Mike Williams
LATE NIGHT WALK
by Joe Curtis
Guitarist Mike Williams CD LATE NIGHT WALK is a joy to listen to again and again. It starts off with a Texas-style shuffle called “Muck Rakin’”, that features solos from various members of this great band – a sort of “musical band intro”. From Williams’ excellent lead guitar solos to the great organ and sax solos, LATE NIGHT WALK starts off with class and stays that way all the way through this highly entertaining and well put together CD.
“Let’s Talk About It” is a swingin’ 50’s style r&b/rock ‘n’ roll tune that moves along at breakneck speed, like a spirited Louis Jordan or Lionel Hampton number from decades gone by. Sugar Ray Norcia’s fantastic vocals are groovin’ ‘n’ swingin’ it all the way! Go Man Go! Bruce Katz’s piano solo on this one is out of this world good!
Just so you can catch your breath, the title tune “Late Night Walk” slows it right down with atmosphere, good taste, and lots of emotional appeal. Williams’ meaningful guitar solos are perfectly complimented by the soulful solos by Katz on his Hammond B3 organ. Jim Gwin’s discerning drumming provides just the right imaginative percussion to give this piece extra meaning. Williams searches his soul for just the right licks in his solos and plays them to perfection. The fullness of Katz’s B3 provides body to the whole tune. David “Fathead” Newman’s tenor sax soloing and backup on this tune in priceless! “Just Last Night” is an imaginative jazzy improv offering, with a little swing added in for good measure.
“Shining Bright” is a medium tempo swingin’ ditty that again features Norcia’s impeccable vocals, with lyrics that have a definite romantic theme to them. “The Voice of an Old Friend” is my favorite of all the tunes on this CD. It really shows what a great guitar player Williams is, with right-from-the-heart guitar soloing that transcends it’s earthly origins to take the listener to blues heaven. Katz’s B3 soloing adds to this with beauty and good taste, perfectly complimenting Williams’ guitar expertise. The beautiful atmosphere that comes from this tune can be left on repeat continuously without boredom. Williams’ guitar playing is like the voice of an old friend – good to hear and always welcome.
On “Lazy Boy” Katz plays his heart out on B3, followed by Newman’s wildly spirited jazzy sax soloing. Williams’ imaginative guitar soloing seems to talk to the listener, as does Danny Morris’ fine bass solo. Gwin’s short-but-sweet drum solos definitely talk back musically to the others’ superb soloing. What a great musical conversation.
Norcia’s vocals on “Got Me Once” are a real joy to listen to, as is Newman’s tenor sax soloing. Williams’ guitar soloing can really stir the heartstrings. Along with Gwin’s percussion technique, this tune’s upbeat nature and jazz harmonies makes it a real winner. The jazz/blues fusion here is perfection to say the least. “Laughing Through the Tears” features Newman’s excellent sax blowing, with fine backup by Katz’s B3, giving it body. Williams’ guitar licks are equally soft spoken and laid back, yet full of good taste and imagination. Katz’s B3 soloing is soulful and full of meaning and purpose. Again, Gwin’s drumming holds it all together with flair and good taste.
“Post Consumer Blues” is jazzy and full of atmosphere and personality. Newman’s sax soloing is in fine form. The jazzy intricacies he creates are intelligently put together and allow the listener’s taste to transcend to a higher level of appreciation and understanding of what good music is all about. Gwin’s drumming is right-in-the-pocket, as are Williams’ sweet guitar licks.
All in all, Mike Williams’ LATE NIGHT WALK is a well-conceived CD from beginning to end. It offers tempos, moods and atmosphere that will appeal to any and all discerning listeners of fine blues and jazz idioms. The players are a who’s who of the best, most imaginative around. The fact that they’re all together on the same CD makes it a very special occasion every time it’s played. That’s the perfect reason to sit back, put your feet up, and take a late night walk with your musical imagination, as all the gifted artists did on this excellent CD.
