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| This live recording by the John Stephan Band took place on July 15, 2002, in the Skychurch Room of the infamous Experience Music Project (EMP) in Seattle, Washington. The Monday night gig was hosted by James "Early" Byrd, a former DJ at WBCM-FM in Boston, Massachusetts, and co-host of a Sunday blues show with Marlee Walker, also publisher of blues to do, at KEXP-FM in Seattle. Cutting short a PA recording of T-Bone Walker's "Stormy Monday", James, who replaced a very young Peter Wolf (frontman with the J. Geils Band), introduces himself as "fast as greased lightning and twice as slick". He has a very engaging manner and succeeded in rousing the Monday night crowd ("c'mon, c'MON") for John Stephan and company. I'm sure James, at 74, has many interesting tales of his more than 55 years in the music industry! Although my bootleg copy of the recording needs a bit of work balancing out volume levels, especially with Byrd's introductory comments, the band's sound was mixed well, with some cool (and possibly unintended) special effects. John Stephan, a reputable and versatile slide guitarist now based in Seattle and San Francisco, honed his chops in long-term gigs with two late-great guitarists - Albert Collins, in the late '70s, and Isaac Scott (renowned as Seattle's "King of the Blues"), for more than 20 years, until a few years before the latter's premature demise in 2001. John also had a 4-year run with Je Ka Jo, an Afro-pop group based in Seattle, and has recorded with Seattle harp sensation Steve Bailey as well as with John Marshall. While John is a star slide guitarist in his own right, he's got a knack for scooping up top-drawer keyboardists. His d�but CD, Ninety-Nine Degrees, featured his regular keys man, Dan ("Piany") Sturner, whom I recently met at a tribute concert for the late King Biscuit Boy in Hamilton, Ontario. Dan has temporarily returned to his roots in Buffalo, N.Y. due to family concerns. For this live recording John Stephan enlisted some heavy keyboard flavouring from Paul Richardson. Mr. Richardson has worked with Korla Wygal, Little Milton and Michael Powers, among many others. John's regular players, bassist "Fresh" Tom Roesch, from Cincinnati, Ohio, and noted Hollywood jazz drummer Stuart Nyren, provide an expert rhythm section. One need only listen to the showcase versions of Elmore James' "Bobby's Rock" (dedicated to "Early" Byrd), Magic Sam's 1957 slow blues, "All of Your Love" or the classic "Caledonia" to get an idea of the caliber of talent on this CD. Included from Ninety-Nine Degrees are extended, enhanced, versions of Stephan's socially-conscious originals, "In the Big House", "Ride Two Horses" and "Fat Tuesday Blues". As well, the band performs a funked-up, initially echo-effected "Restless", distinguished by a phat, pharty organ, restless drumwork and whine-filled guitar tantrums, with Tom's bass work keeping things tight. This epitome of a "musician's crank" introduced me to the term, "Mississippi Saxophone", otherwise known as a harmonica, although there's none being played here. Although John's perfectly capable of rocking it up on slide guitar, he seems to prefer a mellower, more tantalizing sound, not unlike the late Dave Conant or Paul Fenton, a Canadian slide guitarist who also has an affinity for Elmore James compositions (e.g. "Shake Your Moneymaker"), Willie Dixon's "Spoonful", and older-model slide guitars. John apparently bought his "dumpster deal" for $40 in 1965 - and what a sound he gets out of it! Both these guitarists have mastered that technique (or have one of those "gizmos") that produces a violin simulation on the guitar, which is quite alluring. John Stephan comes by his genuine feeling for the "blues" honestly, but despite his personal history of family tragedies, he maintains a forthright dignity in his music without sounding maudlin or preachy in his acute perceptions of modern-day society's troubles. The only negative thing I would say about this enthusiastic live recording is that it overshadows the studio-produced Ninety-Nine Degrees, which now pales in comparison. The fact remains, though, that Jeff "Captain Sound" Taylor engineered both CDs, so both recordings live up to high standards. In any case, the John Stephan Band is not to be missed, live or recorded! James "Early" Byrd gets the last word with the simple rejoinder, "The blues ain't nothin' but a good man [or woman] feelin' bad." Speaking of which, I heard a track by Danko Jones the other day where he sings, "You want to know how to play the blues? Get a woman." That works both ways, Mr. Jones. |
| LIVE AT EMP SKYCHURCH (SEATTLE) - JOHN STEPHAN BAND |