangerous world. I believe our “primitive” music reflected that world and took the listener along many diverse paths, real and fantastic. Through a half-millenium of control by one powerful establishment or another, music has been reduced to reflect only one world and is expected to follow only one path and a single beat, with only rare and brief side-excursions. Bands like Dead Can Dance or Girls against Boys in some ways reflect a return to our musical roots. GUH simply takes this trend a bit further.

In many ways consistent and uniform throughout this concert, both in sound and quality, the music also presented the audience with a broad and varied soundscape crossing both time and distance. With eight musicians playing at least ten instruments plus chanted non-verbal vocals, the range and affect of the music was powerful and all-encompassing. This acoustic band managed to fill the room with unexpected volume yet had the control to pull back the sound to suit any mood. Even the twin drum kits seemed to have volume control knobs attached. A full symphony orchestra couldn’t have affected greater emotional range.

I earlier mentioned the varied soundscape that weaves its tapestry across this palpable landscape of jazz. Whole segments were overlaid with sounds reminiscent of the psychedelia of some forty years ago, drifting mistlike through the sensibilities of the audience. At times, the rhythm came together and solidified into a clear reggae/ska backbeat picked up at times by other elements in the mix. The two drummers ranged broadly from primitive tribal rhythms to the bravura booming of drummers in big swing bands and symphony orchestras. A Middle-Eastern flavour permeated several pieces, highlighted by what sounded like some sort of Arab flute but was actually some very clever playing on the bagpipe. Occasionally, this sound shifted from authentic Middle-Eastern to the sort of adaptive musical line to be heard in pieces such as Dick Dale’s “Misirlou” and other Sixties surfing music. These are just the most obvious variations among many heard in this concert.

Around the centre of GUH’s concert, the band played a traditional Turkish song. I’ve mentioned that in some ways this band’s music harks back to music that predates the much more structured and constrained forms of Western music over the past four centuries. Here’s the beginning of proof. This traditional song from Turkey fit seamlessly into the flow of late-Twentieth Century compositions from GUH.

While the past 19 years has seen some ebb and flow in band membership, I believe most of the personnel at the Kingston concert was among the same group who had originally formed GUH in 1991. The eight players I saw were: Henry Muth on highland warpipes, wooden recorder, and plastic recorder; Brian Cram on trumpet and euphonium; Tom MacCammon on trumpet and percussion; Jason Baird on alto saxophone; Jason Clarke on Electric guitar; Blake Howard on drum kit; Andrew Henry on drum kit; and Julian Brown on electric bass. (I’ll appreciate if someone from GUH – or someone who knows – will send me any corrections to this lineup.)

I highly recommend seeing a live performance by GUH should the opportunity present itself. Experiencing the creative energy of these artists and the power of their music will be well worth your while. This current GUH tour was only Kingston, Montreal, and Toronto, but hopefully they’ll be on the road again soon and will visit your town.

Discover the music of Guh at myspace.com/houseofguh, where you’ll also be able to listen to eight of their songs. You can learn more about The Artel, a very special arts space, at the-artel.ca.

Support this independent roots music CD reviews blog.

Rickie Mann has no problem knowing the niche into which his music fits. Mann describes the music on this release as an “old school R&B, Rock, and Blues tinged excursion from the usual airplay … a fun-filled, not-too-deeply-complicated, energized project.” Well, yes, but as Billy Joel wrote: it’s still Rock and Roll to me. In fact, this is good old-fashioned big-band Rock and Roll spiced up with just a bit of Funk and Seventies theatre and Soul. It’s definitely worth a listen, or maybe two.

Mann has a real grasp of this genre. Although each of the thirteen songs in this set was written by Mann, listening brings echoes of artists and songs from some past hit parade. These are new songs with memories built in. This set would warm the mood of any house party and any one of the songs could become our song for some celebratory couple.

In the tradition to which he aspires, Mann writes simple songs. His lyrics are tight and well-written, touching on the everyday lives of his intended audience. Keeping his tunes as simple as the words laid over them, Mann has a knack for arranging the parts so that the music is powerful and affecting. The result is that these songs are sustainable and should hold up over time.

