|
REVIEW:
The Crux
BALTIMORE
BLUES SOCIETY NEWSLETTER
JUNE 2012
FAIRFAX
VA based singer and guitarist Cathy
Ponton King has been flying beneath the radar for well
over
two decades despite a heavy work schedule (a longtime fixture
at Madams Organ and now Flanangans
Harp & Fiddle in Bethesda, Md). Perhaps in the past this lack
of public perception could be blamed upon a
paucity of significant recorded output -- her first CD, LOVIN
YOU RIGHT came but in 1993, her
"message in a bottle", which actually proved durable
and had a long shelf life. But now there should
be no more excuses for her lack of renown in the blues community
after having released the acclaimed
UNDERTOW in 2007 and the brand new THE CRUX, the latter especially,
which should go a long way to
rectify this recognition issue. Maybe she's not quite yet a household
name locally but King has absolutely
no problem being the featured artist on the airwaves in far off
Australia or Argentina and furthermore,
doesn't have to twist arms to engage blues legends such as (in
this case) guitarists Ronnie Earl and Jimmy
Thackery, sax stalwart Ron Holloway, and ex-Herbie Hancock and
Thelonious Monk bassist Butch Warren, all who
generously contributed their time to see this project through
to its fruition. And yet another feather in Ms.
King's cap is her ability to both attract and maintain a great
supporting cast of musicians, including erstwhile
Danny Gatton and Big Joe Maher bassist, John Previti ,drummer
of five years, Antoine Sanfuentes (whose day
job is NBC news DC bureau Chief) and the virtuoso pianist Bill
Starks, a treasured member of King's group for
over 20 years.
At
least two of the reasons that King's catalogue of albums is relatively
limited for her long time spent immersed in
the blues are both her insistence on perfection in the studio
and that the selections be original compositions (with
extremely few covers). Moreover, what she writes is memorable,
derived from intensely personal but universal
experiences which translate into confessional feeling ballads.
"Naturally, I'm inspired to write from what life
lays before me but also the tiniest phrase may set me off to write"
she said in an interview. And while
well versed in the blues (having been inspired by and weaned on
the music of Muddy Waters, Albert King,
and Willie Dixon), she proved again in THE CRUX that you don't
have to play standard 12 bar blues to be
considered a blues singer (although she's very capable of executing
some of the authentic gut bucket variety if
the occasion demands).
When
I asked Ms. King why she chose the title, THE CRUX, for this undertaking,
she mentioned that
this CD represented the word in all its definitions, including,
"an essential or deciding point" or
"crossroads", whereby she could thereafter take the
positive course or she could try to take bull by the
horns, so the speak, to surmount a "difficult problem"
at that juncture of her life. And amazingly enough,
THE CRUX, for the most part is indeed a concept album (remember
them?) ---unified by the idea of
shouldering on, or rising above, a bleak or negative situation
that someone of her mature perspective
is bound to encounter just by enduring long enough on this earth.
And
the key words throughout this endeavor are "loss" or
"change", be it dealing with or overcoming
the death of someone , personal (possibly unspecified career)
setbacks, or a relationship
turned sour. For example, in the achingly heartfelt, "Tattoo
on My Heart", King ambiguously mourns
the passing perhaps of a close friend (the song is dedicated to
late jazz chanteuse and mentor,
Clea Bradford), or of a lover --gone but not forgotten (the name
metaphorically etched).
In
"Cerulean Blues", King wishes to divest herself of her
many cares and woes and throw them
in the deep blue sea and start anew. In the rollicking "Blues
Companion", King wants to begin afresh
with a new love and is ready to go wherever he(or the road) takes
her.
And
in the zydeco infused (courtesy of the accordian work of Tom Corradino)
"I Want You to Be Happy",
King acknowledges that life is too short for sorrow and she must
find a way to stay upbeat and strive with all her might
to let the good times roll.
Three
of the four songs which conclude the CD, the deep bluesy "Sweet
Change to My Heart", the funky
"Bridges that You Burned", and the melancholy "I'm
Suffering", are thematically joined by the notion
that whatever untoward had transpired before, a new love would
be able to both heal and be one's
salvation.
And
this "new love" might take the form of the joys of a
new found tranquil , bucolic existence versus
the petty annoyances of the grimy, noisy city life left behind
in the breezy, jazzy,
"Little House in the Country".
So,
THE CRUX, is about all but coping. As King, with longing and anticipation
in her heart, expresses
in "Sweet Change to My Heart", she's sailing and moving
on to distant happier shores.
And
somewhere beyond that sea, better days, she swears, will be coming.
It's
a message of hope.
And
in these troubled times, it's something we sure can use a little
more of.
--Larry Benicewicz
Baltimore Blues Newsletter, June 2012
|
