Ronnie Earl And The Broadcasters
(Stony Plain)
First things first: Ronnie Earl is one of the greatest blues guitarists in history. He's also arguably thee greatest instrumental blues guitarist ever. Colour Of Love and Language Of The Soul are classics and Blues Guitar Virtuoso Live In Europe is the best instrumental blues guitar recording ever made (Yes - I'm aware of T-Bone Walker, Freddie King and Albert Collins...). Quite a while back he passed beyond being simply masterful within the idiom. Earl is a rare, beautiful talent. When he's at his best, he soars, projecting himself directly through the guitar and it can be truly awesome to witness.
But he's also had a very difficult time getting through this life. Long time struggles with depression, drug abuse, the emotional trauma of having holocaust survivors for parents, and a grandparent who died in the war have made Earl's road unusually rocky. And as they would for anyone, these experiences have taken their toll. He no longer tours to support records and plays live only around his home. The trademark ferocity in his playing (he has been referred to as ‘Mr. Intensity') is not as omnipresent on Living In The Light and when it appears it's generally toned down.
This could all be expected from merely growing older. But it seems Earl's scaling back of intensity and touring is willful and related more to his relationships with his wife and church than to his age (mid-50s): "I have a wonderful wife, I'm close to our church, I live in the country and I want to be in my own home, every day," he says in relation to touring. It would be safe and easy to ‘take the high road' by congratulating Earl on his sobriety (deserved), envy his sense of belonging in the church, and not question its effect on his music. But Earl deserves honest reaction to his music. In his personal life, his philosophy toward sobriety and his embracement of religion may be the greatest gift, but within his music it may not always be the way to go.
Earl says, "I see my music as a way to have a deeper relationship with God, and bring healing and love to the people." There is no doubt in my mind that Earl is sincere. But mixing religion with your music can be a slippery slope, especially if it's not gospel or choral music where it's a traditional subject. It can almost be like a separation of Church and State issue: polarizing and murky at best. Unless your only desire is to preach to the choir, it's something you need to be concerned about. While someone like John Coltrane (someone Earl has consistently cited as an inspiration through the years) saw his later work as being directly connected to God, he was still somehow able to remain completely focused on the music while he was playing/improvising. He was relatively private about his personal relationship with God and his music generally had no lyric content referencing God (semantic arguments about song titles and text to A Love Supreme's "Psalm" aside). It's a tough call. At times it feels as though Earl's thinking about God instead of playing the blues. It's as though he is distracted by God.
It's difficult, if not impossible, to listen through Living In The Light (see the recording's title alone) without dealing with Earl's relationship with God. A sampling of lyrics from his new CD Living In The Light: "Love given from God above/Every day is a new day/I get down on my knees and pray/God woke me up this morning," from the relatively strong opener "Love, Love, Love." Shades of AA's ‘one day at a time' mantra? Relatedly, one of his tunes is titled "Recovery Blues." Or from his cover of Dylan's "What Can I Do For You:" "You've chosen me Lord to be among the few/What can I do for you," accompanied by his own church's Baptist Choir. Or from his song dedicated to his wife "Donna Lee:" "You brought my life a million points of light/ my higher power brought you to be my wife." For a non-believer who's coming to Earl for some screamin' blues guitar and not the road to salvation, these consistent references and occasional new-agey spiritualism can get in the way. However unintentional, it can sometimes comes off as preachy.
Artists and listeners alike can take the same universal issues and relate them to their own personal lives: Love, money, heartache, etc... That's what's great about the blues and much in art in general. Conversely, it's also possible (though more difficult) for artists to transform something personal, even a seemingly meaningless detail of their own life, into something an audience can universally relate to. It seems Earl feels his personal relationship with God may translate into something everyone can universally relate to. It doesn't.
Thankfully, "Child Of A Survivor" is the best tune on the album. This one's been a long time coming and is most likely more important to get out in the open than any sobriety mumbo-jumbo or religious hoo-ha. Also thankfully, Earl decided (subconsciously?) it would be better to leave God out of this one lyrically. It deals with Earl's relationship with his parents and their connection to the Holocaust. It resonates with Earl's personal struggle and is sung with respect and passion by Earl's good friend, the underrated Kim Wilson (Fabulous Thunderbirds). Wilson also blows some fine harmonica on this cut and elsewhere on the CD. "Child Of A Survivor" is also the only tune on the recording that fades out unresolved. Intentional or not, that's no coincidence.
The rest of the Living In The Light follows suit with nearly every Broadcasters recording: a mix of blues improvising over slow 12/8 grooves, rockers, swing blues, shuffles and gospel feels. The playing is fine and occasionally exciting. The current lineup of The Broadcasters includes Dave Limina on organ, the great Lorne Entress (Duke Levine, Bruce Katz) on drums, and Jim Mouradian on bass. They're all excellent players and any artist would be hard pressed to find a better blues rhythm section. But the fact is that The Broadcasters lineup in the ‘90s of Bruce Katz on organ/piano, Rod Carey on bass, and Per Hanson on drums was the best instrumental blues rhythm section to ever play. Hanson was particularly rhythmically hooked up with Earl, but the whole band could read Earl's signals telepathically and create wildly dramatic dynamic shifts on a dime during extended improvisations. And the occasional a cappella call and response trading between Earl and Katz was always fresh. On Living In The Light some of these same scenarios and techniques are used but they come off as less inspired and slightly prescribed.
The closing track "Pastorale" recalls Stevie Ray Vaughn's mellow, jazz influenced instrumentals "Lenny" and "Riviera Paradise," though it's much less distinctive melodically and less inspired instrumentally. It's sedate and introspective to the point of implosion feeling like an afterthought that's over before it's begun. The mere presence of a major seventh chord doesn't guarantee harmonic interest or ‘jazzy sophistication.' Earl is always at his best when he throws off all caution, all ‘rules,' and goes straight for the jugular.
A personal analogy: My relationship to Earl's playing is similar to my relationship with Woody Allen's work of the last decade. His movies from the last 10 years or so have basically been fine, and if you're new to him then you may even find them terrific and fresh. But for those of us who've been watching his films since the ‘70s/'80s, we often feel we'd have done just as well re-watching one of his earlier classics. Yet we still have to see everything he puts out. Much of Earl's playing has the same effect here. Good (and still much better than nearly everyone else around), but a bit flat to the already initiated. And like Allen, anyone who knows the score knows Earl has done enough brilliant work to last forever and will always be worth the check-in. I personally still have faith that live and in person Earl can still be an electrifying inspiration. Can I get a witness?
Standout Tracks: "Child Of A Survivor," "S. O. S." JOHN DWORKIN
