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| JAMMIN' WITH THE BLUES (AT THE DUKE IN WAUPOOS) - VAS (VASCO DA SILVA) |
| Jammin� With the Blues is an enjoyable follow-up to the d�but CD, The Winged Impulse, by Southern Ontario (via South America and London, England) singer/songwriter/guitarist Vasco Da Silva (a.k.a. Vas). He is now based in Waupoos, Ontario, where he performs on weekends at the Duke of Marysburgh Pub (www.dukeofmarysburgh.com), occasionally offering "sit-ins" for guest performers. I was initially put off by the first two songs, "In the Name of Love" and "What", which are definitely more country and western in nature than blues. The vocals in both are somewhat below his range and the lyrics are clich�-ridden, although the second song is a protest against racial stereotyping, which message cannot be overstated enough. The latter also contains a trombone break, where the player (Rick Chamberlain) inserts a muting device in the instrument, giving it a bit of a "kazoo" effect. My partner, a former professional trombonist himself, was actually quite impressed with Rick's overall technique, whereas I thought it sounded amateurish - go figure. The third song, still not blues, is a cool reggae tune, which I really liked, called "Who Wants Another Drink". It's uptempo, very danceable and prone to repeat listens. The vocals are much better here, and the rhythm section (Steve Conley on drums; Kyle Brown on bass guitar; and Duncan Cooper on keyboards) gels very nicely. "Just a Young Boy" has a catchy pop music sensibility and it's followed by the rhythm and blues shuffle of "Hey Pretty Baby", which has the all makings of becoming a hit with the addition of a full brass section. "Rebel in Your Head" strays back towards the country twang, with the lyrics addressing the problems faced between a rebellious woman and a man who follows a more traditional path. "The State I'm In" is a genuine slow-blues tune that showcases Vasco's blues guitar technique, which is not exactly on a virtuoso level but is nevertheless refreshing and effective in its simplicity. Also spotlighted here is Duncan Cooper playing what sounded, at times, like a B-3 and then later, a Roland. I was very impressed with the sounds he was extracting from his keyboard. "Got Myself to Blame" is a rockin' boogie-blues that Eric Clapton could relate to, instrumentally and lyrically. The song would sound much better with a more prominent bass line, but it just wasn't brought out in the mix. Kyle does get to shine on the final track, "The Greatest Wine", though. "Bypass Blues", a mid-tempo blues, might be autobiographical in nature and made me wince a bit, sympathetically, due to the extremely intimate (although non-sexual) narrative; literally, a "heart-breaker". "Round the Horn" sees the return of drummer Cam Giroux, who is obviously more attuned to a country beat, although this composition is something I'd like to nickname "gunslinger blues" as a new genre of music. I did actually like the trombone work here, and Duncan adds a great filler track to the mix. "Carry Me Over" is another catchy guitar-piano pop-rock instrumental with that "old-time rock'n'roll" feel to it, a la Bob Seger, which could warrant airplay with some lyrics added to it. "The Greatest Wine" is a definitively Canadian funk-jazz-blues fusion that pays tribute to the vineyards of the Niagara and Finger Lakes regions and contains a delightful keyboard-trombone wind-down! Cam Giroux is behind the drumkit on this final track. Vas has created many excellent compositions here and gathered equally talented players to perform them, but his vocals (sounding a lot like someone from the Ottawa Valley) do take some getting used to. Vas also produced this CD himself (at 440 Audio in Belleville, Ontario) and enlisted the assistance of Steve Knott for digital mastering and Jeff Vandertogt for engineering, but I honestly believe a different producer could have enhanced the overall sound to do it real justice. |