Gonzalo Bergara

Zalo’s Blues

self-released

After six Gypsy jazz albums, Gonzalo Bergara returns to his blues-rock roots with all the zeal one would expect from someone who caught the late, great Dan Hicks’ attention.

When Bergara served as guitarist on Hicks’ 2004 release, “Selected Shorts,” the Argentinian was relatively unknown to the American public. The following year he began extensive touring as rhythm guitarist in John Jorgenson’s Gypsy jazz quintet, a gig that would last through 2008. After that he began recording a string of releases under his own name or as the Gonzalo Bergara Quartet.

Bergara told Good New Music via email how he met Hicks:

“A friend of my roommate was at the time using his studio for a project with Dan Hicks. The producer was Tim Hauser from Manhattan Transfer. This friend had heard through my roommate that I also could play not only blues but Gypsy jazz as well, and everybody at that time was not happy with the guitar player they had in the studio.

“So one day the studio owner dialed my number and had me play (Gus Kahn’s 1924 classic) ‘I’ll See You in My Dreams’ through the phone. Sounds crazy, but that’s how it went. I guess (Hicks) liked it OK, because the next day I was in the studio redoing all of the guitar parts. … He was a very special man; I loved working with him.”

Although his roots are in blues, unbelievably this is Bergara’s first blues recording.

“My first gigs as a musician were at the age of 16,” he told GNM in explaining his blues beginnings. “I first joined a group when I was 12, and after four years and lots of practice, we started sounding pretty good. We were invited to national television, and played  shows weekly in Buenos Aires and Argentina.

“I have always loved the format of a trio,” he said, “the freedom and space it gives me. Mariano (D’Andrea) and my brother Maximiliano (who both play on ‘Zalo’s Blues’) joined me when I was 16, and we did lots of things together, but I also played with other trios in town when I needed to.”

“Zalo’s Blues” is roughly half vocal numbers, half instrumental. The vocal tunes — Bergara’s first on record — are as good as any upper-echelon blues-rocker’s, and his singing voice carries not even a trace of an accent.

The instrumental cuts range in influence from Charlie Christian to T-Bone Walker to Stevie Ray Vaughan to the Hellecasters, and draw attention to the fact that this platter is nothing if not a tone fest.

Perhaps he was waiting until he felt his singing/songwriting skills were fully developed before “going electric,” but if Bergara’s first crack at it is this good, the listener’s imagination runs wild thinking about what lies ahead.

Tracks
1. Drawback
2. Drinking
3. Singing My Song
4. You Don’t Have To Go (Jimmy Reed)
5. Dirty Socks
6. Gonna Go
7. No More
8. Woosh
9. Been Runnin’
10. Levi
11. Ines
12. Won`t Stay With You

Total time: 37:30

External links
artist’s website
CD Baby
iTunes Store

Tags: blues, blues rock, rock

Joecephus and the George Jonestown Massacre

Mutants of the Monster: A Tribute to Black Oak Arkansas

Saustex

Jim Dandy to the rescue — sort of.

“To the rescue” because all profits from the sale of “Mutants of the Monster: A Tribute to Black Oak Arkansas” will benefit Memphis-area animal rescue The Savior Foundation.

“Sort of” because it’s not a Jim Dandy or Black Oak Arkansas album, although Dandy (aka Jim Mangrum) and BOA guitarists Rickie Lee Reynolds and the late Jimmy Henderson make guest appearances.

Rather, it’s power trio Joecephus (aka Joey Killingsworth) and the George Jonestown Massacre backing a revolving cast of contributors that includes Jimbo Mathus; Shooter Jennings; and members of Nashville Pussy, Butthole Surfers, Hawkwind, Supersuckers, Lucero, Black Flag, Dead Kennedys and Dash Rip Rock.

But the abundance of punk-rock credentials can be misleading: This is Southern rock of the highest caliber, befitting one of the genre’s finest “guitar army” bands.

Mathus puts a spin on homespun “Uncle Lijiah” with a big assist from Robby Turner (Waylon Jennings, Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Stimpson), whose pedal steel graces the song throughout and subs for the banjo normally found at the end. Turner also stretches the ending into a compact jam, recalling the stylings of New Riders of the Purple Sage steeler Buddy Cage.

For sheer instrumental madness, it’s hard to top “When Electricity Came to Arkansas.” ANTiSEEN singer Jeff Clayton sets it up with the song’s brief “Hey, yeah” chant before turning the song over to Reynolds, Black Flag guitarist Greg Ginn and Killingsworth, who take the listener on an extended trip to triple-guitar heaven.