Jack de Keyzer
6 String Lover
by Joe Curtis
Guitarist, Jack de Keyzer’s incredible new CD, 6 String Lover, is a true joy to listen to, and a testimony to the fact that we have some very fine talent in the local Toronto area. 6 String Lover runs the gamut from up tempo Rock ‘n’ Roll to slow old Blues, James Brown inspired R&B to Robert Johnson style Roots/Blues from the very beginnings of recorded Blues music. Some might say there’s too broad a range of music styles for the CD to be pegged down as one thing or another. Others might ask, “Where’s the identity – musically, who is Jack de Keyzer?”
Well….from seeing Jack de Keyzer in concert at many gigs over a long period of time, the musical identity of Jack de Keyzer is a guitarist/singer/songwriter who’s got impeccable taste in music, uses this good taste to draw from the best musical influences of every era and style – then with the class A talent which is his as a musician, conveys the diversity of these musical influences to the public with originality, conviction, and superb musicianship. The talent Jack picks to be in his great band are also musicians of the highest calibre, who choose the best influences coming their way to help them grow as musicians, as well as being able to interpret those influences to get the best out of each and every performance they take part in.
The musicians playing on 6 String Lover are a Who’s Who of local talent, some of whom have international recognition from other music endeavors they’ve been involved in over the years. Complimenting Jack on guitar is another guitar virtuoso, Peter Sabourin, better known as Sab, who besides having his own great band, is lead guitarist for Ronnie Hawkins. Alec Fraser, Jack’s bassist, is also the owner of Liquid Sound Studio, that recorded this fantastic CD. Alec is chief Engineer and Sound Mixer on the CD, ably assisted by bassist, Shane Scott as Assistant Engineer. Besides being a first-class bassist (upright and electric), Shane is also a knowledgeable Sound Engineer, who owns Bass Line Studio, where Jack’s highly emotional harp player, David Rotundo recorded his own rousing, award-nominated CD, Blowin’ For Broke, recently, which has had much critical acclaim. Shane is also David’s upright bass player in his own band, David Rotundo and the Blue Canadians. (How’s that for music connections who help each other out.) B3 master, Michael Fonfara of the Downchild Blues Band (who was in Electric Flag and Lou Reed years ago), goes wild on several tracks on Hammond B3 organ and electric piano. Tony Ajo’s energetic drumming is indispensable and right on cue, as is Perry White’s rousing sax. Talent like this can make any album a success.
The first cut, Deal Me In, deals the listener into this musical game with a bang – but it’s no gamble because the whole CD is a winner from start to finish. Pleasure Is My Business, is the rebel rouser of the bunch. The scorching leads played with wild abandon by Jack, along with Mike’s rousing B3 and Perry’s equally scorching sax licks, is guaranteed to have any dance floor hoppin’, or any musician running for his guitar to play along with it at home. (Air Guitar also works on this one!) If Delta Blues slide is your bag, If You Were My Woman (And I Was Your Man) is made to order. Jack’s fantastic slide technique is complimented by his nasal tone vocal styling, altered from his usual clear vocals, to help create the mood of gators ‘n’ catfish. Michael’s keys have a feeling of Sunnyland Slim about them. King Of The Blues has a very B.B. feel to it. Fonfara’s B3 imaginatively replaces the fullness of B.B.’s horn section. Jack’s lead guitar intricacies are heard to great effect here.
Rock ‘Til We Drop, rocks with the best of ‘em. Rock ‘n’ Roll got it’s name from this kinda stuff. Sab’s superb lead guitar soloing, along with Jack’s, is all any guitar aficionado could ask for. Two of the best guitarists, in high gear, jammin’ their ever lovin’ guts out, backed by Shane’s big bad drivin’ bass lines. There’s almost more raw energy here than can be contained -- guaranteed to bust the most passive listener’s soulful bonds loose. Jump Right To It says it all in the title. The best in Up tempo Blues is in this winner, featuring fast, spirited guitar licks by Jack, Mike’s B3 and David’s harp racing alongside, as well as Tony’s drum thing keeping it all in the groove. Funk This, a de Keyzer original, admirably pays tribute to the genre epitomized by it’s innovator, the Godfather of Soul, James Brown. Funk it, you’ll dig it! Making Love To You, is a slow, romantic ballad, full of good feelings and emotional yearnings.
