Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – December 5, 2023: Songs from my top 10 folk-rooted and folk-branched albums of 2023

Stranger Songs with Mike Regenstreif finds connections and develops themes in various genres. The show is broadcast on CKCU, 93.1 FM, in Ottawa on Tuesdays from 3:30 until 5 pm (Eastern time) and is also available 24/7 for on-demand streaming.

This episode of Stranger Songs was recorded and can be streamed on-demand, now or anytime, by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/595/62989.html

Theme: Songs from my top 10 folk-rooted and folk-branched albums of 2023.

The annotated and illustrated list is posted on the Folk Roots/Folk Branches blog at this link.

Number 10 – Gettin’ Together by Michael Jerome Browne

Michael Jerome Browne with Mary Flower & John Sebastian- Coffee Blues

Gettin’ Together (Borealis/Stony Plain)

Michael Jerome Browne with John Sebastian, Happy Traum & John McColgan- Living with the Blues.

Number 9 – The Breath Between by David Francey

David Francey- The Breath Between 

The Breath Between (Laker Music) 

David Francey- Two Shadows 

The Breath Between (Laker Music) 

Number 8 – Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert by Cat Power

Cat Power- Desolation Row

Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert (Domino)

Number 7 – Savoy by Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal- Stompin’ at the Savoy

Savoy (Stony Plain)

Taj Mahal- Sweet Georgia Brown

Savoy (Stony Plain)

Number 6 – Vol. 2 – Yet and Still: Traditional American Folk Song-Stirring by Dick Connette by Too Sad for the Public

Too Sad for the Public featuring Ana Egge- Shake Sugaree 

Vol.2 – Yet and Still: Traditional American Folk Song-Stirring by Dick Connette (StorySound) 

Too Sad for the Public featuring Rayna Gellert- Train Your Child

Vol.2 – Yet and Still: Traditional American Folk Song-Stirring by Dick Connette (StorySound) 

Number 5 – Home by Eliza Gilkyson

Eliza Gilkyson- Sunflowers

Home (Realiza)

Eliza Gilkyson & Robert Earl Keen- How Deep 

Home (Realiza) 

Number 4 – At the End of the Day by Sylvia Tyson

Sylvia Tyson- Long Chain of Love

At the End of the Day (Stony Plain)

Sylvia Tyson- At the End of the Day

At the End of the Day (Stony Plain)

Number 3 – Together by Tom Paxton & John McCutcheon

Tom Paxton & John McCutcheon- This Campfire 

Together (Appalseed Productions) 

Tom Paxton & John McCutcheon- Christmas in the Desert

Together (Appalseed Productions) 

Number 2 – The Building and Other Songs by Daniel Kahn & Jake Shulman-Ment

Daniel Kahn & Jake Shulman-Ment- Yeder Eyner Veys (Everybody Knows) 

The Building and Other Songs (Oriente Musik) 

Daniel Kahn & Jake Shulman-Ment- Tom Trauberts Kloglid (Tom Traubert’s Blues) 

The Building and Other Songs (Oriente Musik) 

Number 1 – Silent Tears: The Last Yiddish Tango by Payadora Tango Ensemble

Payadora Tango Ensemble featuring Aviva Chernick- Silent Tears

Silent Tears: The Last Yiddish Tango (Six Degrees)

Payadora Tango Ensemble featuring Lenka Lichtenberg & Marta Kosiorek- Bitter Winter

Silent Tears: The Last Yiddish Tango (Six Degrees)

Note: I’m taking the next four weeks off and Stranger Songs will feature some repeat shows from 2021. You can see the playlists and stream the shows by clicking on the links.

December 12: Woody Guthrie’s Happy Joyous Hanukkah and Other Hanukkah Songs.

December 19: Winter Solstice & Christmas.

December 26: Songs and Poems of Leonard Cohen – The Early Years.

January 2: The First Stranger Songs Fantasy Concert.

New programs will resume on January 9.

--Mike Regenstreif

Top 10 for 2023

Here are my picks for the Top 10 folk-rooted or folk-branched albums of 2023. As in past years, I started with the list of hundreds of new albums that I listened to over the past year and narrowed it down to a short list of about 30. I’ve been over the short list several times over the past couple of weeks and came up with several similar – not identical – Top 10 lists. Today’s list is the final one. The order might have been slightly different and there are several other worthy albums that might have been included, had one of the other lists represented the final choice. Any new albums that arrive between now and the end of the year will be considered for my 2024 list.

1. Payadora Tango Ensemble – Silent Tears: The Last Yiddish Tango (Six Degrees). The powerful songs on Silent Tears: The Last Yiddish Tango are based on testimonies, poems and other writings from women in Toronto who survived sexual violence and other forms of torture at the hands of the Nazis during the Holocaust. Masterfully played by the musicians of the Payadora Tango Ensemble – Rebekah Wolkstein, Drew Jurecka, Robert Horvath and Joseph Phillips – the songs are brought to life by singers Aviva Chernick, Olga Avigail Mieleszczuk, Lenka Lichtenberg and Marta Kosiorek.

