Katie Moore & Andrew Horton – Six More Miles

KATIE MOORE & ANDREW HORTON

Six More Miles

katiemoore.ca

After several solo albums, Montreal-based country and folk singer-songwriter Katie Moore is joined by Andrew Horton for Six More Miles, a lovely set of (mostly) sad duets of eight country and folk classics and four original songs – two each by Katie and Andrew.

Katie and Andrew have a musical history together. Andrew played in Yonder Hill, a bluegrass band from about a decade ago that was fronted by Katie, Dara Weiss and Angela Desveaux, and has since played and sung in Katie’s bands. He also plays bass and sings harmony and occasional lead vocals in Notre Dame de Grass. They have developed a seemingly natural ease at singing together as lead and harmony vocalists.

They lead off the album with the title track. A lesser known Hank Williams composition, “Six More Miles (to the Graveyard)” sets the sad tone for the album as the narrator – Katie and Andrew singing in harmony – prepares to say a last farewell to his (her) “darling.”

A couple of my other favorites include a gorgeously haunting version of Bill Monroe’s “The One I Love is Gone,” that seems to come from deep in the well, and Shel Silverstein’s older but wiser song “A Couple More Years.”

Although there is a slow pace to most of these songs (they are, after all, sad songs), the pace does pick up on the traditional murder ballad (and sad story) “Wild Bill Jones” and the Carter Family classic “Lover’s Return.”

As mentioned, Katie and Andrew each contribute a couple of original pieces and these blend seamlessly with the classics. Katie’s “When We Reach the Valley” could easily be mistaken for an old-time country song while her “Blue Days” is an achingly beautiful song of lost love. Andrew’s “Since My Baby Been Gone” could be a companion song to “Blue Days,” while his “Owen’s Lullaby” is a gentle guitar composition – the album’s only instrumental – presumably written to send a baby off to sleep.

Katie and Andrew on vocals and guitars are ably and unobtrusively supported by Joe Grass on Dobro, mandolin and guitar; Alex Kehler on nyckelharpa (a bowed Swedish instrument) and fiddle; and Sage Reynolds on bass.

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--Mike Regenstreif

Jason Rosenblatt – Wiseman’s Rag

JASON ROSENBLATT
Wiseman’s Rag
www.jasonrosenblatt.com

(A version of this review was published in the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin.)

Jason Rosenblatt is well established as the leader of Shtreiml, the Montreal-based klezmer band, and Jump Babylon, a rock band whose songs centre on Jewish themes. But, on Wiseman’s Rag, Jason steps away from those projects to feature his own compositions, drawing on jazz, blues and roots music influences.

Jason is an innovative harmonica player who also plays piano and organ, sings, and offers some terrific playing as he surrounds himself with a tight quartet, including guitarist Joe Grass, bassist Joel Kerr and drummer Evan Tighe.

The album kicks off with the title track, an infectious swing tune on which Jason’s harmonica playfully interacts with Joe’ guitar. It’s one of several tunes in the 13-song set named for streets in the Mile End/Outremont area of Montreal. Others include “Fairmount Blues,” a jazzy blues tune that again has Jason and Joe delightfully trading licks; “Waltz Querbes,” a slower piece that features some nice work by Jason on harmonica and Joel on the bass; and “Hutchison,” a contemplative jazz tune on which each of the musicians gets time to stretch out.

Among the tracks that showcase Jason as a singer are “Cold Outside,” a jumping blues about the weather at this time of year; “You’ll Take the Highway,” a Chicago-style blues song; and the rollicking “You’ll Miss Me.”

The Jason Rosenblatt Quartet will launch Wiseman’s Rag in Montreal on Sunday, December 6, 8 pm, at the Segal Centre, 5170 Cote St. Catherine Road. Call 514-739-7944 for tickets. And in Ottawa on Saturday, December 12, 7:30 pm, at Gigspace Performance Studio, 953 Gladstone Avenue. Call 613-729-0693 for tickets.

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--Mike Regenstreif

Notre Dame de Grass – That’s How the Music Begins

NOTRE DAME DE GRASS
That’s How the Music Begins 
notredamedegrass.ca

In my Montreal Gazette review of their first album, New Canada Road, in 2007, I wrote, “Notre Dame de Grass may well be the finest pure-bluegrass outfit to come out of Montreal in decades. In bandleader Matthew Large they’ve got a solid singer, guitarist and songwriter who understands and respects the bluegrass traditions and knows how to create a unique sound while playing within the genre’s rules.”

Seven years down the bluegrass road, Notre Dame de Grass is a somewhat different band, but there’s really no doubt that the version of the band that has gelled over the years since that first album is, indeed, the finest pure-bluegrass band to have ever come out of Montreal – and certainly one of the finest to have ever come out of all of Canada.

Matt Large is still leading Notre Dame de Grass and Belgian-born banjo player Guy Donis, one of the finest purveyors of the Bill Keith-influenced melodic banjo style, is still adding his fine playing to the band's sound and some great instrumentals to the repertoire, but the other three musicians – bassist and singer Andrew Horton, mandolinist Joe Grass and fiddler Josh Zubot – all joined the band since the last album was recorded and have each contributed to making it an even stronger unit.

That’s How the Music Begins is a textbook example of everything a traditional bluegrass fan would want in an album. There’s some excellent original material, some traditional standards, some outstanding instrumentals, and some gospel, all played and sung within the standard bluegrass instrumentation and vocal styles defined by Bill Monroe and other first-generation bluegrassers like the Stanley Brothers and Flatt & Scruggs.

While there are lots of contemporary bluegrass bands who are technically great, Notre Dame de Grass is part of a relatively rarer number of bands with both a unique character and a superior repertoire.

Matt is a fine bluegrass songwriter and contributes such songs as the title track, a driving number about the joys of getting the musicians together to play, and “Edmunston Nights,” a reflection on escaping small town life.

But the absolute highlight of the album, and one of the finest new bluegrass songs I’ve heard in years is Matt’s “New Canada,” a homage to the waves of immigration that have continued to make Canada the interesting, multicultural country it has developed into over the years.

Other highlights include “Mount Royal Backstep” and “St. Jean Express,” two fine banjo-driven instrumentals written by Guy, and a haunting version of “Satan’s Jewel Crown,” one of several songs featuring fine lead vocals by Andrew.

Another definite highlight is Matt’s powerful, album-ending, solo version of the traditional folksong, “Cowboy’s Life is a Dreary Life,” that he sings in a pure, traditional a cappella style.

Hopefully, it won’t be seven years until the next Notre Dame de Grass album.

Pictured: Notre Dame de Grass at the Montreal Folk Festival on the Canal, June 21, 2014 (Photo: Mike Regenstreif)

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--Mike Regenstreif