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THE QUARTET
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SMILING JACK, Vocals and guitar
ANTONIO TOLEDO, Lead guitar
QUIQUE VILLAFANE, Drums
JESUS RODERO, Double bass
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THE TRIO
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SMILING JACK, Vocals and guitar
DAVID GARCIA, Harmonica
RAUL MARQUEZ, Violin
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Influences
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REVIEW
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Crossroads Blues Society Reviews,
June 28, 2007-07-10
This Blue Before, by Mark Thompson
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Every once in awhile a dedicated music fan will discover an unexpected gem. These recordings have escaped widespread attention despite being innovative or just plain great !! The latest by Jack Smith is just such a surprise. It is a blast of fresh sounds and outstanding musicianship from a cast of unknowns. At least they are until you're done reading this review.
Smith is a former native of New Jersey who now resides in Madrid, Spain after a lengthy residence in Vancouver. He wrote all of the tunes, plays guitar and handles all of the vocals. Jack worked out the arrangements with his Spanish band, and then travelled to British Columbia to record with production help from his friend, Pat Coleman. The project certainly proves that blues music has indeed become an international art form.
Several elements contribute to the success of This Blue Before. Smith writes in a variety of styles and displays a knack for adding humour through a witty turn of a phrase. He sings with deep-toned, powerful voice with a bit of a rough edge to it. The tunes are fleshed out by a phenomenal three-piece horn section consisting of Phil Dwyer on tenor sax, Monik Nordine on baritone and Mike Herriot on trumpet & trombone. The trio play Coleman's brilliant horn charts with gusto and elevate each track with their fine work, as does lead guitarist Dave Vidal. Another key player is Miles Black. Whether on piano, clavinet or the B-3 organ, Black fills in the arrangements with inventive and tasteful displays of his keyboard mastery. All of the instrumental solos throughout the disc are compact and to the point - no grandstanding to detract from the proceedings.
Smiling Jack lays down a funky opening track as he tells the sad tale of having the "Deja Blues" all over again. Black establishes the tone on the clavinet with the horn section accenting Jack's vocal and Dave’s biting guitar solo. Smith has several tracks that examine different aspects of the blues. "The Blues Comes Back Again" explores the brief escape that comes from playing on stage. Black contributes several rocking piano solos on "I Found The Blues Again", which cautions not to get to comfortable with the good times. On "I Could Live with the Blues", Smith offers to make peace, if only "..the blues could live with me." In what has to be a first, Smiling Jack manages to build a song with a boogie beat around the Latin legal phrase "Mea Culpa". The title track closes the disc. It is a lengthy, dark meditation on the trials of life and love that serves as a contrast to the abundant good -time feel to the rest of the disc. Vidal unleashes a burning guitar solo before Black calms things down with his swirling organ phrases.
You owe to yourself to get a copy of this marvellous recording. It easily surpasses many of the blues releases on larger labels that I have heard in the last six months. Check out Smith's website to get a copy - and to help keep a smile on Jack's face !!!
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Buy the new CD "THIS BLUE BEFORE" in HARD COPY or DOWNLOADS from Root Cellar Records ----------------------------------- Buy the CD "Three Seconds To Love Me" from CD Baby
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Sounds Like
Want ZOMBIE LOVE as a ringtone on your phone? Want EL PESADO as a ringtone on your phone?
It has been a long and winding road, as the song goes, and the musical story is as changing and varied as the geographical.
From crooner and tap-dancer in the 50’s and folk-singer in the 60’s in NY, to folk rocker in the 70’s and 80’s in Vancouver, a short stint as a country artist in Florida in the early 90’s and, then in the last visit to NJ, the blues began to be the driving force in his music.
Some shows with Johnny Clyde Copeland and Charlie Musselwhite added energy to the transformation and so, in Spain, when asked for the first time what kind of music he played he had to answer truthfully, “Blues”.
And so the last 15 years in Spain has been a kind of living experiment and distillation process, where all the influences of his early music have played a part in the ever-changing blues of Smiling Jack.
Four CD’s later Jack is a well-known figure on the Spanish blues scene.
