David Bromberg – Archive Recordings Volume One; David Bromberg in Canada

DAVID BROMBERG
Archive Recordings Volume One 
davidbromberg.net

After racking up some impressive credentials as an A-list sideman on stage and recordings for the likes of Bob Dylan, Jerry Jeff Walker, Tom Paxton, Rosalie Sorrels and countless others, David Bromberg first emerged as a solo artist and then a band leader right about the same time I started spending so much of my time in coffee houses listening to folk music. I recall seeing David play at the Back Door Coffee House in Montreal circa 1970 or ’71 and picking up his self-titled debut LP not too much later.

Through the ‘70s and into the ‘80s, David was one of the major touring and recording artists on the folk scene (and beyond) both as a solo artist and band leader with one of the most eclectic repertoires of the day. Eventually, he tired of touring and became a student of violin making and a musical instrument dealer while only rarely performing and recording. In 2007, he returned with his first new album in 17 years – Try Me One More Time (Appleseed) which I rated 4-stars in my Montreal Gazette review – and began to tour again.

With Archive Recordings Volume One, David has also begun to release some of the hundreds of live, radio show and demo recordings he’s kept from that prolific decade of 1969 to ’79. Half of the 12 tracks here are solo performances and half feature sidemen or versions of the David Bromberg Band. Some of them are alternate versions of songs from his albums of the time, a few, I think, he’s never before released. Almost all feature David’s often brilliant acoustic guitar playing.

The album begins with a solo version of “Cannonball” (AKA “Cannonball Blues” or “Solid Gone”) recorded in 1975 on FolkScene, the legendary Los Angeles radio show hosted by my friends Roz and (the late) Howard Larmon. It’s an absolute delight to hear David’s Watson-worthy flatpicking on the song.

Among the other solo highlights are his guitar arrangements of the fiddle tune “Salt Creek” and a five-tune medley that includes “Devil’s Dream”; and his wonderful arrangement of Blind Willie McTell’s “Statesboro Blues” that’s paired with Luke Jordan’s “Church Bell Blues.” “Statesboro” is one of my favorite blues songs and David’s official version on Wanted Dead or Alive was always one of my favorite versions.

Among my favorite band tracks is the hilarious “Jelly Jaw Joe,” a raggy tune on which David goes off on one of his legendary and very witty tangents while the band seems to be having tons of fun. The song seems like the kind of thing Pink Anderson or Jesse Fuller might have written but I don’t recognize it – so I’m guessing it might be something David himself came up with in the old medicine show style.

Other favorites among the band tracks are Bessie Smith’s “Send Me to the ‘Lectric Chair,” which features a great New Orleans-style horn arrangement, and a version of “Wheel Hoss,” the Bill Monroe tune, that has David and the always-incredible Andy Statman going crazy on twin mandolins while Peter Ecklund – who played trumpet on “‘Lectric Chair” and several other tracks – switches to guitar.

I’m looking forward to hearing more from David’s archives.

David Bromberg in Canada this coming week

David will be here in the area this coming week for some solo concerts on Thursday, October 30 at Hugh’s Room in Toronto; Friday, October 31 at the Neat Coffeeshop in Burnstown; Saturday, November 1 at Le Petit Campus in Montreal; and Sunday, November 2 at the Isabel in Kingston.

I haven’t seen David perform live in more than 30 years so I’m going to hightail it into Montreal to see the show there.

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--Mike Regenstreif

Steve Gillette -- The Man

STEVE GILLETTE
The Man
Compass Rose Music
abouttheman.com

The Man is a very different kind of album for Steve Gillette – one of the finest folk-oriented singer-songwriters since the 1960s. (His best-known song is “Darcy Farrow,” a standard of the folk repertoire since Ian & Sylvia recorded it about 45 years ago.)

The Man is a concept album that tells the story of Danny Murrow, a guitar player who was there at the dawn and flowering of the jazz age in the early decades of the 20th century leading up to and including the Great Depression and Second World War. Steve uses a combination of spoken word narration on top of instrumental versions of songs from that era, songs from those days he sings in Danny’s character, and several original songs that he wrote – and one Bessie Smith song that he rewrote – to move the story along.

Steve tells Danny’s story using a combination of fact and fiction. The fictional Danny interacts with all kinds of real musicians including the likes of Paul Whiteman, Bix Biederbecke, Bessie Smith, as well as John Hammond, the legendary talent scout and record producer. He picks up songs from Fats Waller, Count Basie and Yip Harburg and is affected by the contemporary events of the world from the racism of the era to the stock market crash and the loss of his son in the war – an event that leads him into a period of intense soul searching in which he concludes (in one of Steve's original songs) that "God is love, only love, nothing more, nothing less."

Steve surrounds himself with some great musicians on these tracks including the likes of Bill Shontz, Peter Davis, Dave Davies and Peter Ecklund on horns; Randy Wolchek and Steve’s late father, George Gillette, on piano; Jack Williams on guitar; Scott Petito, Glen Fukunaga and David Jackson on bass; Mark Graham on harmonica; and Paul Pearcy on drums. Among the all-star back-up singers are Cindy Mangsen; Kim and Reggie Harris; and Greg Artzner and Terry Leonino (Magpie).

I love what Steve has done with this album. In telling Danny’s fictional story, he’s also giving us a small slice of the early jazz world.

Steve has also put together a website about the project that is well worth checking out.

--Mike Regenstreif