Reviews

Jumpin' Hot Gigs  •  International Events

Reviews by Maurice Hope - pics CJ Holley ...unless stated

KIMMIE RHODES + CURTIS ELLER. APRIL 08

Jumpin’ Hot Club @ The Cluny, Kimmie Rhodes and Curtis Eller
It had been such a long while since I’d seen Kimmie Rhodes, the last time was way back in 1989 at the Newcastle Playhouse, where Texan Rhodes, her band with Wes McGee, David Zettner and her husband, bassist Joe Gracey entertained us one Sunday lunchtime.
Much water has washed under the bridge since then, not least being how much Kimmie has continued to develop as a recording artist and so we found out at the Cluny — on stage, much praise too, should also go to her son, Gabe Rhodes who is undoubtedly one of the best around, playing acoustic lead guitar and slide he elevated her performance a good few notches. Before the show I had more than a few reservations regarding her status in the
department and how despite all her early promise she remains on indie labels.
Yet, as her songs and the show progressed the quality of her songwriting became more and more evident and, with her singing within any limitations of her vocal range by the end not only could she do no wrong with the converted [and there were many] but the doubters too.

This came after a musician, and crazy as a loon entertainer from New York, banjo extrovert Curtis Eller had worn the audience down to a stand still, through his lightening fast paced set. For apart from playing his banjo as he stood and not sat on his stool, he literally threw himself, into his performance. His legs going one way and his head the other, he leaped around [and off] the stage, did the splits in mid-air and bounced off the walls and ceiling. Wacky, but most talented, coupled with his Buster Keaton looks and songs telling of Richard Nixon, Jack Ruby, John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln and though he did not include her in his set, but was repeatedly requested to Amerlia Earhardt. With his eyes flashing and banjo thumping out folk blues Eller is like someone rushing for the bus, and though never catching it but having fun trying. Cult hero, maybe, but he is also a fine writer. Whatever you are doing the next time be sure to catch this amazing, banjo playing, yodelling cum vaudeville performer and if unable, check out his new album Wirewalkers & Assasins.

It was going to take something special for the evening not to die when Curtis vacated the stage. Could Kimmie, Gracey and Gabe match the madcap world of Eller and produce the goods, the answer being yes.!! Working non-stop you had Gabe, alternating from acoustic to slide as he aided the imagery of Kimmie and when needed, he contributed smart vocal harmonies. Having written a host of material over the last 30 years Rhodes had a great many to call upon, both those with Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris connections and like many true Texans of her genre there was room to pay homage to the late Townes Van Zandt. Something she did, admirably. First through a version of If I Needed You and then later in her performance White Freight Liner Blues, where with Gabe in splendid form — it was one of the better versions I have heard. But, it was her own songs God’s Acre, Bells Of Joy and old favourites I Just Drove By [that she claimed took seven years to write] and Just One Love that found a place closest to the heart of the majority of her audience who understandably were reluctant to see her vacate the stage — and, despite playing 35 dates in a row Rhodes was likewise minded.
Maurice Hope

A Very Special evening with Billy Joe Shaver + Emily Barker

J" HOT CLUB @ LITTLE THEATRE GATESHEAD- April 08

American singer-songwriter Billy Joe Shaver alongside support act, Australian-born Emily Barker were making their respective return appearances for the Jumpin’ Hot Club, but this time at Gateshead’s rather novel, Little Theatre venue. Although Shaver, who’s personal life has been to say the least, colourful, may be in his 69th year there is nothing pedestrian about his stage performances, as he draws on his years both as a songwriter and before that growing up and among other things, walking a railroad track late at night after seeing Hank Williams as a child.

Being brought up in hard, poor times has made the lean built Shaver, dressed in his usual denim every bit as hard as his ancestors who settled America; the mid-west, Appalachia and Texas —his home state.
One of the founder fathers of country music’s 1970s Outlaw era, Shaver’s songs though best known to the masses through the versions recorded by Waylon
Jennings, Johnny Cash, Bobby Bare, Patty Loveless and John Anderson among
others, but there is no substitute for hearing the man that wrote them and for
him to talk about how they came into being.
Often as not it as is the case with some of his best work they were inspired
from a falling out with his late three-times over wife, Brenda or as has more
recently become the case his son, Eddy Shaver. An immensely talented guitar
slinger who succumbed to the temptation of drugs, and paid the ultimate price,
hence Billy Joe’s later songs often contain some religious content or coloured
with a slice or two of old fashioned philosophy.
Unlike most acts, Billy Joe doesn’t give the impression he is coming through
with a carefully copied script, but as his rugged face breaks a smile while
recollecting some event he gives much of himself. Unique to those present and
with him handing out souvenirs [during his performance] and signing covers of
cds, LPs by the score not many will forget the night Billy Joe Shaver, supported
by young band leader, acoustic picker Jeremy Woodall and Dublin lap-slide
guitarist Niall Lawlor threw caution to the wind and crossed the Tyne to play
one of the best little venues around.
With big favourites Georgia On A Fast Train, the feisty Black Rose, his cowboy
song Ride Me Down Easy and the song he wrote primarily about Willie Nelson and
himself, Willy The Wandering Gypsy plus Old Chunk Of Coal were joined by the
likes of Try, Try And Try Again and on showing his religious tendencies You
Can’t Beat Jesus Christ [When Fallen Angels Fly likewise figured among the batch
of this nature, but I feel spoilt by his over dramatic display — though, as ever
it was straight from the heart]. Billy Joe sent everyone away happy, some having
travelled considerable distances to witness one of the music’s finest ever
songwriters. If time had permitted he could have done another hour and few, if
any would have vacated their seat.