Mann has a strong voice and an excellent sense of the balance between just singing the words and performing the role. Mann’s vocals are supplemented by a full complement of a dozen or so instruments arrayed behind him and several voices singing backup or alternate-lead parts. This is music that draws you in and makes you want to hear more.

I’ve always been a fan of big band Rock and Roll, everything from the up-tempo screamers of Little Richard through the American theatre of Meatloaf. I love the sound of a big horn section blasting away with sax in the forefront and the brass not far behind. I love those rocking boogie woogie piano sounds and the tension between the guitars as they struggle for ascendancy. I love the heavy thrum of the bass and the driving rhythm of the drums as they carry the whole thing forward. If that’s what you’re looking for, Rickie Mann delivers.

While he clearly has talent as a singer, arranger, and producer, Mann sees himself as primarily a songwriter. This shows in the variety of songs presented here, often sounding very much like certain popular artists who might have been the target audience for a particular song. If Mann is as good at marketing himself and his work, then we may indeed be hearing hitmaking artists performing his songs.

I won’t go into all of the songs in this set – which are uniformly well written, performed and produced – but I’d like to mention a few that do stand out. “Junkstore Junkie” is a classic jump jive piece that would be at home in Forties R & B or Fifties Rock and Roll. A very cool touch is the bit of voice-under chatter at the end, very reminiscent of some of the old Johnny Otis tracks. “Cry” is a heavy rocker with big drums, cool keys, and romantic lyrics that brings to mind artists like Bob Seger, Pablo Cruise, and Jackson Browne. “Hand in Hand” has much the same feel but is a harder-driving number and introduces powerful, soulful vocals by Treva Henderson. “I’ll Give” is the sort of romantic ballad often requested by couples to play at their weddings. It brings to mind songs performed by artists like Cliff Richard some thirty years ago. “Princess Cinderella” presents a strange mix of styles. The verses feature a jumpy vocal that harks back to some of the early Elvis Costello, but the chorus has a smoother and more romantic feel to it. Mann somehow makes this apparent mismatch work. “Powerful Love” is a sweet, sentimental piece meant to seduce, and loaded with the romantic dynamite to do just that. Oh, and Mark Douthit’s smooth sax adds just the right touch of sexuality. “Jill the Ripper” is another throwback to earlier times, the sort of down and dirty blues-rocker that would be a hit in any local bar.

If The Little Things is an indication of Rickie Mann’s abilities as a singer, musician, and songwriter, then he should do well. In the meantime, we have this release to remind us of the talent waiting in the wings. This one is well worth the price of admission.

You can purchase The Little Things and learn more about Rickie Mann at CD Baby, where you’ll also be able to listen to clips of six of these songs.

Support this independent roots music CD reviews blog.

How do you critique an icon, especially one who may well be on her way to becoming a legend? A popular artist who has earned the respect of fans and fellow artists alike and garnered an impressive number of awards and accolades can present a daunting challenge to the reviewer. A new or little-known artist presents only the challenge of evaluating the work itself: the craft, skill and potential of the artist. The only baggage, if any, is brought to the process by the reviewer’s own experience. To review a star, whether established or rising, presents a whole other set of problems. Whether the reviewer praises, criticizes, or presents a balanced picture of the work under review, the process can feel like a no-win situation. The reviewer who offers the artist only praise can be seen as an uncritical fan. The reviewer who points out flaws in the performace or suggests areas for improvement may experience the ire of fans who have elevated the artist to perfection. A balanced and fair reviewer may come under attack from both sides, who see only the bits with which they disagree. What’s an honest reviewer to do?

Reaching at random deep into my backlog, I found Where the Action Is, a six year old release by Canadian blues artist Sue Foley. Foley is a case in point. Starting in her teens, Foley has by now enjoyed a successful career of some 24 years. At forty, she’s young as blues artists go, beautiful, and has opened for and played with the top Canadian and American blues artists. She has a powerful singing style and guitar licks to match the best of them. If she’s not a star already, then she’s certainly a blues-icon headed toward stardom. She has the prestigious honours to prove it. She’s won the Canadian Maple Blues Award eighteen times and France’s Trophée de blues three times. In 2002, the year Where the Action Is was released, she was nominated for W.C. Handy Award for best contemporary female artist. Foley is also a winner of the covetted Juno Award, Canada’s equivalent to the American Grammy. Foley has eleven releases on CD as well as a live DVD Sue Foley, Live in Europe. Where the Action Is was produced by and features supporting performances by fellow Canadian blues-icon Colin Linden, who recruited some of North America’s finest musicians to back up Foley’s performances. How do you approach such a phenomenon with any sort of objectivity? Perhaps you don’t.

