Bentley’s Bandstand: November 2023
By Bill Bentley
Luther Dickinson, Magic Music for Family Folk. It’s widely known in modern music circles, especially the crowd that zeroes in on the roots persuasion of the music, that Luther Dickinson is a High Priest of so many styles in that crowd. Being the son of Memphis maven Jim Dickinson it probably had to be that way, but the way the son has branched out in so many directions as the master of all is a stunning delight. For Dickinson’s latest exploration he moves into songs that children of all ages can massively dig, and does it in a way that feels perfect for a break from the madness of modern life. The players on the album include both mother Mary Lindsay and brother Cody of the Dickinson strain, along with all kinds of Southern wonders. Naturally, the songs also reflect the rootsy vision that pushes the album into the ultra zone, including originals by Homer Banks, the Meters, Mississippi John Hurt, John Lee Hooker and Luther Dickinson’s album-ender “Whatever River.’ There are moments when the sound takes on a majestic glow of goodness that lets listeners feel just how amazing an effect sounds like this can project, bringing closeness to all within eartshot. There really hasn’t been an album like this before, or if there has it’s been hiding in some far-off corner of America. With all that has been accomplished here, the feeling of sunshine taking over America again is an irresistible thought, as humans with an ache in their heart for the sounds of our country come together to play and sing. There is indeed magic in this music. Feel and heal.
Robert Finley, Black Bayou. When the bayou speaks, blues lovers listen. There’s something about those places where the water gets beyond murky, the alligators cruise where only their prying eyes are above the water and anyone foolish enough to try to share that space is likely to end up as supper. Bayous are not places to fool around, and Robert Finley is a serious musician who does not fool around. His voice sounds like he gargles with rot gut whiskey and swamp water. His band, which includes the Black Keys and other fellow travelers, doesn’t waste time on superfluous notes or fancy beats, and never sounds like anything but reality. The kind that shines harder on the have-nots and doesn’t flinch when things go from bad to worse. In some ways it’s a sound that’s a little bit beyond the blues, because the syncopations can be back-twisting and the lyrics make bleak look better. It really is a time when true blues isn’t just guitars jacked up to stun, or showoff stars who strut better than they sing. Robert Finley does not fool around like that. He landed up where he did because there was no way he could have done any different. His predecessors like Guitar Gable, Lazy Lester, Lightnin’ Slim and others paved the way for a modern swamp rat who definitely got struck down bayou lightnin’. For those on the hunt for an artist still above ground who carries the weight of the people who invented this kind of music, Robert Finley might just be their man. He travels a gravel road and does not ask for favors. And employs both his daughter and granddaughter on backing vocals, so it’s obvious Finley’s got his heart in the right place. Open for business.
Sue Foley, Live in Austin Vol. 1. When it’s time to get past the computer Yuppies and Tesla troopers in modern day Austin, there is no better destination than the Continental Club on South Congress. Once home of the 6-9 a.m. happy hour and blues guitar terrorist Bill Campbell’s band The Bizarros every Friday night, the Continental has come a long way its near 50 years as a music mecca, but in a lot of ways it’s still the same. The music has to cut it with a discerning crowd, and the alley behind the club is still packed on weekends, just like the inside of the club. That’s the way the hot spot rolls. Throw in blues ace Sue Foley on any given night and the temperature is sure to rise to 100 degrees inside, no matter what the weather is outdoors. Foley has a way of throwing sonic cherrybombs into the audience with her guitaristics, and now that she’s released LIVE IN AUSTIN, VOL 1, recorded of course at the Continental, lucky out-of-towners can hear what all the groove is about. This is one person who does not waste time in getting down to the real nitty gritty on the bandstand, playing in all kinds of sonic positions that are never anything less than fearless. Consider that one of the songs on this torrid disc is Howlin’ Wolf’s “Howlin’ for My Darln’,” which isn’t a song for blues beginners, and Sue Foley’s cred becomes concrete. Add to that already rolling excitement the addition of Austin guitar king Derek O’Brien to share the string-bending and the night becomes a classic Austin evening when the blues is calling the shots in the city and tomorrow is a vague concept for those with daytime jobs. This night at the Continental is one for the ages, powered by the woman with the unbeatable electric guitar who has won a backseat full of awards and a worldwide rep as a bluesmaster, but most importantly she knows how to light the fuse for a club audience to blow up. Tough as nails.
