Scott's Picks - September 2024
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Shawn Theis - One More Dance
Having an “old soul” quality is best how best to describe Shawn Thies’s voice. As comparisons, some will quickly recall Judy Collins or Kate Wolf. In any case, Shawn’s ability to use her clear alto to deliver lyrics will no doubt find a welcome with collectors of folk music.
The song “Restless Heart” opens her just released album, One More Dance. Devoted to the songs of Michael Brinkenhoff, a songwriter with just one album to his name, the question arises why Theis, a largely unknown singer herself, would choose material from an even more obscure writer? Consider these lyrics:
You’ve been loosing yourself in the shadows
Where your boundaries are hard to define
Where black is white and wrong is right
and poems have no rhyme
And your feelings that change with each heartbeat
Because there’s nothing that lasts for all time
And the love that you know still leaves you alone
Its part of your grand design
Restless Heart - Shawn Theis
Nothing like being a little direct, eh? As if that arrow directly to the heart were not enough to leave a mark, the melody which is penned to the words is equally haunting.
The opening description on her website states that Theis is “One of California’s best kept secrets.” The combination of her vocals and this ballad delivers on that claim.
Another aspect of this album is the excellent band which backs up the singer. Fiddle and harp are used wisely in arrangements that bring the musical high water mark above where others would have stopped.
Some of the songs do have lyrics which harken to John Denver. Here’s an example from the song Tightrope…
Life’s a risky journey with no rules or guarantees
A gift of many moments each one for you to see
If one can accept this flaw, the album has a relaxed melodic flow that will be acknowledged by the listener. The song, “Every Time”, also has an edge which is well matched to an emotion filled vocal.
Every time you do this to me
you push me farther away
Every time you question your heart
we’re lifting farther apart
With each game you feel you must play
those white lies your pretty lips say
Every moment you delay we’re drifting father away
Away
Every Time - Shawn Theis
Thanks to YouTube, my discovery of Shawn Theis and her music was serendipitous. This album and her first release, entitled A Song For You, are available from the usual download resources but strangely not yet available from Bandcamp. Songs from these albums are now in my “mixtape” playlists for my car travels. She is on my music radar and likely to remain for some time.
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Eva Cassidy: Walkin’ After Midnight
What stands out immediately on Eva Cassidy’s twelfth release is the impeccable sound. Eva vocals and Keith Grimes guitar are immediately in soundstage front. The guest instrumentalist, Washington DC area violinist Bruno Nasta, sounds like he is in studio yet in reality his tracks and most of the others are taken from a live recording made at a local tavern on DAT.
Known for her ability to arrange with original musical insights, this album is further proof that Eva Cassidy could deliver new versions of well worn melodies. It is the combination of her vocals with these arrangements which make this and all other of her recordings so listenable.
The album genre is centered on a style know as country swing - originating in the 1920 with a fast beat perfect for dancing. Originally the song “Down Home Blues” was a hit record for R&B singer Z.Z. Hill. Have a listen to his 1982 release:
ZZ Hill - Down Home Blues (Lyric Video)
Complete with background singers, the feeling of this recording is more B.B. King than it is Porter Wagoner.
Eva, on the other hand, takes the melody right to the dance floor. Just try and keep your feet still while listening to her singing a syncopated (ie off the beat) version. The last verse is particularly of interest with extended notes and vocals which fall just short of the scat style. She really swings.
Eva Cassidy - Down Home Blues (Walkin' After Midnight)
Other songs on the album have similar transformations, Irving Berlin’s “Cheek To Cheek” becomes Fred Astaire at the weekly dance and bingo night. The twelve bar blues song, “Next Time You See Me,” a 1957 Jr Parker hit, is so full of county swing that you can almost smell the saw dust on the dance floor. The album’s standards, “Blue Skies” and “Summertime,” are an opportunity for Eva to draw back the melodic curtain from endless soundalike covers to reveal a swing that was always hiding in plain sight.
The album closes with “Desperado,” the trademark Eagles song (actually the first song written by Don Henley and Glenn Frey). Accompanied on organ by Cassidy Band keyboardist, Lenny Williams, Eva’s take on the song makes it less a soaring ballad than an end-of-trail lament.