Arguably, some of the best modern blues is being played and recorded in Canada. There’s a large and supportive community of fans and players across The Great White North, and American artists often bring their own brand of blues north to perform and record in our largest cities. Ottawa’s Sue Foley is part of that blues-movement, helping to popularize the form not only among the already-converted but among fans of folk music and Rock and Roll as well. She’s become known from her native Ontario to the American South and from coast to coast across the continent. That she has a great deal of talent cannot be denied. Rather than take a narrow look at Foley as she is now or as she may have been when she recorded this, her eighth release, through the filter of Foley’s work I’d like to draw upon a broader palette: Canadian blues, of which this release is an example.

Somewhere across the decades, the definition of The Blues both changed and blurred. This is normal for any genre of music that grows and reaches audiences beyond its roots. Jazz was once one recognizable form but now encompasses a wide range of forms and styles. Rock and Roll, itself the outgrowth of last century’s ever-evolving music, evolved into Rock and a range of related styles. So it is with The Blues. In Canada, much of the blues music to be heard in local bars and on recordings would once have been called Rock and Roll. This blues is big, electric, and rocking. It’s still The Blues but it’s also so much more.

Fifty years ago, I was exposed to blues music a lot and never realized it. My parents had very eclectic musical taste, some of which extended to pop covers of blues songs, rocking blues-based country songs, rhythm and blues, and traditional blues. By my early teens, I was listening to static-ridden American radio and haunting second-hand stores for old records, buying them mostly because the titles interested me and not for any particular songs. A lot of what I bought was jazz, R & B, and blues music. I was in Calgary, far from the centres of this type of music. What I was buying was, I believed, up-tempo Rock and Roll and what was then sometimes called slow-rock. I realized later that sometimes the up-tempo numbers were blues-based Rockabilly, Country music, or covers of blues songs by mainstream artists and the slower songs were blues-based Rock and Roll, R & B, or even electric blues. When I discovered Alan Freed, a lot of what he had been calling Rock and Roll was in exactly this same blues-based vein. Cliff Richard’s blues-based Rock and Roll was followed into Canada by the music of other British artists like The Rolling Stones, John Mayall so on. I was also listening to music from Europe, especially France, that had similar influences. It was not obvious to me in my teens that this music was particularly American. My idea of American blues was the very traditional, folksy guy and a guitar material: Josh White, Bill Broonzy, Leadbelly.

Sue Foley is substantially younger than I am. Even so, as a youngster in Canada, she would have been exposed to later versions of the same influences. It’s easy to imagine that Foley’s style may have been shaped by not just the blues in the music she heard but also the other forms with which that sound had been infused. There is a thin line between the electric blues of B. B. King, Muddy Waters (McKinley Morganfield), Willie Dixon, and others and the sounds of groups such as the Rolling Stones, Electric Light Orchestra, or John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. Perhaps there is no line at all but a subtle transition from the one to the other. In this, her eighth release, the Sue Foley I hear is walking that line, as much in the world of Rock and Roll as that of The Blues

Take, for example, Etta James’ 1955 hit “Roll With Me Henry” (also known euphemistically as “The Wallflower”). An answer-song to the controversial hit “Work With Me Annie,” released by Hank Ballard a year earlier, this song was on the leading edge of early Rock and Roll. While clearly blues-based, this song remains among the best of old-time Rock and Roll. Foley’s remake of The Rolling Stone’s “Stupid Girl” retains some of that Stones’ sound but the rhythm section also carries strong echoes of ELO’s “Don’t Bring Me Down” and at times Richard Bell’s organ brings to mind some of the harder-rocking songs of Dylan’s early electric period. Much of the sound of “Two Bluebirds” also seems influenced by The Rolling Stones. “Gotta Keep Moving” reminds me of a couple of album tracks recorded by Chuck Berry, circa 1956. “Baby Where Are You?” and “Get Yourself Together” could easily have been recorded by Johnny Rivers forty years ago. Both songs definitely have his sound. A bit more bluesy, “Vertigo Blues” reminds me ever so much of Canned Heat’s “On the Road Again” with a bit more of a Rock edge. Contrary to the hard-edge of most songs on this release, “Every Hour” is a very cool, soft R & B love song composed by Foley but sounding like it had been lifted straight out of 1953.