Jon Dee Graham, Only Dead For a Little While. Every music city has a handful of true blue characters who really represent what that populace is all about. New York had Lou Reed, Los Angeles had Jim Morrison, San Francisco had Jerry Garcia and Austin still has Jon Dee Graham. He’s the last man standing in that little quartet of giants, having dodged the final door of death which welcomed the first three icons. But Graham’s good luck wasn’t really a matter of determination. Rather, it’s likely more due to luck, considering his earliest years in River City were as a co-founding member of one of the city’s earliest punk groups, The Skunks, and then it was on to the True Believers and beyond starting in the 1980s. What is so intriguing about ONLY DEAD FOR A LITTLE WHILE is how unflinching Jon Dee Graham is with his 2019 death experience. He was done, he says, and there was no doubt about it. But coming back from the other side and now releasing such a stone cold realization about dying is that he’s astoundingly soulful about it all. It’s way beyond just getting some incredible new songs from reaching the end. Instead, it’s all about the beautiful and wondrous feelings he brought back to life with him. There is an undeniable understanding that just dying isn’t really the end. Instead, it’s the living again as the puzzle to complete. Songs like “Where It All Went Wrong,” “See You By the Fire” and “Astronaut” are cosmological hints of what there was and what there could still be. It’s not that Jon Dee Graham is over-appreciative of his time out of his body. Instead, he’s realistic that not being alive is a chance at eternity if it includes coming back to life. That’s the hat trick of it all, and this is one man who pulled out more than a rabbit. He pulled out a handful of lifetime songs that really live for ever as long as there are human beings on the planet to hear them. And if that is to end, and there’s always a chance it will, then maybe a world that is all AI will latch on to something like “Lost in the Flood” to prove that real beating hearts once existed, and human intelligence had the cajones to invent a substitute. Hook ’em horns.
Our Man in the Field, Gold on the Horizon. There is a definite field of mystery that swirls around Our Man in the Field, starting with exactly what field the musician is swirling in. It turns out the man in question is the psuedonym of British singer/songwriter Alex Wilson, and his new collection, GOLD ON THE HORIZON is a breathtaking jump into the unknown. It is such a joyous walk into the present that it feels nothing short of momentous, like there are healing powers within these songs that really could make sense of modernity. Or maybe not, but Our Man in the Field is going to do his best and try his hardest to offer solace in all the places that confound humanity now. The level of sensitivity laced into the music and the lyrics of Alex Wilson are nothing short of wondrous. Really. Modern music is the history of songs that carry the ability to stop listeners in their tracks and offer a new path of understanding. Albums like this come along every decade or so and really do offer stepping stones to sanity. Even better, songs like “Come Back to Me,” “L’Etranger,” “Glad to See You” and “Long Forgotten” present themselves as private anthems for those searching for something to believe in. Ellis’ voice carries a sense of timelessness to it, and it melds with his lyrics like a man finding a vision in the nick of time. And like so much of heart-healing songs like these, its power is offered immediately. One listen and the sky changes into one of invitation, and any dark clouds are moved into the next horizon. There are never enough achievements like this to bring hope to the front of the line, but when they do arrive the songs move into that place with prayer possibilities. If there is one album released in 2023, this is the one with a circle around it that delivers the truest chance of timelessness. The quiet backgrounds, the haunting vocals, and most of all the songs themselves will not be forgotten. Hope has arrived.
Joe Medwick, All My Friends. Mister Medwick is a Southern-bound soul man by way of northern New York state. Which might as well be in the South considering the number of barrooms there. Medwick has blown around the country–from coast to coast–with enough smarts to have picked up all kinds of musical insights and mojo savvy. He sings like he’s seen the light and dark sides of the street, and plays like it’s a capital offense to muck up the beat with more than necessary whacks on his thick tuned-down snare. This is a no foolin’ soul man who might be a few decades late to have been in the first brigade that kicked down America’s musical doors in the 1960s, but Medwick does not let that stop him for one minute when it comes to laying it out on the line. He’ll usually throw in a Dan Penn co-write that he can’t resist from recording, and give a musical nod to John Hiatt and NRBQ’s Terry Adams because Medwick knows where the good stuff grows. ALL MY FRIENDS is literally that: musicians that hang with their bandleader and are more than happy to return the favor when he calls them in to cut records. A decidedly low-down hi-fi sound keeps everything on the natch, and aren’tt the kind of sonics that can be faked. Any man who calls his song publishing company Monkey Butt Music clearly has his heart in the right place: in the middle of his big-ass soul. There’s a real chance there might not be many more Joe Medwicks to cruise this world, so if hearing is believing and it feels like time for some boogaloo and shingaling to fill the dance floor, ALL MY FRIENDS is the perfect place to go. Monkey nerve music.
