MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: JEREMY DUTCHER - WOLASTOQIYIK LINTUWAKONAWA

An operatic tenor from the Tobique First Nation in New Brunswick, Dutcher has created a transfixing project, one of cultural significance and artistic accomplishment of the highest order. Working at the Canadian Music Of History, he transcribed a treasure trove of wax cylinder recordings of songs in the Wolastoq language from 1907. He then recorded them anew, building on initial melodies with new instrumentation, blending the traditional with classical and modern pop orchestration. The most powerful parts though are the voices, Dutcher's the most prominent, a rich and haunting instrument throughout, but he's also joined by others, equally powerful.

Dutcher has used some of the original recordings, enough so we can compare, and hear how captivating those original songs were, almost lost thanks to the systemic pressure to eliminate such culture. He's also used a couple of short, important conversations with elders who point out how important it is to bring music back to their people, how art leads the way in reviving communities. These sections are woven into the performances, a narrative that hammers home the huge value, all the while as we marvel at the beauty Dutcher has essentially released.

Artists such as Dutcher have grown up not knowing the artistic scope of their ancestors, and his diligence and passion have lead to us all being able to discover what's been nearly lost. As he says with the release of the collection, "Many of the songs I'd never heard before, because our musical tradition on the East Coast was suppressed by the Canadian Government's Indian Act." Maybe the country has the ears to hear now.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: THE LYNNeS - HEARTBREAK SONG FOR THE RADIO

I'm really stoked to catch the East Coast tour starting this week from the hot new Canadian roots duo, The LYNNeS, out of Ottawa. The duo, featuring Lynn Miles and Lynne Hanson, put out their debut disc earlier this year, which I reviewed back in February, so it's a good chance to revisit that write-up, plus plug the shows. The tour starts Thursday, May 10 at the Second Wind Music Centre in Florenceville-Bristol, N.B.,  and continues Saturday at Grimross in Fredericton. Then it's off to Nova Scotia, starting with a Bedford show Sunday, a matinee at Patchworks House Concerts. On Tuesday, May 15, the duo play the Carleton in Halifax, as part of the award-winning venue's 10th anniversary celebration. On Thursday, the 17th they are at the Osprey Arts Centre in Shelburne, and on Friday the 18th its Wolfville at the Al Whittle Theatre. The Eastern dates wrap in P.E.I. at Harmony House in Hunter River, on Saturday, May 19.  Now, here's the review replay:

Usually when two established artists team up, one or the other dominates each song, with their particular style. It's a rare combination that results in something that sounds new, and that's what The LYNNeS have managed. Of course, Lynn Miles and Lynne Hanson have a lot in common. They are two of the very best in their area (Ottawa) and their genre (folk), they (sorta) share a first name, and they have worked together over the past few years, writing songs, plus Miles produced a couple of albums for Hanson.

Here, with close harmonies and closer songwriting ideas, you can't really compare this to their solo work. So smoothly do they blend, it's hard to figure which voice is which on the catchy choruses that fill the album. Only when there's a solo start to a song, say with Hanson on "Don't Look Down" or Miles with her trademark sad edge on "Dark Waltz", do we think of them as individuals for a moment. The rest of the time, they're the Siamese twins of folk.

Each song is a co-write, so there's no claim on the lyrics as yet, but there's lots of great ones to fight over. Among the best are the little truths in catchy lines, such as "It's not far to fall if you don't look down", "I wouldn't have gone and paid my dues if I knew it cost so much", and "I took your love and wrote a heartbreak song for the radio." Another smart move was bringing in the fantastic Kevin Breit for guitar work (Norah Jones, Rosanne Cash, etc.), who as usual breitens every song he's on. Word is they are sharp, funny and just as winning live as they are on this album, so hopefully when they get back from Europe in March there will be opportunities to catch them in your neck of the woods.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: MICHAEL KAESHAMMER - SOMETHING NEW

Kaeshammer's a monster piano player and fantastic vocalist, this we know, and a fine writer too. He still has more surprises for us though, and this album presents him in a whole new light. It's a big production, and big sound, featuring lots more instruments, guest players and a new range of material, thanks to a recording trip to New Orleans. That location makes perfect sense for Kaeshammer, a man fully at home in blues and jazz, has all the boogie needed for the Crescent City, and the grooves too. He puts it all to use in this great set, full of fun and invention.

The album features a combo of New Orleans legends and Canadian all-stars, including The Meters' famed bassist George Porter Jr., guest singer Cyril Neville, drummer Johnny Vidacovich from Professor Longhair's band, alongside Canuck stand-up bass champ David Piltch, cellist Kevin Fox, and gunslingers Amos Garrett and Colin James. Add to that list Curtis Salgado and Rolling Stones/Allman Bros. keyboardist Chuck Leavall, and you get the picture, this is prime stuff. It would all be for nothing though, if the songs weren't there, and Kaeshammer bravely brought mostly his own material. Boy, does it meet and surpass expectations. He sounds like he was born and bred in New Orleans, with rollicking tunes such as Dixie Has The Blues, a rhythmic knock-out, the extremely soulful ballad Heaven and Earth, with that Neville lead vocal, and the smokey jazz of Forbidden Love, film noir from the darker quarters of the city.