Engine Trouble offers up the best slow Blues around. Jack’s bluesy soul cries forth from it’s depths on guitar leads and vocals, backed with equally bluesy sympathy by Sab’s rhythm guitar complimenting the musical mixture perfectly. Another “car” song, Drivin’ Home rocks up the joint the best it can be with infectious rhythms, rousing guitar leads, and Jack’s vocals “drivin’ home” this winner all the way. The last tune (unfortunate because we could do with 100 more) is Jack’s tribute to the Father of the Blues, Robert Johnson. The very rootsy and early guitar stylings and vocals evocative of Mr. Johnson and his contemporaries are exemplified in this de Keyzer original. This is the only solo cut – just Jack himself, his acoustic guitar and lots of talent and conviction to back him up on it. So well done, with sounds of scratches from an old and often played B.B. King record added for realism, you wouldn’t know this title track wasn’t done by a black guitarist of the early Blues type, from a hitherto unknown and just discovered “lost” recording.
All the music Jack plays and writes is of the finest taste, imagination and execution. His love of the 6 string instrument known as guitar, and the magic it can create, shows itself best in able hands like his. Lyrics like “my fingers slidin’ down her back” on the title track, describes the magical and sensuous nature of guitar music, coming from an instrument with an hour-glass body, and a back (neck) that a hand can slide up and down, tapping into it’s musical “erogenous zones”, bringing the beauty of the “spiritual muse” to the ears of all the lucky listeners who hear Jack’s 6 String Lover sing her praises on his new CD. This is also true anytime we’re lucky enough to be witnessing live, the genius that is Jack de Keyzer and his very special band.
David Maxwell
Maximum Blues Piano
by Joe Curtis
Maximum Blues Piano is an excellent choice of title for this powerhouse CD by the piano man himself, David Maxwell. The CD starts off with some heavy duty barrelhouse rambling on the keys, that’ll get any party off to a roaring start, with “Blues Don’t Bother Me”. David just barrels through it with his piano in high gear. The horn section, featuring Gord Beadle and Mark Kaz Kazanoff both on tenor sax, as well as Ray Green on trombone, and Scott Aruda on trumpet add some zest and class to the proceedings. “Breakdown on the Bayou”, the second great tune on this CD, is upbeat piano blues, that’s highly polished in all the right places, to get the heart pumpin’ and the foot tappin’ Avery Parrish’s “After Hours” is a beautiful, slow piano blues that’s added to with class and style by special guest, Ronnie Earl’s impeccable and bluesy guitar solo. It’s atmosphere evokes the lazy, almost-asleep-but-still-playin’ feel of a “booze can” on a very late Friday or Saturday night. “Sister Laura Lee” is an upbeat ‘n’ swingin’ ditty, sure to get ya up on the dance floor with your favorite dance partner. David’s swingin’ ‘n’ dingin’ ivories on this one could bring joy to the hearts of even the most disenchanted souls. David slows it right down again in “Down at P.J.’s Place”, with some very Fats Waller type jazz licks, tinkling the ivories the max, allowing the allure of a ‘50’s cocktail lounge to enter your living room. The style in this cut flows into some slow, sensuous blues, taking the listener club hopping to a south-side bluesy juke joint, then back to an uptown jazz club, for a late-night night cap.
Meade Lux Lewis’ “Honky Tonk Train”, the second of only two non-originals on the CD, starts off it’s birth with a little high-brow jazz, then jokingly jumps into some very upbeat and energetic honky tonk piano, boogie woogie – Go Man Go !!! I don’t know if I can keep up! I guess I’ll just sit back and enjoy this seven minute testament to the beer joints of San Franciso’s waterfront district, circa 1900. Cacophonic jazz chordal synthesis ends the euphoria of “Honky Tonk… “, which appropriately leads into some high-spirited funky blues called “Heart Attack”. You could almost have a soul attack, with the congested arterial musical funkiness present in this well-executed tune. Special guest, Darrell Nulisch’s extremely soulful vocals on this one, had me believing he was a very funky black guy, until I checked the credits and realized otherwise. I’ve seen Darrell as part of legendary harp player James Cotton’s band, recently, along with David on keys, and Mike Williams on guitar, or I would definitely think Darrell’s soulful vocal renderings had indeed come from a very funky black dude.