2. Daniel Kahn & Jake Shulman-Ment – The Building and Other Songs (Oriente Musik). Most of the songs on The Building and Other Songs by Daniel Kahn & Jake Shulman-Ment are Daniel’s Yiddish-language versions of great songs written by the likes of Lou Reed, Leonard Cohen, Bruce Springsteen, Woody Guthrie, Tom Paxton, and Tom Waits. However, these are not simply translations from English to Yiddish. By reading the Yiddish to English translations in the CD booklet, it is quickly evident that Daniel has fully re-imagined each of the songs in ways that are both faithful to the original versions and that take the songs in entirely new directions.

3. Tom Paxton & John McCutcheon – Together (Appalseed Productions). During the pandemic, Tom Paxton, one of folk music’s greatest singer-songwriters since the early-1960s, and John McCutcheon, one of folk music’s greatest singer-songwriters since the mid-1970s, got together on Zoom to write songs. Together – mostly duets and a few solo performances – has 14 of their best songs. The songs range from inspiring (“Ukrainian Now,” “Letters from Joe”), to humorous (“Same Old Crap”), to insightful (“Invisible Man”) and poignant (“Christmas in the Desert”).

4. Sylvia Tyson – At the End of the Day (Stony Plain). In a long and distinguished career, Sylvia Tyson has given us so many memorable songs as a member of Ian & Sylvia and Quartette and as an important solo artist. Now, at 83, Sylvia has decided to retire from making records and is bowing out with At the End of the Day, one of the finest, if not the finest of her solo albums. With shades of folk, country and cabaret music, these finely crafted songs are beautifully sung by Sylvia and beautifully arranged and produced by my old pal Danny Greenspoon.

5. Eliza Gilkyson – Home (Realiza). On Home, Eliza Gilkyson offers a lovely set of songs – some of which offer various approaches to the meaning of home. For example, “True North” views home through the prism of mature love, while in “Man in the Bottle,” Eliza recalls home through the memories of her father, the songwriter and folksinger Terry Gilkyson. Other highlights include “Sunflowers,” a song of solidarity with the people of Ukraine, and duets with Robert Earl Keen and Mary Chapin Carpenter.

6. Too Sad for the Public – Vol. 2 – Yet and Still: Traditional American Folk Song-Stirring by Dick Connette (StorySound). I’ve long admired how composer Dick Connette has re-imagined songs from traditional folk music sources (as well as creating some songs of his own inspired by folk traditions) – first with Last Forever, his duo with the late Sonya Cohen, and more recently with Too Sad for the Public, an ensemble whose membership grows and contracts depending on the needs of the song. Several tracks are steeped in traditional New Orleans jazz, another of my favorite genres. Several fine singers – Ana Egge, Chaim Tannenbaum, Rayna Gellert – help bring the songs to life.

7, Taj Mahal – Savoy (Stony Plain). From 1926 until 1958, the Savoy Ballroom was a major music venue in Harlem, a place where the likes of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Louis Jordan, Ella Fitzgerald and countless other jazz and blues performed. On Savoy, Taj Mahal offers a joyous tribute to the music of that era (as Holger Peterson points out in the liner notes, all but one of the songs would likely have been heard at the Savoy).

8. Cat Power – Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert (Domino). Although it was actually recorded at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, a few days before he got to the Royal Albert Hall, Bob Dylan’s Live 1966: The “Royal Albert Hall” Concert is, arguably, the most essential of Dylan’s many live albums. The seven solo acoustic songs are the work of a master and the eight electric songs rock hard with a group that would later become The Band. On this tribute, Cat Power went to the Royal Albert Hall and recreated the legendary 1966 concert: the same solo acoustic songs and the same electric band songs, all in their original order. Cat Power beautifully nails the acoustic songs and I think I like her more subtle versions of the electric band songs even more than Dylan’s.

9. David Francey – The Breath Between (Laker Music). David Francey was already in his 40s in the 1990s when he emerged seemingly out of nowhere – actually from Ayer’s Cliff, a small town in the Eastern Townships of Quebec – as one of Canada’s finest singer-songwriters. Now based in Elphin, an equally small town in Eastern Ontario, David has continued to maintain the highest of standards in his songwriting and performing. Among the highlights on The Breath Between are ”Two Shadows,” a beautiful love song, “Narrow Boats,” a duet with Terra Spencer, that captures a wistful moment on the banks of the Thames in England, and “This Morning,” a tribute to John Prine featuring the always delightful playing of Dave Clarke, the guitar virtuoso who brought many of David’s early songs to life 25 or so years ago.

10. Michael Jerome Browne – Gettin’ Together (Borealis/Stony Plain). As the album title, Gettin’ Together, suggests, most of the songs feature Michael Jerome Browne, long one of Canada’s finest interpreters of almost any kind of traditional blues and folk styles, getting together with a bunch of collaborators ranging from Stephen Barry, the leader of the great Montreal blues band that Michael played in before emerging as a solo artist, to Eric Bibb, the contemporary blues legend that Michael frequently works with on tour, to peers like Colin Linden, Tielhard Frost, John McColgan and Mary Flower, and renowned legends like Happy Traum, John Sebastian and Harrison Kennedy. 