He has a core group of musicians that have been working with him for almost a decade, including drummer Quique Villafañe and bassist Jesus Rodero, as well as some wonderful instrumentalists including Antonio Toledo and David Gwynn on guitar, Antonio Serrano and David Garcia on harmonica and Raul Marquez on violin.
More than 25 festivals in Spain, the Isle of Man and Australia have given him an international audience as well as the airplay his last two CD’s have received on three continents, including Blues Deluxe, a syndicated show with more than two million listeners.
Ha sido un camino largo y sinuoso, como dice la canción, y la historia musical es tan cambiante y variada como la geográfica.
De cantante y bailarín de claqué en los años 50 y cantante de folk en los 60's en Nueva York, el folk-rock en los 70's y 80's en Vancouver, una breve temporada como un artista country en Florida en los primeros años 90 y, a continuación, en la última visita a Nueva Jersey, el blues comenzó a ser la fuerza impulsora en su música.
Algunos actuaciones con Johnny Clyde Copeland y Charlie Musselwhite añadido energía a la transormacion y así, en España, cuando se le preguntó por primera vez qué tipo de música interpretaba tuvo que contestar con la verdad, "Blues".
Y así los últimos 15 años en España han sido una especie de experimento viviente y un proceso de destilación, donde todas las influencias de su música antigua han desempeñado un papel en el blues siempre cambiante de Smiling Jack.
Después de cuatro CD's Jack es un personaje muy conocido en la escena española del blues. Tiene un grupo de músicos que han trabajado con él durante casi una década, incluido el baterista Quique Villafañe y el bajista Jesús Rodero, así como algunos maravillosos instrumentistas como Antonio Toledo y David Gwynn en la guitarra, Antonio Serrano y David García en la armónica y Raúl Márquez en el violín.
Más de 25 festivales en España, la Isla de Man y Australia le han dado un público internacional, así como la airplay sus dos últimos CD's han recibido en tres continentes, incluido Blues Deluxe, un programa con más de dos millones de oyentes.
Ha Ha Jack .... I have a bell ..... "I'm gonna start wearing It around me neck" LOL ..... can you hear it? ding ding!!!! have to reshoot the video .... (some technical difficulties) Oh well such Is life gonna do that starting tomorrow evening Check out the video of Hans Stamer on my site filmed at Bakerstreet Studios In North Vancouver .... It's amazing footage ... Your video Is amazing as well ....... Wished I lived In San Francisco so I could get your son to shoot some footage!!!!
I just wanted to say thank you for showing www.mymediaconsulting.com some love with an add.
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What could be better than spending Saturday night listening to your music? I can't think of a dang thing, so I'm gonna go put your GREAT-I said GREATTT CD in my player, sneak some chocolate and have a party for one. It really is fabulous and is such good quality that it never gets old. Thank you for your music, Jack!!!!!! love you m
Hi Jack I hope all is fine with you! Keep putting out those great Bluezz songs with that deep soulful voice of yours. I am travelling for a couple of months and its been wonderful!
Hope inspiration comes flowing for 'our' song! Best wishes
"The Blues Comes Back Again!!!" Awesome tune ... Just went over to Reverbnation and had a listen!!! Congratulations on being #5 on the reverbnation local blues charts!
Howdy Jack Just stoppin' by for a listen ..... always enjoy the visit! It snowed here yesterday .... Stay warm! with all that wonderful music you be puttin' down
PEACE & MANY BLESSINS' ON YOUR PATH JACK!! THANKS FOR KEEPING THE BLUES ALIVE!! MAY THERE BE FEW STONES IN YOUR PASSWAY MY FRIEND!! HOPE TO SEE YOU ON THE ROAD..TILL THEN.. KEEP MAKING IT DO WHAT IT DO... ~ RR
"DEVIL OFFERED A GOLD DOBRO~I SAID NO,I BE A HOBO!!" ~ RiYeN RoOtS
Hey Jack! It's been a long time since I stopped in and said hi - so thought I would revisit your page! I hope you're doing well! Great tunes on your page - just groovin' to Deja Blues. I hope you pop into my blog once and a while and read some toons. Have a great weekend!
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