Time to catch our breaths again, while yet another tune featuring special guest guitarist Ronnie Earl, cooks up some very sweet ‘n’ bluesy guitar licks on “Deep Into It”, followed by David’s equally bluesy keys solo. More barrelhouse Maxwell keys, backed up by his impeccable band, leads into some well-crafted and imaginative Maxwell jazz rhythms on the ivories. Some more hot piano virtuosity, is offered up with joy and vigor by David, in “Walk the Walk”. “Manhattan Max (Boppin’ wit da Chippies)”, is a big band type high-energy showcase, featuring some very nice sax soloing, followed by David’s high energy piano tinklings, cruisin’ along full speed ahead, on highway 88. The last fantastic tune on Maximum Blues Piano, is “Take Me On Home”, an emotional tearjerker, where the whole band has something special to say musically, as they bid fond farewell to their musical compadres. Maxwell’s piano renderings seem to say “sorry ta see ya go…choke”, while the sax answers back “me too, we too!”. In the end, all the instruments shake hands in musical phrases known only to them, and felt by the listener. The last few phrases are mildly upbeat and positive, seemingly reflecting on how we the listener, and the boys in David Maxwell’s fine band know….we’ll do it all again real soon.
Jerome Godboo
Deja-Vu Baby
by Joe Curtis
Jerome Godboo’s new C.D., “Deja-Vu Baby” is a joy to listen to from beginning to end. The baby Jerome’s holding on the cover of the C.D.’s mystical cover, is his son, Solomon Godland (even the baby rocks! Apparently he likes to play Daddy’s harps, too!) This thoroughly entertaining C.D. features special guest, Suzie McNeil on lead/background vocals, belting out her usual powerful vocals and new-found harp technique, complimenting Jerome’s in every way. The other musicians in the lineup are ex-Phantoms and Jerome Godboo band alumni, Gregory-Ray Tunis on lead guitar and background vocals, John “Mr. Happy” Daly, on guitars, JJ T-Bone White on awesome bass, and another familiar face (from the Reggae Cowboys, and The Mosquitos), Derek Lindo, on rockin’ drums, all the way through this absolutely thrilling C.D. (Drummer, Phil Michael, who plays all Jerome’s live concerts was unavailable to do the recording sessions, but the replacement choice was excellent!)
This awesome C.D. opens with “Jungle”, a fun poke at corporate stifling, and the freedom of getting back to nature, with great call and answer vocals, supplied by Jerome and Suzie, along with some scorching lead guitar licks by Greg, making “Jungle” a real winner. “Go Go” is the next upbeat fun song on this multi-atmosphere, C.D. The energy and vitality in vocals, and drums, as well as Jerome’s melodic harp solos, make this a perfect party song.
“High School Reunion”, is the only Reggae-influenced tune on the C.D., which, although a drifting off from Jerome’s usual genre, has all the earmarks of a Godboo original. (They’re all originals on this C.D.) The melancholy laments of loves remembered, lost and longed for, are echoed both in Suzie’s and Jerome’s voices, which can help anyone who listens to this cut, be able to identify with the simple, but profound theme being sung about. Both Suzie and Jerome sing right from their hearts, which makes it very easy to feel their music, with the same effect being felt from the rest of the band, in their instrumentals.
Jerome’s brother-in-law, Hughie “Mr. Natural” Shankland, helps Jerome “Cook it up, Baby”, on the vocals of “Cook It Up”, the fourth delightful track on this incredible C.D., and helps the audience “cook it up” with Hughie, from soul to soul. Hughie’s exuberance at Jerome’s live appearances, getting up on stage to help Jerome rock “Mr. Natural”, with his totally uninhibited, natural dance interpretations, helps get the audience really going on it, too! J.J. ‘s pulsating bass lines permeating all the tracks on this C.D., are totally indispensable. Jose Gonzales’ unique contribution of percussion, with bird sounds, wind whistles and chimes, really adds atmosphere and depth to the various tracks, especially on “Deja-Vu”, “”Street Detective”, and the last unforgettable track on this C.D., “Vulture Culture”. Chris Pera’s drums, Sha Sha’s percussion, and Phil Emond’s keyboards on “Vulture Culture”, help add great atmosphere to this song with wise, meaningful lyrics about the problems in the environment, (nuclear power plant spillages, ground and lake water poisoning, harmful sunlight due to the ozone holes, impure food additives, and hard drug abuse), sung admirably and with great emotional effect by Jerome. Phil Emond also produced and mixed this great track.
