Jenny Whiteley – The Original Jenny Whiteley

JENNY WHITELEY

The Original Jenny Whiteley

Black Hen Music

jennywhiteley.com

I first met the Original Sloth Band – Chris Whiteley, Ken Whiteley and Tom Evans – in the early-1970s. They had a wonderfully eclectic repertoire of songs gathered from old-time jug band, jazz, blues and folk sources.

Chris had an infant daughter back then who would grow up to be – like her father, uncle, brothers and cousins – an excellent musician, singer and songwriter and who now has five solo albums to her credit. Jenny Whiteley’s first recording projects – long before she started making solo albums – were in the 1980s when she sang with dad and uncle on their Junior Jug Band LPs.

Jenny’s fifth solo album, The Original Jenny Whiteley, is a homage to her dad. Whether on songs like “Stealin’, Stealin’” or “Things are Coming My Way,” which were on Original Sloth Band LPs back in the ‘70s, or on other vintage songs, or even her own original material,  they were all, she notes, “influenced in some way by his music.”

The Original Jenny Whiteley is a delightful 11-song romp. Among my favorites are the already mentioned “Stealin’, Stealin’” and “Things are Coming My Way,” the latter featuring harmony vocals from Chris and Ken; her own songs “Banjo Girl,” reprised from Jenny’s 2006 album, Dear, and “Higher Learning”; the traditional classic “In the Pines”; and Uncle Dave Macon’s “Morning Blues,” a favorite I first heard on the Jim Kweskin Jug Band Jug Band Music LP in the ‘60s.

Aside from Jenny’s own vocals and guitar, most of the backup on The Original Jenny Whiteley is by multi-instrumentalists Sam Allison, who produced the album, and Teillard Frost, who, as Sheesham & Lotus, are highly reminiscent of the Original Sloth Band.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Oscar Brand 1920-2016

I was very saddened to hear that Oscar Brand died last night at age 96. He was probably the last of the great folksingers of his generation.

Let's Sing Out, Oscar's TV program on Canadian TV in the early-1960s helped me find folk music.

I met Oscar a few times over the years and he was always very gracious and he was particularly encouraging in 1994 when I started hosting the Folk Roots/Folk Branches radio program on CKUT in Montreal. Oscar’s own radio program, Folksong Festival, aired weekly for 71 years on WNYC in New York – up until just last week.

Oscar Brand always had “something to sing about.”

What an inspiration. Read Oscar’s New York Times obituary at this link.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif

Theodore Bikel – While I’m Here

THEODORE BIKEL

While I’m Here

Red House Records

redhouserecords.com/artists/Theodore-bikel

(This is an expanded version of a review published in the September 26, 2016 issue of the Ottawa Jewish Bulletin.)

There is no doubt that Theodore Bikel – who died last year at age 91 – was one of the greatest Jewish actors and folksingers of our time. This new 2-CD collection highlights both aspects of Theo’s distinguished career.

The first CD is a compelling 62-minute set of spoken word pieces, recorded not long before he died, in which Theo – with his actor’s skill – tells stories from his long life and career. Among other stories, we hear about his relationship to Judaism, his move as a young man to pre-state Palestine, his early years as an actor in Israel and London, his move to America, his passion for social justice causes, his love of Yiddish language and culture and more.

The second CD is a collection of folk and Broadway songs – more than half of them specifically Jewish folksongs sung in Yiddish, Hebrew and Ladino – drawn from various sources recorded over many years. Many of them are recent recordings, which show that Theo never lost any of his ability to communicate the essence of a song, while some date back to the 1960s.

“Partizaner-Marsh,” “Erev Shel Shoshanim,” “Un Az Der Rebi Tantz,” and “Oh Freedom,” the African-American civil rights anthem Theo recorded at a 1965 synagogue concert, are just a few of the many highlights from these songs. Others include “Wasn’t That a Might Day,” Theo’s song about Hurricane Katrina that he based on “Wasn’t That a Mighty Storm,” a song about the hurricane and flood in Galveston, Texas in 1900 that killed thousands of people, and “When I’m Gone,” Phil Ochs’ song about needing to get things done and living life to its fullest while we can. The album’s title, While I’m Here, comes from the refrain to Phil’s song.

Theodore Bikel accomplished so much while he was here and these two CDs are a wonderful summation.

Kudos to producers Michael Stein, Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer for assembling this excellent set and to music historian Mary Katherine Aldin for her excellent notes.

Find me on Twitter. twitter.com/@mikeregenstreif

And on Facebook. facebook.com/mikeregenstreif

--Mike Regenstreif