This is just a sampling of the many concert and festival reviews found in Dirty Linen #61.

The spirit and the energy were all there for the seventh annual event. The natural park setting in downtown Calgary provided a real woodland feeling and a natural home for great roots music.

The lineup, tailored with the finest singer/songwriters, was a stellar followup to 1994's festival. The early cancellation of both The Band and Ricki Lee Jones still left a wealth of talent, including Bill Morrissey, Alias Ron Kavana, Victoria Williams, John Gorka, The Topp Twins, Laura Love Band, Blue Shadows and Suzanne Vega.

Friday's mainstage started with the traditional music from the Andes from Runa Mayu. Their high-spirited acoustic sound was the perfect opener, combining traditional flutes, stringed instruments, and drums, which ushered in the crowd, and opened for the humor of New Zealand's Topp Twins. Then came Utah Phillips with endearing stories and songs; he left a memorable quote about the new age generation, saying, "No matter how new age you get, old age gonna kick your ass."

Newfoundland's Irish Descendants performed a bundle of Raggle Taggle folk songs but it was the ballad "The Last of the Great Whales" that raised their performance beyond that of being a poor man's Clancy Brothers. The hands-down winner for the public's attention was Laura Love's set, a diverse and eclectic musical montage. Love opened with a version of "Amazing Grace" that hushed the crowd, and then she launched into 40 minutes of rhythmic funk.

The closing went to Big Sugar, a metal blues quartet from Toronto who were "there to rawk"; they owed more to the tradition of Cream than to Robert Johnson. Their electro-shock moved too far from the expectation of most and the crowd dissolved into the night halfway through the set. To their credit, guitarist Gordy Johnson fared much better in the blues workshop, "Get Your Red Hots," beside the talents of Amos Garrett, Guy Davis, Steve Pineo, and "should be a legend" Light'n Lester Quitzau.

The workshops had the very best together, bouncing off each others' comments. Bill Morrissey, John Gorka, David Massengill, Dar Williams and Victoria Williams shared not only great songs but a non-scripted platter of humour. The various stages showcased much of the local talent in a concert setting which showed Kilgour Trout, Tinderbox and Beautiful Joe as world class acts.

Saturday's mainstage was the strongest in both performance and energy. Jerry Alfred and the Medicine Beat from the Yukon combined traditional native stories with contemporary songs and instrumentation. The Montreal 13-piece Afro-funk/jazz group Eval Manigat and Tchaka delivered a fusion fire that moved the crowd to their dancing feet with brass section, three dynamic vocalists, and an infectious rhythm groove that just didn't quit. Manigat, who won the 1994 Juno Award for Best Roots Recording, added legions of fans to their stylistic African roots, soul, R&B, and jazz fusion sound. Guy Davis was assigned the task to follow their big sound. He is the embodiment of a modern blues traditionalist, with an authentic style of Delta Blues. His solo set saw no lack of energy and renewed the belief that acoustic blues is alive and well and truly comes from the soul. The Blue Shadows are a yet to be re-discovered group from Vancouver led by Billy Cowsill (yes formerly of the Cowsills) and Jeffery Hatcher. The group melts an edgy Mersey-like guitar sound with exacting vocal harmonies drawn of the early Everly and Louvin Brothers, creating new and original country/hillbilly music. The Alias Ron Kavana Band stormed the stage as the summer temperatures dropped unusually low, but their full force gael sparked a rock'n roll ceili that generated Irish heat. Kavana and band know how to hook and bait a crowd into some serious dancing.

Sunday's workshop continued the overabundance of talent, with Rory McLeod consistently drawing large crowds and the Utungun Percussion's infectious drumming leading the mainstage lineup. This group of five percussionists from Australia adapted rhythms from Africa, Asia, and North and South America into a choreographed session of funk and fun. The cool humor of Bill Morrissey again built on the great songwriter theme of the festival, which led to some of the smoothest bluegrass with Kathy Kallick, joined by mandolin player John Reischman. Victoria Williams easily captured hearts with a very upbeat and personable set of songs from her recordings. She absolutely charmed all with her quirky child-like attitude; the icing on the cake was her version of every folky's favorite song, "Kum-bye-Ya." Williams' class act was the real treasure of the weekend. The Cold Club made a rare appearance with the mega talents of Amos Garrett (guitars), Karl Roth (violin), David Wilkie (mandolin), Oscar López (Spanish guitar), and Ron Casat (accordion, keyboard). A Latin, blues-tinged, Grapelli folk melt may best describe them with the material drawn from their self-titled debut.
- Tom Coxworth (Calgary, AB, Canada)

