I’ve never understood the animosity between jazz and (real) country music. I’ve taken many fans of country music to jazz clubs, and they always love it, but most jazz fans are unwilling to “lower” themselves to appreciate bluegrass or country. And when I mean “country,” I don’t mean today’s posers who are just pretty boys in cowboy shirts and hats. I’m talking about guys that live a real life and sing a real song. Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Buck Owens. And yes, these guys can SWING!
Rounder Records puts out some music that picks and grins. Here are three different ways of approaching America’s “other” classical music.
The group Trigger Happy consists of Tom Bukavac/g, Steve Gorman/dr (of The Black Crowes), Nick Govrik/b-voc, Jackie Greene/voc-g-key-harp, and Joan Osborne/voc-perc. They deliver a feel that hints at country, but leans more towards harder rock a la Bad Company, with plenty of electric guitar riffs on “Turpentine” and “Nothing New.” Osborne’s got a rich, earthy and rough voice that works remarkably well throughout, particularly on ”Rise Up Singing” and when she goes back and forth with Jackie Greene on ”Pretty Mess.” Some murky and bluesy sounds with a B3 give some nice moods, but this is more of a modernized delivery of country for burned out rockers.
Now, if you want some bluegrass that would make Bill Monroe smile down from heaven, you’re going to get it from the Earls of Leicester. Actually, you’re getting a salute to the team of Flatt and Scruggs here, with Shan Camp/g-voc, Charlie Cushman/g-banj, Tim O’Brien/mand-voc, Johnny Warren/fiddle-voc, Barry Bales/b and dobro-meister Jerry Douglas mix finger picking good string work with home spun vocal harmonies from heaven. Even jazzers are gonna be impressed by these guys when they tear into the instrumental “Shuckin’ The Corn” with solos that would make Charlie Christian grin. 2 step dancers like “I Won’t Be Hanging Around” or the waltz “I Don’t Care Anymore” make you remember the reason for music, while honky tonk stomping goes down just righ on “Dig a Hole in The Meadow.” The flying steel and nylon strings bounce around like a shooting gallery on “Big Black Train” and “On My Mind,” and as with the best of these tunes, the melodies AND the lyrics tell great stories. Grab this one!!!
Then, you get a guy like Doug Seegers, who sounds like he just ignored everything country music has descended to the past 30 years. He’s got a voice and twang that sounds like he just discovered indoor plumbing, his picking and strumming sounds like he grew up playing at the local VFW, and the basic band of Will Kimbrough/g, Phil Madeira/st-g, Chris Donohue/b, Al Perkins-dob-steel, Barbara Lamb/fid-vi and Bryan Owinga/dr. As far as the material, he two steps at the Moose Lodge with Budd Miller on a sizzling “There’ll Be No Teardrops Tonight” and boogies with the honky Tonkin “Hard Working Man.” He can also warble a song of woe on “Pour Me”and the bluesy “Gong Down to the River” the band shuffles off to juke joint heaven on “Gotta Catch That Train.” I feel like it’s the second set at the ol’ Palimino with this guy making woo with Emmyou Harris on “She” and the guitars bring droplets of acoustic rain on “Lonely Drifter’s Cry.” Step right up!
Rounder Records