There’s also an underlying country-music feel that surfaces in these songs from time to time and brings a bit of Rockabilly into the mix. A good part of this sense comes from Foley’s voice and her vocal style. On this release at least, Foley reminds me less of Etta James or Ruth Brown than of the Rock and Roll vocal style epitomized by Rockabilly queen Wanda Jackson. I would say this is a good thing. Some Blues afficionados might disagree with me. See for yourself. Check out Foley’s rocking style on her video of “Walking Home” or watch her slip even further to the Country side as she sings the classic “Careless Love” while on a 2006 tour in Europe. [Of course, neither of these songs is on the release we're discussing here and they serve only as illustration.]

Sue Foley is one of Canada’s finest blues guitarists. That’s not me saying so but her fans and her musician peers. She is also a fine vocalist with an excellent sense of the words she sings. Listening to her songs, her talent as a lyrist and composer is clear. Where the Action Is, her eighth release, can provide interesting insights into where this artist has been and where she’s going. With eleven CD releases, a DVD of her concerts in Europe, and a new book soon to be released, Foley is one of Canada’s rising stars. I may hear a lot of great Rock and Roll in this music but, at root, at the heart of everything Sue Foley does is The Blues.

Discover Sue Foley at SueFoley.com where you’ll also find the two performance videos included in this review plus two more. If you go to Myspace, you can hear four of Sue Foley’s songs.

Support this independent roots music CD reviews blog.

With today’s technology allowing just about anyone to record and release music from the comfort of home, you’d think much of what is released would be amateurish to just plain awful. It’s not true. I receive a lot of CD releases in the mail. Most have not been requested by me and almost all come from independent artists who are not particularly famous away from home. I’ve been writing music reviews since the Sixties, and online now for a dozen years. I’m constantly surprised, and very pleasantly, when I open a new release and start listening. In general, the quality of these releases is as good as anything released in earlier years, and some of it is among the best I’ve heard. This brings us to Perry Conticchio’s Speak Your Truth.

Eight of the twelve songs here were composed by Conticchio, and the remaining four are arranged by him. Jazz composition, and to some degree arrangement of jazz works, requires very special skills. Based on this suite of songs, Conticchio has honed his skills well and is a consummate master of his form. Performed by six musicians at the top of their form, these songs are fully rounded and seamless, flowing across the listener with gentle dexterity. The effect is not of a dozen single songs played in isolation but of a full, rich jazz suite that includes all of these songs in just the right sequence.

While saxman Conticchio takes the lead in many of the songs, he also gives his colleagues plenty of room to strut their stuff. The combo at the core of this music is tight and refined with excellent, well-balanced performances by Conticchio on tenor and soprano sax, Rodney Richardson on guitar, Andrew Elliot Cox on acoustic bass, and Lawrence “bubbles” Dean on drums. Joseph Brotherton plays trumpet on two songs and Wayne Wilentz plays piano on two others. The trumpet and piano blend organically into the mix, never sounding extra or added-in. All of this is a tribute to both Conticchio’s skill as an arranger and the talents of the musicians with whom he works.

While it never sounds dated in any way, this music does have an old feel. I’m reminded of the jazz I was buying on albums during the Sixties and early-Seventies. Although the sound of the songs is unified and the set holds together very well, Conticchio seems to have pulled in elements from a number of the jazz variations of mid-century and made musical allusions to several more, creating his own brand of subtle fusion. It’s in his particular blend of styles that this music sounds fresh and new.

