Cover Songs

I love a good cover song. There's that jolt of recognizing something familiar, then the excitement of hearing an unexpected interpretation.

Sometimes the cover surpasses the original. I'd venture to say that Soft Cell's Tainted Love gets more airplay than the '64 recording by Gloria Jones. Younger generations discovered Aerosmith in the '80s because of their collaboration with Run-D.M.C. and Bowie in the '90s with Nirvana's version of The Man Who Sold the World.

I particularly like when a Top 40 pop song is done in a different genre. Most of us have heard Marilyn Manson's take on Sweet Dreams but I prefer one of Madonna's Like A Virgin. An internet favourite, it's often attributed to Manson, though the actual performers aren't verifiable. We all know the original: chirpy with stock, almost campy lyrics. The cover makes it insistent and lewd, including provocative, sensationalistic samples. I like the tension between the coy words and the harsh style. Separate industrial bands reshaped Like a Prayer and Da Ya Think I'm Sexy? I ended up liking Beyoncé's Crazy In Love after hearing Hawksley Workman, and other artists, turn it into a rock song in concert.

With covers there's always something new out there, whether it's a jazz arrangement of Radiohead's Exit Music or a salsa Billy Jean.

Here are my current top 10 covers. I tried to think of songs where the newer one stands alone and is a departure from the original. If I expanded my criteria to include pure novelty, though, Mike Flowers Pops' '60s lounge rendition of Wonderwall would've been on the list.

Across the Universe - David Bowie (Original: The Beatles)
All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix (Bob Dylan)
A Whiter Shade of Pale - Annie Lennox (Procol Harum)
Fell In Love with a Girl Boy - Joss Stone (The White Stripes)
Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley (Leonard Cohen)
Hotel California - Gipsy Kings (Eagles)
I Bet You'd Look Good on the Dance Floor - Baby Charles (Arctic Monkeys)
Jolene - The White Stripes (Dolly Parton)
Just Dropped In - Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings (1st recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis!
  Popularized by Kenny Rogers & The First Edition)
Walk on By - The Stranglers (Burt Bacharach, recorded Dionne Warwick)

Street art, Spadina Cresc, Toronto, circa 2004. Photo: Moonage Wolf.

The Cure at Riot Fest

The Cure at Riot Fest was magic. Every song was suffused with the melancholy or dissonant drive you'd expect from the band. They came across energetic and focused. Their sound was big and crisp and held up well in the outdoor setting.

Shake Dog Shake was the opening song, followed by Fascination Street. I was thrilled to hear my favourites and equally excited that they played variations on the album tracks. This was my first time seeing them live, so I didn't know what to expect. Plenty of artists who were at the peak of popularity decades ago are now lacklustre in concert. Not so The Cure. They had the ease of consummate professionals and the electric charge of bands in their prime.

The highlight for me was Lullaby. The seductive tremble in Robert Smith's voice as he delivered the sinister line, “Spiderman is having me for dinner tonight.” He wore a jacket with a pattern like cobwebs and fog floated over him. I felt intoxicated. It wasn't only the ethereal music, but a combination of the day's indulgences, wonderful company and tender arms wrapped around my waist.

After one of the lyrical pieces Smith joked with the audience that he was worried about playing it at Riot Fest. He followed it up with a few that showed their intense side.

The members were completely unified. They were clearly loving what they do. They played a long set - about two hours worth. For an encore they did three stellar songs: Close to Me, Why Can't I Be You? and Boys Don't Cry. Then the floodlights came up and we stumbled home through the mud. On that kind of night I felt perfection was possible.

He's Your Man

Soulful, personable and at the top of his game. That was Lucas Silveira last night in an intimate show at the Flying Beaver.

What stands out most about Lucas is his voice. He's equally skilled at expressing fervour and vulnerability. Many of his songs examine heartbreak and even the upbeat ones have a reflective side. Lucas is best known as front man for The Cliks but I particularly like his small solo shows. The simplicity of his acoustic guitar accompanying his vocals heightens the emotional experience.

Silveira also shared personal anecdotes and inspirations for certain songs. As he explained, he's up there baring his soul with his music, so why not relate stories of his life?