My favourite track on the C.D. has to be “Bye, Bye Love”, with some of the best vocal quality I’ve ever heard by Jerome, or anyone else. The haunting lament of lost love, and hopes for a new one, are emotionally the most intense and real you’ll ever find on any song, anywhere. They’re sung obviously right from Jerome’s, soul, and end in a hopeful longing at the end of the song, with emotionally curative effects for the listener, as well as Jerome. The quality of Jerome’s vocals on this cut, show him to be one of the best singers Canada, or the world will ever see. Not just the quality of sound, but also the deep emotional conviction right from his soul, with which the vocals are expressed. His harp playing also has the same depth of emotional conviction to it, which makes him and his band one of the most popular on the current live music scene. Suzie’s vocals along with Jerome’s are equally deep and expressive, which makes them a perfect compliment to Jerome’s, live, and on C.D. (This C.D. has a very “live” feel to it!), thanks to Alec Fraser’s expert handling of it’s production at Liquid Sound, here in Toronto. Alec (who plays bass for Jack de Keyzer), adds background vocals to “Vulture Culture”.
“Home” has a nice, melodic harp solo by Jerome, and lyrics with universal appeal in it as well, related to anyone, who has left home, but is always welcomed back whenever they want to come back home. These vocals, sung by Jerome and Suzie, give a very “Ma and Pa” feel to the message they want to convey.
“Mr. Natural”, the ninth great track on this extremely cool C.D., is natural and fun. Whenever I hear it, it always reminds me of the times, live, when Hughie comes up on stage to do his totally emotional dance interpretations to the band’s rockin’ rhythms, and Jerome’s exuberant vocals. “I Wanna Go Home”, is a very beautiful and moody piece, featuring a hauntingly beautiful harp intro by Jerome. The lyrics, written and sung by Jerome are profound and deep—a reflection of Jerome as a person, off-stage. “It’s a long journey we’re all on—the road is dark here—I want to go home!”, triggers off a universal emotional bond with the listener.
“Deja-Vu” is a mystical “concept” song from beginning to end. The wise use of Jose Gonzales’ percussion and sound effects, create a beautiful, atmospheric quality which is some of the best I’ve ever heard. (Pink Floyd’s “Echoes” being the closest in atmosphere I can think of.) The foggy, atmospheric instrumentals, have Jerome and Suzie’s vocals about deja-vu relationships echo out of that fog. This superb cut is followed by “Street Detective”, an instrumental tune, featuring a beautiful, melodic harp solo, admirably backed up by equally imaginative bass and drums, and Jose’s moody sound effects.
The last cut on this spectacular C.D. is “Vulture Culture”, a strong, forceful commentary in the vocals, of the seriousness of cleaning up the problems in our environment. Jerome touches on everything that’s important (like Michael Landon did in his last episode of “Highway To Heaven”). Everything from ground and lake water poisoning, PCB’s, STP’s, Nuclear Power Plant spillages, ozone hole damage, tied in with the fear of going out into the sunlight, air pollution, harmful food additives, and hard drug abuse are covered in this spectacular musical essay on the most important issues to take care of, we have facing us on Earth today. The “Vulture Culture” who take and prey, (but don’t pray)—the ones responsible for creating, perpetuating and legalizing this mess we’re in, and the warning to change, provided with hope it can be changed for the good of the future, is an important aspect of the world’s future, and a strong commentary on the spiritual essence of Jerome Godboo in creating this masterful work of musical art—entertaining, and good for the soul and mind of man!