Besides Conticchio’s refined sax sound, this release features exceptional playing and outstanding moments featuring the other musicians. There are some impressive solos on bass and drums, cool piano bits, very Wes Montgomery sounding guitar, trumpet that at times takes me back to Bobby Hackett, and much more. Because of these many high points, this music welcomes the close listener who has a taste for excellence in jazz performance. At the same time, this is quiet club-jazz well suited to become background for a quiet meal and conversation or to be played at home while cuddling in front of the fireplace.

While I enjoy listening to this set, I keep thinking how much more enjoyable it would be to walk into a club somewhere and discover Perry Conticchio and the boys on stage. It would be a pleasure to watch such a masterful group of musicians at work. If you can’t make it to a live performance, then this CD is the next best thing.

If you want to learn more about saxman Perry Conticchio, go to PerryConticchio.com. If you go to the Speak Your Truth page, you can hear samples of four of the songs on this release.

Support this independent roots music CD reviews blog.

As my regular readers and the artists who submit their releases know, I’ve taken periodic breaks from writing these reviews, this last one quite long. I do believe it’s very important to support independent artists and to provide them with positive and helpful feedback. (Certainly, as an artist myself, I appreciate any feedback that will help me to improve my art.) Life sometimes gets in the way of writing reviews. The fact is that writing these reviews can be a full-time job. However, not only do I not receive any payment for writing these reviews but I also have to pay a number of out-of-pocket expenses to get and keep the reviews online. I don’t mind. If I won a big lottery, I would spend all my time making art and writing reviews. As it stands, rent has to be paid and groceries bought. When the bills get too pressing, the reviews suffer. As I find more effective ways to maintain cash-flow, I’ll start being a bit more regular about posting reviews here.

I want to thank each and every reader for your support of these reviews and some of you for comments you’ve sent me both publicly on this blog and by private e-mails and letters. I also want to thank the artists, who have been so patient with my often slow process as they wait for me to finally review their releases. I wish that I could send a personal note to each of you. My thoughts and my thanks do go out, not only to all of you as a community, but to each of you as the wonderfully creative individuals you are. Thank you.

Keep on writing those powerful lyrics. Keep on making the music. The world really does need it now more than ever. Your positive vibes help to keep our world on an even keel.

Support this independent roots music CD reviews blog.

Recently, I watched two touring musicians perform live at a small venue. On CD, the music of this singer and guitarist involved an array of instruments and musical effects. For this performance, much of the supporting music had been brought along in digital form on a computer. (Hey, who can afford to carry a big band on tour?) A musician friend of mine came over and whispered to me, “I don’t know about you, but I prefer live musicians.” If I have a complaint about Tig Wired’s release, this is it. The sound is big, but the instrumentation is all recorded and digitized by one person, Colin Campbell, with a little bit of help on drums and blues-harp.

You’ve got to hand it to Campbell. He’s managed to carry this legerdemain off without sounding all digitized and soft, as happens with so many of today’s one-man bands. Most of the time, but not always, without reading the liner notes you would never know this wasn’t a flesh and bones band. I only hope that, if Campbell and his lyricist partner – his brother Chris – take this show on the road, they’ll have the good sense to take along a real band and not just a pack of mp3 files.

That small quibble aside, this is a varied and interesting release that maintains a certain artistic unity despite its overall eclectic nature. If these brothers are not twins, perhaps they should have been. Their artistic vision is that tight, as though the creative centre of this music comes from not two minds but one. Chris Campbell’s lyrics are a perfect match for brother Colin’s musical magic, the two balancing and counterpointing one another at every turn.

While these songs hint at the blues, Forties’ country music, rock, reggae, jazz, and even folk music and show music, they’re really in a relatively new genre that often falls between the tracks and goes unacknowledged. What really connects these songs is their affinity for this genre that’s only existed since perhaps the late-Sixties. What strikes me most about these songs is how much they remind me of the jazz rock pioneered by artists such as Van Morrison and Lou Reed some forty years ago.

Chris Campbell’s lyrics, often socially conscious but never strident, are excellent, comparing favourably to the works of Morrison and Reed as well as many of our finest writers of protest songs. These are not just pretty poems but moving stories set to his brother’s music for additional impact.

