| CD REVIEW |
| This extemely entertaining (and downright fun!) CD is one that I will treasure for many years to come! Multi-instrumentalist Reggie Miles has succeeded in capturing the vaudevillian or "tongue-in-cheek" essence of depression era blues whose main purpose was to make one forget their problems, not to dwell on them. For those who are interested, the term "vaudeville" originated from a Norman poet named Olivier Basselin who was from a village called "Vau de Vire". The songs of this genre are characterized as lively, light, graceful and piquant, frequently satirical and sung in couplets with a refrain. On At The Crossroads, Reggie sings down-and-dirty lead vocals and performs on harmonica, saw, washboard, and a "Frankenstinian" instrument he built himself, called a Nobro, which is a hybrid of a Dobro and a National steel guitar. For more fascinating information on this topic, visit the Musical Instrument Makers Forum Website at www.mimf.com. Another Seattle musician I'm interested in, Jack Cook (and The Phantoms of Soul), performs lead vocals on Leroy Carr's rag, "Papa's on the Housetop", and Clifford Hayes' "Mama Don't Give All The Lard Away" and also contributes on a 1937 National Duolian and a 1965 Gibson ES-125. There are no less than four wonderful tracks from "the other Robert Johnson", known familiarly as "One-Man" Johnson (www.doghousemusic.com), who shares residences between Shanghai, China, and Iowa City, Iowa, most notably "Nobody's Fault But Mine", showcasing Hugh Sutton on piano. Hugh also plays accordion on the CD and is an excellent addition to the team.. The traditional blues composition, "St. James Infimary Blues" and George Gershwin's "Summertime" are both given amazingly eerie, bizarre, interpretations featuring Reggie Miles playing a saw like a violin that will recall those old black-and-white cartoons! Big Joe Williams' 1929 classic "Highway 51 Blues" is equally engaging, especially as Reggie admits on this extended recording that he has already "tortured this song in many different directions" - torture away, honey! "Pink Cadillac", that most famous of rock'n'roll icons, appropriated most lucratively by the Mary Kay cosmetics empire as a symbol of success, is the 1956 version written and recorded by the recently-deceased Farrell "Rusty" Draper (also known as "Mr. Nightlife", after a Willie Nelson song he did). Mr. Draper also composed the classic "Wabash Cannonball", among many others. The wonderfully wacky tracks here are "The Girl With The Shimmy" (the sole original composition by Mr. Miles), Bert Williams' "Some Little Bug" (very pertinent today, considering the West Nile and SARS viruses), and Arthur Godfrey's "The Man With the Weird Beard". I would heartily recommend this CD to anyone stalled "at the crossroads". It might not help you cast the deciding vote on which direction to take, but it sure is a hell of a corner to be standing at! |
| AT THE CROSSROADS - REGGIE MILES AND HAM GRAVY |
 |
| TO RETURN TO THE CD REVIEW INDEX PAGE, |
 |