Bluesified
Ernie Hawkins
Say Mo' Music
2000
11 tracks
Diversity seems to be the key to understanding the selection of music on Ernie Hawkins' Bluesified. The title notwithstanding, this is not strictly speaking a blues release. Rather, what unifies this somewhat eclectic selection of songs is their traditional or old-time sound. Even the two more contemporary numbers written by Hawkins conjure visions of a bygone musical era. This is quiet, comfortable music spanning a number of once popular styles including traditional blues, ragtime, gospel, western, and even a touch of klezmer. Although an oddball mix, it somehow manages to hold together and to work very well as a set.
Ernie Hawkins is an accomplished guitarist with a scholar's understanding of the old music. To his performance, he brings an obvious love for the music he plays. To hear him play is to visit a musical snapshot of America's increasingly distance past and to discover in it a certain beauty and vitality that resonates into the present.
As a vocalist, Hawkins brings a rough, amateurish (but not amateur) sense to the songs he sings. Here is not music sung for the pop radio audience but rather the music of back porches and kitchens across the nation. There is a comfortable, familiar feel to this man's vocal style that brings the songs out of the studio and back home where they belong.
One track on this release features a special guest, Maria Muldaur. A popular artist across several genres and long respected as a blues singer, Muldaur brings a raw gospel feel to her performance here, perfectly complementing the overall ambience of this release. "I Belong to The Band" is an old time gospel number written by Hawkins' mentor, Rev. Gary Davis. It's heartfelt, and it's rollicking, with Muldaur's ernest vocal underlined by the bright, rejoicing sound of Hawkin's guitar.
"I Am a Pilgrim" starts the set with a country gospel sound. Hawkins brings to this Merle Travis song a certain reverence and even elegance that sets the mood for the remainder of the songs. Country vocals seem to suit Hawkins, and his voice is stronger and more controlled than it often is when he is singing blues songs.
Among the very American selection of songs on Bluesified, one stands out for its European edge. "Root Hog or Die" brings klezmer to America with its stoic Eastern European rhythm and and soulful clarinet that comes through as almost a second vocal. Lou Schreiber is wonderful on clarinet in this one. Dave Pellow on upright bass and George Heid on drums provide a subdued rhythm ideally suited to this song. It is only the slightly country tinge of Hawkin's voice that brings this song back to America.
"Slow Drag" and "Hawkins Rag" are both pleasant instrumental ragtime numbers, the former written by Gary Davis and the latter a more recent composition by Hawkins that maintains the old time feel of the original ragtime music written shortly after the turn of the last century.
Blind Willie McTell's "Broke Down Engine" is a gritty Thirties blues played and sung with great authenticity by Hawkins. Out of context, this recording might be mistaken for an old 78 dug out of some attic. This is an excellent performance of the blues that demonstrates why Hawkins is held in high regard by his fellow bluesmen.
According to the liner notes, "Riding on a Moonbeam" is a medley of two African tunes with words added by Hawkins. Even so, the feel of the song is very American. Only some of Lou Schrieber's clarinet riffs hint at the song's African origins. This is a pop song in soft focus as though taken from a vignetted scene from some old time movie, perhaps of the Twenties. Using the imagery of pop standards, Hawkins manages to write a simple lyric that is familiar without slipping into cliche.
A traditional artist in a modern world that often ignores or rejects the past, Ernie Hawkins is one of those who helps to preserve what has gone before so that future generations can discover what it has to offer. A talented guitarist and songwriter, Hawkins is more importantly a scholar of music that is no longer in the mainstream, of its sources and of its finest practitioners. It's in this regard that Hawkins has the most to offer, not just to music fans but to all Americans seeking to understand their past. For them, music can be the first gateway to the national memory.
For more information on the music of Pittsburgh based bluesman Ernie Hawkins, you can visit his website.
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Review written: February 1, 2004
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