Cds 5 - Macallè Blues

Recorded by the hyperactive yet multitalented Chris "The Kid" Andersen in his well visited and always crowded Californian studios, The Real Deal represents the debut of this unknown singer, whose discovery sure deserves some brief biographical note. Native of Mississippi, cousin to well known pianist Eddie Boyd (the one who wrote Five Long Years), also him, once, cotton picker and, also him, then relocated elsewhere up north, in California, where he worked as roofer. For a long time singer for fun, he became professional only in 2014, yet widower, retired and at sixtynine years of age. Under the artistic tutelage of ex former of Robert Cray' s band keyboard player, Jim Pugh, and his meritorious Little Village Foundation, this fabulous cd that proves that he's a prolific author too (net of the three tunes imputable to the already quoted Estrin, all the remaining songs are self-penned) not only a singer.  

Doughy vocal instrument with such a fatherly and colloquial timbre and a just occasional feline touch, Boyd’s voice situates half way between a crooner and a shouter, it well basks in the expansive arrangements and the imposing sound of a band that, in more than one occasion, resemble to an old big band escaped from Kansas City at the Big Joe Turner and Pete Johnson’s era. The ghost of Junior Parker flutters happily among the notes of You Will Discover while the one of T-Bone Walker appears, in form of shuffle, on the background of That Certain Day. There is also room for Albert King’s Stax period well over the folds of I'm So Weak Right Now and for that other King too, B.B., in the dancing, romantic When Your Eyes Met Mine in contrast with the minor key of the following, tormented slow one Screaming In The Night, tale of a recurrent premonitory nightmare. T-Bone Walker returns and meets Sonny Boy Williamson II in Marvin Gardens; then the cd closes just as it had opened, on the self-celebratory tones of John, The Blues Is Calling You, metaphor of the bluesman as incarnation of a upper call, the Blues indeed.

John "Blues" Boyd doesn't break any new ground here and doesn’t reveal us nothing new, but something cheerfully and beautiful and amazing. The ingredients of the dish are so simple and well known, but the cooks at work are all of such a high level (to already quoted Rick Estrin, Jim Pugh and Chris "The Kid" Andersen let's add Big Jon Atkinson, Terry Hank, June Core to name a few) and the preparation, the cooking and the presentation so accurate to prove how much even a simple roadhouse menu could be worthy of a top-class restaurant too. G.R.

After a superficial and hasty listening, some of the tunes included in this cd could suffer the fate of being really confined in this implicitly discredited category. And after a superficial listening, I would not feel to blame anybody who, possibly, placed them within this limbo. Nevertheless, what Janiva Magness works for with Love Wins Again is, indeed, a remarkable revolution: personal, recording and stylistic.

The label is no longer the colossal Alligator which issued Janiva’s most recent, excellent, cds; those cds that have definitely established her among the best voices and the best performers in the contemporary R&B scene and that, at the same time, have kept her anchored to a more defined genre, maybe much close to a certain tradition. Her new label, indeed, is the young, lively Blue Elan, a label that includes in its catalog, artists of various musical nature. Then, there are also Janiva’s personal life aspects that, as already and even more than in the past, have influenced her song’s atmospheres and thematic. Sure enough, Magness has resurfaced from the tumultuous waters of heavy personal and affective events; this cd, in a certain way, retraces the deep path already traced with the previous Original, an album that has helped her to cut the umbilical cord that tied her to the prevailing role of interpreter, letting her to be born to new life as author - therefore, interpreter of herself - of great depth, also with once again the presence of producer Dave Darling, her effective and recurrent support. Lastly, the stylistic revolution is the natural consequence of this all.

Provided with a vocal instrument not particularly wide but extremely expressive and deep, Janiva Magness plays, in these recordings, on different moods: largely on the groove and on the meditative, intimate introspection as well. On the cover picture, the boxing gloves are meaningfully and, perhaps, not by chance put on the shoulders almost to symbolize the end of the fight against adversities, but also allowing to doubt that instead they are there in the position of whom – natural born fighter - brings them always along. On her face, the serenity of a smile is appeared. Title and cover refer to a rediscovered optimism, as well as, indeed, part of the cd does too, starting from the easy-listening title track. The groove plays a big role with the sinuous and sensual Real Slow, with Your House Is Burnin' where, thanks especially to the horns, it appears clearly James Brown’s ghost throughout and with Moth To To Flame, the only tune in which, thanks to the guitar, some blues can be half-seen. But it is on the slow and reflexive tempos that Janiva Magness plays all her ace cards: from When You Hold Me, to the modern gospel Say You Will, through the acoustics, delicate Doorway and Rain Down, up to the masterful story of a crisis that is Just Another Lesson and then to the conclusive, solemn Who Will Come For Me. And all along the journey there is also room for an excellent intrusion into John Fogerty’s songbook with the cover of Long As I Can See The Light.   

