Blues Corner

Kermit Ruffins (Putumayo presents)
This CD presents Mr Ruffins in fine fettle with a series of N. O. classics such as Ain’t Misbehavin’, On The Sunny Side Of The Street or After You’ve Gone, among others as well as four Kermit originals. As with all music of the diaspora you know that this could have come from nowhere else but the crescent city, such is the natural, soulful swing. Although there is no disrespectful messing with the tradition creative twists and turns abound.

Kermit creates personal commentary with blistering yet totally relaxed trumpet solos, swinging polyphonic interplay with the band or wry vocals on songs that range from street march rhythms, blues, folk, jazz and slightly more modern swing touches.

the bedrock is the blues

When I was younger I remember sometimes spending months on end listening to the blues…I still do…well, not months. Blues is the bedrock music for all English language rock, pop, funk, jazz, hip-hop and country, as well as being, in concert with its offspring a powerful influence on other musics of the African diaspora.

Due to the economic clout of America and the individualistic identity of aspiring Afro-Americans, it is also the most recorded folk-music of all time. It's interesting to conjecture how it might have all turned out if the paranoia of the North American slavers hadn't banned the use of the African drum.

Would there have been the same need to find a creative outlet for the African polyrhythmic and polyphonic sensibility that produced blues and gospel or the expansion to absorb all European instruments and heartily gobble up Western forms to create the wide variety of jazz we hear today? Who knows? We can be thankful that something enduringly great came out of adversity... Richard Jasiutowicz reviews the blues below...

NEW RELEASES

	New Orleans - Various Artists (Putumayo) A captivating celebration of jazz, blues and swing, New Orleans style.


	maceo parker - made by maceo (Inertia) "The first 'funk' that we know and love began when Maceo Parker joined JB's band and the two began performing." What funk fan could forget Maceo's squalling sax lines that so energised such 60's black music anthems as "Cold Sweat" and "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag"? The latest release by Maceo Parker, Made By Maceo was recorded last year when the great saxophonist was 59 years of age, yet there's no sign of slowing down.


	Soul II Soul @ The Africa Centre (Casual Records) Ostensibly a series of dance remixes, this release, on investigation, turns out to be helluva lot more. A crucial and encouraging development in modern dance music in the 80s occurred, not in the US but in the UK under the aegis of Jazzie B, founder of the internationally famous Soul ll Soul. The parties that this collective threw at the Africa Centre in Covent Garden leaned towards creating a warm vibe that wasn’t afraid of polyrhythms, real instruments, honest musical expression or pride in the African traditions of all modern dance music.


	victor bailey - that's right (ESC Records) The breadth of "That's Right" is quite head-spinning. All manner of funk moves, in any key are likely to unfold into Brazilian music, jazz, blues, rock, classical or world music….The first couple of tracks dig the funk mine with a devastating musical virtuosity that only musicians of the aforementioned calibre could accomplish. Indeed the second number is a very hairy rearrangement of two George Clinton classics "Knee Deep" and "One Nation Medley".


	american blues - various (Putumayo) "American Blues" is the second Putumayo collection devoted to the blues. Many of the music's giants are here. Arthur Adams and BB King set the ball rolling with "Get Next to Me", brassy, swinging and full of BB's trademark liquid guitar licks. There are classic cuts such as Otis Rush's hard-bitten Chicago style "I Got The Blues" and Ruth Brown's " Good Day For The Blues" while relative newcomers like Keb Mo swing soulfully in the tradition.


	dennis chambers - outbreak (ESC Records) What has drummer Dennis Chambers got to do with the above lot? Umm! Let's see! He's very funky, OK? Guitarist on the session John Scofield is a bit of a legend himself, having played with just about everybody, including Miles Davis. While "Outbreak" (ESC Records) might not have the broad palette of the above-reviewed, its raw hard as nail approach will certainly have everyone shaking.


	Marvin Gaye - Live in Miami (Mastersong) Live In Miami (MasterSong) is from a concert recorded by Marvin in the late 70’s and features all the elements that keep his name resonating almost two decades after he was shot dead by his father…not only the crooning intensity that flagged the singer’s marketability as a sexual idol, but also the playful poetry of his inspirations that run the gamut from punchy two-fisters to soul ballads to hard edged blues.


	American Roots The Essential Album - Various (Manteca) Another Manteca double CD collection isn’t a blues recording as such but looks at the American musical tradition from the broader folk, bluegrass and roots-country perspective. That’s not to say there isn’t any blues here. Skip James’ Hard Time Killing Floor Blues is surely one of the most chilling statements of folk art-music ever recorded and there are sterling entries by Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Mississippi John Hurt and Taj Mahal.


	Beyond Mississippi - various (Manteca) A 2 CD release that seems to wallow in the shambolic. All the rough edges are kept delightfully intact and the ambience is just right. That’s not to say that the sound is lacking in this extremely wide-ranging compilation. It’s just that the soul and original intent of each selection are brought to the fore. Nor is this aimed at the crusty, bearded bluesophile (me) with its diversity and inclusion of blues influenced rock-pop-folk artists such as Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Tom Waits, Dr Feelgood and Bonzo Dog Band certainly designed to broaden its appeal.


	leni stern - the rain has finally come She isn't a blues singer/ guitarist but the feeling's there…despite the classification on the sleeve, she isn't a jazz singer/ guitarist or for that matter Indie pop or worldbeat artist either…but the feeling's there.