He told us one of the most requested Clicks songs, Nobody Else Will, wasn't going to be on the 2007 album. Then he did an endearing impression of friend and then-producer Moe Berg insisting he include it. Near the end of the night we were the second audience to hear his new song. Fool for Your Love is very danceable with an old-fashioned R&B style.

My favourite piece was his version of I'm Your Man. It had everything: Silveira's tender falsetto and raspy growls. All the desire, regret and yearning that the poetry speaks of.

Silveira gives new dimension to cover songs. Some of them are classics, like Prince's Kiss, or have become a solid part of his repertoire, like JT's Cry Me A River. Others are unexpected, like Beyoncé's Drunk In Love.

The crowd responded to the set with a big, warm round of applause. Lucas gave us Wicked Game as an encore. It was full of the ardour and poignancy the song demands. The high notes had a haunting quality.

If you want to see a musician who gives his all, who's constantly broadening his style and who delivers real feeling, he's your man.

Illustration by J. Jeanes.

The Cliks at WorldPride

I'm always impressed by Lucas Silveira. He's the frontman and writer for The Cliks. His music can move me or make me dance. He's developed a striking vocal range. He combines deep and sensual with a slick falsetto according to the song.

The Cliks played WorldPride last month. They opened with Walking In A Graveyard, an intense tune in the style of Screamin' Jay Hawkins. Lucas came onstage looking sharp in a red blazer with black lapels and a slim tie. His expression reminded me of Little Richard. They followed that up with my personal favourite, Dark Passenger. The gravelly quaver in his voice and his evocative lyrics make for a dramatic piece.

Then he says, "I want to see you dance," and we do, to the lively No Good Do'er and Savanna.
They played a compact, energetic set including the gritty ska song Stop Drinking My Wine and the crowd favourite Oh Yeah. Silveira is fantastic at cover songs. This show they did Justin Timberlake's Cry Me a River. I also love Silveira's versions of Robyn's Dancing On My Own, T.I.'s Whatever You Like and Kanye's Runaway.

Silveira is a trans man. He speaks openly about his identity and the process of transitioning. He has said in interviews that he was hesitant to take hormones at first, because of the effect it would have on his voice. Around 2007 he was gaining recognition and his vocal quality had been compared to Chrissie Hynde. Eventually, he did undergo hormone replacement therapy. He found that with practice he had plenty of vocal control.

I remember going to lots of Cliks shows in the early 2000s at the Drake and smaller stages at Pride. Back then I'd describe the musical style as pop rock. The riffs were catchy. There was a lightness to many songs that was a bit like Britpop, which I'm a big fan of. Though Lucas didn't speak much to the audience he always had a definite stage presence.

In the last 10 years Silveira's music has become richer. His songs now incorporate rock, R&B, rockabilly and soul in a full, distinctive sound. The soaring Cerise, from The Cliks' latest album really illustrates that. The band closed with Dirty King, leaving us charged up with a slightly illicit feeling.

The Cliks are currently on a North American tour. They have been playing festivals like NXNE and many Pride events. They even do gigs in smaller cities like Belleville and Yellowknife. Black Tie Elevator is available on Bandcamp.

The Cliks at WorldPride Toronto 2014, Yonge-Dundas Square. Photo by: J. Jeanes

Easy Stars In Concert

Last month the Reggae cover band Easy Star All-Stars played a packed Opera House. It was the most engaged crowd I've seen this year and it's no wonder. The touring line-up are first-class musicians who give their all and clearly love what they do. This was their 10th anniversary tour performing all of Dark Side of the Moon and the audience was with them all the way.

A hopping Reggae act, John Brown's Body, was on first. They're named after the 19th century American abolitionist. They were enthusiastic and their danceable songs warmed up the house for the main event. People were openly smoking pot, a leisurely security patrol not dissuading anyone. One fan was wearing a top hat like the Mad Hatter's. When smoking was still allowed in Toronto concert venues people with joints blended in. It felt really different now, being in the hazy blue cloud, indoors.

The All-Stars came onstage with a big driving version of Radiohead's Electioneering. The Pink Floyd songs were as majestic as the originals but, best of all, the band made them their own. Kirsty Rock's vocal riffing on The Great Gig in the Sky was particularly impressive. It was also refreshing to see that the group was ethnically diverse and made up of men and women.

