Bettye LaVette
/ Lee Fields & the Expressions / Dr. John & the Nite Trippers
Vogue Theatre 2013
(by: Ken Pickering
Artistic Director)
If you have a penchant for old school RnB and Soul music,
the festival is hosting three of the most authentic and powerful voices out
there on today’s music scene. I’m talking about Bettye LaVette, Lee Fields and
Dr. John. All have compelling back-stories
and these festival performances are going to be burning – I for one will not be
missing any of these shows barring a catastrophe!
Let’s start with Bettye LaVette. After years and years in
the trenches this amazing lady has deservedly earned her place as a cult
favourite in soul circles. Her roots are deep and harken back to her family’s living
room in the Motor City of Detroit where she was exposed to the very best as a
youngster: a home juke box with Dinah Washington, Bobby “Blue” Bland and the
Soul Stirrers for starters.
After fifty years in the music business Bettye Lavette has been called an overnight sensation. Let’s just
say she’s back with a vengeance! It’s been said that she now rivals Aretha
Franklin as this generation’s most vital soul singer. I’ve still got some
treasured Bettye Lavette vinyl (80’s
reissues) from the 60’s in my collection.
More recently, in the 2000’s her fortunes began to shift
after signing with Mike Kappus’ famous roots music agency – Rosebud – and her
subsequent signing of a 3 album deal with the very hip ANTI label. She’s been moving from strength to strength
ever since. Her fourth for ANTI was released last year “Thankful N’ Thoughtful”
and it’s a gem. http://bettyelavette.com/cd-releases.html
Canadian ethnomusicologist Rob Bowman has this to say, “Bettye has always had big
ears and a wide open mind, preferring to fulfill the role of a song
interpreter, rather than attempt to write her own material. Bettye’s near
mystical ability to get inside a song’s lyric, melodic line and harmonic
implications, in the process invariably making anything she covers her own,
stems from the tutelage and guidance of her late manager Jim Lewis. A veteran
of the big band era having played with the screaming and stomping Buffalo-based
Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra, Lewis managed LaVette for ten years beginning in 1968
and constantly harped on her to listen to master song interpreters such as
Sarah Vaughan and Frank Sinatra, pointing out the intricacies of phrasing and
timbre manipulation that are part and parcel of the sonic art of any truly
great vocalist."
Perhaps more than all other modern soul stylists, Bettye
LaVette has gained an unparalleled command of the fundamentals of
interpretation through decades of hard work in the trenches that have finally catapulted her to
the top. Have a look through http://bettyelavette.com/biography.html – you’ll be amazed at her back story, she’s hung with
the greats, her autobiography “A Woman Like Me” was published last year and
without question she’s at the peak of her powers. She has been called the female
Otis Redding, meant as a compliment of course, but in reality she really needs no comparisons. She’s the
real deal! Don’t miss this generation’s finest soul singer at the Vogue Theatre
June 22nd. http://www.coastaljazz.ca/artist/bettye_lavette
The Lee Fields story has certain parallels with Ms. LaVette
– both of these great soul artists take us back to their beginnings in the
60’s. The first Lee Fields release came in 1969 (when I hit my
senior year of high school). With a catalog that that ranges from James Brown
funk to southern soul, this native of North Carolina has played and toured with
a slew of heavyweights – most notably Kool and the Gang.
Sometimes known as Little JB (for obvious reasons), Lee
Fields was active throughout the 70’s, but the 80’s saw a lengthy hiatus ending
in the 90’s when things began to change for the better. Once again he was
actively touring the southern soul circuit and through being sampled and name
checked by rare groove aficionados on both sides of the Atlantic he was
beginning to be heard and noticed by an entire new generation of hipsters.
In the last 15 years he’s hooked up with Desco, a label that
morphed into Dap Tone with his current recordings being released on the Truth
& Soul imprint. Today Lee Fields resides in New Jersey and the resurgence
of his career in recent years is mind blowing. With a sound that’s rooted in
James Brown and hard core funk – a take no prisoners attitude, incessant
touring and incendiary lives shows at every stop, Lee Fields & the
Expressions have been solidly embraced by both old and new generations of the
funk nation. The word is that the show is amazing – this is real music played
on real instruments by a band that exudes the deepest and most soulful groove.
I remember hearing bands like this in clubs that toured the west coast when I
was a kid.
Lee Fields has been at the top of our festival want list for
a couple of years now. We’re thrilled that it’s finally going to happen.
Another burning old school show that should not be missed by anyone that wants
to really feel the deep groove!
Vogue Theatre on a double bill with Nick Waterhouse, June 24th.
So you think you know Dr. John? Kinda like been there
done that – household name, legendary
New Orleans studio guy.. have heard his stuff for years etc. Well here’s the
deal - unless you’ve dug into his deep back catalog and checked out that first Gris
Gris album released back in 1969 you just might find yourself surprised when you hear
Mac Rebennack’s latest. Just for fun let’s revisit “I Walk on Gilded Splinters”
from 1969 and get into some of that early voodoo. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWvdO3l4_P8
In a nutshell, Dr. John is back with "Locked Down" produced by
Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys and the sound is a radical departure from his
recent stuff, instead taking us back to some of those late 60’s gris gris
grooves but with a fresh energetic modern sensibility that is 100% today!
This is a fantastic rendition - excellent quality! - Ice Age: From "Locked Down"
“It was way cool
cutting this record with Dan and the crew he put together for it,” says
Rebennack. “It’s reel HIP”. So let’s
leave it at that. Check out the links and get yourself together for what will
surely be one of the best shows of the festival - at the
No comments:
Post a Comment