ABOVE and BEYONDHarpdog Brown & Graham GuestDog Breath Records8.5-out-of-10
It's always cool to review music from someone you sort of know. Harpdog Brown and I have chatted via email for a couple of years, and more recently through Facebook, so I've followed the Edmonton bluesman's career for a while.
In the case of his new disk Above and Beyond it was interesting that the artist actually called me up for a coffee and we met here in Yorkton as he traveled back from a Winnipeg show headed to his hometown. As a side note it's really too bad there wasn't a place he could have played here. There are no doubt many great bands passing through on the Yellowhead highway, but we sadly lack venues, which I suppose goes back to the fact Yorkton music fans seem sadly satisfied with canned tracks over live music given the sparse crowds many live bands play to here.
But back to Harpdog Brown and piano man Graham Guest. As his name implies, Brown is a harp man. He plays the harmonica, and he plays it fine.
Brown also supplies the vocals, and he has the gravel-infused voice to make the blues his own. One song into the disk and you know two things for sure, the blues was made for Harpdog's voice, and that he is genuinely in the blues because he loves the music.
The combo of harp work and gritty vocals sell this one as very solid blues.
Graham adds the piano work, and he is a perfect compliment to the 'Dog.
The disk includes a range of covers, from You Don't Have to Go from Jimmy Red, to Percy Mayfield's Someone to Love to Let Me Explain from Sonnyboy Williamson II.
This of course is not Harpdog's first recording, having Live at the Vat with his band the Bloodhounds out a few years ago.
This is a CD that should be marked a must for blues fans.
Check it out at www.harpdogbrown.com- CALVIN DANIELS
SELF-TITLEDHOT CLUB EDMONTONIndie8-out-of-10
When you go to a band's website and on the front page read "are you ready for a unique musical experience? This is a place where 1930's Gypsy Jazz, meets Western Canadian Folk Music, creating a sound unlike any you've heard before: Hot Club Edmonton," you tend to get rather curious about just what is going to be on the disk.
Well, true to its billing, Hot Club Edmonton throws together several musical influences on their self-titled effort.
The idea of Parisian jazz certainly comes through, from the opening instrumental Belleville to the French vocals of Blanche which could have been playing in a French club during the Great War as far as style goes.
The CD liner notes explain the roots of Gypsy jazz. "Gypsy Jazz was shaped within the context of Paris in the 1930s' by Django Reinhardt, Stephane Grappelli and the Quintette du Hot Club de France. Together these two masters popularized this style and made waves throughout the world. Gypsy Jazz is an utterly infectious genre of music that encompasses haunting airs, swinging melodies, driving rhythms and virtuosic improvisation. All of this is delivered with the Gypsy flair."
That a band on the Canadian Prairies undertook this particular project is interesting and gratifying for the listener too.
Hot Club Edmonton looks to capture that historical feel. "It is our goal with this project to capture the essence of the Quintette du Hot Club de France while paying tribute to two giants in the history of Jazz."
To the group's credit they do it well. Certainly the word infectious is one which comes to mind in terms of describing the music here. It is a fun disk to listen too.
This is one worth checking out for its uniqueness, its upbeat music, and fine musicianship.Oh yes the best is Misty, with the sweet vocals of Thea Neumann. Impressive and beautiful.
Check this unique effort out at www.hotclubedmonton.com- CALVIN DANIELS
Past reviews are archived online at http://calmardan.blogspot.com/