I will be featuring songs from each of these albums on Stranger Songs, Tuesday December 5, 3:30-5 pm (ET), on CKCU. The program is now available 24/7 for on-demand streaming at this link. 

–Mike Regenstreif 

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday November 4, 2023

Saturday Morning is an eclectic roots-oriented program on CKCU, 93.1 FM, in Ottawa on Saturday mornings from 7 until 10 am (Eastern time) and available for on-demand streaming anytime. I am one of the four rotating hosts of the Saturday Morning show. 

This episode of Saturday Morning was recorded and can be streamed on-demand, now or anytime, by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/128/62598.html

Julie Felix- Mr. Tambourine Man

Starry Eyed and Laughing… Songs by Bob Dylan (Remarkable)

Orit Shimoni- Winnipeg

Winnipeg (Orit Shimoni)

The Fugitives- (No Help)

No Help Coming (Fallen Tree)

The Fugitives- Edge of the Sea

No Help Coming (Fallen Tree)

Bob & Sarah Amos- The Hills That I Call Home

Ever Onward (Bristlecone) 

Kathy Kallick Band- It’s Lonesome Everywhere I Go

The Lonesome Chronicles (Live Oak)

Daniel Kahn & Jake Shulman-Ment- Yeder Eyner Veys (Everybody Knows)

The Building and Other Songs (Oriente Musik)

Leonard Cohen- Everybody Knows

I’m Your Man (Columbia)

Art of Time Ensemble featuring Steven Page- A Singer Must Die

Songs of Leonard Cohen Live (Art of Time Recordings)

Jennifer Warnes- First We Take Manhattan

Famous Blue Raincoat: The Songs of Leonard Cohen 20th Anniversary Edition (Shout! Factory)

Connie Kaldor- Leads to a Kiss

Keep Going (Coyote Entertainment)

Shelley Posen- I Want to Write a Standard

Old Loves (Well Done Music)

Mike Regenstreif & Missy Burgess (2014)

Missy Burgess- Smile

Play Me Sweet (Missy Burgess) 

Paul Mills- Doc’s Guitar

The Other Side of the Glass (Borealis)

Too Sad for the Public featuring Ana Egge- G. Burns in the Bottom (pt 1)

Vol.2 – Yet and Still: Traditional American Folk Song-Stirring by Dick Connette (StorySound)

Orit Shimoni- What Does It Matter

Winnipeg (Orit Shimoni)

Colin Cutler with Laura Jane Vincent, Dashawn & Wendy Hickman, Aaron Pants, Rebekah Todd, David Childers- Temple of the Holy Ghost

Tarwater (Colin Cutler)

Too Sad for the Public- G. Burns in the Bottom (pt 2)

Vol.2 – Yet and Still: Traditional American Folk Song-Stirring by Dick Connette (StorySound)

Deborah Holland- Brother, Can You Spare a Dime

The Panic is On: Songs from the Great Depression (Gadfly)

Deborah Holland- Do Re Mi

The Panic is On: Songs from the Great Depression (Gadfly)

Wenzel- I Don’t Feel at Home on the Bowery No More

Ticky Tock: Wenzel Sings Woody Guthrie (Conträr Musik)

Woody Guthrie- This Land is Your Land – alternate version

This Land is Your Land: The Asch Recordings Vol. 1 (Smithsonian Folkways)

Daniel Kahn & Jake Shulman-Ment- Dos Land iz Dayn Land (This Land is Your Land)

The Building and Other Songs (Oriente Musik)

Ray Bonneville- Night Cab

On the Blind Side (Stonefly)

Last Birds- After Dark

Endless Turn of Day into Night (Last Birds)

Kerri Powers- Someone Else’s Prayer

Love is Why (Must Have Music)

Tom Paxton & John McCutcheon- Do the Work

Together (Appalseed)

Alice Gerrard- Sun to Sun

Sun to Sun (Sleepy Cat)

Misty Blues- How Long Blues

Tell Me Who You Are: A Live Tribute to Odetta (Guitar One)

Odetta, Dave Keyes & Mike Regenstreif (2008)

Odetta- Careless Love/St. Louis Blues

Blues Everywhere I Go (M.C.)

I will be joining Ron Olesko of the Folk Music Notebook to MC the Greenwich Village Folk Festival's free online concert on Sunday, November 5, 7 pm (ET). You can watch the concert live at this link. It will also be archived for later viewing.

