Lena Horne has joined the Heavenly Chorus, which will be all the better for it. She was 92 and still a beautiful woman and a class act. She could no longer hit all the notes she used to, but she was still class all the way. Over the years people have compared her to Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball, because she was the first person of color to sign a contract with a major studio (MGM) on her own terms and to have a say in her roles.
        Lena Horne was not only a beauty and a great singer, but also a tireless fighter for civil rights. If you are not familiar with her music, check it out, you can find it if you look. If you are a fan of this remarkable lady, then I am quite sure you mourn for her as I do.
        Ali-Ollie Woodson also passed recently, at 58. He was the guy who stepped into the lead role for the rejuvenation of The Temptations and brought them back to the forefront of the Motown sound.
        Another giant, Jimmy Dean, has gone to meet his maker. Jimmy Dean was an Air Force veteran who crafted a career in music as a singer / songwriter and then went on to success with a television show, which featured one of the Muppets as his piano player, and then created a dynastic sausage-making company. He was 81.
        Christine Johnson Smith has passed away at the age of 98. She was the original Nettie in the Broadway debut of Rogers and Hammerstein’s “Carousel.” She also sang with the Metropolitan Opera.
        And Garry Shider has gone on at 56 after a battle with brain and lung cancer. He was a guitarist with Parliament Funkadelic, known as Starchild.
        I wish I had the kind of money those people out there in charity land seem to think I have, I swear I get a letter a day asking me to contribute to this or that charitable / good works organization. I believe in sharing, but this is ridiculous, and just last night a pretty young lady came to my front door and asked me to give her my credit card number so they could charge me just twenty bucks a month to support the victims of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
        I know some of those folks who make their living out of those waters and they are in dire straits right now, but I was not born yesterday and I would no sooner give out my credit card number to a stranger at my door than I would try to fly off a cliff by flapping my arms.
        As I said, I believe in sharing, and though I am not a wealthy man by any means, I generously support the local food bank, which I personally know to be doing a good job of getting food to people in need.
    I used to ride in the toy runs (I always brought books rather than the stuffed animals preferred by most bikers), but now that I no longer ride (and if you ever saw the traffic in Baton Rouge, you would not wonder why I sold my motorcycle after moving here) I just send them a check every year.
        Toys for Tots is run by the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve and has been doing a fantastic job of delivering gifts to kids who otherwise would not get anything for Christmas. I applaud their efforts to bring a bit of delight to the most vulnerable among us.  
        So anyway, my point is that one should be as charitable as possible, but also be wary and make sure that charitable donation is going to the right place.     

A GOOD FIGHT
A Good Fight
Indie
        A Good Fight is a good band. They rock out and yet even I can understand their words, or most of them anyway. And they refuse to do that thing of repeating a hook until you wish it would just go away. The music is exuberant, but not so fast and hard that it goes beyond the ability of the best dancers to keep up with it, while avoiding the trite rhythms of most pop music designed for dancing. The album was recorded at Poynter’s Place and Pure Sound Studios and produced by Barry Poynter, who consistently delivers great sound quality. One song, with a decidedly au courant chorus, is dedicated to the memory of Nichole Sparks. Another apparently to one Adam Brown. They have a MySpace site should you wish to check in on the band (agoodfight in case you were unable to figure that out for yourself). They also throw in a bonus track that sounds suspiciously rappish, featuring Colin Hardaway, and reminds me of a song from that crazy movie about Doctor Frank N. Furter. I cannot recall the title, probably because I saw it somewhere between thirty and forty years ago. I have a hard time remembering the movie I saw last night. At least I think I watched a movie last night; I might have been dreaming.

AMBITION
Zach Walther And The Cronkites
Sustain / Universal
        This was recorded in Austin, Texas at the Aries Studio, with some additional recording done at Chris Lieck Studios in San Antonio, which last time I was there was also in Texas. It is country for the most part, but country as they do in the Lone Star State these days, which is quite different from what you get out of Nashville. In other words, it avoids the clichés and ventures out into newer territory and it rocks a little harder. Walther wrote almost all of the songs and for the most part they are quite good. Best thing to me is that one can actually understand the lyrics and they tell little stories, you know? Like real songs used to do. He is backed by Luke Leverett on an amazing variety of instruments, Steven Boykin on bass, and Chris Compton on percussion. They also get some help from Mark Addison, Jess Klein, Gerald Boyd, and Glenn Shankle (Addison co-wrote one of the songs and one of the better ones at that; has a great line: “When I say red I think of roses / You say red it’s bloody noses”). I wish I had written that. Go to greg@aueonline.com or jimmy@823management.com for more.

NOT BROKEN YET
Travis Singleton
Indie
        Bent but not broken, which is the condition most of us find ourselves in, seems to be the main theme here. Life experience makes you smarter, tougher, more resilient if, that is, you pay attention to the lessons it is teaching you. I just wish this young man, who recorded his album at Shed 58 Studios in Knoxville, Tennessee (which last time I was over there was the location of the University of Tennessee) had printed his lyrics in the liner notes, because as I slip into my dotage, my hearing is slipping away from me and I cannot understand everything he emotes in his tunes, backed up ably by Dave Dewitt on drums, Rocky Norman on electric guitar, and Tyler Huff on bass guitar. Travis plays an acoustic guitar, my instrument of choice (besides the duck call, of course).

