BONNIE KOLOC
Rediscovered
Mr. Biscuit
As I noted in my review of Beginnings, a
Bonnie Koloc collection of vintage – but previously unreleased – live recordings,
I was first turned onto Bonnie almost four decades ago by the late Steve
Goodman, one of her contemporaries on the Chicago folk club scene at the time.
Taking Steve’s enthusiastic recommendations
to heart, I collected Bonnie’s 1970s recordings, all of which are now long
out-of-print. On Rediscovered, Bonnie has recorded new versions of 10 songs
from earlier albums, most of them from that period (and a couple from her much
more recent and presumably still in-print CD, Visual Voice).
As always, Bonnie’s music falls somewhere
between contemporary folk and pop music with strong elements of blues –
particularly showing the influence of the classic woman blues singers of the
1920s and ‘30s – and jazz.
If anything, Bonnie’s interpretive skills
have deepened and the arrangements on these 10 songs – a nicely balanced
collection of five original songs and five drawn from other songwriters – are beautifully
intimate featuring small groups or small groups plus strings.
Among my
favorites from among Bonnie’s own songs is “Children’s Blues,” a powerful, deeply-felt
commentary about the painful, often lasting effects of parental conflict on
young kids. Despite not having heard the LP version in about 25 years, it’s a
song I’ve never forgotten. The perfect arrangement is built on Larry Kohut’s
heartbeat bass with Chris Siebold’s acoustic rhythm guitar and lead lines from
John Rice on dobro and Steve Eisen on tenor sax – and, of course, Bonnie’s superb
singing.
Another is “Two
Black Guitars,” a heartfelt remembrance of Bonnie’s late brother Jim, also a
musician, that references the Everly Brothers and ends with a coda from the
Everlys hit, “Bye Bye Love.” Howard Levy’s sublime harmonica playing adds much
to this and several other songs.
Among the
covers, there’s a great version of Lil Green’s classic “In the Dark,” which
Bonnie starts singing a cappella – her voice slipping and sliding effortlessly
around the melody – before Kohut, Rice and Sibelod move in under her.
Another
favourite cover is John Prine’s “Angel from Montgomery,” a song that draws on an
old woman’s somewhat bitter memories and feelings. It’s a song that almost
demands a woman’s voice and Bonnie nails it.
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