Joshua Redman, Where Are We featuring Gabrielle Cavassa. Sometimes it is a wondrous thing when an artist changes the musical channel on themselves and opens the door to take a new direction. Joshua Redman has been one of the most innovative and exciting jazz players in the past 30 years, and there is always a strong tingle of something new in his playing. On WHERE ARE WE, he has taken some big steps in a breathtaking new direction, almost like he’s found a new way of sharing his sounds with the world. There is no denying he has found the way there. As he writes on the liner notes: “Let us go. Adventure awaits. We strike our path. We’ll find our place.” And don’t forget. This is someone not to take lightly when it comes to their music. Parents Dewey Redan and Renee Shedroff opened up a world of inspiration when the young child was growing up in Berkeley, being exposed to all kinds of music and other arts. And Joshua Redman never looked back. Once he took the big ride as a jazz player the young man quickly rose to the top of the list of players, always looking for new ways to grow and express himself. It has been a continuing walk of discovery as his abilities and ideas have grown. That’s why it’s fitting that three decades from his first year of recording Joshua Redman has found yet another way to share his feelings and ideas. These are songs that are hinting at another world beyond this one, taking on music from another era like “Chicago Blues,” “Streets of Philadelphia,” “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” and “Alabama” and create a whole new way to express the songs in 2023. Vocalist Gabrielle Cavassa is a big part of this recreation, and allows Redman and his band to extend themselves into places they haven’t been in a recording studio. It really does feel like a whole new day when the album begins with “After Minneapolis (face toward mo(u)rning).” The title itself is a tip that something new is different is happening on these songs. Which is exactly what occurs on the next dozen tracks. Joshua Redman has reached for the sky and pulled down a stunning sound of music from the spheres. Go with him.
Marcel Smith, From My Soul. Real soul music, the kind that can crawl inside the heart and turn the heat up for the person listening, isn’t always easy to find now. There are a lot of artists who shoot for that bullseye, but don’t always hit it. Which is what makes Marcel Smith’s new album such a skin-crawling delight. This is a man who isn’t in any way a show-off. Instead, he drills into a song and makes sure the way he delivers it is built on a warm-hearted sound of humanity. He can mix up rhythm & blues with deep-seated soul like it’s all one and the same. There is no chance for any over-promised flourishes or not-so-subtle moves to get in the way Marcel Smith delivers a song. There are so many knock-outs on FROM MY SOUL that it is sometimes hard to believe the year is 2023 and someone is so deep in the pocket of greatness. The early years of gospel singing greats is where Smith really went to school in learning how to sing, and how he mixes it up with later soul overtones is a gift from an artist who knows what he wants. It’s almost like Sam Cooke is standing on the side of the studio and steering Marcel Smith to the promised land. Producer and guitarist Kid Andersen is the perfect choice for someone to lead the brigade of players in the studio, and help Marcel Smith stay true to what he loves the most. Mixing original songs with classics by Little Richard, Jimmy Liggins and, yes, Willie Nelson, Marcel Smith has created the perfect set list and album for all the world’s most committed soul marshalls to take into the music battlefield to show how this music will always be a winner. This is truly timeless reverberations from an American apex, and one that has no signs of slowing down or disappearing as long as there is a Marcel Smith there to continue the journey to the top of a mountain of soul. Now and forever.
Various Artists: The Count Basie Orchestra Swings the Blues. “And now ladies and gentlemen it is startime. Are you ready for startime?” Those were the opening words for James Brown’s first LIVE AT THE APOLLO album in 1963, and now with the Count Basie band ready to back artists like George Benson, Shemekia Copeland, Robert Cray, Buddy Guy, Bettye Lavette, Keb’ Mo’, Charlie Musselwhite, Bobby Rush and more, it is definitely time for a new version of star time. The singers who step in front of the Count Basie Band led by Sonny Barnhart now are a perfect match for musical greatness and uncontested soul. There is a mixture of heaviness and lightness in the air that can’t be mistaken for anything but the real thing. Whether it’s down home delight from Bobby Rush, guitar genius via George Benson, Charlie Musselwhite’s Mississippi realness, Betty Lavette’s no-prison attack or anything else on this incredible collection of singers and players, it’s a time of high preachng from some of the living blues royalty in America. For a music that was born on the plantations and in the juke joints of the South, it sometimes seems like a miracle that it’s become something of worldwide acclaim. But that’s exactly the way the Count Basie Orchestra approaches their front-line friends on these songs. It’s like a mountain of soul has invaded the studio and hijacked the music of the last century and given it back its pedigree. There is no way to be anything but stellar when all these players and singers come together on such an inspired collection. The world may have changed in major ways since the early days of the blues over a century ago, but the more it’s changed in some ways the more it’s stayed the same. Whenever there are people who have their hearts broken, their dreams stolen and their world heading for the wall, the blues will always have a place to call home. They says there is nothing like the real thing, and for that start right here. Douse the lights.