SWEET SORROW
Petal Shelf
Indie
        Funny thing: the title of the album is also the title of a poem I wrote after my mother died. Well, maybe not funny, but interesting, to me anyway. Sorry if I inflicted my own perplexities on anyone. This is some raucous racket, but it is a musical racket at least. Ty Beach (vocals), Brandon Snider (guitars), Brian Welch (bass), Aaron Hampton (guitars), and Josh Copeland (drums) crank out only four tunes, all originals, on this disc, but they do it exuberantly and with a modicum of style and panache. Recorded at Young Avenue Sound (and I have no idea where that might be, but probably somewhere within the borders of the United States of America).

LOVE YOU TO DEATH
Bombay Black
2010 Triage
        They rock hard and they rock well. Erik Johnson, guitars and keys, Ty Sims, bass, Devil Jim Perry, guitars, and Rob McCauley, drums, share vocal duties as they combine to rock the house. A lagniappe is that they recorded this in Little Rock at The Mental Ward and at The Recovery Room in Conway; how cool is that? We always knew that rockers were mental cases, but now we know they can recover. Hallelujah! Erik wrote (or co-wrote) all the songs and also takes credit for the cover concept, which was photographed by Kevin Sims (kevinsimsphoto.com). For more on the band, you can go to www.myspace.com/bombayblack or their record label at www.triagemusicfirm.com.

FOCAL POINT
Paul Cusick
Q Rock
        Looky here, one from across the big pond, recorded at Q’s Studio in York, England. It is at times a bit moody for me, but is also at times quite brilliant. Cusick wrote all the songs and plays guitars, including bass, and keyboards, as well as sings. Alex Cromarty is his drummer and he also gets help from a variety of people on tracks here and there, including Jessica Cusick, Thomas Cusick, and Rosie Cusick. Might be a family effort. Interesting sidebar: one of the liner notes mentions that the drums were recorded at Fairview Studio, Hull. I have no idea how far Hull is from York, but I do wonder if all those drum dude jokes Ed has been cracking in these pages may be based on fact.

NO MORE PROMISES
Jimmy Warren Band
Electro Glide
        Jimmy Warren reminds me of Mike Dollins: both have been around and played awhile; both can play the hell out of their guitars, with what I think of as a West Coast flavor; both have an obvious reverence for the blues, but like to jazz it up and rock it a bit (all good in my opinion). The album was recorded at Electro Glide Records Studio in Beecher, Illinois. Warren has a laid-back singing style, but he can flat swing his axe. His band is composed of rhythm guitarist John Digregorio, bassist Mike Boyle, and drummer Charles Price. They too have a My Space page and a website; look for jimmywarrenband.

DOWN ON THE OLD RIVER
Henry Capps
Indie
        This one did come from California (Capps and Bolt Publishing, P.O. Box 3164, Glendale CA 91221), but sounds more like it came from down here by the bayou. The music is country-tinged folk and Capps sings his tales with a sort of sleepy baritone reminiscent of Waylon or Willie or Johnny or maybe Jed Clampit (especially when he ends the disc with thanks to his listeners and the people who helped put it together and then does a little ditty about a bullfrog and a mockingbird, that is so very Jed. He is a poet who spins yarns in melody, accompanying himself on both acoustic and electric guitar. Capps gets some very tasteful backing from Sejo Navajas on slide guitar and bass on these beautiful original songs.

SOME ORBITS WILL NEVER DECAY
Greymarket
Indie
        Big Fat Cat is their PR firm (a name I really like). Their music is poppish, with a bit of an edge. The lead singer has a high tenor voice and snaps the lyrics with verve. I seem to remember recently reviewing another album by Greymarket, but for the life of me I cannot find it. I wanted to listen to it again because this one seems different to me and I would like to be able to compare them, but no. No sooner do I write the line about snappy delivery than the singer starts crooning (but he quickly goes back to Mercury, as in Freddy, not the record label or automobile maker). Contact laura@bigfatcat.org for further data.



UNKNOWN SYMBOL I CANNOT DECIPHER
Wettstein / Voris / Norman
100m
        Uh, noise is what I hear, but it might be music to some ears. Go to www.fatesarekind.com to find out for yourself.

RAISING THE BAR
Magic Slim
Blind Pig
        Magic Slim is back with another collection of great blues. Backed ably by Jon McDonald on guitar, Andre Howard on bass, and BJ Jones on drums, he proceeds to romp and roll through a series of mostly old standards, including the more obscure “Cummins Prison Blues.” He also gets vocal play out of all his band mates. It adds up to a sweet soulful rehash of things you may have heard before, but not quite this way. Good stuff.

LIVE AT MUSIC CITY TEXAS
Wes Jeans
?
        Wow! Wes Jeans really rips it up. He also gives accolades to New Jack & The Rippers, whom we reviewed in these pages a couple issues ago. I cannot say that I have heard a more resounding album in years. Jeans is joined by Lance Lopez on vocals and guitar, Syd Hydro on bass, Jack Miller on drums, and on just one cut, Jason Helms, vocalist for New Jack. They just flat tear it up.

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