Marquee performance

A day after the show at Raw Sugar, I went over to Ritual to see the legendary Lee Fields in action. If you're a fan of old-school soul and funk - as I am - Fields fits the bill and then some. Opening were local retro-soul purveyors Slim Moore & The Mar-Kays. The group, as you'll see, is essentially another permutation of The Souljazz Orchestra so you know they're dedicated to the style.

Some familiar faces in the horn section.



Ditto for singer "Mary Caruso" (who I last remember wearing a denim jumper at the Souljazz Project's Bluesfest performance back in 2007).



Mary is summoned to the microphone.



Caruso sings!



Phil Motion hits!



Thibeaux Toussaint keeps a close eye on the frets.



Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Slim Moore!



Slim action!



Conteplative action!



Singalong action! (Plus bassist Donovan Willis.)



More Slim!



Tambourine action!



Some final Slim.



Missed 'em? They perform next Thursday at the Mercury Lounge.

• Show reminder: My Shadow and Muffler Crunch tear it up at the Daily Grind; Sofistifucks, Police Funeral and Shackles rock David Hasslehouse; The Riot Police storm Zaphod's; The Hammerheads get funky at the Rainbow; The Mumbo Jumbo Voodoo Combo performs at Irene's; the Elmdale hosts The Wicked Mercy, Shannon Rose and The Thorns, and Suns of Stone and Beer Barons.

Steeped in soul

I'm a big fan of soul music, so when I heard Lee Fields & The Expressions were coming to town I naturally decided to go and check it out. I did hem and haw about it since I was working an early shift, but I figured getting up at 8 a.m. instead of noon didn't make the day that much longer ... Anyway, on to Fields, who was bringing his straight up sound to Ritual. Like Sharon Jones, his music comes directly out of the 1960s and 1970s and labels like Hi. Opening up were local crew Slim Moore & The Mar-kays.

Moore has a reggae background, while The Mar-Kays are another Souljazz Orchestra project. They did their set in a traditional way, with an introductory instrumental and a turn from backup singer Mary Caruso. They really dig Syl Johnson and covered Is It Because I'm Black? and Concrete Reservation, along with Mavin Gaye's What's Going On.


Slim Moore & The Mar-Kays at Ritual, May 4, 2012

Slim sings!


Slim Moore & The Mar-Kays at Ritual, May 4, 2012

Singalong action!


Slim Moore & The Mar-Kays at Ritual, May 4, 2012

Lee Fields took the stage in a pair a pair of aviator shades, black suit and what looked like a chartreuse waistcoat and tie (at least under the stage lights -  they do funny things to colour). Here's the man himself!


Lee Fields & The Expressions at Ritual, May 4, 2012

Singalong action! I recognize drummer Homer Steinweiss  from his time backing Sharon Jones, but the other Expressions are new to me.


Lee Fields & The Expressions at Ritual, May 4, 2012

"Put your hands in the air!"


Lee Fields & The Expressions at Ritual, May 4, 2012

A soul-stirring night!

• Show reminder: Eight and a Half and The Gallop perform at Zaphod Beeblebrox; The Reverend Horton Heat, The Real McKenzies and The Brains rock Ritual; The Hornettes bring the funk to Irene's; Loudlove rocks the Rainbow. The Elmdale hosts No Fly List, New Age Soldier and My Favourite Tragedy. Animal Confession, Gini Sigler and One More Me are at the Avant-Garde Bar.

Cottage industry

There I was wondering what I would be doing with my Monday evening when I noticed an e-mail in my inbox from Jon Bartlett of Kelp Records pointing out Chris Page was performing that evening at the Mercury Lounge - problem solved! The headliner for this show was Dutch funk musician Steye. What you may ask is a Dutch funk musician doing in Ottawa (what, you may also ask, is a funk musician doing in The Netherlands ...). As it happens, Dutch music producer Maarten Besseling created a musical foreign exchange dubbed In A Cabin With, with sends musicians to the far corners of the globe to collaborate with local musicians in recording an album. In this case Steye, Alvin Ronde, formerly of Zuco103, and producer Jesse Beuker were shipped off to Ottawa to enjoy our -30 C weather, skate on the Rideau Canal, blog a bit and head into the studio with Philippe Lafreniere and Zakari Frantz of The People Project and Souljazz Orchestra and select other folks. They're recording in Le Groupe Dance Lab's space in Arts Court, with everything rapping up today. This show was a chance to strut their stuff before the locals and show off what they've been working on.

First up, Chris Page. Chris previewed a few songs from his upcoming album on Kelp.