Andrew Calhoun- John’s Wife

Staring at the Sun: Songs 1973-1981 (Waterbug)

Mary Flower- Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams

Ragtime Gal (Bluesette)

Cliff Eberhardt- Man in the Moon

Knew Things (Tin Pan Ally)

Tret Fure- The Language of Love

Lavender Moonshine (Tomboy girl)

Dean Friedman- Ariel

Dean Friedman (Real Life)

Windborne- Grey Funnel Line

Recollections/Revolutions (Wand’ring Feet)

David Francey- Harbour

The Breath Between (Laker Music)

Orit Shimoni- Witness

Winnipeg (Orit Shimoni)

Tom Waits- Tom Traubert’s Blues

Small Change (Asylum)

Daniel Kahn & Jake Shulman-Ment- Tom Trauberts Kloglid (Tom Traibert’s Blues)

The Building and Other Songs (Oriente Musik)

Finest Kind- Give Me Just a Little More Time

Lost in a Song (Fallen Angle)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on December 2. I also host Stranger Songs on CKCU every Tuesday from 3:30-5 pm. 

--Mike Regenstreif

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday October 7, 2023

Saturday Morning is an eclectic roots-oriented program on CKCU, 93.1 FM, in Ottawa on Saturday mornings from 7 until 10 am (Eastern time) and available for on-demand streaming anytime. I am one of the four rotating hosts of the Saturday Morning show. 

This episode of Saturday Morning was recorded and can be streamed on-demand, now or anytime, by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/128/62245.html

Melanie- Mr. Tambourine Man

Born to Be (Buddah)

Tom Paxton & John McCutcheon- Ukrainian Now

Together (Appalseed)

Tom Paxton & John McCutcheon- This Campfire

Together (Appalseed)

Utah Phillips- Joe Hill

We Have Fed You All a Thousand Years (Philo)

Rosalie Sorrels- Borderline Heart

Borderline Heart (Green Linnet)

Penny Lang & Mike Regenstreif (1976) photo: Felicity Fanjoy

Penny Lang- My Last Go Round

Stone + Sand + Sea + Sky (Borealis)

Noam "Nani" Vazana- Sin Dingun Hijo Varon (Without Any Sons)

Ke Haber (Noam Vazana)

Matthew Morgan- Sunny

Timepiece (Tiny Attic)

Bruce Cockburn- Us All

O Sun O Moon (True North) 

Connie Kaldor- Keep Going

Keep Going (Coyote Entertainment)

Randall Kromm- Come with Me Now

Late September (Randall Kromm)

Eliza Gilkyson & Robert Earl Keen- How Deep

Home (Realiza)

Jay Linden- Hand Your Heart to the Wind 

Ordinary Sunrise (Americana North)

Ed Sweeney with Cathy Clasper-Torch- While My Guitar Gently Weeps

A Sunday Drive (Ed Sweeney Music)

Too Sad for the Public featuring Ana Egge- Shake Sugaree

Vol.2 – Yet and Still: Traditional American Folk Song-Stirring by Dick Connette (StorySound)

Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band- Oh Babe, It Ain’t No Lie

Almost Acoustic (Concensus Reality)

The Balladeers- Freight Train

It’s About Time (The Balladeers)

Elizabeth Cotten- Casey Jones

When I’m Gone (Folkways)

Rachael Kilgour- The Smell of Autumn Leaves

My Father Loved Me (Rachael Kilgour)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle- Talk to Me of Mendocino

Tell My Sister: Kate & Anna McGarrigle (Nonesuch)

Mike Regenstreif & Jesse Winchester (2009)

Jesse Winchester- Yankee Lady

Live From Mountain Stage (Blue Plate Music)

Liz Simmons- Who Knows Where the Time Goes

Poets (Morgana Music)

Joni Mitchell- Urge for Going

Archives – Volume 2: The Reprise Years (1968-1971) (Rhino)

David Francey- The Breath Between

The Breath Between (Laker Music)

Tony Turner- Crossroad’s Café

The Lost Sketches (Tony Turner)

Lyle Lovett- This Old Porch

Lyle Lovett (MCA/Curb)

Leo Kottke- Louise

Greenhouse (BGO)

Rod MacDonald- What Happened to You

Rants and Romance (Blue Flute Music) 

Mike Regenstreif & Tom Paxton (circa 1994)

Tom Paxton & John McCutcheon- Complete

Together (Appalseed)

Johnny Cash- Can’t Help but Wonder Where I’m Bound

American VI: Ain’t No Grave (American)

C. Daniel Boling- The Missing Years

New Old Friends (Berkalin)

Tret Fure- This and So Much More

Lavender Moonshine (Tomboy girl)

Shelley Posen- Long, Long Tunnel

Old Loves (Well Done Music)

Reggie Harris- It Isn’t Nice

On Solid Ground (Reggie Harris Music)

Emma's Revolution with Reggie Harris- Our People Gonna Rise

Rooted (Moving Forward Music)

Dropkick Murphys- My Eyes are Gonna Shine

Okemah Rising: Lyrics of Woody Guthrie (Dummy Luck Music) 

Bob Dylan- Tombstone Blues 

Shadow Kingdom (Columbia/Legacy) 

John Forster- Route 9W Revisited

Location, Location, Location! (Acute Music)

Mason Daring & Jeanie Stahl- Marblehead Morning

The Early Years (Daring)

Noah Zacharin- 17 Minute

Points of Light (Noah Zacharin) 

Connie Kaldor- Pain and Sorrow

Keep Going (Coyote Entertainment)

David Francey- Two Shadows

The Breath Between (Laker Music)

The Kennedys- Silence is a Warning

Headwinds (The Kennedys)

Yake Strom & Hot Pstromi- Pilky

The Wolf and the Lamb: Live at The Shakh (Arc) 

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on November 4. I also host Stranger Songs on CKCU every Tuesday from 3:30-5 pm. 