They played songs from other albums, including One Likkle Draw (original), a protest song: Mr. President and Redemption Song for the finale. The tenor sax and trombone players sounded amazing, especially on Thriller and Billy Jean. What grabbed me most was their cover of Radiohead’s Climbing Up the Walls. I swayed along to the ambient sounds and felt the emotions in the words.

Easy Star All-Stars at the Opera House, Toronto, April 2014. Photo credit: A. Lavender

Britpop at the Monarch

In high school my favourite kind of music was Britpop. Recently, I heard that the Monarch Tavern has a Britpop night. So, naturally, I wanted to go. It was a great spot to dance, relax and be nostalgic.

Nestled among little houses on Clinton, the bar's atmosphere is laid-back. Last month, on the night my friend and I went, a woman was celebrating her birthday there. The balloons and "40 and Fabulous" banner added to the living room feel. One of the birthday girl's friends even gave us a piece of their red velvet cake.

DJs George and Nikki played lots of hits to satisfy the crowd and a good selection of lesser-known stuff that I really liked: Super Furry Animals' Northern Lights, Shed Seven's Speakeasy, James' Sit Down and Belle & Sebastian's Boy with the Arab Strap. My friend was happy the DJs also played Manchester songs like The Charlatans' The Only One I Know. A big screen by the dance floor was showing video compilations and live footage of Supergrass, Pulp and Roxy Music. At the end of the night they ran a documentary Live Forever: The Rise and Fall of Brit Pop, which I definitely want to catch soon.

There was also a solid dose of '80s classics to keep casual patrons moving. Dancing to Madonna, Depeche Mode and The Cure at last call was fantastic. It was interesting to see that the top bands of those days were still the ones who drew the most people to the floor. George and Nikki saved the singles by Pulp, Blur and Oasis 'til the night's peak. I noticed that fewer people danced to Suede's Metal Mickey than to the band's Beautiful Ones, which was the reverse at Dance Cave in the '90s. Then again, maybe the crowd just liked that it was an upbeat song.

Empire is every 3rd Saturday at the Monarch. The next installment is Saturday May 17th, 10pm. No cover.

Jarvis Cocker (and Steve Mackey) of Pulp at MuchMusic Toronto, circa 1996. Photo: Moonage Wolf

Jazz Guitar Duo

Two distinguished-looking men sit on wooden chairs, angled towards each other. Each holds a stunning hollow-body guitar. They seem as though they're conversing as they trade off soloing and playing rhythm. One has a trim mustache, the other a soul patch. Both are clearly engrossed and they create intricate, smooth jazz which brightens a cold afternoon.

The scene was CJ's Café in Bronte last Sunday. The duo was 1 + 1. BH Maitland and Dr. Z were introduced by their guitar teacher, Martin Taylor. They play Latin jazz, “gypsy jazz” and sophisticated arrangements of standards.

My favourite pieces that afternoon were Reinhardt/Grappelli's Swing '42, Jobim's Girl from Ipanema and Just Friends. 1 + 1 made their melodies sound effortless. I felt a sense of movement and serenity. Like taking a vacation without travelling anywhere.

On break I spoke with Maitland and Z. Miles Davis came up. We talked about how not so long ago Davis was racially targeted and brutalized by cops outside Birdland, where he was performing. 1 + 1 does a beautiful version of All Blues. On a lighter note, Z also recalled that at one point Miles had platform shoes with built-in fishbowls.

1 + 1 sometimes takes requests. Certain numbers are harder to place as instrumentals. A couple of patrons beside me were enjoying naming tunes like Gershwin's Lady Be Good and Stella by Starlight.

1 + 1 play CJ's Café April 27th, 12-2. The Sunday after Easter. Free.

Pink Floyd as Reggae

Today I was at a café with my mom and sister. At one point we heard Pink Floyd's Breathe as a reggae cover. It turns out NYC's Easy Star All-Stars have made a tribute album of Pink Floyd's classic, in its entirety. It's hugely entertaining and very well realized. Their discography also includes their versions of OK Computer, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Thriller.

