TOGETHER AGAIN John McCutcheon & Tom Paxton (Appalsongs) *****
This is a sweet collection of heartfelt folk songs. Together Again, as the title implies, is the follow-up to their first collaboration; 2023’s Together. McCutcheon and Paxton are each iconic folk singers with monumental catalogs, but when they get together the result is easy magic.
The original volume and this got their start in pandemic times when John reached out to his old friend Tom with the idea of using Zoom to connect and maybe write some songs together. One Monday session led to another, soon becoming a ritual that continues today as an ongoing creative flood. There are 14 songs each on Together and Together Again but that’s just the tip of the iceberg, a fraction of the nearly 200 songs that were born. At the age of 88 Paxton has retired from the road and McCutcheon, a spry 73 has scaled back his touring schedule… but these discs are evidence that they remain as creative as they’ve ever been.
The easygoing acoustic sound and feel of TA feels like a laid back small town dinner where all of your neighbors just sort of show up. The musical performances are impeccable and John and Tom’s voices are warm and welcoming, not unlike Ian Tyson in his prime. The Future, which starts off the record, was inspired by McCutcheon’s many appearances The Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield Kansas, where he recalls seeing a teenaged Alison Krauss and Molly Tuttle in her early 20’s. There are songs of remembrance too, a tribute to their friend and mentor Pete Seeger, playful humor, and a stirring tune called Stop At Nothing.
Together Again covers a wide range of topics and affairs but is never preachy or sanctimonious; even a song like Stop At Nothing which addresses school shootings and ineffective politicians, and though Pathfinder is a tribute to Pete Seeger, I can really feel him in Stop At Nothing. These are songs that only decades of life, love and music can produce.
HOT TRACKS: Stop At Nothing, The Future, Cheatin’ While I’m Eatin’
JUBILEE Emmanuel Casablanca (independent) ****+
My apologies to Emmanuel and his people; this has been on my desk since last August, out since November 7th, and yet I’m just getting to it now… better late than never I suppose. If you have an appetite for inventive, muscular blues/ rock, Jubilee is a dish you’ll really want to tuck into.
Jubilee is Casablanca’s 4th album, and here he wears his influences proudly on his sleeve, from the elemental blues of Muddy Waters and Albert King to this muscular bravery of Gary Clark Jr. and the ‘sky’s-the-limit’ attitude of Jimi Hendrix. It’s a sound that’s been described as “raw, rhythmic and righteously unpolished”, similar to how I felt when I first heard GC Jr. Emmanuel himself describes this disc as “both a reckoning and a resurrection”. Blues is music for the soul yes, but in Casablanca’s playing and his lyrics, it’s also music for the fight.
There’s traditional blues here of course, some ghostly ballads and some flat-out rockin’… I swear that in a track like Pistol I can hear and feel the influence of Black Sabbath. It’s no wonder that the late Joe Louis Walker called him “the future of this music- rough, real and unrelenting.” While this is most certainly a blues record, it has the breadth to satisfy jean jacket-wearing hard rockers too… it’s hard not to like a guy that puts a song called Dick In My Hand on his new album. Beyond the musical riches that Jubilee offers up spin after spin Casablanca has an unrelenting attitude, an “I’m gonna do it my way, so sit down or get out of my way” feel that some might find obnoxious but I like it… a lot.
Pop music has evolved, rock & roll has evolved, for the blues to survive it must evolve too, and thanks to guys like Emmanuel Casablanca it is. Jubilee is further evidence that Casablanca is a torchbearer for 21st century blues and blues/ rock. This one deserves to be played at 11.
https://www.groupmuse.com/@badboyofblues
HOT TRACKS: Pistol, Dick In My Hand, Hate To Break The News
BALL CAP BLUES Davey Jones (independent) *****
Talk about a blast of fresh air coming up from the south! Ball Cap Blues¸ the latest from Davey Jones, is an enticing blend of Mississippi blues, southern rock and contemporary influences with a dash of country that makes for a compelling listen.
There is much to unpack in these 9 tracks, a variety of soulful grooves that hit you in the gut topped by some firey guitar and a voice that brings some country into the mix- sounds like Murray McLachlan but first and foremost he’s a blues guy. “When you grow up in this area” he says of his Mississippi roots, “you’re shaped by the music that surrounds you. I was born where the first rock & roll lick was recorded (Hattiesburg, MS, in 1938 by the Mississippi Jook Band). I try my best to stay true to myself, but also those great legends that paved the way.” Davey describes this album rightly as “my version of the blues.”
Jones likes to play all the instruments himself, which he does again on Ball Cap Blues. The performances are clean and sharp, and there’s a feel to these numbers that belies that approach; it sounds like a band having a good time. This is one of those records that blues fans will dig, country and southern rock fans too as Davey Jones has found the common ground between all these genres and expressed himself almost effortlessly.
As for the title Ball Cap Blues it is no doubt a playful nod to the blue ball cap I see in the photos I got with the press kit. He’s talented guitarist that knows how to solo without overdoing, adding just the right flavors to what are already tasty pieces of music. This is the sort of disc that will appeal to folks that say they don’t care for the blues, and that’s imnpressive.
HOT TRACKS: Ain’t No Good For Me, Banks Of The Blues, Six Feet In The Ground
TURN A MIDNIGHT CORNER Mike Mattison & Trash Magic (Landslide Records) *****
This is the third solo outing for Mike Mattison, a member of the Tedeschi Trucks band for over 23 years. Turn A Midnight Corner is a blues concept album (more about that in a sec) and fans of a garage rock sound will take to this immediately
“I had an idea to write a novella about a country blues duo from the 1930s, ‘Ted’n’ Turk’, who are rediscovered in the early 70’s by a music critic” Mike says “However the rediscovery turns into a media circus and the whole thing falls to pieces.” TAMC was written mostly on the road. “I wrote whenever I had a spare moment, on the bus or backstage” he says. “One of the most entertaining parts was making up titles for songs that didn’t exist. And then it occurred to me, ‘why don’t you just write songs for the Ted ‘n’ Turk’s legendary lost album?”
Like a Gary Clark Jr. record, it took a couple spins for me to come to grips with Turn A Midnight Corner, but now it’s become one of my favorite records of the new year. Of the sessions Mattison says “we recorded mostly live in the room together, to capture that shambolic feel.” Co-produced by Mike and mix engineer Jason Kingsland (Band Of Horses, Bryan Ferry, Belle & Sebastian) it features and of his co-producer Mike notes “(he’s) all about an adventurous sonic palette, which he brings in spades. But at its heart, this is really a blues album.”
The title of the record comes from the poem “Blue Dementia” by Louisiana born poet Yusef Kumsnyakaa. To sum up what he was after with Turn A Midnight Corner Mattison says “ I guess you can find my takeaway in a line from the album’s opening track Going Down The Alley… the idea that if you’re not careful, you can ‘turn a midnight corner’ and smack up right into yourself.” This is more than just your average blues record; wayyy more.
HOT TRACKS: Going Down The Alley, Lookee Here, When I Was Loaded