Ben & Jerry's_Newport Folk Festival
August 5-6, 1995

JVC Jazz Festival
August 11-13, 1995

Ft. Adams State Park, Newport, RI

The scenic tourist town of Newport, Rhode Island became a summer home for many music lovers this year. While many have traditionally attended the annual Ben & Jerry's Folk Festival and the JVC Jazz Festival at the International Tennis Hall of Fame and Ft. Adams State Park, the season was expanded by a one-day Rhythm and Blues Festival.

A benefit for the Rhythm and Blues Foundation, which provides financial support for R&B musicians in need, the event paid tribute to both the roots and the modern influences of the music. The Blind Boys of Alabama, under the direction of Clarence Fountain, began the afternoon with their high-spirited gospel music. Ruth Brown and Charles Brown followed with samplings of their sophisticated blues, while Pops Staples soulfully blended gospel, pop and R&B.

The afternoon, however, really began with the final two hours. After a hit-laden set by New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint and his orchestra, a lengthy list of R&B veterans pushed the day into overdrive. Backed by Toussaint and company, Irma Thomas and Clarence Carter dug into their treasure chest of hits. Instrumentalists Narada Michael Walden and Steve Cropper joined the festivities. Cropper's playing on the classic "Green Onions" was as sharp as when he recorded the tune with Booker T. & The MGs in 1962. Walden, best known as a record producer for Aretha Franklin, displayed the finesse on drums that he applied to Jeff Beck's memorable jazz-fusion albums, Wired and Blow by Blow, of the mid-1970s.

The greatest ovations were reserved for the stars of the festival -- Bonnie Raitt, Don Henley and Billy Joel. While Raitt's connection to the blues and R&B have long been recognized, Henley's and Joel's soulfulness was a welcome surprise. While Henley performed several songs by The Eagles in a style that would have made Otis Redding proud, Joel's adaptation of his song, "New York State of Mind" as "Newport State of Mind" showed that the Long Island-born pianist is capable of much more than pop music.

The afternoon closed with a rousing performance by Sam Moore of Sam and Dave. Duets of "When Something is Wrong With My Baby," performed with Raitt, and "Hold On, It's Coming," performed with Henley, prepared the crowd for a full-cast interpretation of "Soul Man."

Although several newcomers (Laura Love, Laura Smith, Catie Curtis and Kevin Connolly) performed, Ben & Jerry's Newport Folk Festival focused on the top-selling performers of the genre. Despite heavy rain and a temporary loss of electrical power, Friday's concerts at the Hall of Fame paid fitting tribute to the twenty-fifth anniversary of Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Rounder Records. Forced indoors, the evening show featured fun-filled sets by Bill Morrissey and Cheryl Wheeler. Celtic-tinged vocalist Carol Noonan (formerly of Knots & Crosses) introduced her new band.

Saturday's and Sunday's concerts were at Ft. Adams State Park, overlooking scenic Newport Harbor. Saturday was the more eclectic of the two days, with performances by singer-songwriters (John Hiatt, Patty Larkin, Victoria Williams and Mary Chapin Carpenter), a folk-rock band (The Jayhawks), and zydeco accordionist Terrace Simien with an expanded edition of his band. The high point of the afternoon came with a set by Bob Weir of The Grateful Dead and six-string bassist Rob Wassermann. Performing with drummer Jay Lane and harmonica player Matthew Kelly, Weir and Wassermann recalled Weir's earlier work with Kingfish.

Except for a few exceptions (Luka Bloom, Keb' Mo', and the subdudes), Sunday's concert celebrated the state of contemporary women's folk music. Ani DiFranco provided power-driven acoustic guitar shock chords and raw-to-the-bone lyricism while Mary Black and Joan Baez displayed more sensitive vocal styles. Ferron continued her comeback with a too-short set of poem-like lyrics and emotion-tinged vocals. Most of the crowd, however, came for the final set of the afternoon. With their last performance before a year-long hiatus from touring, Indigo Girls (Amy Ray and Emily Saliers) led the way for a singalong collection of songs. The peak of their set was a series of songs in which they backed up Baez ("Don't Think Twice, It's Alright") and Ferron ("It Won't Take Long" and "Closer to Fine").