Shooter Jennings has fun with the double-entendre lyrics of “Hot Rod,” and Hawkwind’s Nik Turner embellishes “Swimmin’ in Quicksand” with a sax solo straddling the fence between melodic and improvisational.

An unexpected highlight lies in “The Wild Bunch,” sung by pro football player turned country singer Kyle Turley. Bolstering Turley’s performance is some amazing playing by Willie Nelson’s harmonica player, Mickey Raphael, who gets to fit more notes into a song than ever before.

Tracks
1. Hey Y’all (feat. Blaine Cartwright and Ruyter Suys)
2. Uncle Lijiah (feat. Jimbo Mathus and Robby Turner)
3. Hot Rod (feat. Shooter Jennings)
4. Swimmin’ In Quicksand (feat. J.D. Pinkus and Nik Turner)
5. Hot And Nasty (feat. Eddie Spaghetti and Brian Venable)
6. When Electricity Came To Arkansas (feat. Jeff Clayton, Rickie Lee Reynolds and Greg Ginn)
7. Short Life Line (feat. Bill Davis)
8. Fever In My Mind (feat. Jim Dandy)
9. High ‘N’ Dry (feat. Whiskeydick)
10. Lord Have Mercy On My Soul (feat. Jeff Clayton and Paul Leary)
11. Mutants Of The Monster (
feat. Christopher “C.T.” Terry and Micheal Denner)
12. Mad Man
13. Strong Enough To Be Gentle (feat. Ruyter Suys and Jimmy Henderson)
14. Jim Dandy (feat. Jello Biafra and Ruyter Suys)
15. Rock ‘N’ Roll (Nine Pound Hammer, feat. Joecephus)
16. The Wild Bunch (
feat. Kyle Turley and Mickey Raphael)
17. Keep The Faith (Kentucky Bridgeburners)

Total time: 1:05:43

External links
artist’s website
amazon.com
iTunes Store

Tags: rock

Anderson/Stolt

Invention of Knowledge

Inside Out

For all intents and purposes, this is “Yes meets the Flower Kings.”

Jon Anderson has been saying for years that he wished to return to creating what he calls “Yes Music” — the long-form, epic style of progressive rock epitomized by that band on such albums as “Close to the Edge,” “Tales From Topographic Oceans” and “Relayer” in the 1970s.

In retrospect, 2011’s “Open” — a 21-minute song Anderson wrote with guitarist/arranger Stefan Podell that was only released digitally — seems to have been a way for the Yes founder and former lead singer to get his feet wet again.

For the full-album “Invention of Knowledge,” Flower Kings guitarist/vocalist Roine Stolt was enlisted to help “open the book” on compositions written a decade ago during a frenzy of online collaboration initiated by Anderson with songwriters from around the globe.

Anderson provides the album’s lead vocals and lyrics; Stolt handles guitars, arrangements and a few background vocals.

The process of “rejuvenating” the songs included sending MP3s back and forth between California (Anderson’s home) and Sweden (Stolt’s) via the information superhighway. When the demos were finished to the pair’s satisfaction, Stolt and members of the Flower Kings and Karmakanic — along with keyboardist Tom Brislin — recorded the backing tracks in Sweden.

“All basic music arrangements (had already been) laid out,” Stolt told Good New Music by email. “I had written all chord structures, bass lines, rhythms etc. Much of my guitar parts and even a few solos were recorded already.

“Much of the backing vocal arrangements were there, too — so the band recorded quite heavily arranged music. However, they were all contributing with new ideas and developed their parts further. (And) Jon … rewrote quite a lot of the lyrics and re-sang much of the vocals, and added new vocal ideas and melodies. … So it was a project in constant development.”

Three of the four songs on “Invention” consist of two to three movements. According to a Stolt interview via Skype on June 3 with That Drummer Guy, the second and fourth song (“Knowing” and “Know”) were originally a single composition that Anderson decided to split and move apart in the track listing.

A look at songwriting credits for the entire album reveals that, for some of the multipart songs, individual movements were written by different sets of people — meaning that some of the writers collaborated with each other not only in absentia, but after the fact.

The title track sets the tone, establishing Anderson’s voice and Stolt’s guitar as the two main instruments.

Anderson’s voice sounds as good as ever, and his lyrics remain dependably mystical: The overall theme deals with ley lines; crystal streams of energy; and how man invents his understanding of the world.

Stolt’s musicianship shines throughout, particularly in a crescendo of massed guitars two-thirds of the way through “Chase and Harmony,” the second movement of “Knowing.”

