Gris Gris
Dr John The Night Tripper
We mourn the loss of one of the most original and innovative musicians of the last fifty years, a man whose charisma, presence, voice and craftsmanship is unequalled. Even at his worst times, when he was so strung out that he travelled with a nurse, his shows were uniquely enthralling performances that held his audiences spellbound. He gave us a number of immortal songs and, likewise, he moves on to the next world, becoming one of the immortals himself. Malcolm (Mac) John Rebenack was born on 20 November 1941 into a musical New Orleans family of French descent and lived and breathed music since he was born. His inspirations were the local medicine shows, the Mardi Gras and the voodoo ceremonies, the Delta Blues as well the jazz records from his father’s record store. Dr John left us on 6 June 2019. Peace be with him. (sgs)
Atco Records, 1969
Fifity years of Trout Mask Replica: 10 Best Beefheart songs
Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band
Another legendary singer and songwriter rooted in the Delta blues, as well as in free jazz and rock, Captain Beefheart, aka Don Van Vliet, was born 1941 in Glendale, California. A multi-instrumentalist and a bully, he was mesmerisingly chaotic and asked a lot of his audience. Don began to sculpt as age three, especially animals, and won several prizes and scholarships he wasn’t allowed to take up by is parents. Noted for his friendship with Frank Zappa, Beefheart started singing in 1967 and signed a record deal one year later. He and his changing band members, among whom Ry Cooder, recorded thirteen studio albums with various band combinations until 1982 when the genius of pop abandoned music for painting, a lifelong pursuit at which he also excelled. Suffering from multiple sclerosis from 1970 onward, Don van Vliet passed away in 2010 having influenced just about everybody from the Beatles to P.C. Harvey. He continues to be a great inspiration. (sgs)
Straight Records, 1969
We Get By
Mavis Staples (featuring Ben Harper)
Here we have one of the truly great voices of soul still capable of giving me the shivers. Mavis, one of the original members of The Staple Singers, was born in Chicago, in 1939. Led by family patriarch Roebuch «Pops» Staples on guitar and including the voices of Mavis and her siblings Cleotha, Yvonne, and Pervis, the Staple Singers were «God’s Greatest Hitmakers» in the late sixties. Having originally sung in churches, Mavis is known for her political activism as well as for her rousing voice. After the group’s fame faded in the 1970, Mavis Staples became a solo performer, as well as accompanying many greats such as Bob Dylan, Prince, Ray Charles or George Jones. Her voice has been sampled by Salt ‘N Peppa. Ludacris and Ice Cube. She has been the recipient of many awards and honours and is celebrating her eightieth birthday with a series of concerts and this new release. (sgs)
Anti-Records, May 2019
Atlanta Millionaires Club: Room Temperature
Faye Webster
Atlanta’s Millionaires Club is in Faye’s feelings, and that’s the way she likes it. The new record from the 21-year-old Atlanta-native opens with a sighing, unflinchingly honest admission: «Looks like I’ve been crying again, over the same thing.» The omnipresence of pedal steel eschews bluegrass trappings, flexible under Webster’s genre-bending direction. She says she didn’t set out to make her new album sound like anyone in particular – in fact, she says, the recording process was the opposite, trying to avoid sounding like any contemporaries – but she cites Aaliyah as her main musical inspiration. Pulling from a family lineage of folk storytelling and time spent in Atlanta’s hip-hop scene, Webster’s work is a study of duality, weaving through her own introversion and heartbreak, its beautiful sadness punctuated by an unexpected, sly sense of humour. (secretlycanadian.com)
Secretly Canadian, May 2019