Opening act Emily Barker, who supporting herself on guitar and harmonica, did enough to suggest she will progress in the world of folk music (without breaking into anything wider).
For while her well-crafted songs and careful playing bound together, her songs were in tidy bundles, not least her song Blackbird, where a greater freedom in her playing was obtained as at any other time. Not far behind was Fields Of June
(that she recorded as a duet with Steve Adams on her album Photos, Fire Fables).
and a noteworthy song called, Disappear? Her music flowed at a pleasing tempo
to suggest if with her band, Red Clay Halo then we would have enjoyed a far more
varied selection of work. Maurice Hope

Kris Delmhorst + Jack Harris - J'Hot Club March 28th 08

Kris Delmhorst, Jumpin’ Hot Club@The Cluny, 28/03/08
North American singer-songwriter Kris Delmhorst was backed by fellow Signature Sounds recording act, guitarist Dennis Crommett who has an album out on Rounder, "The Evening Sorrow" and is a member of "Winterpills". Boasting an unhurried, spare style his electric guitar playing complete with a little slide he astutely filled in any voids that appeared behind Delmhorst’s acoustic guitar, plus, on a few rare occasions he even stretched out a little. On a night when the fare offered was for quite listening, and the music understated Delmhorst’s carefully penned lyrics wove lasting images.
Kris showcased her new and (at the time) not officially released album Shotgun Singer, and to a lesser degree a six-track mini CD entitled Horses Swimmin’; a term her husband, also signed to Signature Sounds Jeffery Foucault likens her finger-picking guitar style to.
Whatever, Kris Delmhorst showed enough to keep the audience who though never getting carried away and getting into Friday night celebratory mod were appreciative of her artful and carefully crafted songs. Many seeing her spin a good tale. Her sharing of the couples opening night in Holland, where not only did the sound system fail, resulting in an intimate evening of non amplified music but the roof sprung a leak and to top it off she became locked in the toilet for 40 minutes!
Thinking about it, she could if she had a pen handy have written a song or poem on the wall and the venue kept it for prosperity. However, to my knowledge she escaped unscathed at the Cluny after delivering among others [solo] an excellent version of Anybody’s Heaven from Horses Swimmin’. Made up of songs that did not make it onto the album it displayed a greater freedom than most songs she did on the night and if it were anything to go by then I would have no hesitation on recommending you check it out. A sprinkling of material from her album inspired and culled from the work of old poets, Strange Conversation that featured Walt Whitman’s Light Of The Water and Robert Herrick’s sharp and snappy Water Water [the highlight of her set] and from Songs For A Hurricane — the song, Hurricane.
Her emotion tinged vocals, the ache and impassioned tones coupled with the fact the songs have over the years found their own level made the older ones for me the most memorable, but if Shotgun Singer her fourth album isn’t better than the previous one then a trend will have been broken. Since up to now each recording has been better than the last.
Staying with the new album, Birds Of Belfast highlighted by some slide and the wistful Midnight Ringer — that boasts the line from which the album’s title hails couple with the smouldering Come Home and jazzy toned Invisible Choir from her albums most previous to Shotgun Singer and new song To The Wire showed Kris in possibly the best light.

This coming about after a young man from Wales, Jack Harris had made a good account of himself, where, on playing folk blues aided by his own acoustic guitar and a bevy of self-penned songs he warmed the heart of many and is already well set to be around for a long time to come.
Possessing a friendly and relaxed stage presence and boasting influences of not only finger-picking great Mississippi John Hurt but Kelly Joe Phelps, with his song Oast Houses (and title track of his latest album) and from poet Sylvia Platt, a lullaby to complement a song inspired and in part taken from a children’s book, Where Does The Brown Bear Go.
Maurice Hope