On Radiodread their instrumentation is inventive. To great effect, they've chosen to use brass, piano and melodica where the original used completely different instruments. A number of guest singers are featured and their vocals are unique. On Paranoid Android Kirsty Rock sings Thom Yorke's melody in his range. On Exit Music (For A Film) Sugar Minott sings in a lower register and the sense of the song is still smooth, dreamlike, disconcerting. Let Down works particularly well as an up-tempo ska song.

Pink Floyd is a favourite source for covers. Canadian band Luther Wright and the Wrongs interpreted The Wall as a bluegrass album. Also a surprising choice, skillfully executed. Comfortably Numb is a real departure from the flavour of the original, while the arrangement is unified and catchy.

Toronto residents are used to the posters for Reg Hartt's screenings of The Wizard of Oz paired with Dark Side of the Moon and Nosferatu with Kid A/OK Computer. Easy Star All-Stars' Dub Side of the Moon also includes instructions on how to sync the record with the 1939 film. Curious, I checked YouTube. In the opening there are some parts which align well (Dorothy balancing on a railing, then falling, the farmhand running to her, the first appearance of the “witch” on a bike). I'd say, though, that there are big sections where audio and visual don't make sense together, at least not while sober. If anything I found the intro goes better with the All-Stars' idyllic rendition of Breathe, even if the jungle beats of On the Run are totally at odds with the visuals for Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

The Easy Star All-Stars play the Opera House April 5th.

Jazz History in Toronto

A couple of weeks ago I asked my dad if he'd like to go to a concert with me on his birthday. He said yes. The event, Syncopation: Black Roots featured a number of top-notch ensembles showcasing the Toronto Black music scene from the '50s, '60s and '70s.

The man behind the show was Archie Alleyne. A preeminent jazz drummer, bandleader and dedicated activist, his presence is charming and welcoming. Alleyne's career has spanned six decades. Since 2003 he has been awarding scholarships to young musicians to help them pursue advanced music training. In the program Alleyne keenly says, “When I started playing professionally, men and women were still required to use separate entrances at some entertainment establishments, while others barred Blacks from entering outright. Thankfully, the times were changing.”

I was surprised to find my dad knew of Alleyne from performances in the '50s. At that time my dad was a commercial artist and aspiring actor. Not a jazz aficionado per se, he was always on the lookout for new and exciting experiences. Departures from his conservative upbringing. In the '50s Alleyne was quickly establishing himself as a distinguished jazz player.

The Syncopation MC invited audience members to share their memories of groundbreaking musicians and venues of Toronto past. The room seemed shy at first, however, Archie joked that they should speak up before they got “volun-told”. My dad remembered seeing Alleyne at the First Floor Club, near bohemian Yorkville, and enjoying every minute of it.

A high point of the afternoon for me was Jay Douglas' set. Not only was his singing bold and soulful but his dancing was riveting. While Douglas is a senior he could hold his own with anyone in terms of raw energy. He had expert moves, fancy footwork and a mischievous expression. He made use of the entire stage.

The show was a fantastic view into the history of musical entertainment in Toronto. It was lovely to unexpectedly discover a bit of family history as well.

Inside Llewyn Davis

Last night I saw Inside Llewyn Davis. It's one of the Coen brothers' intense movies. While it does focus on music like O Brother, Where Art Thou?, it doesn't have the lightness that film had at times. It's the story of a fictional folk singer, Llewyn Davis, who's an unlikable character.

I found the themes interesting. What stood out most for me was the choice to make the lead role a musician who isn't on the road to fame, who is good but not exceptional, who is struggling with personal issues and botching all his relationships in the process.

I enjoyed Justin Timberlake's performance as a clean-cut, hard-working nice guy who's in complete contrast to Llewyn. The scene where the two record a novelty song in the style of Space Oddity was a particular high point.

The soundtrack also stands on its own. I found myself singing Five Hundred Miles afterwards. Actors Oscar Isaac (Llewyn), Carey Mulligan and Stark Sands did their own vocals. Isaac arranged Fare Thee Well (Dink's Song) with Marcus Mumford of Mumford & Sons. The piece carries all the difficult emotions at the centre of story.

The poster shows Llewyn carrying an orange cat under his arm and the cat is definitely a character in the movie. Before the show I was waiting for my sister in a mall. There was a man standing beside the escalator with a cat, also orange, in a green knitted sweater. He was there for quite a while and he got all kinds of reactions. In the end was told to leave by security guards. The whole thing was unstaged.

