AL KIRKCALDY, Entertainment
Peterborough Examiner -
November, 2006
Bebop
Cowboys set for Academy Theatre
The Bebop Cowboys, one of the best western swing bands anywhere,
are
coming to Lindsay's Academy Theatre on
Nov. 17. And for those
wondering why this event befits a blues
column, perhaps some history
is in order.
Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys were
some very popular hoe-downers
that combined the best of blues, jazz
and country string music while
defining the western swing genre some
60 or 70 years ago. Their sound
was not much different than that of
the big bands of the day, except
that Wills added fiddle and pedal steel
guitar to his jazzed-up
arrangements of popular dance numbers.
His
music wasn't confined by type and his
act, as well as those that came after him, would be as well-received
as Duke Ellington's or
Tommy Dorsey's in American and Canadian
dance halls alike.
The Bebop Cowboys Toronto-based leader,
jazz guitarist Steve Briggs,
is not only one of the best present-day
purveyors of western swing on
the planet, he is also very aware of
how popular the genre once was
in Canada.
He even named the band's latest CD,
Canadian Dance Hall, in honour of
the great white north's dance halls
of the '30s, '40s and '50s.
The band consists of a cross section
of virtuosos from diverse
musical backgrounds, including Burke
Carroll (George Fox) on pedal
steel, Dennis Pendrith (Bruce Cockburn)
on upright bass, John Adames
(Prairie Oyster) drums, fiddler Drew
Jurecka (Jeff Healey's Jazz
Wizards) and singer/harp player Howard
Willett.
Blues, jazz or classic country fans
who love impeccable musicianship
can't go wrong with a line up like
this. As for his main
inspiration's love of and link to blues,
Briggs says, "Legend has it
that Bob Wills once rode 75 miles on horseback
just to hear Bessie
Smith sing."
Today, real western swing in the
Wills tradition is seldom heard
outside Texas or Southern California,
but next month it's only 45
minutes -or what Wills would call a leisurely
horseback ride- away.