Carolina Chocolate Drops + Caroline Mary

Jumpin Hot Club @ The Cluny, 7th March, 08

‘Not many performers hit their head on the ceiling speakers while doing a spot of buck dancing, but the band’s female member Rhiannon Giddens did just that, such her enthusiasm to entertain which all three conveyed in spades ’After an opening set from local lady Caroline Mary where the audience enjoyed their first sample of banjo playing, — she set up the evening nicely for the dynamic trio. Rarely, if ever ( the Hot Club Of Cowtown possibly the closest ), have I experienced a band that from the very first note were so hell bent on both having a good time and ensuring the audience were too. As they joined them on a musical journey that not only breezed through the hills of the Carolinas, but New Orleans’ jazz quarters, the music rooms of Ireland as they jumped onboard at Ouseburn Central (where, I hasten to add that in the Hot Club’s usual ticket master’s absence his replacement kept the passengers moving freely). Display a genuine love and joy on being on stage, performing in front of a hugely appreciative and near full venue the Afro-American String Band Carolina Chocolate Drops related to every one in the audience as an electric current shot out from the stage.

Not your standard American 110 volts, either but more like 440 volts such the
dynamic playing, as energy was finely tempered with finesse by all three acts.
Non more apt to do so than Rhiannon — where, with a permanent smile on her face
she sang, played banjo, fiddle (excelling on them all] and of course when she
danced, barefoot the place erupted. Although only one encore was forthcoming
they could be still playing now and it would not only be to those propped at the
bar but a great many more — and still craving for more.
With their new album, Heritage [presently available only in Europe] hot off the
shelf the trio as you would anticipate utilised the evening to showcase their
excellent 16-track affair. Only on stage there is something extra special
present, not least being their rapport with the audience who needed no
encouragement to assist on vocals, clapping and foot stomping.
Showing a great understanding and thirst for old-timey music, it’s history and
where and how black musicians figure in there — and, best of all Giddens, Justin
Robinson [fiddle, jug, banjo] and Dom Flemons [resophonic guitar — that he also
twirled and juggled with in amazing fashion, banjo, jug, percussion and rural
throat singing) have given the music the shot in the arm.

To the degree people just can’t resist giving it a try, some given the
opportunity and a little coercing may even try and dance like Giddens ( who, to
add to her list of attributes also played some smart harmonica-old time).
Such the feel good ambiance wafted from the stage, where, akin to escapees from
the plantation farm [or maybe the chain gangs] they displayed a joy of free
abandon as they tendered fiddle tunes — many learnt from old-time fiddler Joe
Thompson, now aged 89 who has been playing with them. Traces of the Georgia Sea
Island singers (be sure to check out the great Bessie Jones) were also prominent
as Giddens delivered a cappella delight Po’ Lazarus, a stunning version where,
like with the fiddle / banjo driven Georgia Buck, Real Old Mountain Dew — a tune
that like with the evening, you did not want to end.
And, what about their version of Blue Cantrell’s Hit ‘Em Up Style, it just does
not get any better — breath taking, and in this world of instant this and that
the Chocolate Drops came though with instant entertainment. From the moment they
picked up their instruments the meter pointer swung ’round to register full
power and never moved, and to be able to do that you have to be a something
special.

Maurice Hope

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SAM BAKER - JUMPIN HOT CLUB 22nd Anniversary show

The Cluny, Newcastle upon Tyne

It’s not often that Rock’n’Reel’s editor enthuses about the merits of an American singer-songwriter so when Sean recently bent my ear about Sam Baker’s latest CD, Pretty World, I was somewhat intrigued. Sufficiently so, in fact, to head along to the excellent Jumpin’ Hot Club a couple of weeks later in order to see what all the fuss was about. The CD had dropped through my letterbox the morning of the gig and, on first listen, I was a little underwhelmed, to be perfectly honest. My mind was on other things, of course, like next issue’s Rock’n’Reel and how much of it there remained to do.

That night, however, it was a different story. Baker provided a memorable evening’s music. Liberally sprinkled with Texan charm yet with a poignancy that was so profound as to be tangible, Baker’s performance was powerful and affecting. The survivor of a terrorist’s bomb in Peru, in 1986, that wrecked the train carriage he was in and robbed fellow passengers of their lives, it would be fair to say that Baker’s life has never been the same since. Seriously injured, the experience informs his performance in ways visible – he now plays guitar left-handed – and communicated – as he tells of the young boy who shared that fateful journey and who wasn’t quite so ‘lucky’ as Baker (himself critically ill for long enough); as he proceeds to sing ‘Broken Fingers’, there’s a rawness and a welling of emotion that, from my vantage point in the audience, is humbling.

The set is lightened by Baker’s musings on British culture (our newspapers seemed to tickle him, certainly) and evident delight at finding an audience for his art, for which he graciously acknowledges the part played by Bob Harris. But it’s his beautifully observed and exquisitely rendered observations on the human condition – he has a poet’s eye and way with words, delivered in a style more spoken than sung – that we carry away with us into the night.