Much of the time, Colin Campbell sounds a whole lot like Lou Reed in his seminal Velvet Underground years. As often, he sounds very like Van Morrison from the same period and a few years after when Morrison slipped into jazz-mode. On “When I Get To Feel This Way,” he starts to sound like Tex Williams of “Smoke, Smoke, Smoke That Cigarette” fame. “It’s This Job I Do” is pure country, so much so that most contemporary country music stations might not play it. A bit more schmaltzy, and it might have been a Bobby Goldsboro song. On the more reggae-sounding songs, his voice shifts again, sounding ever so much like a young Bob Marley. The variety present in this release only adds to the literary and musical talent of the Campbell brothers.

The musicianship on this release is impressive. There are trumpets (Keyboard? They sound real.) that at times echo the early Freddie Hubbard and at other times blast hard like early ska trumpets. Other instruments bring the same high quality to this production. As far as I can tell, except for drums on some of the songs and blues-harp on one, Colin Campbell is the musician responsible for all of these very cool sounds.

Even though I’m in favour of a full suite of musicians playing on a recording, keeping working-musicians working, I can’t help but be impressed with what the Campbell brothers have accomplished with this release. I do highly recommend that you give it a listen.

You’ll find more information on Canadian musicians Colin and Chris Campbell, aka Tig Wired, at tigwired.com.

Support this independent roots music CD reviews blog.

Located in Eastern Ontario at the edge of what some must feel is a cultural wilderness, Kingston is a thriving centre of the arts. This is the home of many rising and current stars in music, in literature, in dance, in the visual arts, in drama, in every aspect of the arts. Innovative approaches to art are common in this, by surface appearances at least, very conservative city. Once the capital city of the united Canadas, Kingston may have held on to the cultural imperatives that came along with that position. The city’s location at the centre of a cultural triangle formed by Toronto, Montreal, and New York City may also influence the unique creativity to be found in Kingston. Another influence may be that Kingston is only a short drive from the nation’s capitol. Whatever the reason, Kingston has a vibrant and interesting arts community.

Queen’s University’s Union Gallery, a student gallery with a mandate to balance 70 percent student work with 30 percent from other artists, often presents some of the most thought-provoking exhibitions in this area. The group show Shades of Grace is exciting and innovative, bringing together artists from across Canada who work in diverse media and span the generations. Less a multi-faceted diamond, this is a hall of mirrors that presents a different view at each turn and new views each time you walk through. The effect is quite wonderful. The works in this show in turns please, provoke, calm, intrigue, and even amuse.

At the centre of this show rests the idea of grace as it presents itself to each of us from time to time. Conceived by artist, performer, and poet Donnalee Iffla, this show is based on a poem she had written and the words of which pervade this show. Over a short period of time, Iffla had seen three friends quite separately fall into peril from which they should have died but survived. One fell to the earth. Another was trapped in water. The third barely escaped a terrible fire. Around the same time, Iffla experienced a surreal, dreamlike scene at dusk in a local wood, where she observed a dozen or more owls gliding above the treetops in the circles of a delicate dance. For her, this represented the fourth element, air, to complete the circle of her three friends’ brushes with death by earth, water, and fire. These circumstances suggested the presence of grace which is all around if we will only see it.

Iffla wrote her elegantly crafted poem around these four incidents and their relatedness through the grace by which they and she had been touched. Seeking greater depth for her expression, Iffla approached a group of five other artists to work with her on an exhibition to be named Shades of Grace after the poem. She presented the concept to the Union Gallery and the project was off and running. The result is an exciting melding of ancient and contemporary art forms all circling like Iffla’s owls around the central concept of grace.

Michael Davidge, known for his work with installations and in video, and currently Artistic Director of Modern Fuel Artist Run Centre in Kingston, created a perhaps disturbing illusion. It sits dead-centre in the gallery, a plywood box perhaps the size of four refrigerator boxes papered on the outside with posters for various events. The ends are open and, at about four feet wide by seven feet tall, waiting for viewers to walk through the gauntlet the box presents. Davidge says the inspiration for this piece is an old Charlie Chaplin movie in which The Little Hobo unwittingly steps into a gaping hole just as an underground elevator rises up to stop him from falling in. Walking through Davidge’s installation is both interesting and a trifle disconcerting. The middle third of the path has been built upon a foam material that leaves one feeling more than a little off balance. The experience can be quite thought-provoking.