Magness says: "The voice is what allows us to communicate past the limitations of the left brain; it’s the primary instrument, the first instruments…and more than that too. The voice has the power to link all the parts of ourselves - the brain, the heart, the spirit and the soul. That's why the ability to sing is a gift….". It is true that blues and soul, as academically meant, are only someway distant relatives to these recordings; but Janiva Magness’s interpretative and songwriting qualities have reached here a full finished flowering. The gift, does all the rest. G.R.

Let’s start from the title that yet something explains by itself. This cd is called the way it’s been called because Big Jon, who reconditions and sells instruments and old amplifiers for a living, has in his house a homemade recording studio, in which, every now and then, jam sessions or, indeed, house parties take place; just as the one that has shed light on the tracks recorded here. Atkinson, despite his young age (less than thirty years old), is an old school blues enthusiast who, with impressive knowledge - always considering his age - well plays with his guitar. Considering these facts and by the instruments used here, it derives that vintage sound that deeply permeates the whole recording. Another amazing aspect is the mean age of the involved musicians, age that Atkinson drastically lowers entering in the game feet together, but net of his presence, it inexorably settles in around seventy years of age. In fact, many are the present guests, two of which, Willie Buck and Tomcat Courtney, are way over eighty years old. Then, the team gets to its complete formation with Alabama Mike and Dave Riley.

As already said, the sound is saturated and vintage; we here talk about atmospheres that recall the traditional Chicago blues of the '40s and '50s and is related to artists just as Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Little Walter and – yes – let’s also cite Roosevelt "Booba" Barnes from Longwood Mississippi. In short, there is room here for all those greats, known and less known, that relive smiling in the heart and in the sound recreated during this happy house party. The band is based on a double guitar, harmonica, bass and drums format; around this band and Big Jon Atkinson, who plays the role of singer besides the one of guitarist, all of the quoted guests alternates, basically on singing. The playlist is quite long and includes as much originals and obscure covers too (except for well known Lightinin' Hopkins’s Mojo Hand and Slim Harpo’s King Bee).

This cd, along with also recent John Long’s last recording, represents a small change of direction for Delta Groove label that, in a world filled with too many made-in-the-laboratory cds, publishes a collection of records unequivocally entitled "Uncompromising blues, no apologize"; collection that has the task of proposing the blues the way it was played when we have probably fallen in love with it. Therefore, with that old sound fully exhumed, lovers of  "old school" blues will find here, for certain, reasons enough to be happy and feel satisfied. G.R.  

For the lovers of definitions, let’s say that Martinez is supposed to be an exponent of what is called Louisiana Swamp Pop, local genre that finds abode between Louisiana and Texas, New Orleans R&B, Country and French influences. In this last issue, the singer faces a repertoire that span both well selected covers and some originals. Among the covers, we first meet with the well-known I Can't Stand The Rain, made truthfully swampy by the incisive slide guitar intro and then evaporate, thanks to the horns, through the memories of Stax Records rather than to Hi’s, the native label on which this song, recorded by Ann Peebles, was first issued at the time. To remain into the range of dancing covers, then we can find the funky Sly Stone’s If You Want Me To Stay, the amusing Mac Daddy or the old style doo-wop Who's Loving You. Here, Martinez’s voice ventures, with control and expertise, into the impervious paths of falsetto. But it is when the rhythm slows down that Gregg Martinez’s empathic crooning finds its own convincing and authentic dimension. And then, I Wish I'd Never Loved You At All, originally recorded by New Orleans legend Johnny Adams, If I Had Any Pride Left At All and You've Got To Hurt Before You Heal are all performed with empathy by a voice that own the rare ability to make the listener believe, time after time, to be the true protagonist of the story. To subsequently enhance the recordings there is also room for slide guitar giant Sonny Landreth, who plays, as guest, on That Old Wind. G.R.