BARB DIAB: LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED
I love being able to say, «I told you so.»
They are Barb Diab and The Smoked Meat
Band. Their first CD is called, ‘To Blues With Love’ and the
official release of this took place last Thursday at the
House of Jazz in Montreal. The high-class joint being very
appropriate for a high-class act.
Eight of the 13 songs are originals. With
a few minor exceptions (CCR’s ‘Long As I Can See The Light’
and the Rolling Stones ‘Honky Tonk Women’) the album is
exactly what the title implies, a love letter to the
Blues. Smokey Robinson’s ‘You Really Got A Hold On Me’?
What the hell, not blues but close enough. Producer/musical director/guitarist, J.D.
Slim gets the credit for almost everything on the album
except the graphics and the cover photos (and I wouldn’t be
surprised if he could do those, too).
It’s all very straightforward and
although there was really nothing extra added for the live
performance it was far from ordinary. Diab actually voiced
it (several times) but it seemed like all of them were as
equally happy and excited to be part of this.
Having all the players ‘on the same page’
goes a long way to turning what might have been an ordinary
show into a great one.Some of the friends who appear on the
album showed up to repeat their contributions for this show.
Local Blues legend, Stephen Barry played bass on Gershwin’s
‘Summertime’ and Duke Ducas added his vocals to ‘Honky Tonk
Women’.
The real test of any band, in any genre,
is the originals. ‘Everything Blues’ and ‘Blues For T-Model
Ford’ are the first two on the CD and perfect examples of
what blues is; a lot of the old, a lot of ‘today’ and
nothing directly copied.On the subject of writing a blues song,
Stephen Barry once said, ‘I’m a white guy from Lachine. I’m
not going to write about picking cotton. It would be
ridiculous.’ Like most of the good ones, Diab and The Smoked
Meat Band instinctively know this.
‘To Blues With Love’ by Barbara Diab and The Smoked Meat
Band. Every home should have one. Available at CD Baby and
iTunes but go see them live and get one directly from the
source.
- J. David "Jack You're Dead" Bush, The Eastern Door (Kahnawake, October 2015)