Nightflying: The Entertainment Guide

I bring it. I brang it. I brung it.
- D. Treadway

I have to admit that much of the time I do not have the slightest idea what I am doing (but I never let it stop me from doing it).
Some gospel greats have passed recently: David Winans, Ethel Halloway, and Timothy Wright all were highly regarded singers in their field. Bea Arthur also passed away recently. She was best known as Maude on TV, but she was a Tony-award-winning singer and actress on the Broadway stage before that iconic sitcom stint.
Lesser known perhaps, but just as deserving of mention, is the recently deceased principal trombonist for the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra. Stephen Witser had a heart attack at 48. He was a native of Oakland, California and an award-winning musician.
Randy Cain, a founder of the Philadelphia singing group Delfonics died recently at 63 and the jazz saxophonist / flutist Bud Shank also played his final note. He was one of the guys who introduced us to the samba sound and was in the studio recording a new album the day before he died at 82.
The Voice has also been stilled. Vern Gosdin, who was, according to no less an authority than Tammy Wynette, second only to George Jones, ended his decades-long career at 74. You know, come to think of it, we reviewed an album of his in these pages just a few years ago. His was indeed a hell of a voice.
Marl Young has passed at 92. He was a pianist and composer who was the first black music director of a major TV network show (for Lucille Ball) and more importantly, was instrumental in the joining of the all-white and all-black musician unions way back in the early 1950s, seriously changing the tenor of the times for everyone.
On another plane, I want to mention the Blue Canoe. You can go to BlueCanoeRecords.com and hear some very nice jazz music.
I reckon the main difference between me and everybody else is that I recognize the fact that I am crazy. Well, maybe not everybody else. Ed knows I am crazy. I am just a bit too scattered, you know?
My pen is full of ink, but the nib is dull. My computer is up and running, but the screen saver is on, if you get my drift. It could be that my memories go back to the day when booted up referred to the way the drill sergeant motivated me.
It also might be simply that I have no cell phone, iPod or BlackBerry, nor do I tweet, I let the local birds do that. I am out of touch with the modern world in other words. I am an anachronism, a dinosaur, though I still roar.

PLAY WHAT I FEEL LIKE
Ryan Couron
Indie
---Sondra Goode
Now comes Ryan Couron with his debut CD, Play What I Feel Like.
The record is an excellent showcase set of both his original songs and tremendous musicianship. The thirteen tunes on this disc reflect a variety of influences, from the driving punch of Hank Jr. to downright swamp-rock, from sweet ballads to romping honky-tonk stomp-boogie, but all in all the style feels uniquely his own. Much of the recording's success can be attributed to the fine group of players he's assembled here: Tim Crouch turns in some very fine guitar, fiddle, mandolin and banjo work; Doug Deforest does both electric and acoustic bass as well as vocal harmonies; Robby Springfield provides electric and steel guitar and dobro; R.P. Harrell deftly handles piano and Hammond B3; Mike Kennedy lays it down on the percussion; and Van Abbott sits in on various keyboards throughout. The disc was both recorded and manufactured at Raney Recording Studio.
For booking purposes, contact DC Management at (501)837-3611, and for further information go to www.couroncountry.com.

DOPERS, DRUNKS, AND EVERYDAY LOSERS
Commander Cody
Blind Pig
Commander Cody has not lost a step. He still has the wry wit and the out front in your face persona and he can still rock like crazy. As usual, he covers the spectrum too, you know, like a little bit of country and a jazzy lick here and there and just a hell of a lot of burn that piano to the ground rock. Yeah, that may not be the whole spectrum in your world, but it pretty much covers mine. I like the primary colors. And also as usual, he has gathered a great group of musicians to play along with him here, but what else would you expect from a Blind Pig recording?

GRIZZLE N BONE
Tas Cru
Crustee Tees
Uh, is that not gristle? Ah, why cavil over a little spelling when you get music like this. It came out of New York (recorded at NCPR Studios, Canton, and mastered at Silvertone in Saratoga Springs) but sounds as it might have been recorded right here in our own Altered State. I love the album cover, which is a take on a classic print of a batch of poker-playing dogs, down-home style. Sounds like something you might hear in any one of a hundred roadhouses right around here. Sounds good, in other words, hot and tasty as good barbeque, familiar and comfortable as a pair of old boots.

ELECTRIC REVIVAL
Zach Williams And The Reformation
Indie
This Memphis product, recorded at Young Avenue Sound, is sorta kinda what you might get if you had Bruce Springsteen and Bob Seger jamming with the Allman Brothers. I am not saying these guys are ready to step into that class, but they are definitely good and they have their own sound (all ten songs are originals) and they combine a gritty urban realism with that sweet Southern sensibility. I expect we will be hearing a lot more from them.

WAY UP ON A MOUNTAIN
Spring Creek
Rebel
Yeah! These young folks just flat pick now. I expect that the popularity of a recent George Clooney movie has led to a renewed interest in this music, but it does not matter why. What matters is that we are getting to hear more of it over the past few years, and that makes me feel real good. This is what you hear at Mountain View or at any of a mess of bluegrass get-togethers around the country and this particular piece is some of the best I have heard. It sounds authentic and is very well done. If this does not make you want to get up and kick your heels, well, Jack, you dead. It is a bit weird that the mountain they are talking about is in Colorado, rather than the Ozarks or Appalachia, but what the heck, I go for great playing regardless. Chris Elliott (banjo), Jessica Smith (upright bass), Taylor Sims (guitar), and Alex Johnstone (mandolin) play their own compositions and a couple covers (including one I associate with the Everly Brothers). They harmonize nicely and also get some fine fiddle help from Michael Cleveland.