“And freedom, oh freedom well, that's just some people talkin'
Your prison is walking through this world all alone”
“You better let somebody love you before it’s too late”
It’s this unexpected infusion of emotion which Eva alone delivers that makes her music so rewarding through many listening sessions.
Walkin’ After Midnight is available for download now from the usual websites. Release date for the CD is November with Vinyl following in December.
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Still As Your Sleeping
Karine Polwart and Dave Mulligan
Karine Polwart & Dave Milligan - Still As Your Sleeping - Trailer
In 2021, the release of Still As Your Sleeping album by Scottish musicians Karine Polwart and Dave Mulligan was followed by a long list of glowing reviews. I’m still wondering why I didn’t take notice. If you are like me and the album slipped by, read on. Otherwise congratulations for taking timely notice of this unusual work.
For those who don’t follow modern Celtic music a few words of introduction is warranted. Polwart is a celebrated Scottish singer/songwriter with nine (including this one) released albums to her name not to mention as a contributing member of the groups: Malinky, macAlias and Battlefield Band. Polwart is also a multiple award winer of the BBC Folk Awards.
If you guessed that Karine and Dave are husband and wife you’d be wrong. That might have been your first thought after listening to an album of songs where the two performers come as close as one would believe possible for musical soulmates. In reality Dave is actually Karine’s neighbor and a celebrated jazz pianist who has played with Larry Carlton, Mark Knofler and Art Farmer - to name just three.
The album is a collection of either traditional songs or covers of more recently written material. The opening song, Craige Hill, is traditional but also popularized in 1981 by Scottish songwriter Dick Gaughan. The song opens with a piano intro, your first clue that the album is far from a routine singer accompanied by a pianist effort. Here each musician is of near equal value.
So fare you well, sweet Craigie Hill,
where oft times I have roved in
I never thought in my childhood days
I'd part you any more
But we're sailing on the ocean for
honour and promotion
And the bonny boats are sailing
way down by Doorin shore.
Craigie Hill - Karine Polwart & Dave Milligan
Another special moment on this recording comes from the rendition of the Robert Burns (Scotland’s national poet who died at the age of 37 in 1796) song, “Ae Fond Kiss.”
Fare thee weel, thou first and fairest
Fare thee weel, my best and dearest
Thine be ilka joy and treasure
Peace, enjoyment, love and pleasure
Had we never loved so kindly
Had we never loved so blindly
Nor never met, nor never parted
We would ne'er ha' been so broken-hearted
Ae Fond Kiss - Karine Polwart
If these recordings captured your interest be rest assured that the remainder of the album has songs of the same quality. Included are two songs penned by Polwart herself. The album deserves the high praise that was offered when it was issued.
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A few final thoughts:
In the coming weeks two performances are scheduled nearby the Atlanta area:
Friday Nov 20, 2024 - Red Clay Theatre
Shawn Phillips
Singer/songwriter Shawn Phillips, has now released twenty studio albums. He is best known for a trilogy of albums (Contribution, Second Contribution and Collaboration) from 1970-1971. Paul Buckmaster (Elton John) served as his orchestrator. His song, Woman (She Was Waiting For Her Mother At The Station in Torino and You Know I Love You Baby But It’s Getting Too Heavy To Laugh) has been recorded by Canadian violinist Angele Dubeau on her album, Blanc.
The glow around your face
When you see the lighting race
I know I'm very near
And I can hear the thunder
Shawn Phillips - Woman
It would be a mistake to place Phillips in the prog-rock category of rock-n-roll as his work goes beyond experimenting with Buckmaster’s lush orchestrations. In concert he provides fascinating background on his songs and brings back the age of the singer/songwriter.
Friday Dec 6, 2024 - Newberry SC Opera House
Voces8
Voces8, an a cappella octet from England now has fifteen albums in release including the 2024 entry, Nightfall. Their musical repertoire spans early music through Purcell and more recent composers such as Eric Witacre and Paul Simon (who they collaborated with for his newest recording, Seven Psalms).
One of my favorite selections is The Road Home by the once Atlanta based composer, Stephen Paulus.
After wind, after rain
When the dark is done
As I wake from a dream
In the gold of day
Through the air there's a calling
From far away
There's a voice I can hear
That will lead me home
Voces8 - The Road Home (Stephen Paulus)