Montreal film-maker Alain Ambrosi created three video presentations which are placed at different locations throughout the exhibition. A well-known figure in the area of alternative and democratic media, Ambrosi has produced many documentary films and published numerous books and articles in his field over the past three decades. Ambrosi’s allusive videos are quite distinct from each other, each presenting a different aspect of grace but all touching on the idea that grace must ultimately come from within. The visuals and the sounds of these videos have a haunting effect that draws the viewer in and encourages deeper reflection.

Ted Rettig works in sculpture/installation, drawing, photo/text pieces, bookworks, multiples, and video and has been exhibiting nationally and internationally since 1974. For this exhibition, Rettig has created a variety of pieces that represent the concept of grace in form and in words. These are perhaps the most formal and traditional pieces in the exhibition.

The young Vancouver – now Kingston – artist Ayaz Kamani created a dramatic interactive experience. Two video players are set up with a chair facing them. Two sets of earphones are interconnected. On each screen appears an interview. With the earphones on and the two players running, the viewer will experience an interposition of the two interviews. Complex though this may seem, Kamani has made it work well and provided an interesting interactive interpretation of grace.

Painter Anna Emburg Wright created two large-scale fan-shaped works featuring lovely, elaborate floral images within which float almost hidden human figures. These paintings are exciting and thought-provoking yet have a Zen-like calm to them as well. The effect is quite dramatic.

On one wall, a set of earphones waits the casual listener. Several readings of Iffla’s poem by the artists bring slightly different perspectives to the words. To listen is to experience the poem in new and different ways. Besides organizing this exhibition, Iffla is an active participant. She has created a variety of ceramic tiles in different sizes and shapes to represent aspects of her poem and each bearing the words of different parts of the poem. Reading the poem in segments like that also adds new perspective and depth.

Shades of Grace is an intriguing collaboration among what may at first seem an unlikely selection of artists. As one explores the exhibition space, the connections become increasingly clear. This show is thought-provoking and illuminating, with depth that reveals itself in layers that seem never to end. It’s an experience well worth the time spent exploring it.

Support this independent roots music CD reviews blog.

I recently had the pleasure of seeing Heather Haley and Roderick Shoolbraid, who together comprise Aural Heather, perform live in a small room. Aural Heather’s words and music are well suited to such an intimate “chamber music” setting, reaching out and touching each listener at a personal level. The intricate interplay of of Haley’s words and Shoolbraid’s music works well in a studio recording and it was a pleasant surprise to see this duo carry it off so well in a live setting. These works are complex enough to have foiled a less talented duo.

To many listeners, these performances may be quite a new experience. In fact, while there is a certain freshness to Aural Heather’s presentation, performances and recordings in this genre have been available for at least five decades. If they are little known to the general public, it’s perhaps because artists in this genre have tended to be somewhat underground, playing to artists, intellectuals, and the coffee house crowd. Only occasionally has a recording of spoken word and music that edges toward experimental slipped over onto mainstream radio. One or two of the songs on this release may be able to make that crossover, or at least get played on college radio stations.

I’ve long found it interesting that styles in the arts often divide not north-south between Canada and the United States but east-west with the distinction appearing to be between artists working west of the Rockies and artists working in central Canada and the American states southward from there. In performance of spoken word with music, the west-coast style is quite distinctive. The performance of Canada’s Aural Heather falls quite firmly into that west-coast spectrum.

At root, these performances might be described as poetry read over somewhat experimental music. Of course, such a description is quite inadequate. It’s true that Heather Haley writes some quite powerful poetry and she reads and sometimes sings it over music created and performed by Roderick Shoolbraid. However, this is no poetry reading, no academic professor reading to a gathering of bored students, no jaded beatnick addressing equally jaded coffee house denizens. The poetry and music here is vital and alive. The performance has its own energy that goes beyond just the two performers and draws in the audience. There is a merging of the words and music that takes on a life of its own.

