The Frederico Brothers | Fire Creek
Published: August 31, 2010
In their promo, Missoula folk group The Frederico Brothers tells us they sing songs about “trains, death, and love gone wrong.” Their second release, “Fire Creek,” doesn’t disappoint.
The band’s Paul Kelley, bass and vocals, and Phil Hamilton, harmonicas, played in Missoula’s popular Lost Highway Band (1976-’85). Bruce Carlson, vocals and guitar, joined them in 1988. Peter Walther (vocals, electric guitar, mandolin) and Roger Moquin, drums, have been on the Missoula music scene for many years as well.
Originals from Kelley, Carlson and Walther, replete with cool harmonies, are interspersed with several well-delivered covers. Recorded live with no sweetened post-production, the sound is spare and clean, imparting authenticity.
The title cut, “Fire Creek,” by Walther, sets the old-time feel. In Carlson’s “Paddy Malone,” a miner recounts his hard-scrabble life.
Kelley’s “Drive Away” is melodic, with a great vocal harmony hook on “Life’s a mighty wicked weekend, drive away.” Carlson’s “Montana Backroads” gets a reprise here; it was recorded by Texas singer Nanci Griffith on her first album.
Mickey Newberry’s “Old Time Songs” has Kelley warbling in his unique style about “hard-breakin’ achin’ eggs and bakin’ country songs,” and Carlson’s “Whole Enchilada” gives us a humorous look at greedy historical figures (Genghis Khan, Helen of Troy, Custer).
Mournful harmonica by the talented Hamilton is the perfect accompaniment to Utah Phillips’s thoughtful country waltz, “Rock Salt and Nails.” This one shows off the live recording ambiance. It’s a good dancer with soulful instrumental leads, and the rockin’ drums have a hollow feel that gives credence to the protagonist’s plight.
The CD ends with Walther’s deft touch on his mandolin tune, “Swamp Thing.” It’s alive with spooky chords and atmosphere. Heck, it even sounds like there’s some “Zorba the Greek” music in there.
– Mariss McTucker
MJ Williams: Trance Atlantic - The MJ Williams Paris Project
Recorded April 11-12, 2009, at Bopcity in Paris; engineered by Max Jesiom, mixed and mastered by Ken Nelson at Cottage Recording, Helena, MT, produced by MJ Williams.
Basin resident and beloved jazz maven MJ Williams, she of the be-bop vocal bent and stellar trombone licks, spends time in France each year, performing at clubs for jazz-crazy Europeans. As the recipient of a grant from Helena’s Myrna Loy Center, she was able to record this mostly instrumental CD of original music with friends who are world-renowned jazz pros and composers in their own right.
The album features Williams on voice and trombone, Amy Gamlen, saxophones; Jobic LeMasson, piano; Peter Giron, bass; and John Betsch, drums – masters of the jazz vocabulary, all.
The album starts off with a bossa nova beat on Williams’s “In the World Again.” It crackles and dances, with Williams in fine voice. She sings scat, while Gamlen too-wees on sax; piano and percussion bubble underneath.
“Really,” by Gamlen, finds Williams and Gamlen trading honking lead lines; the lazy “Shop Girl in Green,” by Williams, starts with unison trombone and sax, segueing into a sleepy bass solo from Giron; and LeMasson’s “Sides” is bluesy, ominous and a bit crawly. Trombone and sax tiptoe around the blues beat, piano roiling below.
Gamlen wails on her pretty, moody “Zebra Drive,” and “Airport Tango” trots out some cool drums from Giron while the ladies interweave nice melodic lines on their instruments. It’s nice to hear Williams play the trombone again.
There’s ensemble improv work on “Two Views/No Secrets,” where Giron gets a bass solo, and Williams doop-dee-wee-woes some scat. The album ends with Gamlen’s “For Nothing Else,” with lyrics from a Robert Creeley poem. Williams sounds younger, her voice vibrant. She doesn’t sing much on this mostly instrumental effort and her vocal interludes set off the compilation nicely.
One recognizes the intimate friendships here, showcased by the effortless communication each player brings to the music. On the liner notes, Williams speaks of “indescribable synaptic magic that can occur between lovers of music everywhere.” There’ll definitely be some neurons firing when you listen to this CD.
– Mariss McTucker