Nick Hornby’s School of Rock

Nick Hornby is up to something I'd describe as a school of rock.

Hornby is best known as the author of High Fidelity and About a Boy. Last year he realized a unique project. He held workshops for school children and had them write song lyrics. He then got professional musicians to write and record songs using those lyrics. The collaboration was called Share More Air and the results are engaging.

Hornby is a founder of the Ministry of Stories, a non-profit organization. Big names such as Zadie Smith, Colin Firth and Emma Thompson have been part of the ministry's activities. In 2012, Hornby organized an endeavor similar to Share More Air. He taught kids about script writing and had them write their own soap series. The students were mentored by an EastEnders screenwriter and their series was fully produced.

Last fall Hornby was interviewed on Jarvis Cocker's Sunday Service. Cocker rose to fame in the '90s as frontman of the Britpop group Pulp. They were my favourite band in high school, so I was thrilled to see Jarvis has recently been hosting a radio show. This year is a "fallow" year for the show, as Cocker describes it, however the BBC has posted plenty of clips.

Friction Drum

I was listening to samba music this week and I wanted to learn about the instrument that makes a high-pitched squeak characteristic of the musical style.

It’s called a cuíca (“kweeca”). It’s a Brazilian “friction drum”. The sound is made by changing the tension of the drum skin. The drum has a stick through the centre of the skin, which the percussionist moves with a wet/resined cloth/fingers.

The sound is such a part of samba that some bands without a cuíca player will mimic the drum vocally. Before doing any research I wondered if it was a kind of rattle or whistle. The noise sometimes reminds me of cheering or laughing. In fact, the cuíca is also called a laughing gourd, and the word is Portuguese for a possum, which makes a high-pitched sound. The drum is thought to have originated in Africa. Historically, friction drums have also been played in Asia, and found in Europe in the 16th century.

Here are 5 songs I like featuring the cuíca.

1) The cuíca immediately makes me think of ’60s lounge music - it’s no wonder since Quincy Jones’ famous song Soul Bossa Nova is from 1962. It was also on the Austin Powers soundtrack.

2) Teresa Cristina’s cover of Meu Mundo é Hoje (Eu Sou Assim)
Cristina is a very popular samba singer in Rio.

3) Pascal Parisot’s Je reste au lit
Parisot combines Latin rhythms, lounge style and ironic lyrics. The song sounds sweet and mellow, but is about the narrator’s feelings of futility. I played this for my Dad and at first he thought the cuíca was a dog barking.

4) Seu Jorge’s Convite para vida from the City of God soundtrack.
Jorge is a musician well-known in North America, especially for the soundtrack of The Life Aquatic, which I still have yet to see!

5) Gruff Rhys’ Gyrru Gyrru Gyrru
A departure from the traditional style of music with the cuíca. Rhys is frontman of the Welsh psychedelic rock band Super Furry Animals.
 

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

*Spoiler alert: If you haven’t seen the movie, I recommend watching it before reading this post. I refer to some major themes/plot points.

Around this time last year I went to see a live performance of Hedwig and the Angry Inch at the Drake Underground. The production took the form of a rock show with the lead singer telling her life story between songs. Seth Drabinsky dazzled as Hedwig.

The musical tells the fictional story of a musician who grew up in East Berlin. As a young adult, then called Hansel, he falls in love with an American G.I. who wants to marry him, but only if he has sex reassignment surgery.

Drabinsky’s portrayal was involving and adept. Trained in opera, his voice was extremely powerful. Most of the songs are glam rock, and his falsetto spanned graceful to aggressive. In this live version Drabinsky played many of the supporting characters with his voice. I did a double take when Hedwig was describing meeting the G.I. and her voice suddenly became his voice – low, macho and American.

There’s an intriguing myth told by Hedwig’s mother: The Origin of Love. The idea is that in the beginning people had two heads, four sets of limbs and looked like two people back to back. The gods became scared of the people’s strength, so they split them in half, and the reason we fall in love is we’re looking for that other half.