--Mike Regenstreif

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday September 9, 2023

Saturday Morning is an eclectic roots-oriented program on CKCU, 93.1 FM, in Ottawa on Saturday mornings from 7 until 10 am (Eastern time) and available for on-demand streaming anytime. I am one of the four rotating hosts of the Saturday Morning show.

This episode of Saturday Morning was recorded and can be streamed on-demand, now or anytime, by clicking on “Listen Now” at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/128/61892.html

Mike Regenstreif & Arlo Guthrie (1996)

Arlo Guthrie- Mr. Tambourine Man

HARP: A Time to Sing (Appleseed)

Jay Linden- 10 Dollar Show

Ordinary Sunrise (Americana North)

Ramblin' Jack Elliott- New Stranger Blues

A Stranger Here (Anti-)

Jesse DeNatale- Streets of Sorrow

The Hands of Time (Blue Arrow)

Eliza Gilkyson- True North

Home (Realiza)

The Rifters- Gentle On My Mind

The Enchanted World (Howlin’ Dog)

Noah Zacharin- Done Gone Gone

Points of Light (Noah Zacharin)

Nellie McKay- Driftin’

Hey Guys, Watch This (Hungry Mouse)

Allison Brown- Don’t Wait Too Long

Just Another Memory (Allison Brown)

Coco Love Alcorn- This Little Light of Mine

Rebirth (Coco Love Alcorn)

In memory of Jimmy Buffett (1946-2023)

Note: Based on a published report, I mentioned that Jimmy Buffett died from lymphoma. However, after the show was recorded, it was announced that his cause of death was "complications from Merkel-cell carcinoma, a rare and aggressive skin cancer."

Jimmy Buffett- He Went to Paris

A White Sport Coat and a Pink Crustacean (MCA)

Jimmy Buffett- The Captain and the Kid

Havana Daydreamin’ (MCA)

Jimmy Buffett- I Wave Bye-Bye

Songs from St. Somewhere (Mailboat)

Jesse Winchester- Biloxi

Jesse Winchester (Stony Plain)

Rachel Anne Goodman- Slow Down Time

California Morning (Coastridge)

Shelby Lynne & Allison Moorer- Ol ‘55

Come On Up to the House: Women Sing Waits (Dualtone)

David Bradstreet- Grapefruit Moon

Hindsight (David Bradstreet)

Priscilla Herdman- I Hope That I Don’t Fall in Love with You

Forgotten Dreams (Flying Fish)

Tom Waits- Martha

Closing Time (Elektra)

Hank Woji- Sitting in Limbo

Highways, Gamblers, Devils and Dreams (KZRecords)

Linda Ronstadt- Many Rivers to Cross

Prisoner in Disguise (Asylum)

Sneezy Waters- The Harder They Come

Sneezy Waters Live (Sneezy Waters)

Jimmy Cliff- You Can Get It If You Really Want

The Harder They Come (Island)

April Verch & Cody Walters- Up in the Ottawa Valley

Passages and Pairings (Slab Town)

Stan Rogers- Acadian Saturday Night

From Coffee House to Concert Hall (Fogarty’s Cove)

Notre Dame de Grass- Saturday Night

New Canada Road (Notre Dame de Grass)

C. Daniel Boling featuring Tom Paxton- Old Friends

New Old Friends (Berkalin)

Mike Regenstreif & Tom Paxton (2009)

Tom Paxton- Faces and Places

New Songs for Old Friends (Reprise)

Tom Russell- These Friends of Mine

Play One More: The Songs of Ian & Sylvia (True North)

Christian Parker- You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere

Sweethearts: A Tribute to The Byrd’s ‘Sweetheart of the Rodeo’ (Subcat)

Julian Taylor- Wide Awake

Beyond the Reservoir (Howling Turtle)

Allison Russell- Persephone

Outside Child (Fantasy)

Iggy Pop- You Want It Darker

Here It Is: A Tribute to Leonard Cohen (Blue Note)

In memory of Len Chandler (1935-1988)

Len Chandler & Mike Regenstreif (2017)

Len Chandler- Keep On Keeping On

To Be a Man (Columbia)

Dave Van Ronk- Green, Green Rocky Road

…and the tin pan bended, and the story ended… (Smithsonian Folkways)

Len Chandler- I’m Going to Get My Baby Out of Jail

Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Songs of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement (Folk Era)