RAIN OR SHINE
Joe Price
Blues Acres
While he may not be the best singer I ever heard, Joe Price is certainly a fine picker. He can play the hell out of the various guitars he employs here (National ResoRocket, Greg Bennet Avion Samick, and a 1958 Stella 12-string). Vicki Price joins in on National Radio-Tone and ResoLectric for a few tracks … oh, and one vocal. Keni Ewing adds drums; Al Naylor plays trumpet (but they are only on one cut). The songs (mostly instrumentals) are all Joe Price originals and they are no less than the real deal. This is absolutely a great album (and nationwide, as the various tracks were recorded in Iowa, Minnesota, and Tennessee). Undoubtedly a special one for all you guitar freaks out there. So I advise you to contact Joe Price at Blues Acres, 1957 Doehler Drive, Lansing, Iowa 52151.

MORE LIKE ME
Webb Wilder
Blind Pig
Webb Wilder still rocks, which is good news (and looking at the skull on the cover, one might get the idea that he has taken a turn for the morbid), but this album has more laid-back songs than hard rockers and that happens to be more good news, as he has always been a thoughtful entertainer, not to mention a thought-provoking one. There is a photo on the back cover of Wilder with a portrait of Elvis looming over his shoulder, but if there were some singer he put me in mind of while I was listening to this CD, it would more likely be Roy Orbison. He, Wilder that is, wrote half the songs on the album and they are all up to his usual standard. He gets able help from a great group of musicians here, but I must mention fellow producer and multi-instrumentalist Joe V. McMahan. Good job, guys.

ANY BETTER TIME
Christine Santelli
VizzTone / SwingNation
I cannot quite put my finger on it, but she reminds me of somebody. I grow senile. Or maybe I was always this way and I have just begun to realize it. Anyway, Christine Santelli writes sharp songs, plays guitar, and sings in a somewhat soft but deep voice. Oh yeah, she reminds me of Edith Piaf, not that she sings in French, but that she has a level of, I guess one might call it experience, in her voice. OK now that I say that, she comes back with a bit more force, but still does not shout or scream. She is good and she obviously has the confidence to just lay her heart and soul out there for us to marvel at. Pain? Yes, there will always be some hurt in life, but it is bearable. On the plus side, there is hope and joy. Then she wraps with a hoedown. What a kick!

SOUL SOLUTION
Lubriphonic
Lubricated
Lubricious would work too; they are that slick. This is a big band: guitar (Giles Corey); drums (Rick King); bass (Joewuan Scott); trombone (Johnny Cotton); trumpet (Ron Haynes); saxophone (Michael Turner). Plus they have a few guest artists on some cuts. But the basic band is plenty enough. They not only display the soul, they rock, and they do a blues number that is as heart-wrenching as you ever heard and yet it is not the old standard twelve-bar blues, a whole new take on that scheme. I want to hear a lot more from these guys, because let me tell you, this album is so good that I have been listening to it at home and in the truck and well, it definitely goes into my permanent collection. Giles Corey wrote the songs and does the vocals on this Chicago, Illinois product recorded at Pragma Studios (except for two live tracks done at aliveOne, also in the Windy City), mixed and mastered at JoyRide Studio. This album is dedicated to saxophonist Joewesley Boston, who was obviously a Cubs fan, and even though I am a lifetime Cardinals fan, I admire baseball fanship wherever it falls. I hope he sends us his next one. Come on, Corey, get back in that kitchen and cook us up some more big ideas.

QUEEN FAREENA
Kelly Carmichael
Dogstreet
Well, this is exactly what it appears to be, i. e. a recording of music you would expect to hear on a riverboat steamer, and it is done with panache and gusto, so if you like that old-timey music, you will definitely dig this. They got the banjo (Kelly) and the fiddle (Alexander Mitchell), bass (Lawless Campbell) and the drums (Jean-Paul Gaster), trumpet (Scott Rich) and trombone (John McVey), and even an accordion (Brian Simms), so there is a hint of Acadian influence. Yes, this dog is salty. Get on board and take it down to New Orleans.

SPLIT DECISION
Roy Rogers
Blind Pig
Just in case you were wondering, no, this is not the happy-trails singing cowboy, but he does sing and plays some wicked guitar. If you like slide, you are going to enjoy Roy.

STRETCH OF ROAD
The Jessica Horn Band
Indie
She and her band can kick out the jams, but Jessica Horn is best at a sweet, sad country ballad. She wrote all the songs on this album, which was recorded at Digiplus Studios in Mission, Kansas.

DEMO
Lack Of Drama
Indie
Snap, crackle, pop, at times sounding very much like Monkees on Ritalin, and then going for some shred, this is an interesting little demo. Look for them on MySpace.

SONGS DEMO
Alan Holmes
Indie
Holmes seems to be going for a Jimmy Buffett vibe and he does a fairly impressive job of it. He also is on myspace. I like whiskey in my coffee, too, Alan.

P.S. – I recently found out that another old friend has died, Darion 'Pappy' Grable, the long-time proprietor of Long Branch Saloon. Pappy ran the Longbranch, a place where I shot many a game of pool, drank many a cold beer, and even played guitar and sang some songs. Bye, Pappy, a lot of folks are going to miss you.

View previous News of Record.

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