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10/12/2005
Art Tipaldi
Two weeks after the wake of Hurricane Katrina's destruction of the city of New Orleans, I received Mary Flower's new CD, Bywater Dance, a musical tribute to that city. The studio she worked in was located in the Bywater district of the city and was a place the city's musicians, fresh from last spring's JazzFest, would stop by. With sad irony, Flower traveled to the Crescent City last spring and worked with many musicians who today are displaced and probably have lost everything. Henry Butler, Jon Cleary, and Dr. Michael White are only a few of the dozens who inspired Flower in her seven days of recording.
Spencer Bohren, though not on the record, is an old friend of Flower's and I'm sure lent his own ear to the project. Like adding file powder to gumbo or tasso to stews, those artistic spirits added a musical seasoning found only in this city. These 14 songs offer an introspective look at the diversity of American Roots music. There is always an elegant touch to Flower's guitar work, and her strength of voice and strength of playing are as welcome as first buds on trees.
The traditional "Crow Jane" is augmented by Amasa Miller's accordion and Kerry Lewis' strapping string bass. On "New Orleans Hop Scop Blues," Flower shows listeners the music of this city, circa 1920. Kirk Joseph, who is Anders Osborne's sousaphone player, lays down the breathy bass while Cleary, of Bonnie Raitt's band, cascades piano tones ala Fess and Fats. I'll never get tired of these Blues either, Mary.
Geechie Wiley is a relatively unknown woman Blues singer from the Delta. In 1920s she might have been the South's greatest woman Blues singer, years before Memphis Minnie. Flower's treatment of Wiley's 1930 masterpiece "Last Kind Word Blues" still resonates today. Flower's exquisite force and hauntingly poignant vocals in this archaic eight bar Blues offers a reminder of dark Delta days. Cleary's dark and errie B-3 gives this cut an otherworldly aura.
Flower is an accomplished guitar picker. With grace and texture, Flower delivers an acoustic magic on rags like "Terminal Rag" and "Hudson River Rag." White's clarinet on the former centers this in the past, while Woody Mann's second guitar on the latter flows with Flower's guitar like an inner tube coasting on the finest summer day. Remember that New Orleans is first and foremost a piano Blues city and that's what Henry Butler and Flower play on "Nobody's Fault But Mine." Then, Butler's waterfall piano and Flower's lap slide guitar recreate classic piano-guitar duets of the twenties. When Flower ends the day with "Good News Waltz," it's Miller's accordion that waltzes with Flower's nimble guitar picking. Sadly, this will always be a powerful reminder of the eclectic musical forces that always operated on the tiny streets in the back of the French quarter. While so many of today's records fade quickly, this is one CD that will always remain a favorite.