Skip to main content

Maverick Ad

Home

Main navigation

  • Home
  • Cover Stories
  • Features
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Cashbox Legacy Awards
  • Past Covers
  • Weekly Archive
Guitarist/Composer James Brown Releases Song Within The Story

Breadcrumb

  • Home
  • Guitarist/Composer James Brown Releases Song Within The Story
Guitarist/Composer James Brown Releases Song Within The Story
Fri Feb 25, 2022
Cashbox Canada

Guitarist-composer James Brown returns from a 13-year recording hiatus with the fetching Song Within the Story. Brown’s fourth album, and his first since 2009’s Sevendaze, finds him helming his Toronto-based working trio featuring bassist Clark Johnston and drummer Anthony Michelli.

Respected tenor saxophonist Mike Murley joins the band on three of the album’s 10 tracks—eight of which are original compositions that document Brown’s ongoing intermarriage of jazz and classical music, while two covers explore Canada’s rich folk-rock legacy.

“I’m so pleased with how the trio has developed,” the guitarist says. “We’ve been working regularly at clubs like the Rex Jazz Bar in Toronto for three or four years, and we’ve been playing a lot of the pieces on this CD.” Their hard work shows on unconventional pieces like the 7/4 groover “Alystair and I” and the harmonically daring “The Circle,” both of which they tackle with apparent ease and aplomb. They do no less, however, on the bluesy “Igor” or the (outwardly) delicate “All Rivers Lead.” The latter is one of the three showcases for guest player Murley, whose thoughtful but unyielding solo offers a glimpse of the intensity that lies beneath the tune’s surface.

Watch the Sizzler Reel here:

“Igor” is named for and inspired by the great composer Igor Stravinsky, a nod to Brown’s classical pursuits. The album’s title track contains echoes of Pat Metheny. But the influences on display throughout Song Within the Story are hardly a jazz-classical binary. “Mbira Kids,” as its title suggests, directly evokes the musical traditions of Southern Africa (specifically, that of Zimbabwe’s Shona people). Meanwhile, the trio passionately renders ballads by Neil Young (“The Needle and the Damage Done”) and Joni Mitchell (“A Case of You”), perhaps the two most revered Canadian singer-songwriters of the rock era.

James Brown was born in 1967 in Oakville, Ontario, and was raised in the city of Burlington. At age 13 when he began taking guitar lessons and a few years later moved to classical guitar studies at Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music. While he continued his classical curriculum, Brown also began attending informal jam sessions, slowly recalibrating his creative trajectory.

By 1998, his immersion in jazz was deep enough to record his debut album, First Dance, with renowned Toronto musicians Ernie Tollar (saxophones), Andrew Downing (bass), and John Obercian (drums).  Brown recorded two additional albums in 2002 (The Home Fields) and 2009 (Sevendaze).

Performance dates:
Sat.3/26 
The Jazz Room, 59 King Street North , Waterloo, ON.
(8:00 & 9:30 p.m.); $20.00
Tickets

Thurs.4/21 
Paradise Theatre, 1006c Bloor St W, Toronto, ON.
(8:00 p.m.). $25.00 
Tickets

Fri. 3/18
The Emmet Ray, 924 College St, Toronto.
(8:00-10:00 p.m.)
$15 @ door.

www.jamesbrown.ca

Reviews
Album
James Brown
Month: Dec 2021
Chris Nine Canadian Rocker Chris Nine Unleashes New EP, the heavy
Donita Large Indigenous Blues Artist Donita Large Hails the Power of Her…
Jenna Nation R&B Singer/Songwriter JENNA Nation Revels in the Joys of Christmas…
Kele Fleming Kele Fleming Celebrates the Power of Perseverance with “Sturgeon Love”
Laurie LeBlanc Canadian Country Crooner Laurie LeBlanc Releases Official Music Video…
Lazo JUNO-Winning & Top Reggae Performer of the Year Lazo Releases…
Leanne Pearson Leanne Pearson Pays Ode to Sassy Cats Everywhere with Fun, Folky New…
Michael Dickson With the Holidays on the Horizon Michael Dickson Releases Heartwarming Song of…
Russell Sprout Canadian Kindie-Rocker Russell Sprout Delivers Family Songs with Much…
Hannah Thomas Stratford, ON's Hannah Thomas Says 'Christmas Don’t Be Late…
Tortured Soul Tortured Soul Celebrate Release of 20th Anniversary Album
Vivek Mehmi Hip-Hop Artist Vivek Mehmi Releases New Indie-Pop Single, “Love Myself”
Alex Goupil I Swear Singer/Songwriter Alex Goupil Sets Out to Soothe Aching Hearts with…
AXLAUSTADE Photo Credit Jean-François Sauvé Montreal Rockers AXLAUSTADE Burn Into A Post-Modern Grunge Apocalypse…
Annabel Oreste Canadian R&B Annabel Oreste Reimagines Timeless Classic in…

Pagination

  • First page « First
  • Previous page ‹ Previous
  • …
  • Page 54
  • Page 55
  • Page 56
  • Page 57
  • Current page 58
  • Page 59
  • Page 60
  • Page 61
  • Page 62
  • …
  • Next page Next ›
  • Last page Last »

CEO/PUBLISHER/EDITOR IN CHIEF
SANDY GRAHAM

email:sandygrahamemg@gmail.com 

Canadian Journalists:

Contributing Journalist - Canada and Global
Don Graham
email: dongrahamwriter@gmail.com

Contributing Journalist - Canada and Global
Lisa Hartt
email: lisahartt87@hotmail.com

Contributing Journalist - Canada 
Michael Williams
email: greydread@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

International Journalists:

Contributing Journalist - Sweden
Malin Osth
email: malin@musicdays.se

Contributing Journalist - Sweden
Jonas Tancred
email: jonas@musicdays.se

Contributing Journalist - USA
Rob Durkee 
email: rockster2746@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

Web Developer/Technical Support
Chris Wardman

email: info@chriswardman.com
website: chriswardman.com

Cashbox Cover Design and Graphic Artist
Jain McMillan

email: jainmcmillan@gmail.com

Contributing Photographer 
Tracey Savein - South Paw Productions
southpawproductions@rogers.com

 

 

 

Footer menu

  • Home
  • Features
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Cashbox Archive
  • Issue Archive
  • Past Covers