Suzie Vinnick Launches “Me ‘N’ Mabel” at Toronto’s Hugh’s Room Though she’s originally from Saskatoon, it felt like a bit of a homecoming as Suzie Vinnick and friends celebrated the launch of “Me ‘N’ Mabel” at Toronto’s Hugh’s Room (arguably the finest ‘listening room’ in the city) on a fine early-spring evening.

Suzie’s CD release party featured a steady parade of guests, most familiar to an obviously adoring audience, including guitarists Rick Fines and Tony Diteodoro and harmonica ace Roly Platt. Also on hand was producer Danny Greenspoon, himself no slouch on the six-string. 

Suzie’s latest, a stripped-down and primarily acoustic affair, represents a sharp contrast to the polished pop perfection of 2008’s “Happy Here.” Sprinkled with classic blues covers and pitch-perfect originals, “Me ‘N’ Mabel” finds Suzie putting her stamp on tunes from the likes of Percy Mayfield and Slim Harpo as well as a handful of her own compositions.

Suzie’s obviously spent a great deal of time with Mabel (her guitar, a nice maple Larivee) – she’s a powerfully percussive guitarist, easily able to keep instrumental proceedings interesting enough on her own. But she takes obvious delight in sharing the stage, providing lots of solo space to her guests as appropriate and engaging in intricate interplay on duets featuring some genuinely ferocious fretwork and exquisite harmonica.

For all the instrumental excellence on display, though, it’s Suzie’s voice that stands out as a truly remarkable instrument. She’s got power to spare, but applies it sparingly; where many blues singers do little more than spit out lyrics, Vinnick employs nuance and subtle shading, even at her most boisterous, to deliver lines with a rich resonance that gives each word a just that little extra weight.

Most of the evening’s material was taken from “Me ‘n’ Mabel,” with various supporting players rotating on and off stage. She did revert to Happy Here for a lovely reading of the title track, and chose to close the show with a sing-along gospel number that finished the evening off with a delightful sense of camaderie between audience and performer.

“Mabel ‘N’ Me” is a fine collection indeed, and Vinnick’s engaging warmth and sheer artistry should go a long way in promoting the disc. Well done, Suzie!