Robert Rex Waller Jr., See the Big Man Cry. There is nothing like a surprise from out of left field to thrill the listener. Roberrt Rex Waller Jr. has been the lead singer of the Los Angeles country rock band I See Hawks in L.A. for years, and one of the city’s strongest songwriters. Teaming now with producer Carla Olson, Waller has moved over to some of the more popular country and pop hits of the past for what might easily be the surprise album of the year. Starting the set with The Walker Brothers’ mega-hit “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore” is a brain-sparked move to really kick off an album like this. Everyone has likely heard the song, but in Waller’s able voice it feels like a brand new song. From there the hit parade continues with chestnuts like “Girl of My Dreams,” “I’ll Never Dance Again,” “Easy Loving,” “Reconsider Me,” “Gypsy Rider” and several more songs that made country music start to take over the world 60 years ago. There is a downhome smoothness to Robert Rex Waller Jr.’s voice that just is impossible to deny. It hits all the places where music really makes a difference in someone’s heart, and stays there long after the music is over. It’s called timelessness, and it’s probably the hardest thing to achieve by any artist. Waller has done that this time around, and with Olson’s ability to make sure the music lives right inside the lyrics it’s like a new star has been born. And adding a surprise detour with Rank & FIle’s groundbreaking “Amanda Ruth” from the very beginning of the so-called cowpunk movement, it’s like the past and the future become one and the same. What a world.
Reissue of the Month
Al Basile B’s Time. Cornet and singer swing king Al Basile has been making some of the best rhythm & blues records for 25 years, and this compilation of some of those recorded highlights plays like the perfect evening of music by one of the country’s musical treasures. Choosing from over 200 recorded songs, Basile picked 17 gems that he feels really shows what he’s been doing with his life all these years. From working with friends like Duke Robillard, Sista Monica Parker, the Blind Boys of Alabama and a bandstand full of other lumanaries over the years, B’s TIME is a travelogue of all the musical highlights of someone who doesn’t know the meaning of the word “rest.” Chosing this set list from 14 previous albums wasn’t always an easy assignment, but Al Basile knew that B’s TIME was a chance to really spotlight the kind of accomplishments that don’t come easy. There are dozens of different musicians from the different releases, and the song breadth is, well, breathtaking. There is something so spontaneously awesome on all these choices thatit feels like a man’s life comes alive right in front of the listener. Because besides being an all-time cornet player, Al Basile is also an arranger and producer of rare talent, able to take the past and mold it with the present to come up with a unique sound. And on some tracks, where he throws in the future possibilities of the music, there are moments of transcendent music that feel like historic futurism, if such a stage exists, and lets the world know what incredible ability has been touring the continent all these years, offering sounds that are all Al Basile’s own. Only the beginning.
Book of the Month
Aaron Neville Tell It Like It Is: My Story.
It doesn’t take but the first chapter to realize that Aaron Neville’s new autobiography rises to the list of the very best books about a musician ever written. It’s like being grabbed in a bearhug by the large Neville, and until the very last word in the book that feeling lasts. One reason is because Neville’s up-and-down story of growing up in New Orleans and edging his way into the music world there is a colorful tale of hardship and near-heroics by just staying alive long enough to succeed. Naturally, there are hard drugs galore to plant landmines in trying to find a way, but even more there is a sense of family love in the different generations that shows how the bareboned belief in the spiritual side of life is something that overcomes all. Because, really, there is no way to explain how Aaron Neville got over all his challenges to even exist, much less have the major success he has. But the New Orleans legend lays it all out in derlirious detail, offering a conclusion that a higher power is the only explanation that makes any sense. His solo career was a slow-burner at the start, but once he and his three brothers banded together the future started to brighten, Still, there were still major personal and business hurdles to climb, and like musical spelunkers The Neville Brothers made it through. Best of all, really, is that Aaron Neville’s telling of these terrific tales feels like he’s sitting right next to the reader and delivering the heart-beating tale in person. Add to that the second biggest character in this head-spinning tome is the city of New Orleans itself, a place once dubbed the City That Care Forgot. Very few music autobiographies are as powerful as TELL IT LIKE IT IS. Reality has won out in relaying what happened in the history of one of America’s most moving singers, and someone who never quite quit believing in himself and his family. Yeah you right.
Song of the Month
Loey Norquist
“Service Entrance”
There are times when one song takes over the inner airwaves. Maybe it’s because the rhythm feels like a track for life at the moment, or it could be that the melody supplies a circular soundtrack for the way the world feels. Loey Norquist’s new song “Service Entrance” does both simultaneously. Which makes it not just the Song of the Month, but a wonderful harbinger of a solo album to come in 2024. Hoping for what’s ahead surely is a cornerstone for the future. And Norquist’s sound of undeniable positivity is that soundtrack for this season. The group Mood Indigo that Norquist is an integral member of released a jackpot collection of songs titled VERDANGO in 2023, and she is now no doubt cooking up the medicine in the basement for another clincher in ’24. Loey Nelson lives.
Bentley’s Bandstand: November 2023