Thursday, May 30, 2019

Leon Redbone 1949-2019


I was deeply saddened today by the news that Leon Redbone passed away this morning. Leon – who retired from performing in 2015 due to health concerns – was a man of self-created mystery who cultivated that mystery from the beginning of his career. He was a unique character, who I never saw break character.

Once, in the 1970s, I went to pick Leon up at the Montreal airport. I watched for him at the international arrivals gate for what seemed like a very long time and finally assumed he was a no-show. Then I felt a tap on my shoulder, turned around, and Leon said, “I hope you arranged to have fan dancers at the show tonight. I can’t do the show without fan dancers.” He had ducked out of Canada Customs through a side door and watched me watching for him for a while.

Leon was a brilliant singer, guitarist and stage performer whose repertoire was pulled from old jazz, blues and Tin Pan Alley songs.


My deepest condolences to Leon’s wife, Beryl Handler, who was already Leon’s manager when I first produced a concert with him in 1974, and to their daughters.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

Saturday, May 25, 2019

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday May 25, 2019


Saturday Morning is an eclectic roots-oriented program on CKCU in Ottawa heard live on Saturday mornings from 7 until 10 am (Eastern time) and then available for on-demand streaming. I am one of the four rotating hosts of Saturday Morning and base my programming on the Folk Roots/Folk Branches format I developed at CKUT in Montreal.

CKCU can be heard at 93.1 FM in Ottawa and http://www.ckcufm.com/ on the web.

This episode of Saturday Morning can be streamed on-demand at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/128/43087.html

Kathy Kallick Band- Cotton-Eyed Joe
Horrible World (Live Oak)

Mara Levine w/Gathering Time & John Guth- Bitter Green
Facets of Folk (Mara’s Creations)        
Gordon Lightfoot- Minstrel of the Dawn
If You Could Read My Mind (Reprise)
April Verch- The French Song
Once a Day (Slab Town)
Craig Moreau- A Different Kind of Train Song
A Different Kind of Train (Craig Moreau)

Andy Hedges- Song of the Cuckoo
Shadow of a Cowboy (Andy Hedges)
Allison de Groot & Tatiana Hargreaves- Buffalo Gals
Allison de Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves (Free Dirt)
Lynn Miles w/Keith Glass- I Loved a Cowboy
Road (Lynn Miles)
Dom Flemons- Lonesome Old River Blues
Dom Flemons Presents Black Cowboys (Smithsonian Folkways)

Pierce Pettis- A Showman’s Life
Father’s Son (Compass)
Harvey Reid & Joyce Andersen- Defying Gravity
The Song Train (Woodpecker)
Jesse Winchester- My Songbird
Live from Mountain Stage (Blue Plate Music)

Ben Bullington- Kanesville Down to Pray
Satisfaction Garage (Ben Bullington)
Tom Russell- Red Oak Texas
The Wailin' Jennys- Keep Me In Your Heart
Fifteen (True North)
Jamie Anderson- Hold My Breath
The Truth Appears (Tsunami)

Extended feature: Songs of Paul Siebel – the next 14 songs were written by Paul Siebel.

Marley's Ghost- She Made Me Lose My Blues
Jubilee (Sage Arts)
Kate Wolf- Then Came the Children
Carry It On (Flat Rock)
Paul Siebel- My Town
Woodsmoke and Oranges (Elektra)

The Village Dudes- Tomorrow’s Train
Another Time and Place (Blue Flute Music)
Rosalie Sorrels- Bride 1945
Then Came the Children – Live (Green Linnet)
Paul Siebel- The Ballad of Honest Sam
Woodsmoke and Oranges (Elektra)

Staber & Chasnoff- Spanish Johnny
Free To Dream (Bubkes)
Mary McCaslin- Pinto Pony
A Life and Time (Flying Fish)
Bill Garrett- You Don’t Need a Gun
Bill Garrett (Borealis)
Paul Siebel- Jeremiah’s Song
Jack-Knife Gypsy (Elektra)

Dave Fry- Louise
Troubadour (Dave Fry)
Katie Moore- Any Day Woman
Only Thing Worse (Borealis)
Jerry Jeff Walker- Long Afternoons
Gypsy Songman (Rykodisc)
Paul Siebel- The Legend of the Captain’s Daughter
Jack-Knife Gypsy (Elektra)

Old Man Luedecke- I Wanna Go
Easy Money (True North)
Benjamin Dakota Rogers- Better By Now
Better By Now (Benjamin Dakota Rogers)
Geneviève Racette- Margo’s Song
No Water, No Flowers (Geneviève Racette)
Joel Rafael- All My Relations
Rose Avenue (Inside)

Doug McArthur- Sleeping in Dublin
The Horses of the Sea: A Personal Exploration of Ireland (dougimac.com)
Moore & McGregor- The Fields of Athenry
Dream with Me (Ivernia)

Rain Perry- Vapor
Let’s Be Brave (Precipitous)
Danny Schmidt- Words are Hooks
Standard Deviation (Live Once)
CC Railroad- Start the Process
Black Horse Motel (Elizabeth)
Our Native Daughters (Leyla McCalla w/Rhiannon Giddens, Allison Russell & Amythyst Kiah)- Lavi Difisil
Songs of Our Native Daughters (Smithsonian Folkways)

Susan Werner- Get You from Below
NOLA: Susan Werner Goes to New Orleans (Sleeve Dog)
Leon Redbone- Sweet Substitute
Any Time (Rounder)
Jelly Roll Morton- Buddy Bolden’s Blues (I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say)
Last Sessions: The Complete General Recordings (Commodore)
Susan Werner- Free Your Ass
NOLA: Susan Werner Goes to New Orleans (Sleeve Dog)

Andy Statman- Ain’t No Place for a Girl Like You
Monroe Bus (Shefa)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on June 22.

I’ll also be hosting Canadian Spaces on June 8, 10 am-noon.

Find me on Twitter. @MikeRegenstreif


--Mike Regenstreif