THE VAUDEVILLIAN - BRINGING SATAN DOWN
2016 - Busted Flat Records
This is a real throwback to the far off heyday of Vaudeville! There is often a light humorous aspect to the performances on this disc, as you might expect from anything 'Vaudevillian,' but it is sometimes intermingled with a deep darkness. All in all this talented outfit have created a somewhat mysterious air on this tremendous collection of fourteen songs, some traditional, some written in the 1920s and 30s and others from the pen of The Vaudevillian, Brendan J. Stephens.
This is Brendan's sixth album on which he uses the 'Vaudevillian' persona although on earlier recordings the line up fluctuated wildly, but he now seems to have collected another couple of like minded souls and become a trio, at least for this album. They live in Hamilton, Ontario but have crisscrossed the whole of the American continent playing live in a huge variety of locations and always to enthusiastic crowds who are spell bound by the power and the huge entertainment values of their performances.
The lineup is, Brendan J. Stephens (a.k.a Jitterbug James) on vocals, guitar, whistling and 'carzoobamaphone,' (don't ask me!) Norah Spades, vocals, washboard and kazoo and Piedmont Johnson on vocals and upright bass. There was some additional 'barrel house' piano on five tracks, courtesy of Dan Edmonds. Just listen to the recording and you will hear people who are completely tuned in to the music they are playing and fairly obviously having a great time doing so. Whilst the music is a throwback to a century or so ago they are fairly obviously totally committed to the sounds of those times and are far more than just a caricature of what was going on back then. Their own originals blend beautifully with the traditional songs that come from what was then termed 'race music' and 'hillbilly' music although in effect the colour of the skin of the performer was the only thing that defined those terms rather than the songs themselves that could be said to be racially integrated!
Not being an expert on 'Vaudeville' I can't say if the traditional songs would have been performed in that situation but the Vaudevillian persona certainly fits beautifully on this album, with its virtual resurrection of the entertainment values of those far off days. Of course if you have a vocal style like Brendan's you are not going to croon easy listening songs! His voice is raw and incredibly expressive, at times nasally, but could have been made for this music as could the other two members with Norah having more of a profile than Piedmont Johnson. Of the fourteen songs on 'Bringing Satan down,' six were written by Brendan J. Stephens and the remainder were by a variety of 'old time' artists with four being traditional, although very few listeners will be able to tell which is which without recourse to the sleeve notes.
The album opens with barrelhouse piano and a little washboard percussion on Broom shooter a Stephens original, with his vocal raw, evocative and entertaining and Norah countering his raw masculine sound with her light femininity and both Norah and Piedmont Johnsons harmonies. It is a song that has a strong air of ramshackleness in its arrangement but as is often the case, this can't be achieved without a huge amount of talent, something this band has an abundance of. Sweet honey thighs is a speedy bluesy song that could easily have been recorded by many of the old string bands were it not for the fact that the song is a Stephens's original. His guitar is again supported by the bass and washboard with occasional asides and vocal comments from Norah, something that crops up on many of the songs giving the recording a powerful 'Vaudevillian' atmosphere. There is a very slow start, with just guitar and Brendan and Norahs conversational vocals before Brendans raw driving lead takes over on another Stephens original. At times his voice is all over the place but in a way that is essential to the songs entertaining nature. In many ways it is probably a classic vaudevillian song that has strong elements of blues, hillbilly and slightly tongue in cheek drama with kazoo coming in later, always supported by the thudding bass, again making this a sparse song with a lot going on! Brendan is again on lead vocal supported by Norahs harmonies on Goin' to German, with bass and washboard alongside the piano lead on another hugely entertaining song. It never ceases to amaze me how extraordinary artists such as these are able to play an old musical strain with so much natural authenticity that, recording quality apart, is stylistically and musically indistinguishable from the original artists despite having blended new compositions with the old borrowed one. It is not just a 'copy cat' situation either, but in this case, a trio putting their own unique modern stamp on an old style whilst staying true to the original atmosphere which just seems to come completely naturally to them. There is a kazoo and piano intro, with numerous effects (possibly from the carzoobamaphone) and Brendans raw vocal aided by the washboard on a complete reworking of He's in the jailhouse now, a classic song and a treatment that Jimmie Rodgers would never have come up with, but one that I'm sure he would have enjoyed. I can imagine this manic (and often maniacal!) version going down well on the old 'medicine show' circuit as well as vaudeville! Finally, there is a kazoo and guitar intro with the ubiquitous bass and another excellent raw and evocative vocal from Brendan on Spidernest blues another old classic that could have been recorded on the same day as the Memphis Jug Bands original. It is yet another hugely entertaining song with the various 'effects' adding a strong comedic element.
