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Preserving Country Blues through Education, Performance and Technology

Art Eisinger - That Will Never Happen No More - Guitar Blues and Ragtime from th

November 17, 2011, 06:21:15 PM by Slack
Views: 313 | Comments: 0

Art Eisinger - That Will Never Happen No More - Guitar Blues and Ragtime from the 1920s and 1930s
Written by Andrew Mullins

Art Eisinger - That Will Never Happen No More - Guitar Blues and Ragtime from the 1920s and 1930s, Independent

For the uninitiated, hearing Ari Eisinger the first time can be a shock. The authenticity with which he recreates some of the best and instrumentally complex country blues is downright spooky. It can be fun to watch professionals’ reaction as well. A little jaded by years of experience and road-weariness, they might smirk when this small, thin man who looks more like an accountant than a blues musician walks out on stage with his Gibson guitar. Those faces change quickly when he starts to play. It’s a look that says, “I’ve never heard anyone do that.” And it’s true. There is no one I’ve encountered who plays Blind Blake with such authority and who remains so faithful to the spirit and style of the original music. Hearing the Philadelphia-based guitarist is a rare event though -- he performs infrequently and records even less often, with this, his second CD, coming far too many years after his first release, You Don’t Understand.
As with his first record, there are a number of Blake tunes on this collection, and this time round Eisinger adds the blues of another one of his heroes to the mix, with three tracks from Texas leg...

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Roy Book Binder - LIVE at the Fur Peace Station

November 17, 2011, 06:20:11 PM by Slack
Views: 238 | Comments: 0

Roy Book Binder - LIVE at the Fur Peace Station
Written by Andrew Mullins

Roy Book Binder - LIVE at the Fur Peace Station, PL CD 7005-5

Roy Book Binder has been on the road and playing country blues for audiences since the blues revival of the 60s, when he was a student of Rev. Gary Davis. With all of that traveling and performing, he's had a lot of time to perfect his stage routine. Listeners to Live at Fur Peace Station, his latest release, are the beneficiaries of this long experience and polish. Recorded in performances from 2002 to 2004 at the concert hall of Jorma Kaukonen's Fur Peace Ranch, Book Binder is in fine form, playing his brand of raggy, east coast country blues and deadpanning his way hilariously through the stories and one-liners for which he's become well-known. "The Book" is a modern country blues character if ever there was one, and for those not yet familiar with his style, this record is probably as good an introduction as you can get, short of catching him live.

Book Binder's last live album was the 1994 Rounder release, Don't Start Me Talkin'. That's a good record, but this one is even better, with a more interesting set of songs, in my opinion -- and Book Binder seems very much at home at the Fur Peace Ranch. There are actually a few echoes of the earlier CD in the stage repartee here, working essentially as in-jokes...

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Love, Murder and Mosquitos - Red House

November 17, 2011, 06:19:11 PM by Slack
Views: 137 | Comments: 0

Love, Murder and Mosquitos - Red House
Written by Andrew Mullins

Love, Murder and Mosquitos - Red House RHR CD 172

It's hard to believe it's been five years since Paul Geremia's last record, The Devil's Music. That's too long for a musician of this calibre to go without a release. Finally we have Love, Murder and Mosquitos.

There's quite a bit of 12-string guitar on this album, with a good eight tracks - almost half the CD - played on that great-sounding twelve he restored. The record is probably more strictly country blues than his previous release - no Ray Charles or Percy Mayfield - although aside from John Hurt's 'Frankie' and Patton's 'Pony Blues' there aren't many songs from the country blues Top 40 (which is just fine with me). Even 'Frankie' is given a rather unusual treatment on 12-string, and 'Pony Blues' features Martin Grosswendt on fiddle to distinguish it from the usual take on this Patton classic, while at the same time recalling Patton's work with Henry Sims.

Participants from the Port Townsend Workshop when Geremia was in attendance a couple years back may remember his take on some of the tunes that appear here. Pink Anderson showed him 'Meet Me in the Bottom,' which opens the record, played on 12-string, and which Paul played at Port Townsend in the 12-string concert he did with Ernie Hawkins. Blind Blak...

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Craig Ventresco Plays the Guitar

January 27, 2010, 04:45:52 PM by bluesmikedk
Views: 1760 | Comments: 6

Craig Ventresco Plays the Guitar

Craig Ventresco Plays the Guitar - Independent

Craig Ventresco Plays the Guitar is the latest CD by, you guessed it, Craig Ventresco. Craig is a San Francisco-based guitarist who came to real prominence when he was lifted off the street corner by filmmaker Terry Zwigoff to record the soundtrack for the film "Crumb." He is known for his encyclopedic knowledge of late 19th and early 20th Century rags, pop and vaudeville tunes, jazz and blues. He manages to rediscover long lost music from old 78s, piano rolls, cylinders and manuscripts. I think most Weenies are familiar with Craig's unique style of playing with a flatpick and ring finger, so I won't go into that. There are a fair number of Craig's videos on YouTube where you can experience his amazing playing.

As one would expect, the songs on this CD are an eclectic collection, many, if not most, were new to me. After some digging on the internet, I found a bit of the history behind some of these tunes. Where Craig got them is anybody's guess. Here’s a brief sample of what's on the CD:

"The Blues Have Got Me", by Roy Turk and Abner Silver, was first recorded in 1924. I found a brief clip of Warner’s Seven Aces doing it for an album called Jazz From Atlanta, 1923-1929.

"Take 'Em To The Door" is a tune written by Henderson-Rose-Davis, perfor...

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Fetch It! - Steve Cheseborough

May 13, 2009, 07:20:15 PM by uncle bud
Views: 1153 | Comments: 1

Fetch It! - Steve Cheseborough
Written by Andrew Mullins

Fetch It! - Steve Cheseborough
Independent

Portland-based musician and author Steve Cheseborough has put together a strong set of country blues for his latest CD, Fetch It!, which was released in January. The author of the guidebook Blues Traveling: the Holy Sites of Delta Blues, Cheseborough is a part-time blues historian, but never comes across sounding like one on this CD. He takes a laid back approach to the music that is very appealing - it's always a pleasure for the listener when the performer sounds so relaxed and sure of their material. Just sit back and enjoy.

The record opens with "Hear Me Talking to You", an arrangement of a Ma Rainey song with a beautiful melody that provides the title for the CD in its lyric, "you got to fetch it with you when you come." The pace sets the tone for much of the rest of the disc. Cheseborough adapts the song - originally played by a jug band - for solo guitar in Vestapol tuning to great success. His arranging talents are in evidence throughout the record, but particularly on Little Brother Montgomery's "Vicksburg Blues", a slow blues that transfers surprisingly effectively from piano to guitar, and the wonderful Georgia Tom Dorsey song "Been Mistreated", which sounds a little like it's gone through a Bo Carter machine.

Cheseborou...

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