In the movie that section is told with animation in a very minimalist style. The two parts of a person look like a circle torn in half. When the halves join it looks like a face. I want to get a tattoo of that, like Hedwig in the movie. My friend pointed out to me that it’s easy to think that the meaning of that song is that love completes us. On closer examination, though, the message is of self-love.

The role of Hedwig is designed to be played by an actor who also plays her nemesis and ex, Tommy Gnosis. At the end of the musical, Seth Drabinsky sang in Tommy’s style and he could literally have been the singer of a band like Blink-182. The finale is the lovely ballad Midnight Radio. I take it to be about inner reconciliation. The core idea: “Know that you’re whole.”

New Soul

A friend introduced me to new soul a few years ago. At the time the genre seems to have had a number of names: new soul, nu soul, neo soul, retro soul and soul revival. The names have virtually disappeared, but the music remains exceptional.

It’s the kind of music that brings you up when you’re down. The new soul artists were committed to an old-style sound, though modern elements often came through in lyrics. The most popular example was Amy Winehouse. Many of her songs sounded completely upbeat and danceable, though the content was considerably more serious.

Here are 5 of my favourite musicians of the genre.

Sharon Jones

Extremely talented and incredibly energetic in concert. Sharon Jones has years of experience, but didn’t gain recognition until middle age. She had a day job as corrections officer/armored guard for many years. Her band the Dap-Kings was recruited for backing on Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black.
 
Lee Fields

Has extensive musical experience and collaborated with Sharon Jones. Unfortunately, I haven’t found much background info on him.

Nicole Willis

Talented vocalist who has collaborated with funk legend Curtis Mayfield and now lives in Helsinki.

Eli “Paperboy” Reed

Singer from Boston with wild vocal stylings reminiscent of James Brown and Scream’ Jay Hawkins. I saw him do a fantastic show at the Horseshoe, around 2008.

Sam Sparro

Australian singer who rose to fame with the single Black and Gold, and enjoyed success in the early 2000s, particularly in the UK.

Jan. 21st: Just listened to the show Q on CBC Radio (podcast here). Sharon Jones was on, speaking about her  experience with cancer. She released a new album this year, after being diagnosed in the summer and going through chemo. She begins a North American tour next month!

Unusual Choirs

Recently I was part of an a cappella group. What I like about singing with people is having a part that suits my range, and making an important contribution to the whole. Tonight I went to a performance and lecture event at the Gardiner Museum. The theme was New Directions in Choral Music.

An improv group, The Element Choir, performed a piece and director Christine Duncan spoke about how she developed hand cues. She researched various systems and borrowed from sources she credits. One was particularly interesting: Phil Minton. He runs workshops with homeless people, and started The Feral Choir. To illustrate her method, Duncan led the crowd in a fun demonstration.

Choir! Choir! Choir! also did an audience sing along. Founders Nobu Adilman and Daveed Goldman taught us an arrangement of Wham’s Last Christmas in 10 minutes. Their enthusiasm came across clearly. Daveed taught the parts and played accompaniment on guitar. Once all three sections could carry their parts Nobu soloed on top. The lightness of the material and the size of the group meant that I didn’t feel intimidated. It sounded great. It felt even better. I think there’s something about singing that loosens something personal from deep inside.

Spiritual Plus Secular

Tonight I was thinking about symbols of reassurance in rock music. Artists I really like have used religious concepts in a more general context to make powerful songs about comfort in the face of adversity. I can relate to the emotion, the imagery and the tone of these pieces. This may be part 1 of a few posts.

Here are some tracks that come to mind from my collection.

It Ain't Easy - Bowie cover. 1971.
Bowie comes to mind first for me. Slow, reminiscent of blues or spiritual songs with a dose of sultry.
"It ain't easy to get to heaven when you're going down."

Everlasting Light - The Black Keys. 2010.
There's a definite retro feel to the whole album. This is the traditional language the faithful use to speak about God. It could be taken literally. The speaker could also be interpreted as another person, one who is loyal and supportive. The everlasting light could be seen more broadly as any aspect of a person's life that imparts security and hope.

Come On Up to the House - Tom Waits. 1999.
Waits makes frequent use of images with religious connotations. I find he often reframes them, but lets them keep some of their purity. This is the last song on the album, which seems absolutely deliberate. I feel it's about the end of life, finding belonging, rest and peace.

