Darrell Scott - on the fringe of Nashville

Darrell Scott should be a lot more famous.

I found out about Darrell Scott while I was wandering though my favourite download site emusic.com. I came upon his collaboration with Tim O'brien - a cd called Real Time. It includes a version of Long Time Gone which, I learned, Scott wrote and was a big hit for the Dixie Chicks. Great tune - great songwriter.

Darrell Scott is a powerful musical spirit. A Grammy-nominated artist, an award-winning songwriter, and a first-call session musician, living and working (literally and figuratively) on the fringes of Nashville’s Music Row, Scott occupies his own unique half-acre in this city’s crowded musical landscape. In a town that’s got pigeonholing down to an art, Darrell Scott stands out as a refreshingly mischievous artist.
-- his website bio.

James Hunter - R'n'B 'n' Soul

James Hunter should be a lot more famous.

"James is one of the best voices, and best kept secrets, in British R'n'B and Soul."

That's a quote from Van Morrison.

When it comes to endorsements, it doesn't get much better than that.

The first time I heard James Hunter on the radio, I thought it was a great old Sam Cook song from the '60s. I was wrong. James Hunter's music somehow manages to walk the line between sounding fresh and nostalgic at the same time.

He has two CDs available People Gonna Talk which is on Rounder records and ....Believe What I Say which is on Hepcat, which, by the way describes Mr. Hunter to a T.

Eve Goldberg - folk, country, blues and swing

Eve Goldberg should be a lot more famous.

She is a wonderful singer song-writer, a hell of a guitar player and a very nice person indeed.

Imagine a kitchen party where Mother Maybelle Carter, Ella Fitzgerald, Mississippi John Hurt, Bessie Smith, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, and Patsy Cline show up, and you begin to get a sense of what it feels like inside Eve's head. She has performed her trademark mixture of folk, blues, country, bluegrass, old time, and jazz in venues ranging from small house concerts to the prestigious Kennedy Center in Washington DC since 1990.

She has three recordings out including a new one called A Kinder Season .. with a very cool picture of a pomegranate on the cover.

Check it out at Borealis music.

Eliza Gilkyson - gifted singer song-writer

Eliza Gilkyson should be a lot more famous.

One of Eliza's songs jumped out at me from my radio last summer while I was listening to CKUA radio - a public radio station in Alberta, Canada.

Her heartfelt lyrics and wonderful yet world weary voice grabbed my attention and I was hooked. Her name on last year's Canmore Folk Festival program drew me there. I was blown away by her appearance at the side stage, on the main stage and again at this year's Calgary Folk Fest. I had a chance to meet her - very cool!

One of her CDs on Red House Records was nominated for a Grammy but that won't stop me from suggesting she deserves to be even more famous.

No Depression magazine says she's "An exquisite weaver of story-songs that strike at the heart of personal experience . . ."

I couldn't say it better myself.

Robbie Fulks - Country music that's a bit twisted

Robbie Fulks should be a lot more famous.

Robbie is the real deal. He writes the most amazing country songs you'll ever hear. Hurtin' songs, love songs, songs about New York Jews who are country music snobs as well as some of the funniest, weirdest down right knee slappin'-est tunes you'll ever hear. On top of that, he's a great guitar player.

When you listen to one of his records and then compare it to most of the crap they are playing on country music radio and tv - you will learn one very important lesson.

Country music should kiss Robbie Fulks' feet.

Buy a Robbie Fulks CD and go see him in concert.

Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir - ragged edgy folk/blues

The Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir should be a lot more famous.

They play a ferocious combination of traditional blues, Appalachian folk, and ragged gospel.

They sound like they pray at the alter of the great Tom Waits, and as far as I'm concerned that's not just a good thing, that's a great thing. They also sound like another band I like (that should be a lot more famous) The Tarbox Ramblers - only unplugged.

The Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir has been playing around Western Canada for some time. I heard them live for the first time at a free lunch hour CBC concert just last week. There was only one problem with the show. Their music is best heard at night. It just is.

Their first album St. Hubert is very good. I haven't heard their newest one yet - Fighting and Onions. When I do I'll write you a little review. Or, if you like, you can post one right here.

As with most of the artists I recommend on my blog, you can buy their music at their website.

They also have a blog where you can hear some of their music .

Harris Eisenstadt - crashing musical boundaries

Harris Eisenstadt should be a lot more famous.

And, indeed, he's headed in that direction.

Harris was born in Toronto and now splits his time between L.A. and New York but his real home is behind a drum kit of some description.

His love is jazz - mostly improvisational. He has appeared on more than 30 recordings and recorded and performed with Connie Bauer, Big Black, Rob Brown, John Butcher, Les Claypool, Nels Cline, Lol Coxhill, Mark Dresser, Vinny Golia, Graham Haynes, Tristan Honsiger, Wayne Horvitz, Peter Kowald, Yusef Lateef, Bennie Maupin, Butch Morris, James Newton, Sam Rivers, ROVA Saxophone Quartet, Adam Rudolph, Paul Rutherford, Wadada Leo Smith, Steve Swell, and Bernie Worrell.

The Georgia Strait, (Vancouver entertainment weekly) describes his playing this way -

"(Eisenstadt) does what all great jazz percusssionists do... (he) leads by pushing and prodding the soloists with subtle yet propulsive bursts of rhythmic colour."

Here's a review of one of his early recordings.

"Harris Eisenstadt delivers a set of impressive post-bop improvisation on Last Minute of Play in this Period. Five of the original tunes feature the crack ensemble interplay of a quartet led by the drummer and one piece features the drummer in a spontaneous trio with Vinny Golia and Wadada Leo Smith. The quartet pieces are all driven by a propulsive free groove. The drummer knows how to propel the music while keeping a flexible sense of time that floats across the pulse. Eisenstadt is worth keeping an eye out for."

- Michael Rosenstein, Cadence Magazine

Jazz lovers, drum lovers, and lovers of improv music that crashes all boundaries should definately check out Harris Eisenstadt. His recordings are available through his website.

Frank Rackow - klezjazz

Frank Rackow should be a lot more famous.



His two bands Vibre' and KlezMerovitz should also be a lot more famous.

Frank plays sax and clarinet. A Concordia University alumnus and former student of Dave Clark and Dave Turner, he's a product of the Montreal jazz scene. Frank played in a number of jazz groups there as well as the cult ska-funk band A Dream I Had. He now lives in Calgary.

Frank Rackow is part of a Calgary based quartette Vibre' led by vetran vibraphonist Arnold Faber.

They recently played one of the premier Western Canadian jazz clubs - The Yardbird Suite in Edmonton. Here's what their website says about Vibre'.

Vibre are ready to bring the sound of the Vibes back into contemporary jazz culture with a sound that honors the soft coolness of Vibes-based groups like the Modern Jazz Quartet and Gary Burton while settling in comfortably along side the current usage of the instrument in settings such as Dave Holland's recent group.

They have a great album called Blue Comedy. You can order it here.

Frank's other musical home is a little more raucus. He's plays in the klezmer band KlezMerovitz led by Allan Merovitz, former lead singer with the Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band.

Klezmer in Calgary?

Sure the city is famous for its Stampede and that's probably why KlezMerovitz mixes a little yah-hoo with the Yiddish.

The group has a great self titled CD and there's one tune that does, indeed, have a little c&w flavour to it. (Klezmer traditionalists shouldn't be scared away. It's only one.) Check out the KlezMerovitz website for the CD or click on the cover below.