Neither is the content fey or artsy. In her poems and lyrics, Haley takes on real life issues and is clearly not one to hold her tongue. Among her topics are the murders of women in Vancouver that went ignored and uninvestigated for decades, drug culture in British Columbia, anorexia and bulemia, Wonderland (the movie about porn-star John Holmes’ drug involvement), and more. Shoolbraid’s music avoids the stereotypes of sweet electronic music or the schlock of Walter Murphy’s pop hits. Shoolbraid’s music abounds with rocking beats, solid blues riffs, surfing fills that would do Tangerine Dream proud. Put these words and music together, and the whole truly is greater than the parts.

Watching this duo in live performance and listening to a recording of Aural Haley differs only in the fine details. If there are flaws at all in this recording, they are technological and have nothing to do with the performances. At times, the sound is overmodulated and so becomes muggy. It’s possible that a bit too much compression may be enhancing this effect, adding to the mugginess of the sound. In my opinion, use of reverb is also excessive on this release, although a certain amount of reverb or echo is necessary in places to fill out the sound. Often, I find that digital recordings feel empty and are thus unsatisfying. This is usually because some producer has gone overboard cleaning up the sound until all depth has been removed. I’m happy to report that this recording has lots of “room” and feels close to analogue at times.

I’ve mentioned that Aural Heather stands firmly within an established literary and musical tradition. In that context, as I listen I am reminded of other east-coast artists. Shoolbraid’s spoken performance on “My Mountain” is reminiscent of Jock Blaney’s wonderful performances in the group 2nu2.com or the readings of Rod McKuen in pieces like “The Mud Kids.” Haley’s sung bits remind me of a number of other artists, especially at times of the recordings of California artist Belita Adair. Her spoken style reminds me of Sheryl Crow’s popular hit “All I Wanna Do” and of recordings by fellow Vancouverite Wyckham Porteous. Aural Heather is in good company, and is the equal of any of that company.

Whether you’re a long term fan of this artistic genre or it’s something you’ve not yet discovered, I highly recommend giving a listen to Aural Heather’s Princess Nut, subtitled Spoken Word Songs. You’ll find it’s quite an experience.

You’ll find more information on Aural Heather at the RPW Records website. You can look up Heather Haley at www.heatherhaley.com and you’ll find Roderick Shoolbraid at myspace.com

Support this independent roots music CD reviews blog.

I’m going to take a new approach in hopes of getting more reviews online sooner. First, I’m no longer going to worry about maintaining chronological order of arrival, the administration of which actually takes up a lot of time and energy. Second, I’m going to listen fewer times and write faster, hoping all the while to not sacrifice either depth or quality in my reviews. Third, I’m going to schedule time into my life to do this rather than only do it when I can find time to do it. Fourth, I’m going to ask my readers to contribute to the cost of releasing these reviews online. I’m hoping this will work out well for all concerned: the artists, the readers, and me.

At the end of each review, you’ll notice a button. If I won a lottery or was independently wealthy, it would be my greatest pleasure to write these reviews as part of my contribution to the arts. The fact is that I am neither a lottery winner nor independently wealthy. Like the songwriters and musicians I review, I am a working artist making at the best of times a modest income. Writing these reviews and publishing them to the internet takes up a great deal of my time and also costs me out-of-pocket for server space and other necessary services. If you feel, as I do, that it’s important to support independent musicians, then I will appreciate if you could donate whatever you feel is appropriate or you can afford. All donations will be very confidentially managed through the secure services of Paypal.

Thank you for your support, for your comments, and for making wonderful words and music just when the world needs it most.

As always, the scope of this reviews site is quite broad, encompassing folk music, roots music, and roots-related music. This includes any and all music which at some level derives from our musical roots, especially blues, jazz, rock and roll, spoken word, and some classical or popular music genres.

If you want to submit your new CD release for review, here’s the address:

Music Reviews
Roots Music Canada
Unit # 6
710 Division Street
Kingston, Ontario
K7K 6T9
Canada

If mailing from outside Canada, please mark the value on the customs form as ncv (no commercial value) or assign a very low value and list the CD as a sample. If you fail to do these things and the CD arrives with duty owing, I will return it. I cannot afford to pay duty for a project which already leaves me out of pocket.

Support this independent roots music CD reviews blog.