The rest of the supporting musicians and a small army of background singers continually dazzle and amaze, as well. To borrow a line from the album’s intro, “All the stars, just so much space.”

Tracks
1. Invention of Knowledge: (i) Invention, (ii.) We Are Truth, (iii) Knowledge
2. Knowing: (i) Knowing, (ii.) Chase and Harmony
3. Everybody Heals: (i) Everybody Heals, (ii) Better by Far, (iii) Golden Light
4. Know …

Total time: 1:05:01

External links
Jon Anderson’s site
Flower Kings site
amazon.com
iTunes Store

Tags: prog

The Carnivaleros

Dreams Are Strange

RootaVega

The Tucson, Ariz.-based Carnivaleros have always possessed a knack for unusually interesting arrangements, often combining instruments not normally heard together.

On “Dreams Are Strange,” the band makes a swampy Appalachian acoustical foray into Americana, with an expansion of its sound due to the presence of Heather “Lil’ Mama” Hardy’s violin on most tracks.

Tying it together is the decidedly non-Tex Mex/non-polka accordion of singer-songwriter Mackender, who favors basic North American folk and, occasionally, Middle Eastern and klezmer idioms.

Six of the album’s tracks are instrumental, including “Chestnut Oak” (featuring banjo); “Tumacacori” (vibes and lap steel); and “High Speed Yard Sale” (tuba).

Highlights among the album’s eight vocal numbers are the country-and-Cajun “Hesitation Bridge”; the incredibly witty title track; the jump zydeco “Gonna Jump in a Hole”; the upbeat “Who’s to Say” (which would have been a perfect vehicle for the late Dan Hicks, with its Hot Licks-type chorus); and the hard-luck tale “Wore Out My Welcome.”

Tracks
1. Hesitation Bridge
2. Dreams Are Strange
3. The Chestnut Oak
4. Gonna Jump in a Hole
5. Mamie Eisenhower
6. Tumacacori
7. Who’s to Say
8. Moving On
9. The Red Maple
10. Wore Out My Welcome
11. Donna’s Song
12. Psychic Mary
13. Time Traveling
14. High Speed Yard Sale

Total time: 48:49

External links
artist’s website
Bandcamp
iTunes Store

Tags: americana, blues, country, folk, klezmer, zydeco

Jeff Plankenhorn

SoulSlide

Lounge Side

Singer, songwriter and guitarist Jeff Plankenhorn, aka Plank, plays “The Plank” — a self-designed, resonator-shaped,  full-bodied electric guitar played lap-steel style while standing up.

“The Plank” allows Plank to realize his dream of mixing sacred-steel influences such as the Campbell Brothers and Robert Randolph with the Dobro stylings of Jerry Douglas and Josh Graves.

“SoulSlide” is his fourth album and third studio effort. Plank has played for Ray Wylie Hubbard, Willis Alan Ramsey, Slaid Cleaves and Joe Ely, among others. Before moving to Austin at Hubbard’s urging, he spent a year in Nashville learning to play Dobro, a skill put to great use here playing The Plank — which, not being a resonator, makes this latest release a bonanza of wonderfully wicked slide workouts.

Helping out are Brannen Temple on drums and Yoggie Musgrove on bass (the former rhythm section of late Texas guitar legend Stephen Bruton’s old trio), and guitar/keyboard player Dave Scher (not to be confused with Farmer Dave Scher of Beachwood Sparks). Making special appearances are singers Malford Milligan and Ruthie Foster, and former Fastball singer and guitarist Miles Zuniga (who co-wrote several of the songs with Plank, and contributes guitar and background vocals).

Showstoppers include Sam and Dave’s “You Got Me Hummin’ “; “Like Flowers,” a Plankenhorn original inspired by a line from the Charles Bukowski poem “People as Flowers”; the piano-guitar instrumental “Kansas City Nocturne”; “Vagabond Moonlight,” co-written by Plankenhorn, Zuniga and Brett Dennen; a never-released Ramsay cut, “Mockingbird Blues”; and Percy Sledge’s “Walking in the Sun.”

Tracks
1. Lose My Mind
2. You Got Me Hummin’ (feat. Malford Milligan)
3. Trouble Find Me
4. Like Flowers (feat. Ruthie Foster)
5. Dirty Floor
6. Kansas City Nocturne
7. Born to Win
8. Vagabond Moonlight (feat. The Resentments)
9. Mockingbird Blues
10. Headstrong
11. Live Today (feat. The Resentments)
12. Walking in the Sun

Total time: 43:48

External links
artist’s website
amazon.com
iTunes Store

Tags: blues, rock, soul