Blues in the ParkProspect RecordsPR0009

Blues in the Park - Prospect Records - PR0009

Written by Warren Dallin

Having lived in Niagara Falls for five years, it was great to see this CD show up in my mailbox. Wow! I didn't even know that "Blues in the Park" had started a CD series.

The label on the front states "Highlighting Canadian entertainers from the Niagara Falls, Canada Blues in the Park Festival". This is an annual event that has brought some great talent and music to the area. Play on, little girl, play on.

The recording quality itself is top notch. The disc format is broken into five artist segments, with each artist contributing three tracks. Now it was good to see that The Odyssey Blues Band, featuring the sassy Suzanne Hyatt on vocals, appears on this disc. This band is a mainstay in the Niagara region and the best band on the disc. Hyatt has the power and passion in her vocals to pierce your speakers, and then your eardrums... and you'd like it.

Hurt So Bad is a showcase of what I am writing about. She belts out the chorus with the kind of emotion that puts a lump in your throat and makes you believe her voice could carry straight across the land. She also does a playful and sexy version of Black Drawers, especially when she begs to be rocked all night long. A sultry organ and female backing singers round out the song. The Odyssey Band itself is solid, and capable of holding their own with guitar solos and a backing groove so mellow and cool.

Gatorbait lives up to its name, thanks to the band's lowdown style. They certainly could lull in a gator to chew on their raw set of obscure covers. Kudos on their song selection, including some obscure gems many may not know. They do choose some tough material originally performed by some eminent blues players, but they do it just fine.

Heaven's Where You'll Dwell is well done with buzzing guitar work that could saw through a log. The harp playing stacks up well to the lofty standard set by Carlos Del Junco. Start it Up (written by Robben Ford) benefits from the sultry female vocals and is held together by a swampy bayou rhythm that could jiggle mud. It features a ringing guitar solo that rounds out the overall sound. Goin' to the Church, which was written by Lester Butler of the Red Devils, is performed in a subdued fashion and turned into more of a hypnotic boogie, a shift from the power and intensity of the harp attack on the original.

The other artists offer a different shade of musical stylings. Steve Burnside with The Original Marquis contributes by playing some 1950s era material, complete with polished guitar solos.

Gil Hicks does a full-out-assault cover of 99 Won't Do plus two originals. His guitar playing is intricate, clean and soulful. His own songs are a little slower and have a legitimate R&B sound to them. Ned Green, while not blues, is a master soul artist who creates energy through both his song selection and James Brown-ish vocal growls. His James Brown Medley captures much of the energy and funk of the originals over the course of a 10-minute performance. If this suits your musical taste, you're in for a treat!

The music is tight and fun. If I have one complaint, I was surprised at the format and artist selection. All the songs are studio recordings and I was expecting material recorded live at the festival. The aura of a live performance and the mood of the festival is not captured. The artists are all from the 2002 lineup, omitting some of the Canadian blues giants who have played the festival in other years (including John Campbelljohn, Rita Chiarelli and Georgette Fry).

Also, Blues in the Park is an international festival but headlining American artists are absent from this CD (including James Cotton, Sandra Hall, Kelley Hunt and Coco Montoya). Yes, I understand it promotes Canadian content, and there may be some behind-the-scenes legal issues that prevents the inclusion of the U.S.-based acts but, from a blues lover's point of view, I'd like to see emphasis on the festivals' strongest marketing angles - live blues and a mix of all artists.

Despite this, but there are moments where you will scream "Lord have mercy". This festival is a growing event that has attracted some fabulous artists to the "honeymoon capital of the world". If there is a volume two, I'll cross my fingers and hope it is a live two-CD set!

Copyright 2003. Review by Warren Dallin.

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