Playing this rich, diverse music comes as naturally to The Vaudevillian as breathing, as a consequence of which the trio's power and authenticity is beyond doubt. If ever a band was born out of time it has to be The Vaudevillian, something we who live in the twenty first century should be grateful for. Now go online and buy this tremendous album, followed by their back catalogue and join me in looking forward to their next!
http://bustedflatrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-vaudevillian-bringing-satan-down
https://www.facebook.com/thevaudevillianmusic/?fref=ts
This is a real throwback to the far off heyday of Vaudeville! There is often a light humorous aspect to the performances on this disc, as you might expect from anything 'Vaudevillian,' but it is sometimes intermingled with a deep darkness. All in all this talented outfit have created a somewhat mysterious air on this tremendous collection of fourteen songs, some traditional, some written in the 1920s and 30s and others from the pen of The Vaudevillian, Brendan J. Stephens.
This is Brendan's sixth album on which he uses the 'Vaudevillian' persona although on earlier recordings the line up fluctuated wildly, but he now seems to have collected another couple of like minded souls and become a trio, at least for this album. They live in Hamilton, Ontario but have crisscrossed the whole of the American continent playing live in a huge variety of locations and always to enthusiastic crowds who are spell bound by the power and the huge entertainment values of their performances.
The lineup is, Brendan J. Stephens (a.k.a Jitterbug James) on vocals, guitar, whistling and 'carzoobamaphone,' (don't ask me!) Norah Spades, vocals, washboard and kazoo and Piedmont Johnson on vocals and upright bass. There was some additional 'barrel house' piano on five tracks, courtesy of Dan Edmonds. Just listen to the recording and you will hear people who are completely tuned in to the music they are playing and fairly obviously having a great time doing so. Whilst the music is a throwback to a century or so ago they are fairly obviously totally committed to the sounds of those times and are far more than just a caricature of what was going on back then. Their own originals blend beautifully with the traditional songs that come from what was then termed 'race music' and 'hillbilly' music although in effect the colour of the skin of the performer was the only thing that defined those terms rather than the songs themselves that could be said to be racially integrated!
Not being an expert on 'Vaudeville' I can't say if the traditional songs would have been performed in that situation but the Vaudevillian persona certainly fits beautifully on this album, with its virtual resurrection of the entertainment values of those far off days. Of course if you have a vocal style like Brendan's you are not going to croon easy listening songs! His voice is raw and incredibly expressive, at times nasally, but could have been made for this music as could the other two members with Norah having more of a profile than Piedmont Johnson. Of the fourteen songs on 'Bringing Satan down,' six were written by Brendan J. Stephens and the remainder were by a variety of 'old time' artists with four being traditional, although very few listeners will be able to tell which is which without recourse to the sleeve notes.
The album opens with barrelhouse piano and a little washboard percussion on Broom shooter a Stephens original, with his vocal raw, evocative and entertaining and Norah countering his raw masculine sound with her light femininity and both Norah and Piedmont Johnsons harmonies. It is a song that has a strong air of ramshackleness in its arrangement but as is often the case, this can't be achieved without a huge amount of talent, something this band has an abundance of. Sweet honey thighs is a speedy bluesy song that could easily have been recorded by many of the old string bands were it not for the fact that the song is a Stephens's original. His guitar is again supported by the bass and washboard with occasional asides and vocal comments from Norah, something that crops up on many of the songs giving the recording a powerful 'Vaudevillian' atmosphere. There is a very slow start, with just guitar and Brendan and Norahs conversational vocals before Brendans raw driving lead takes over on another Stephens original. At times his voice is all over the place but in a way that is essential to the songs entertaining nature. In many ways it is probably a classic vaudevillian song that has strong elements of blues, hillbilly and slightly tongue in cheek drama with kazoo coming in later, always supported by the thudding bass, again making this a sparse song with a lot going on! Brendan is again on lead vocal supported by Norahs harmonies on Goin' to German, with bass and washboard alongside the piano lead on another hugely entertaining song. It never ceases to amaze me how extraordinary artists such as these are able to play an old musical strain with so much natural authenticity that, recording quality apart, is stylistically and musically indistinguishable from the original artists despite having blended new compositions with the old borrowed one. It is not just a 'copy cat' situation either, but in this case, a trio putting their own unique modern stamp on an old style whilst staying true to the original atmosphere which just seems to come completely naturally to them. There is a kazoo and piano intro, with numerous effects (possibly from the carzoobamaphone) and Brendans raw vocal aided by the washboard on a complete reworking of He's in the jailhouse now, a classic song and a treatment that Jimmie Rodgers would never have come up with, but one that I'm sure he would have enjoyed. I can imagine this manic (and often maniacal!) version going down well on the old 'medicine show' circuit as well as vaudeville! Finally, there is a kazoo and guitar intro with the ubiquitous bass and another excellent raw and evocative vocal from Brendan on Spidernest blues another old classic that could have been recorded on the same day as the Memphis Jug Bands original. It is yet another hugely entertaining song with the various 'effects' adding a strong comedic element.
Playing this rich, diverse music comes as naturally to The Vaudevillian as breathing, as a consequence of which the trio's power and authenticity is beyond doubt. If ever a band was born out of time it has to be The Vaudevillian, something we who live in the twenty first century should be grateful for. Now go online and buy this tremendous album, followed by their back catalogue and join me in looking forward to their next!
http://bustedflatrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-vaudevillian-bringing-satan-down
https://www.facebook.com/thevaudevillianmusic/?fref=ts