The Kennedys- The Sky Doesn’t Look Right

Headwinds (The Kennedys)

Sultans of String featuring Duke Redbird- Our Mother the Earth

Walking Through the Fire (Sultans of String)

Annie Gallup- The Sky at Night

Small Fortune (Flyaway Hair)

Too Sad for the Public- Hey Now (pt 1)

Vol.2 – Yet and Still: Traditional American Folk Song-Stirring by Dick Connette (StorySound)

Last Forever- Buddy’s Blues

No Place Like Home/Last Forever (2nd Story Sound)

Too Sad for the Public featuring Ana Egge- Hey Now (pt 2)

Vol.2 – Yet and Still: Traditional American Folk Song-Stirring by Dick Connette (StorySound)

Wynton Marsalis- St. James Infirmary

Wynton Marsalis Plays Louis Armstong’s Hot Fives and Hot Sevens (Blue Engine)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on October 7. I also host Stranger Songs on CKCU every Tuesday from 3:30-5 pm. 

--Mike Regenstreif

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday August 12, 2023

Saturday Morning is an eclectic roots-oriented program on CKCU in Ottawa heard on Saturday mornings from 7 until 10 am (Eastern time) and available for on-demand streaming anytime. I am one of the four rotating hosts of the Saturday Morning show.

This episode of Saturday Morning was recorded and can already be streamed on-demand at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/128/61559.html

Mike Regenstreif & Jimmy LaFave (2017)

Jimmy LaFave- Mr. Tambourine Man

Trail Three (Music Road)

In memory of Sinéad O’Connor (1966-2023)

Sinéad O’Connor- Rivers of Babylon

Theology: Dublin Sessions (Koch)

Kris Kristofferson- Sister Sinéad

Closer to the Bone (New West)

Sinéad O’Connor- The Parting Glass

Sean-Nós Nua (Vanguard)

John Hartford- The Tall Tall Grass

Gentle On My Mind and Other Originals (RCA)

Chris Coole & John Showman- The Long Hot Summer Days

Much Further Out Than Inevitable: A Fiddle and Banjo Tribute to Some Music of John Hartford (Chris Coole)

Too Sad for the Public featuring Rob Moose- Uncle Bunting (pt 1)

Vol.2 – Yet and Still: Traditional American Folk Song-Stirring by Dick Connette (StorySound)

Katie Dahl- Temperance River

Seven Stones (Leaky Boat)

Ed Snodderley- Just Like You River

Chimney Smoke (Need to Know Music)

Michael Jerome Browne with Mary Flower- I’ve Got the Big River Blues

Gettin’ Together (Borealis/Stony Plain)

Mara Levine- River

Jewels and Harmony (Mara’s Creations)

Buffy Sainte-Marie- Cripple Creek

Best of the Vanguard Years (Vanguard)

Shannon Leigh Reynolds- The Piney Wood Hills

Triple Shot (Good Bygone)

Eva Cassidy with The London Symphony Orchestra- Tall Trees in Georgia

I Can Only Be Me (Blix Street)

Penny Lang- Spanish Moss

Ain’t Life Sweet (She-Wolf)

Too Sad for the Public featuring Rayna Gellert & Chaim Tannenbaum- Uncle Bunting (pt 2)

Vol.2 – Yet and Still: Traditional American Folk Song-Stirring by Dick Connette (StorySound)

Eliza Gilkyson- Sunflowers

Home (Realiza)

Yale Strom & Hot Pstromi- Song of Berhomet

The Wolf and the Lamb: Live at The Shakh (Arc)

Annie & Rod Capps- Anything but You

Love and Rain (Yellow Room)

The Bombadils- Through and Through

Dear Friend (The Bombadils)

Raye Zaragoza- Bittersweet

Hold That Spirit (Rebel River)

Aleksi Campagne- Prairie Wind

For the Giving/Sans Rien Donner (Aleksi Campagne)

Connie Kaldor- Bigger Than Anywhere Else

Out of the Blue (Coyote)

Hart Rouge- Destination

Beaupré’s Home (Highway 13 Musique)

Al Qahwa- Salma Ya Salama (Peace and Safety)

Weyn Allah (Al Qahwa)

Aviva Chernick- La Serena

La Serena (Aviva Chernick)

Dave Gunning- The Same Storm

The Same Storm (Wee House of Music)

Allison Lupton- Away

Words of Love (Allison Lupton Music)

Rachel Anne Goodman- Waiting for the Rain

California Morning (Coastridge)

Yale Strom & Hot Pstromi- Melody from Livonia

The Wolf and the Lamb: Live at The Shakh (Arc)

Joy Zimmerman- How Shall We Sing

Where the Light Lives (Cultivate Joy)

Kari Bremnes- Anna Olsen

The Man from God Knows Where (HighTone)

Tom Russell & Mike Regenstreif (2000)

Tom Russell- Rider on an Orphan Train

The Man from God Knows Where (HighTone)