Kaeshammer's discs are usually chances to hear his fantastic piano skills, and there are certainly lots of examples here, including the lone cover, a radical instrumental interpretation of Sweet Georgia Brown, where he riffs to our heart's content. But there's so much more to this album, including all the excellent new songs, the awesome players and total great vibe, it's definitely a career milestone.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: SERENA RYDER - IF YOUR MEMORY SERVES YOU WELL (ORIGINAL SESSIONS)

Serena Ryder's second full-length release, from 2006, was her breakthrough, going gold, along with a hit single Weak In The Knees, and leading to her first of six Juno Awards, for Best New Artist. But it was actually a compromise of sorts, as it was originally supposed to be an all-Canadian covers tribute. Instead, three of Ryder's originals were added, due to their obvious quality, and the desire to get them out to the public while the iron was hot. To that end it was a big success, but the theme of the record was lost to an extent, as were two cuts dropped to make room for the new ones.

Now the disc has been returned to its original concept, with the Ryder-written cuts removed, and the missing covers restored, as well as a remix of Good Morning Starshine, the hit song from the '60's musical Hair, co-written by Canadian Galt MacDermot. It was one of the highlights, one of several surprising choices as Ryder dug deep into Canadian music history. There were no obvious numbers such as Hallelujah and Heart Of Gold, no Joni Mitchell or Gordon Lightfoot. Instead, the cuts were reminders, songwriters and songs often forgotten in the Canadian canon, or in several cases, so obscure they sent listeners to Wikipedia to learn just who the heck these Canadians were. In the reminder section, there was the song that supplied the album title, The Band and Bob Dylan's This Wheel's On Fire, Dylan sharing credit with Ontario's Rick Danko. Paul Anka is of course a famous name, but it's been a long time since most people knew he wrote Buddy Holly's It Doesn't Matter Anymore.

Among the obscurities is Boo Hoo, one of the writers being Guy Lombardo's brother Carmen. One of the two added cuts here is Far Away Places, a hit for everybody from Bing Crosby to Willie Nelson, co-written by Montreal-born bandleader Alex Kramer. Too bad Ryder hadn't got a chance to release it back in 2006, as it was subsequently used by Mad Men as the name of an episode of the popular show.

Does the difference in the tracks make this a better album? Not really, it's not a major change, really just switching around the songs at the end. But it's been 12 years since the set was released, so it's a good way to get the disc out there again, reminding us of Ryder's unique vocal talents, and the depth of Canadian songwriting.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: DONNA SUMMER - SUMMER: THE ORIGINAL HITS

I needed something to keep me awake while driving back from the East Coast Music Awards in Halifax, an extra long trip due to the detour around the flooded Trans-Canada in New Brunswick. I figured Donna would be lively enough, although I probably looked odd singing along to Love To Love You Baby, bobbing my head to the relentless beat. It was quite a run for Summer from 1975 to 1983, with a great run of hits, which saw her move from being the queen of disco to a revered singer, enough of a diva to team up with the biggest singer of the day, Barbra Streisand, for 1980's #1 hit, No More Tears (Enough Is Enough).

Not all the chart numbers are here, as Summer jumped labels a couple of times, and early '80's tracks on Geffen, including the Top 10 hits The Wanderer and Love Is In Control weren't available. That's no great loss really, as the much better cut from a couple of years later, She Works Hard For The Money, does make it, and it leaves room for some deeper album cuts like Pandora's Box, and the European hit I Remember Yesterday, which was a retro-'40's theme crossed with a disco beat, from the concept album of the same name by producer Georgio Moroder. At first Summer was merely his vocal muse on these '70's singles and albums, with such smashes as I Feel Love, and several disco concept sets. But after the huge success of Last Dance in 1978 from the Thank God It's Friday soundtrack, Moroder realized Summer had attracted a bigger audience the simply the disco crowd, and the team switched to more pop-friendly, big vocal numbers, including the remake of MacArthur Park, Hot Stuff and Bad Girls, all #1 hits.

The more Moroder's Euro-disco was dialed back, the more Summer stood out as a singer. Like the Bee Gees, the other huge disco stars, even though they dominated that era, we always remember them as multi-genre artists. But also like the Bee Gees, Summer was penalized for being a disco star, as her career dropped off later in the '80's. Too bad, it seemed like she was really just coming into her own.

