Bowskill, JimmyOld Soul2003Independent

Bowskill, Jimmy - Old Soul - 2003 - Independent

Written by John Taylor

Wow!

For a young kid (he was 12 when these sessions were recorded), Jimmy Bowskill sure carries a lot of baggage. The question of his age - and by extension his presumed ability and "right" to sing the blues, is inescapable. Yet Old Soul is aptly named; young he may be, but it's as though Bowskill is drawing upon the wisdom and experience of time itself on his thoroughly delightful debut.

It doesn't hurt, of course, that Bowskill is backed here by many of Toronto's finest; there's producer and bassist Alec Fraser, guitarists Jack de Keyzer and Danny Marks, Downchild's Michael Fonfara, Chuck Jackson, and Pat Carey on keys, vocals, and sax respectively. Harmonicists include Bowskill (who also plays guitar and banjo), along with Jerome Godboo, Mark "Bird" Stafford, and Donnie "Mr. Downchild" Walsh himself. And that's only a partial list!

Any endorsement implied by the participation of so much A-list talent is entirely justified. True, Bowskill's voice is undeniably that of a child; yet his phrasing and his articulation is utterly uncanny, as though he's been singing this stuff far longer than he's actually been alive. And frankly, his own playing is hard to pick out of the mix; no mean feat when you're up against misters Marks and de Keyzer.

Bowskill's songwriting too - he's responsible for half the disc's 14 tracks (aided by either dad Steve or mom Teresa) - shows a maturity way beyond his years. He manages to cover many bases, from the loose, front-porch feel of Be Mine to the Mojo-style shuffle of Honeybee. Weekend Fish Fry, complete with jaw harp and fiddle, has an even more down-home feel, while Schoolhouse is straight out of Texas. Who's Knockin' is a jumping, jazz-inflected instrumental, Hotspell rides a "Dirty Water groove" to good effect, but the not-quite-committed sound of Deep Blue is a little less convincing.

Covers include a couple by Robert Johnson - Kind Hearted Woman Blues and Rambling On My Mind - and Sonny & Brownie's Livin' With The Blues. The former may be a bit of a stretch, but it's to Bowskill's credit that he renders both Life Is So Peculiar (as an exuberant duet with Chuck Jackson) and Snooky Pryor's Work 'Til My Days Are Gone - both songs presumably requiring a bit of maturity to pull off - in a thoroughly convincing manner.

Bowskill is a remarkably talented young man, and remarkably assured in how he applies that talent. Make no mistake - Old Soul is a wonderful disc by any measure, and can stand up to virtually anything on the market entirely on its own merits. But that it's the debut of a young voice with so much soul, and so much future, is truly exciting.

Check Jimmy out. And one day, you too will be able to say "I discovered him way back when…!"

Copyright 2003. Review by John Taylor.

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