The JVC Jazz Festival is one of the premier jazz events of the year and traces back to when promoter George Wein first brought the festival to Newport in 1954. Unfortunately, this year's fest lacked consistency and was marked by several major disappointments. The high society-conscious Friday night show at the Hall of Fame promised to be a powerhouse of a show with a performance by Ray Charles and his Orchestra. Charles' performance, however, was only 60 minutes long, with the band performing without him for the first quarter of an hour. Although the idea of allowing the large horn section to play without microphones might be intimate in a club, in the sound was lost in the large open space. While Charles can be a very strong performer, he was ineffective on uptempo numbers and lacked conviction on the ballads.

Saturday's concert at Ft. Adams was just as uneven. While the headliners Rites of String, featuring Al DiMeola (acoustic guitar), Stanley Clarke (upright bass) and Jean-Luc Ponty (acoustic violin), created an ultra-classy sound, other performers did not fare as well. Latin music innovator Tito Puente cut his set short while the sterility of guitarist Earl Klugh's set prompted one writer to call the site, "the world's largest elevator."

Sunday's concert was much stronger. Beginning with a powerful free jazz set by Roland Kirk-influenced saxophonist Thomas Chapin and his trio, the afternoon reached to the distant galaxies and hit its mark. Although rooted in the same melodic, electric guitar sounds, Larry Carlton and Lee Ritenour had enough backbone to remain interesting. Dr. John and a 15-piece orchestra wove their way through such Pop classics as "Blue Skies," "Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good to You" and "Makin' Whoopie." The only kudo to his long-standing repertoire was an encore version of his 1973 hit, "Right Place, Wrong Time." The afternoon climaxed with a set by saxophonist Grover Washington Jr. that featured a lengthy medley of his hits and an updated interpretation of the Paul Desmond/_Dave Brubeck, "Take Five."
- Craig Harris (Brighton, MA)

The man on stage, in his slightly faded jeans and rugged work shirt, was equally at home plucking an acoustic guitar or frailing away at an electric. When he sang, his voice was rich, nasal, and deeply Scottish. He looked somehow smaller than I thought he would be, this singer and songwriter from Scotland whom many Americans have admired only from afar, alone in the middle of the Bluett's spacious stage. However, Dick Gaughan is a presence that will expand to fit any stage, and tonight he did just that.

Gaughan's repertoire for the evening consisted of songs from the tradition and from various songwriters. They were learned during every period of his long career as a singer. Songs like Seeger's "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy," which got him into folksinging in the first place, rubbed shoulders with "MacCrimmon's Lament," the title track of his very first LP, and with material he performs currently with Clan Alba. Among the traditional material, he sang such favorites as "Bogie's Bonnie Belle," "Erin Go Bragh," and "Glenlogie." He sang two Brian McNeill songs, "Ewan Gillies and the Gold" and "No Gods," while Robert Burns' classic "Now Westlin' Winds" and Hamish Henderson's "The 51st Highland Division's Farewell to Sicily" foregrounded Scottish songwriters. Phil Colclough's "Song For Ireland" and Si Khan's "What you do With What You've Got" added English and American touches, and Gaughan's own "Shipwreck," along with a trilogy about coal and a rock and roll anthem on the death of socialism, brought his political beliefs to the fore. Gaughan talked between numbers, almost nervously explaining the songs and how they fit into Scottish culture or into his personal world view, making sure he was not misunderstood. His comments mixed serious commentary with wry humor and deep emotion, and the audience came to know his views on Scottish culture, on Socialism, on Mel Gibson.

Gaughan's guitar playing deserves mention. When playing his more raucous numbers, he seemed almost to play too fast, to slam through riffs and chords at breakneck pace. Yet it all sounded right when we heard it; in this and many other regards, he reminds me of Billy Bragg, who of course counts Gaughan as a major influence. When concentrating on the acoustic guitar, Gaughan played very differently; his version of "Farewell to Sicily," for example, was backed by slow, heavily rhythmic, introspective plucking, in which the melodic line was superimposed over a constant steady drone, in imitation of the pipes on which the tune was played so long ago in Messina. In any style, on any stage, Gaughan is one of folk music's guitar geniuses as well as one of Scotland's finest singers, and this evening will be hard to forget for anyone lucky enough to be there.
- Steve Winick (Philadelphia, PA)