Kari Bremnes- Anna Olsen’s Letter Home

The Man from God Knows Where (HighTone)

Mountain City Four- This Train

Mountain City Four (Omnivore)

Eric Bibb- Sinner Man

Ridin’ (Stony Plain)

Bob & Sarah Amos- Wayfaring Stranger

Ever Onward (Bristlecone)

Samoa Wilson with The Jim Kweskin Band- He Ain’t Got Rhythm

I Just Want to Be Horizontal (Kingswood)

Maria Muldaur with Tuba Skinny- Road of Stone

Let’s Get Happy Together (Stony Plain)

Geoff Muldaur's Futuristic Ensemble featuring Martha Wainwright- There Ain’t No Sweet Man That’s Worth the Salt of My Tears

Private Astronomy: A Vision of the Music of Bix Beiderbecke (Edge Music)

Too Sad for the Public- Uncle Bunting (pt 3)

Vol.2 – Yet and Still: Traditional American Folk Song-Stirring by Dick Connette (StorySound)

Teeyum Smith- Crash and Burn

Participating at Last (Teeyum Smith)

Joe Crookston- Blue Light

Nine Becomes One (Chapters 9 & 8) (Milagrito)

Crowes Pasture- If I Should Fall Behind

Don’t Blink (Crowes Pasture)

Mike Regenstreif & Bruce Murdoch (2007)

Bruce Murdoch- I’d Walk a Thousand Miles

Sometimes I Wonder Why the World (Bruce Murdoch)

Steve Howell- Dallas Rag

Gallery of Echoes (Out of the Past Music)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on September 9. I also host Stranger Songs on CKCU every Tuesday from 3:30-5 pm. 

--Mike Regenstreif

Saturday Morning with Mike Regenstreif – CKCU – Saturday July 15, 2023

Saturday Morning is an eclectic roots-oriented program on CKCU in Ottawa heard on Saturday mornings from 7 until 10 am (Eastern time) and available for on-demand streaming anytime. I am one of the four rotating hosts of the Saturday Morning show.

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

This episode of Saturday Morning was recorded and can already be streamed on-demand at … https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/128/61213.html

Bill Camplin- Mr. Tambourine Man

Bob Dylan Project One (Bill Camplin)

Saul Broudy & Mike Regenstreif (1993)

Saul Broudy- Cool Colorado

Ten Great Years at Kerrville, Volume One (Silverwolf)

Rosalie Sorrels- Then Came the Children

Then Came the Children (Green Linnet)

John Stewart- July, You’re a Woman

California Bloodlines (Capitol)

Ed Snodderly- Better Just Ride the Mule

Chimney Smoke (Need to Know Music)

Montreal- A Summer’s Night

A Summer’s Night (Stormy Forest)

Johnny Rivers- Summer Rain

A Touch of Gold/Wild Night (BGO)

Kat Goldman- Summersong

Gypsy Girl (Kat Goldman)

The Lovin’ Spoonful- Summer in the City

Hums of The Lovin’ Spoonful (Sony/Legacy)

Lara Wong with Melón Jiménez- A compás en Usera

Rosa de los Vientos (Lara Wong)

James Talley- La Rosa Montaña

The Road to Torreon (Cimarron)

Perla Batalla- Cuando Sale la Luna

Discoteca Batalla (Mechuda Music)

Michael Jerome Browne- Reverend Strut

Gettin’ Together (Borealis/Stony Plain)

Bruce Cockburn- To Keep the World We Know

O Sun O Moon (True North)

Tim Grimm- Sowin’ on the Mountain

Heart Land Again (Vault)

Aleksi Campagne- Rome

For the Giving/Sans Rien Donner (Aleksi Campagne)

The Scooches- Stop This Climate Change

Lift You Up (On the Bol)

Crowes Pasture- Barranco

Don’t Blink (Crowes Pasture)

David Bradstreet- The Land Beyond

Hindsight (David Bradstreet)

Johnny Eaton- This is Migration

here’s the thing (Johnny Eaton)

The Klezmatics- Dzhankoye

Live at Town Hall (Klezmatics Disc)

Rod MacDonald- Heal the World

Rants and Romance (Blue Flute Music)

Eliza Gilkyson- World Keeps on Singing

Home (Realiza)

Stephen Fearing- Christine

Vejpoesi (Stephen Fearing)

Christine Graves- Hitting My Stride

Everyday Life (Christine Graves)

Matt Andersen- Shoes

The Big Bottle of Joy (Sonic)

Jason Lang- Handle with Care

Handled with Care (Famgroup/Genison Music)

Anat Cohen & Marcello Gonçalves- Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer

Reconvexo (Anzic)

Too Sad for the Public featuring Ana Egge- Railroad Bill (pt 1)

Too Sad for the Public, Vol.2 – Yet and Still: Traditional American Folk Song-Stirring by Dick Connette (StorySound)

Kate & Anna McGarrigle & Roma Baran- Willie Moore

Tell My Sister (Nonesuch)