Chris Page, The Mercury Lounge, February 9, 2009

Jesse Dangerously looks a bit like a nutty English teacher (alternative job: Midwestern standup comedian) but lays down some amusing rhymes, one of which referenced both romantically troubled comic character Scott Pilgrim and being threated by seniors at a Buffy St. Marie show.


Jesse Dangerous, The Mercury Lounge, February 9, 2009

Before Steye took the stage he showed off some of his videos, which were pretty impressive considering he evidently did them on a shoestring budget. The one below featured someone smoking their own boogers. "I warn you, it's a bit disgusting," before letting it run.


'Bonehead' video, Mercury Lounge, February 9, 2009

He mentioned after taking the stage that he's a bit annoyed at discussing The Netherlands famously easy-going stand toward marijuana prohibition.


Steye, The Mercury Lounge, February 9, 2009

Here's a black and white wide-angle shot. Alvin Ronde, at left, is a hell of a guitarist, and his blistering solos drew some of the loudest audience whoops of the evening.


Alvin Ronde, Steye and Philippe Lafreniere, The Mercury Lounge, February 9, 2009

Kellylee Evans came up to sing some songs, including the People Project's People.


Kellylee Evans, Philippe Lafreniere, The Mercury Lounge, February 9, 2009

Jesse Beuker later kicked in some drumming, and the show finished off with Steye taking over the kit so Jesse Dangerously could rap to some live music. Steye and Jesse switched around for a bit - let's just say Steye's a better drummer than a rapper. It was quite a varied and successful evening, which was also being recorded for Dutch television.

Horning in

Friday, July 7 was my Afrobeat night. Apart from listening to a bit of Gary U.S. Bonds, it was nothing but sub-Saharan stomp, sax and sizzle for my eardrums (the rest of me was kept nicely chilled by the breeze off the Ottawa River). When I arrived at the River Stage Ottawa's own Souljazz Orchestra was just starting up. It's a good thing I finally got around to seeing them - they used to have a regular residency at Babylon just a few blocks from my abode and I never got around to catching them ... maybe when they return for a gig in October.

Since I saw cruelly neglected the brass in my teaser post, I'd better kick things off with a few pictures of the horn section: Ray Murray and Zakari Frantz.



Steve Patterson plays some biting sax.



Philippe Lafreniere got rhythm.



Pierre Chretien gets organized.



Marielle Rivard shakes some calabash.



I still haven't found out who their guitarist was - sorry! (Addendum: With help from poster Caitlin I've IDed him as Gabriel Bronfman, who plays in People Project with Philippe and Steve).



The audience amuses Marielle.



More sax!



The eyes have it.



Clapping action!



More Pierre!



More Marielle!



They're back in Ottawa for the Folk Festival Aug. 16 and Les Rythmes Tremblant Aug. 19.

• Show reminder: Dr. Wily and the Robot Masters bow out with some help from The Valveenus and Jesus Mullet and more at Mavericks Bar; Clock Strikes Music release their new CD with Tea For The Voyage and super-snappy Manotick popsters Hollerado play the Rainbow.

The descendants

I've learned my lesson; I skipped out on the MBNA Stage entirely on Day 3 of Bluesfest (okay, so I stopped by to snap a few pictures of Gary U.S. Bonds, but I didn't linger).



Actually, Gary and co. sounded pretty good working their way through Paul Rice's You Are My Sunshine (former Louisiana governor Jimmie Davis usually gets the credit, but it's now widely acknowledged he bought the tune from Rice). Regardless, the main stage has officially exhausted my patience - I'm not even sure I'll turn up for The White Stripes. Once again I went off to the River Stage. It was nice Thursday, but with the later show (and the accompanying insects) and a stiff breeze off the water it wasn't quite so pleasant. At least the threatened thundershowers stayed clear and there was lots of good music to warm up the crowd.
First up was local funk-afrobeat dance band The Souljazz Orchestra. I saw some of them backing Alanna Stuart at the last Bluesfest, but they are a mighty force in their own right.
Marielle Rivard was on hand to sing and shake a calabash; the guitarist I don't know. That's Pierre Chretien on organ and Phil Lafreniere on drums. The horn section will appear at a later date.



I decided to stick around save my place instead of checking out Bela Fleck. This was a sad mistake on my part, judging from the appreciative roars coming from the Rogers Stage, and the amount of the Souljazz crowd who departed after they left the stage. But half an hour later the place was packed again.
The headliner on stage was Femi Kuti, son of the famous Fela. He had a 10-piece band and a trio of female dancer-backing vocalist-percussionists to help work the crowd into a fit of Afrobeat ecstacy.



Needless to say, he had the crowd up and moving the whole time.