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4/1/2009
Graham Clarke
Mary Flower was a nominee for “Acoustic Artist of the Year” at the 2008 Blues Music Awards, which was appropriate. Flower is recognized as one of the foremost acoustic guitarists performing today. Her rich and unique blend of roots music blends the blues with ragtime and folk. Influenced on guitar by artists like Scrapper Blackwell, Blind Blake, and the Reverend Gary Davis, Flower also possesses a husky vocal style that goes down smooth.
Flower’s latest release, Bridges (Yellow Dog Records), is a modern take on some classic songs from, or reminiscent of music from the early 20th century. She has unearthed some rather obscure tunes from this era, including “There Ain’t No Sweet Man That’s Worth The Salt of My Tears,” a Bix Beiderbecke piece made popular by Bing Crosby in the ’30s, Big Bill Broonzy’s “Big Bill Blues,” “The Ghost of the St. Louis Blues,” from ’20s minstrel singer Emmett Miller, and the popular standard, “Up A Lazy River.” There are a couple of gospel tunes as well, E.C. Ball’s “When I Get Home I’m Gonna Be Satisfied,” and a medley of “On Revival Day/There’s Going To Be The Devil To Pay.”
Flower’s own compositions include “Portland Town,” a tribute to her place of residence, the gentle opening track, “Rhythm of the Road,” and four lovely instrumentals (“Columbia River Rag,” “Slow Lane To Glory,” featuring her on lap steel, “Daughter of Contortion,” and “Blue Waltz”).
Living up the album title, Flower recruited local Portland musicians across multiple genres to participate, from the blues to jazz to bluegrass and old-time music, to swing, to pop to world music. Bridges effortlessly combines these diverse styles into one cohesive unit. It’s a breathtaking tribute to early 20th century music styles as well as to the diversity of the Northwestern U.S. music scene that should please acoustic guitar fans of all genres.