Peggy Seeger- Tell My Sister

Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle (Nonesuch)

Rufus Wainwright & John Legend- Heading for Home

Folkocracy (BMG)

Too Sad for the Public featuring Chaim Tannenbaum- Railroad Bill (pt 2)

Too Sad for the Public, Vol.2 – Yet and Still: Traditional American Folk Song-Stirring by Dick Connette (StorySound)

Vance Gilbert- Black Rochelle

The Mother of Trouble (Vance Gilbert)

Katie Dahl- Both Doors Open

Seven Stones (Leaky Boat)

Terre & Maggie Roche- Moonruns

Kin Ya See That Sun (Earth Rock Wreckerds)

Owen Walsh-Well Well, Hey Hey, Bye Bye

On My Way (Wrong Road)

Allison Brown- Tomorrow Night

Just Another Memory (Allison Brown)

Bob Dylan- Queen Jane Approximately

Shadow Kingdom (Columbia/Legacy)

Duke Robillard- Watching the River Flow

Six Strings of Steel (M.C.)

The Silas Powell Band- All Along the Watchtower

Makin’ a Run (East Run)

Socalled (Josh Dolgin) with The Kaiser Quartett- Roumanishe Kretchme

Di Frosh and other Yiddish Songs (Membran)

I’ll be hosting Saturday Morning next on August 12. I also host Stranger Songs on CKCU every Tuesday from 3:30-5 pm. 

--Mike Regenstreif

Too Sad for the Public – Vol. 1 – Oysters Ice Cream Lemonade: American Folk Fantasies Written and Arranged by Dick Connette

TOO SAD FOR THE PUBLIC

Vol. 1 – Oysters Ice Cream Lemonade: American Folk Fantasies Written and Arranged by Dick Connette

StorySound Records

dickconnette.com

storysoundrecords.com

For 20 years, since the release of the first CD by Last Forever, I’ve greatly admired the work of composer/songwriter/producer Dick Connette. In Last Forever, he teamed with the late vocalist Sonya Cohen to produce several albums of completely reimagined traditional songs and original songs steeped in tradition. I continue to find great musical riches whenever I return to the Last Forever albums – which I have done often.

Much of the material on Vol. 1 – Oysters Ice Cream Lemonade: American Folk Fantasies Written and Arranged by Dick Connette, his new project – recorded under the group name ‘Too Sad for the Public’ – continues in the vein of Last Forever with original songs based on traditional themes and a couple of fascinating covers of pop songs. The lead vocals are in the capable hands of Suzzy Roche (four songs), Rachelle Garniez (one song), Ana Egge (two songs) and Gabriel Kahane (one song).

All of the vocal songs on the album are entirely praiseworthy. Perhaps my favorite, if I had to pick just one, is “Black River Falls,” sung by Suzzy. The melody and chorus are based on Karen Dalton’s version of the traditional folksong “Same Old Man,” and the verses, each of which stands on its own, are based on Michael Lesy’s book. Wisconsin Death Trap.

Other favorites include “Old Alabama,” sung by Ana, which takes its inspiration from several traditional songs, most notably “Old Country Rock,” a country blues first recorded by William Moore in 1928 (the group name, Too Sad for the Public, comes from a repeated line in this song); and “Orphée in Opelousas,” sung by Gabriel, Dick’s reimagination of the Orpheus legend from Greek mythology which he sets in Louisiana to a score based on traditional Cajun songs.

I also love what he’s done with the two covers. “He’s a Bad Boy,” sung by Suzzy, was written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin in the early-1960s. As John Cohen of the New Lost City Ramblers (and Sonya Cohen’s father) pointed out to Dick, the song is a teenage variation on “Stagger Lee.”

“Young Loves to Love,” sung by Ana, is a medley of two early Van Morrison songs – “Brown Eyed Girl” and “Sweet Thing.” The latter song came from Astral Weeks (my second favorite Morrison album) and the arrangement is reminiscent of it – and prominently features the nylon-string guitar playing of Jay Berliner, whose playing was a key component of Astral Weeks.  

The other theme that runs through the album is a tribute to the late Chuck Brown, a Washington, D.C. guitarist who was known as “The Godfather of Go-Go,” a form of funk music. This is first heard in “Liberty City,” a Jaco Pastorius tune that Brown quoted in one his own tunes. Dick offers three short passages from “Liberty City” as strategic interludes during the album. Then, as the penultimate track, there is the 12-minute go-go instrumental “Chuck Baby,” a direct tribute to Brown, whose intensity never stops swirling and building.

While the go-go tracks might initially seem an odd coupling with the folk-inspired material, Dick Connette and the musicians of Too Sad for the Public bring it all together in a way that just seems right.

Dick variously plays harmonium, piano, bass and bass drum throughout the album. In addition to the singers, he is joined by a core group of five musicians – including Chaim Tannenbaum on harmonica –and 12 other contributing musicians. Dick’s arrangements are masterful from the opening notes of the first track until the end of the album.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif