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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?
Jack Smith was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, and grew up in Staten Island, New York. Starting out as a tap-dancer and a singer, he traded in his tap shoes for a guitar at the age of twelve and began writing and composing his own songs almost immediately.
He spent the sixties as a folk singer, working with a vocal group called The Smith Brothers (there was one woman singer in the group, but what the heck), that reached its peak when they made a demo for CBS with the legendary John Hammond, Sr.
The decade drew to a close with the formation of the now mythical band Orville Dorp, which migrated to Vancouver in the early seventies.
The band had its share of fame with a song called "Jesus Marijuana" which they released as a 45 rpm single, and then passed into history around the time that Jack was given the name Smiling Jack by some friends from a band called Stallion Thumrock.
The name stuck, and Jack stayed in Vancouver for 20 years, becoming a Canadian citizen and raising a son, MacKenzie.
During this 20 years Jack formed a number of interesting groups, from Smiling Jack and the Sparklers through Delta Airtight and ending up with a four piece vocal group called Party Fever, which released an album titled " Ahh... Capella" in 1990.
Then Jack moved back to the States for a while, singing a bit of country music in Florida and then living in New Jersey again where his focus finally settled on the blues. His first solo album, "Direct To Dat Jack", was recorded in Hoboken in 1994.
A visit to Spain opened up a world of new possibilities and later that year Jack moved his blues to Madrid, where he has been living for the last 14 years with his wife Carmen and their daughter Maria.
During this period Jack released 4 CDs in Spain, "First Night With The Blues" in 1996, "Second Chance" in 1997 and "Three Seconds to Love Me" in 2002.
His his fourth CD, "This Blue Before", was recorded in Canada, using an all-star line-up of Canadian musicians as well as his Spanish drummer, Quique Villafane. The recording was produced by the internationally famous jazz guitarist Pat Coleman and features a brillant horn section led by Phil Dwyer. It was released in 2006 and was played on the radio on three continents, including Australia, prompting a two month tour of New South Wales in 2008
Over the course of some 40 years as a working musician, Jack has had the great fortune to work as an opening act for some of the biggest names in show business, including B.B. King, John Mayall, Bonnie Raitt, Charlie Musselwhite, Johnny Clyde Copeland, John Hammond, Jr, and the Reverend Gary Davis.
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Hi Jack, thanks for popping in. I see you now have a trio & quartet.....hope that's working well for you & you're getting plenty of gigs. If I ever want a song recorded in Spanish, I'll be sure to let you know!!!I often think of Minmi & how cool it was to meet you.Take care, Love Lou xx
Hi everybody, just here to say our new RORY GALLAGHER HAWK BOOSTER is ready for shipping. Have a listen if you get a chance, All the best, Stevie Flynn.
Jack that pic of you is the best I've seen... Ahh good ole Oz! Yes weather patterns world wide are out of control! Tamworth has been OK we are in winter and have frosts but then the seasons have a reason.. Glad to hear the music is going OK! Keep up singing the blues and smilin jack...from june
Hello Jack, Came back for more, just wanted to say, I love 'Follow the Money' & 'Now that truth was gone'. Great voice my friend, once again, THANKYOU!
Hey Jack. Hope you're doing well. I've been MIA locked in the studio and not getting in touch enough but wanted to let you know my cd is done. I have a label and they're releasing a single right away so I put a couple tunes up if you're interested. There's a new version of Lone Bird. Hope you like it. Cheers
Hey There :) Thank you so much for your friendship... I hope everything's going well for you! My debut album is now on iTunes, so that's been my excitement for the week! haha Take care! -Heidi- www.heidiraye.com
WhAt'S GoOD FaMiLY? I'm JuSt KeEpIn' BuSy..WoRkInG HaRd aT ThEsE BLuEs... BaCk To ThE StUdIo In JuNe To ReCoRd TuNeS FoR My NeW CD..!! GeTtInG ReAdY To HiT ThE RoAd ThIs SuMmER. HoPe To SeE YoU At A ShOW DoWN ThE RoAD. TiLL ThEn..
If YoU ArE GoInG To TrY.. Go aLL ThE WaY.. Do It...ALL ThE WaY.. DoN'T LeT AnYoNe StEaL YoUr ShIne.. 2009 BeLoNgS To YoU.. MaKe It Do WhAt It Do!!
Hi Jack I just had a listen to your song- "Comes the Revolution" is a great song with insight beyond the years! Wish you all the best my friend....june and that pic of you is still the best I've seen...LOL
Your track is up on my site. I know its taken a while and it was one take so it has mistakes etc, but hey....its the blues. Hope you like it. Keep well.
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