MUSIC/BOOK REVIEW OF THE DAY: LINDA BROOKS - ORCHESTRA IN MY GARDEN

I hadn't heard from Bedford, Nova Scotia's Linda Brooks in awhile, as her last album was a Christmas one, back in 2013. I was wondering where she had been, and as it turned out, she'd been in her garden. While you might think that she was avoiding music being there, as it turns out, all that digging, planting and nurturing was not only inspiring her creativity, it also has led directly to her latest album. And that album is not just music, it's a unique creation that merges her passion for gardening, her writing, and her songs as well. It's a multi-layered project, containing essays, photography and music all inspired by gardening, called Orchestra In My Garden: Lessons Learned From Digging Deep.

The book is loaded with the gorgeous photography of Mark Maryanovich, who is also normally found in the music world, making award-winning album covers and portraits for the likes of Chris Cornell, Elliot Smith and Henry Rollins. Here, he unveils the beauty of Brooks' garden, including dozens of stunning, colourful close-ups. Brooks has written a series of stories that detail her love of gardening, the many years of hard work that she has put into her home garden, and the incredible benefits and wisdom she's gained from the that pursuit. Then, there is a double-album worth of downloads, songs inspired by, and meant to accompany the reading and viewing.

The whole project came about, pardon the pun, organically. Always inspired by working in the garden, she found herself drawn to her computer keyboard after fruitful sessions, exploring her thoughts. She'd also be drawn to her piano keyboard, those same feelings inspiring melodies and more words. Ultimately she realized it was all part of the same project, and as she explains, "In both my songs and my essays, the garden was revealing itself as a metaphor for life."

Interestingly, because of the wide scope of the book/album, you don't have to even be a gardening fan to enjoy it (I speak from experience, or lack thereof). The photography alone is exquisite, calming and captivating in its depictions of the grand scope of nature that can be found in one plot. Brooks' writing is thoughtful and inspiring. She's been able to use all that creative work in the garden to reflect on her own life, how nature gives us the lessons we need in life. Patience, nurturing, trust, success and failure, and final rewards, it's all there, and she relates it to her own life in meaningful ways. She passes on those discoveries not as trite advise, but rather as life lessons granted, and graciously noted. And when she does have advice, it's gardening tips. She's obviously not just passionate, but successful at it too. Yet she offers her tips humbly, and doesn't talk down to newcomers. It's good, sensible stuff: Find the right hat, be patient, start small, work on one space at a time.

As fits the mood of the book, the music is calm, piano-based with just a few additions, such as James Gatti's bass and Kevin Fox's cello. And no, it's not "My peonies are gorgeous in the sunlight..," but instead putting the observations she's gained into song. Here those reflections are no longer metaphors but grown, patiently and with love and care, into something special, where art meets nature.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: NEIL YOUNG - ROXY: TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT LIVE

As promised, here's the second Neil Young release in less than a month, but unlike the Paradox soundtrack, this isn't new music. Instead, it's another in his fantastic Performance Series of archival issues. which capture classic concerts from all over his career. This time, it's from a wild series of gigs in 1973, with Young and a group christened The Santa Monica Flyers took over L.A.'s Roxy Club to debut a new album. It turned out to be a bit premature. The album was Tonight's The Night, but despite the group's enthusiasm at the time, it didn't come out for another two years. Classic Neil move.

The back story is that Danny Whitten, Crazy Horse guitar player, and band roadie Bruce Berry had both died from heroin overdoses, so Young and crew were feeling pretty fractured. He brought in Ralph Molina and Billy Talbot from the Horse, and added Ben Keith on pedal steel and young Nils Lofgren of Grin on piano and guitar to fill up the ranks. Then they spent a month making Tonight's The Night, one of the loosest, rawest sets ever put down, basically a series of late-night, substance-fueled, emotionally scarred songs that ran opposite the whole Heart Of Gold style of the year before. After recording the songs, the group felt like celebrating by doing some live shows, so they went into the new Roxy club for two shows a night. All they did was the new album, about an hour long, see ya later.

No question that they had the songs down. The set sounds exactly like the album versions, which were basically just live recordings anyway. This is one great band, understanding how to make unpolished beauty. Lofgren was a secret weapon, his unstudied piano the perfect tinge of sadness to match the denial of Young's guitar mania. If anything, these versions are a little more practiced than the takes chosen for Tonight's The Night eventual album release. Young meanwhile sounds unhinged while talking to the audience. He's decided to tell the audience they're in Miami Beach for some reason, and there's a palm tree on stage with its own spotlight. He mentions it three different times, but doesn't really offer an explanation. So, pretty much normal for the rest of his career.

Not all the Tonight's The Night tracks are here. Young added Borrowed Tune, Lookout Joe, and the live Downtown featuring the late Whitten to the mix later. Instead, they encore with another new song, Walk On, which would show up the next year on On The Beach, too jaunty for this album. Ultimately Tonight's The Night got its overdue release in 1975, and is rightly hailed as one of Young's masterpieces. As shocking as it no doubt was to the lucky few in the club those three nights, they got to see something historic.