Paul James

Paul James is a real showman. He can play guitar behind his head and spin around on one foot. I was thrilled when I found out he’d be playing at a festival called Toast to Autumn in my neighbourhood.

As a kid I was really into his album Almost Crazy. I loved the lively, up-tempo songs like the title track. I felt the charge of defiance in his voice on Lazy Crazy Blues. “It’s when you don’t want to work, and you don’t want to go to school.” The distant notion of work didn’t seem like drudgery and school was something I looked forward to, but I was on board with the story. I had only a vague idea what kind of place Smoke a Joint Out Back was about and the double meaning was completely over my head. None of that stopped me from dancing to Paul’s blues and rockabilly.

In my twenties I was seeing a bartender at the Cadillac Lounge. One night Paul James did a gig there. The highlight for me was when he played slide guitar with a beer bottle. If I could do that my life would be complete.

James has decades of experience and has played with big names like Bob Dylan and Bo Diddley, and yet he does a lot of free shows. Last year’s autumn festival was one of them. He was as enthusiastic as ever. He kept us engaged with his originals and covers like Chuck Berry’s Around and Around. “Rose out of my seat. I just had to dance. Started moving my feet and clapping my hands!”

Join Paul James for his birthday bash this Saturday at the Opera House. Details: pauljamesband.com

African Harp & Trumpet

The first time I listened to Ablaye Cissoko and Volker Goetze’s album Sira I didn’t discern which instruments I heard. I simply enjoyed the flowing, expansive melodies.

Cissoko plays an African harp called a kora, which he makes by hand. His phrases are intricate and he accompanies them with a gentle falsetto. Goetze plays trumpet with superb use of a mute. The two weave a sound which is serene, spacious and bright.

I saw the duo perform last fall at the Royal cinema. I’d become very familiar with Cissoko’s singing voice on Sira, so it was a surprise to hear that he has such a deep speaking voice. He shared many stories with the audience, all in French. It fell to Goetze to translate. It was instantly obvious that he was an introvert, uneasy with having to convey everything on the spot. Cissoko teased him regularly, saying Goetze knew the stories and could tell them himself instead of waiting for Cissoko, then struggling to come up with the explanation. There was also mutual affection between them. This was especially clear as Cissoko extended his had toward Goetze and credited him after every song.

Cissoko told us how he wrote Haïti while in L.A. He and Goetze were performing at a gala event and it struck Cissoko that there was so much opulence where they were, while in Haïti there was such poverty and danger. Cissoko comes from a long line of storytellers, musicians and societal leaders. The concert coincided with the release of the documentary Griot.  Featuring Cissoko, produced and directed by Goetze, the film is about music, history and human rights.

Strange Parade

He sways and weaves while he plays, makes the stage his dance floor. He jumps four feet in the air; knees tucked tight, his instrument aloft. His shirt is drenched from exertion. He sheds it, revealing a tattooed torso. Two sound holes just like on his violin. Dr. Draw.

The club is dark, the crowd riveted. His motifs soar over driving beats. The band could’ve been teleported from a rock show. Sweet sounds fluidly become stormy, his bow slicing furiously, strands hang from it. With a few more strokes he tips us into another landscape, sultry and changeable.

From the ceiling bolts of cloth are draped. Two acrobats climb them, dangle from them, all without harnesses. Look one way and you miss something else. A melody strikes me as familiar. I realize it’s Donna Summer’s I Feel Love shaped into something partly classical. Sumptuous, rhythmic and inciting movement.

I dance. Endorphins course through me and I have an odd sense of being more than a spectator. Eugene’s performance ends and we scatter onto the street. It’s late, but how will I sleep while I’m still marvelling at the spectacle we’ve seen? I feel I’ve just been to the circus.

-Dr. Draw & the Strange Parade at the Mod Club, Sept. 2013.

"Living Room" Concert at an Instrument Shop

One of my favourite concerts in 2013 was by Chloe Charles. I first heard Charles last year. She was opening for Dr. Draw at the Mod Club. She was spellbinding and unique. My friend and I felt we had to see her again.

