Sussex – Parade Day

SUSSEX

Parade Day

Lucky Bear Records

sussexmusic.ca

I’ve known Montreal-based singer-songwriter Rob Lutes a long time and have enjoyed watching (and listening) to him develop as a singer, songwriter, guitarist and performer. He knows well how to combine his gritty voice and fluid, blues-based guitar playing into something very compelling. With Sussex, Rob has taken his music to a new level.

Sussex is a collaboration of Rob, who is rooted in folk and blues, and vibraphonist Michael Emenau, whose roots are in classical music and jazz. Rob and Michael played together 25 or so years ago as high school students in New Brunswick and began collaborating again after Michael moved to Montreal in 2011.

Parade Day, the first Sussex album, includes five songs written or co-written by Rob, one by Michael, and five of their songwriting collaborations. They also include a charming cover of Randy Newman’s “Dayton, Ohio – 1903.”

Rob plays acoustic guitar and fronts the band as lead singer while Michael is heard throughout on vibes and occasionally on percussion and piano. And they get some great backup from the likes of guitarist Ben Charest (best known for his infectious film score for Les Triplettes de Bellville); trumpet and flugelhorn player Ivanhoe Jolicoeur; upright bassist Sage Reynolds; and violinist Josh Zubot.

The album opens strongly with “Hollow Log,” a song about maintaining a sense of balance in the face of life’s problems. The vibes weaving in and around the vocal lines give the song an irresistible jazzy-rootsy flavor.

The jazz-meets-roots fusion really comes alive on such numbers as “Truth and Lies,” with some nimble, Reinhardt-like guitar lines by Ben; “Superman’s Escape,” a bouncy song with the vibes, guitars, violin, bass and horn all contributing to the toe-tapping groove; and “Sparkle Blues,” a slow, jazz ballad.

I also really enjoyed Sussex’s take on “Dayton, Ohio – 1903,” a gentle period piece from Randy Newman’s classic 1972 album Sail Away (which was also memorably covered on Priscilla Herdman’s Forgotten Dreams – a 1980 album I had a little something to do with).

Sussex has already launched Parade Day in Quebec City and Montreal. Several more launch concerts are coming up including a show on March 25 here in Ottawa at Irene’s.

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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