Beyond the Pale – Ruckus

BEYOND THE PALE

Ruckus
Borealis Records

beyondthepale.net

borealisrecords.com

(A version of this review was published in the September 18, 2017 issue of the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin.)

Ruckus – an exciting, all-instrumental set of 13 tunes – is the first CD in eight years from Beyond the Pale, the Toronto-based klezmer band led by mandolinist Eric Stein, artistic director of Ashkenaz, Toronto’s biennial festival of Yiddish and Jewish culture.

In addition to Eric, the band includes violinist Aleksandar Gajic, bassist Brett Higgins, accordionist Milos Popovic and clarinetist Martin Van De Ven.

Mike Regenstreif introducing Beyond the Pale at the Montreal Folk Festival on the Canal (2017)

Almost equally divided between traditional klezmer and Balkan tunes and original compositions by the various members of the band, Beyond the Pale uses traditional styles as a starting point in their compositions and adaptations as they incorporate influences from classical music, jazz and bluegrass into their playing.

For example, the moods in Eric’s “The Whole Thing” shift from a classical feel to a Parisian café mode, while Aleksander’s haunting “Andale” seems like it is rooted in slow Middle Eastern forms.

Among the other highlights are “Mila’s Dance,” a playful tune composed by Martin and “Oltenilor,” a toe-tapping traditional klezmer tune that I don’t think I’d heard before. Actually, in the hands of Beyond the Pale’s virtuoso musicians, every tune is a highlight.

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--Mike Regenstreif

Shawna Caspi – Forest Fire

SHAWNA CASPI

Forest Fire

shawnacaspi.com

(A version of this review was published in the September 18, 2017 issue of the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin.)

That Shawna Caspi has become an accomplished guitarist, singer and insightful songwriter is well documented on Forest Fire, her fourth CD, a collection of seven original songs and two covers performed quietly, yet with confidence and strength, in contemporary folk-rooted settings.

The album opens with “Love in a Moving Van,” in which she uses the inherent difficulties in a couple’s do-it-yourself move with a U-Haul truck as metaphors for the difficulties in maintaining a relationship over time.

Mike Regenstreif & Shawna Caspi at the Ottawa Grassroots Festival (2015)

Among the other highlights are “Devil’s Rolling Pin,” which uses a driving, minor-key setting to celebrate the discovery of exciting new music at the end of an otherwise difficult day; the heartrending “Never Enough,” an observational song about a mother’s efforts to change the ways of a wayward son; and “Brave Parade,” a song of courage “in an angry age,” written by Lynn Miles. 

Shawna’s singing and guitar playing gets fine support from producer Don Kerr on drums, fiddler Rosalyn Dennett, Dave Matheson on keyboards, bassist Ben Whiteley and multi-instrumentalist Joel Schwartz.

Shawna is also a visual artist and did the impressionistic painting of the forest fire on the CD cover.

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--Mike Regenstreif

Bruce Cockburn – Bone On Bone

BRUCE COCKBURN

Bone On Bone

True North Records

brucecockburn.com

truenorthrecords.com

I’ve known Bruce Cockburn for a long time. I first met him and heard him perform, circa 1970 or ’71, at the short-lived Back Door Coffee House in Montreal around the time his first LP was released. Over the decades, I’ve seen Bruce many times in venues large and small, I’ve listened to every album he’s ever made, and I’ve interviewed him for newspaper and magazine articles and on the radio.

Bone On Bone, Bruce’s new album (which will be released September 15), his first in more than six years, is a compelling set of personal, often spiritual, songs that touches folk, rock, blues, jazz and gospel bases.

The album begins with the unmistakable sound of Bruce’s acoustic guitar on the intro to “States I’m In.” Within seconds the other musicians kick in and Bruce launches into poetic, intense verses that seem like metaphors for contemporary America. “Oo-ee all the sights I’ve seen in the depth of the world and the heart of a dream/Oo-ee all the places I’ve been each one reflected in the states I’m in,” he sings in the chorus. Like most of the songs on the album, it was written in San Francisco, where Bruce has been living for the past several years.

As mentioned, several of these songs reflect Bruce’s deeply rooted spirituality. “Stab at Matter,” which seems like it could be interpreted as an end-times song, has an infectious gospel feel to it with the San Francisco Lighthouse Chorus responding to Bruce’s calls. The Chorus sings on about half of the songs on Bone On Bone.

Other spiritually-based songs include the lovely “Forty Years in the Wilderness” and “Looking and Waiting,” which I interpret as a search for signs of God. The most obvious signs of Bruce’s religiosity come near the end of the album in the declarative “Jesus Train” and in a version of the traditional “Twelve Gates to the City” with additional verses by Bruce that leave little doubt that his religious vision is broad and inclusive. (Bruce and I had an interesting discussion on the evolution of his religious thinking for “Bruce Cockburn: On Spirituality, Activism and Music,” the cover story of the Summer 2002 edition of Sing Out! magazine.)

Other highlights on Bone On Bone include “3 Al Purdys,” in which Bruce sets words by the late Canadian poet Al Purdy to music; “Café Society,” an observational blues about the comings and goings at local coffee shops everywhere; and “Bone On Bone,” yet another of Bruce’s gripping acoustic guitar explorations.

Mike Regenstreif & Bruce Cockburn (2017)

The album was produced by Colin Linden, who has, by now, worked on many of Bruce’s recordings and has a deep understanding of Bruce’s music, and features such fine musicians as Colin on guitar, bassist John Dymond, drummer Gary Craig, Ron Miles on cornet, and John Aaron Cockburn on accordion.

Bruce will be supporting Bone On Bone with an extensive tour that brings him to the National Arts Centre here in Ottawa on September 22. Visit Bruce’s website for a complete list of concertdates.

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--Mike Regenstreif