Dave White

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BOSS SOUNDS FESTIVAL

NewcastleGateshead. The festival promoted by Newcastle's Jumpin' Hot Club was awarded the Journal Culture Award last year . Last years event featured Jimmy Cliff, Lee Perry etc , This years show continued the tradition of bringing only true legends of Jamaican music to the event. .

The legendary king of ska, Prince Buster flew over to the festival to top the Sunday evening bill alongside Dennis Alcapone , Dave "Double Barrell" Barker, & Winston Reedy. Massive Attack cohort, the legendary reggae singer Horace Andy was a late welcome addition to the bill. In fact there singer Daddy G was the mc for the whole weekend too.

Headline for Saturday was the cool ruler, Gregory Issacs, a chart topper with "Night Nurse" he's known as one of the crowned kings of reggae music. Isaacs rarely performs these days so it was a real scoop that he agreed to come. Other legends who performed were John Holt who sang the original version of "Tide Is High"and his classic's , "Stick by Me" and "Help Me Make it throughthe Night" . Ernest Ranglin the original guitarist in the most legendary Skatilites & Ken Boothe another reggae superstar who rode the charts in the '70s with "Everything I Own" and finally Max Romeo the great roots reggae star , who's 1976 release "War Inna Babylon" was hailed by the rock press as an alltime classic reggae album.

The highly ratedTrojan Sound System also put in an appearance at this years show after they stormed last years event. People travelled from Greece, Spain, France, Germany and Scandanavia as well as across the UK making NewcastleGateshead the centre for reggae music over the course of the weekend.

We have myspace link for the latest Boss Sounds news www.myspace.com/bosssoundsfestival

Summer “Jumpin Hot Club” Outdoor Stage
- Americana Weekender 2007

Bill Kirchen @ Americana Festival

The Americana Weekender, in its 2nd year, is a two day outdoor music festival staged just outside SageGateshead (on their parlour!) by our good selves Jumpin Hot Club. Sage also provides some mighty shows inside their complex from Thursday – Monday evening. Glen Campbell, Isobel Campbell/Mark Lanegan, Nanci Griffiths, Blind Boys Alabama, Seasick Steve, Laura Veirs, Kris Kristofferson & the glorious Ricky Skaggs & KentuckyThunder all lined up this year. With a film –acoustic music lounge too, its quite a Newcastle/Gateshead summer event & Sage deserve credit for staging such an affair.
We were extremely lucky with the weather again, even a few drops of rain didn’t spoil the Richmond Fontaine crowd, so with camera's to the ready here’s a pictorial review of our Jumpin Hot stage (overlooking the quayside/bridges, quite the perfect setting) from our resident picture takers Mr Charles Holley & Mel Deighton.

John Lewis & His Rock N Roll Trio.
High-energy mix of hot rockabilly, swinging country-blues & a rolling Woody Guthrie tune that almost defined Americana music. A fine start to the day - me thought.
JC & Angelina Grimshaw
Much loved dazzling self-penned acoustic music from Isle Of Wright siblings. Virtuoso guitar picking from JC & stunning classic blues style vocals from Angelina…quite wonderful.
Jackie Leven
He turned up the week before, getting his dates mixed up but was welcomed back by everyone. Big fella with big sound on a big stage
John Miller & His Country Casuals
Best honky tonk singer in the UK & his countrypolitans make the perfect noise for our weekender. If he played in Texas he’d be a two stepping cowboy king.
Holly Golightly & The Brokeoofs
If fact just Holly & her American guitar chum & an impressive dark & dirty country noir sound. Very hypnotic & another shipcote highlight.
Richmond Fontaine
It rained but nobody cared. A lilting steel, the trumpet soaring, the desert country twang-rock of the rhythm section & leader Willy Vlautins melancholy
Songs made for a fine finale to our first day. Portland Oregon rocks !

The Endrick Bros
These young guys are always good & I fear undervalued. Great harmonies & great tunes with a summery Jayhawks feel.
Southern Tenant Folk Union
Nice laid back bluegrass/old time music for a Sunday afternoon. We got the picnic out.
Shawn Lee & Soul Visa
Light raincoats were provided while Shawn Lee & chums played. And it drizzled right through their soulful set. He reminded me very much of Paul Weller..
Edgar Jones & The Jones
What a remarkable voice. Backed by Candi Payne’s band their groovy R&B, soul & swing was simply amazing. Edgar had the ‘liver bird’ wit too.
Bill Kirchen & Too Much Fun
He put 40 different guitar styles into his closing medley. I’ve never seen anything like it. Pure class. A fella next to me saw him in 1973 at The City Hall. We’ll not wait too long to get him over again.
Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike
What a lively lass Valerie is. All over the stage & indeed into the crowd (how did she jump off?) displaying her nimble footwork to the masses. Top notch Bluegrass music of course too & a grand finale to our weekend.

See You next year...........