Lucky for us, she was playing the following week at Musideum. It’s an intimate space, a rare instruments shop which doubles as a jazz venue. While the setting would’ve been a good fit for quiet chamber music, the sound that night was sweeping and dramatic. Charles’ band included a guitarist, bassist, drummer, violinist and pianist. Charles and the violinists’ harmonies were eerie and beautiful.

It was also a special show because each person was asked to write down feedback after each song. Some songs had never been played in front of an audience before. There is a lot variety in Charles’ songwriting, and the pieces form a unified whole. Her voice is melodious and vibrant; her songs are by turns intense, dreamlike and lively. Most of all, her tunes and presence are memorable.

Hear her at chloecharles.com and buy albums on iTunes. She is currently touring Europe.

 

Drawing at Musideum by J.Jeanes.

Happy Birthday, Bowie!

Photo: moonagewolf, Mug: davidbowie.com/Livenation Merch

Last Wednesday, January 8^th was David Bowie’s birthday. He shares his birthday with another legend: Elvis.

Bowie had the biggest impact on me of anyone besides those I know personally.

Of course I’d heard Bowie as a kid, seen his picture, even by chance watched part of a scathing interview with Angela Bowie. But the moment his work really resonated was when I was in high school, after my stepfather introduced me to his classics: Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane. I was hooked. Next were Pin Ups, Young Americans and David Live. Those were all on tapes copied from vinyl. They were mainstays in my Walkman as I commuted to school.

What was it about Bowie? “Part of the reason we remember songs from our teenage years is because those years were times of self-discovery, and as a consequence, they were emotionally charged; in general, we tend to remember things that have an emotional component,” says Daniel J. Levitin in This Is Your Brain on Music. Certainly there was Bowie’s androgyny. His intellect. Maybe it was his free association. Sensuality and poetry seemed to coexist in a way I hadn’t heard before.

Around that time Bowie released his Outside album. He was interviewed by Now magazine for his tour and show at the “Sky Dome”. Nine Inch Nails was the opener. Bowie’s perspective so impressed me that I asked for the album for Christmas. A very dark piece, I have to say it scared me. It took some time before I was ready for it. The album has some gorgeous, atmospheric tracks, like The Motel, which is one of my favourite Bowie songs.

Soon I was reading anything I could about him, watching his movies and talk show appearances. I was dyeing my hair like the Thin White Duke and getting contact lenses so I could have one blue and one dark eye. As a teen I can remember dropping $200 at once on his discography at Sam the Record Man. I’ve never had that kind of disposable income again.

Bowie’s staying power and continued relevance is amazing. Last year his 24^th studio album came out to critical acclaim. The video for The Stars Are Out Tonight plays with the public’s obsession with celebrity and features personalities as Bowie, including Tilda Swinton. In 2013, a collection of his memorabilia, costumes and rare footage were exhibited at London’s V&A and the AGO.

Despite all his personas, there’s a relatability in his music. In the ‘70s he chanted, “Give me your hands,” and in the audience we still feel a kind of connection to him. Onstage he talks to specific people in the crowd. He shares personal stories. He plays long shows, is completely in the zone and consistently has a huge grin. Here’s a person who clearly loves what he does.

Happy birthday, Bowie! And thank you.

Acoustic Soul

Dan McLean Jr. is an acoustic soul singer. He has a powerful voice and writes songs packed with emotion and subtleties. As he playfully puts it, "I don't write songs about somebody dancing with my girl at the sock hop. I write songs about adult relationships - more like what happens after a marriage of 10 years breaks up." His covers shine just as brightly as his originals.

Last week on one of the coldest nights this winter, when it was -39 outside, Dan was in full form at a tiny bar in Parkdale. His versions of "She's Gone", "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" and "Kiss On My List" captivated.

McLean is also a wealth of information on music. He's particularly passionate about Philly soul. Between sets it was a pleasure to sit with him at the bar as he shared history of how Motown and Memphis soul gave way to Philly soul, which in turn progressed to disco and smooth jazz. Dan completely engages his audience, both in performance and conversation.

Dan McLean is a regular performer at Harlem Restaurant and host of web TV series "Rhyme & Reason" at danmcleanjr.com. Catch him every Monday in January at Not My Dog in Toronto.

Photo credit: https://www.facebook.com/DanMcLeanJrMusic