Rowe, SteveNo Refund No Return2002Howlin' Blue Productions

Rowe, Steve - No Refund No Return - 2002 - Howlin' Blue Productions

Written by John Taylor

Steve Rowe must have a lot of confidence in his music to call this, his second recording, "No Refund No Return." Does the music justify his confidence? Despite a few weak moments, my answer's a somewhat-qualified yes.

Rowe, who hails from Montreal, offers up 11 songs, all written or co-written by bassist Alan McElcheran. And that's where the disc's only real problems lie; while some of the tunes stand up quite well, others, like the quickly-annoying If My Cat Could Talk, simply aren't worth the time it must have taken to record them.

Yet the title tune, with its funky beat (admittedly a little far removed from traditional blues structures), casts a unique light on a familiar subject, the end of a relationship that catches one party by surprise. The jazzy, swinging Caviar Blues, a clever tale of champagne tastes on a beer budget, features some tricky changes that keep things interesting.

Gone Too Long shows Rowe knows how to swing a shuffle, and Stop This Dance features more witty wordplay while exploring another aspect of an affair doomed to failure. But Wasting No More Time is simply pedestrian and goes on too long. And Blues Get Loose, despite swinging like mad (and featuring a fine organ solo) will never be mistaken for poetry; these are the kind of contrived lyrics that come across as mere filler, written only to hang a hook onto.

Both production and performances are fine. There are guitarists out there who are fleeter-fingered than Rowe, but there's nothing lacking in his work, and the disc is more about craft and composition than endless solos anyway. Other participants, including McElcheran, drummer Dave Neil, and pianist David Findlay (Pedro Ullmann relieves the latter on a handful of songs where a B3 proves more appropriate) provide solid, unpretentious support throughout. Rowe's vocals are midrange in both timbre and quality - no complaints there - although I can't see anyone getting terribly excited, either.

Overall impression? While it's not likely to move Rowe into the blues stratosphere, this is an interesting outing with many merits. He deserves kudos for sticking exclusively with McElcheran's compositions where others might well go for a surer thing with the tried and true. It gives the disc a far more personal feel than yet another collection of covers, and that, in a world where many are content to recycle rather than create, is a good thing.

But it also means it's somewhat idiosyncratic, so if one is to believe the disc's title - the "no return" part, anyway - consumers may want to check things prior to purchasing.

Copyright 2003. Review by John Taylor.

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