Our French buddy Rosé Sunset made another nice remix from one of the tracks of the Transatlantic Quarantaine Sessions that ElectroBluesSociety and Boo Boo Davis released earlier.
The single is released digital and available on all the download and streaming platforms.
The pandemic has kept Boo Boo Davis and ElectroBluesSociety from meeting up in person. But that didn’t keep the Dutch duo from working out with Davis. What had been an annual European tour for the trio became an exchange of sessions over the wire. The mix of Davis’ old school delta singing and the creative ferment of Jasper Mortier and Jan Mittendorp has been enhanced. The sound is more experimental and more primal than their earlier work. Necessity has created a set of songs that take the blues into uncharted waters. This isn’t a set of remixes or samples. It’s a full collaboration that brings out the best and most innovative sides of each musician.
While the production can’t quite erase the “assembly” feeling that this sort of recording can bring, that distance (and the strikingly different sounds of the studios) lends these songs that much more of an eternal and otherworldly quality. The blues means different things to different people, and I imagine a lot of people might wonder how some of this relates to the blues at all. The isolation between the notes that simply wails should be enough.
Many of these songs have been released over 2021 as singles. This set is a worthy document of the plague years. Let’s hope for a full concert season in 2021. Davis and the Dutchmen may never follow this exact path again, but it is surely a worthy one.
Regular BiTS readers might recognise some of the numbers on this set, as a few have seen release as digital singles and have been reviewed as such. East Saint Louis bluesman Boo Boo, a real old school blues singer, harpman and drummer, has been working with Dutch label Black & Tan since 1998.
They weren’t going to let a little thing like a nearly global lockdown get in the way, and these quarantine tracks are the result. Boo Boo tends to just do his thing—tough, no-nonsense vocals and wailing blues harp—whilst the ElectroBluesSociety (label boss Jan Mittendorp on guitar and “buttons” and Jasper Mortier on drums and bass) complements him with some raw electric guitar work, and often computer generated rhythms and effects. Having listened to and enjoyed the singles, it was something of a surprise that the album itself comes across as a balance of blues and electronica.
On the individual releases, it often seemed as though Boo Boo was the main focus, but on this set, there is a definite, very recognisable hybrid style. Purists might quibble about it, but Boo Boo himself seems quite happy about it. See it as a salient reminder that the blues isn’t just for old folks, you know.
Covid-19 bremst, aber verhindert nicht die Kooperation: Zwischen den Kontinenten wanderten die Sounddateien hin und her. Zwischen den Niederlanden und St. Louis. Zwischen der ElectroBluesSociety, zu der Jasper Mortier und Jan Mittendorp gehören, und Boo Boo Davis, der im Mississippi-Delta aufwuchs und sich über zwei Dekaden immer wieder in Europa auf Touren vorgestellt hatte.
„Transatlantic Quarantaine Sessions“ (Black & Tan) bezeugt ein gänzlich unvoreingenommene Zusammenarbeit: Es gibt rohen Blues und ruppigen Funk, gesungen von dem Amerikaner und eine ausgeflippte Harmonika. Aus dem schäbigen Schuppen, zu dem die Leute raus aufs Land kommen, um zu tanzen.
Doch da ist noch mehr zu haben. Zum Beispiel sphärische Übergänge zu Ambient-Dub-Blues. Genial. Eines der Stück heißt „It’s A Sad Thing“. Schade, dass wir aufs Konzert warten müssen.
Between 1998 and 2019 Boo Boo Davis used to come and tour in Europe several times each year and most of music was written and recorded during these tours.
The current pandemic put that “tradition’ on hold. But with the help of the internet and mutual friend Chris Brown in St Louis, the guys from ElectroBluesSociety (Netherlands) started to exchange idea’s and demo’s with Boo Boo in East St Louis (USA). So despite the fact that they had the Atlantic Ocean between them, they were still able to write and record new music. Covid may be able stop live shows (for a while) but it can not stop the creation of new music.
Several of these tracks have been released as single releases earlier this year but here is the complete album. Twelve original tracks plus one remix by Rosé Sunset from France. The album is released digital and available on all the download and streaming platforms.
This is single number 9 from the ‘transatlantic quarantaine sessions”.
Between 1998 and 2019 Boo Boo Davis used to come and tour in Europe several times each year and most of music was written and recorded during these tours.
The current pandemic put that “tradition’ on hold. But with the help of the internet and mutual friend Chris Brown in St Louis, the guys from ElectroBluesSociety (Netherlands) started to exchange idea’s and demo’s with Boo Boo in East St Louis (USA).
So despite the fact that they had the Atlantic Ocean between them, they were still able to write and record new music. Covid can stop live shows (for a while) but it can not stop the creation of new music.
The music is released digital only and available on all streaming and download platforms.
Single number 8 from the ‘transatlantic quarantaine sessions”.
Between 1998 to 2019 Boo Boo Davis used to tour in Europe several times each year and a lot of his music was written and recorded during these tours. The worldwide Covid pandemic put that on hold. But with the help of the internet and mutual friend Chris Brown in St Louis, the guys from ElectroBluesSociety (Netherlands) and Boo Boo started to exchange idea’s and demo’s. The result of these ‘online sessions’ is released as a string of single tracks and they are available on all the streaming and download platforms.
Covid can not stop the creation of new music.
The single is released digital and available on all the download and streaming platforms.
Track number 7 from the ‘transatlantic quarantaine sessions”. This time it is an instrumental
From 1998 to 2019 Boo Boo Davis used to tour in Europe several times each year and a lot of music was written and recorded during these tours. The worldwide Covid pandemic put that on hold . However with the help of the internet and mutual friend Chris Brown in St Louis, the guys from ElectroBluesSociety (Netherlands) and Boo Boo started to exchange idea’s and demo’s. The result of these ‘sessions’ is released as a string of single tracks and they are available on all the stream and download platforms.
Covid can stop live shows for a while but it can not stop the creation of new music.
This is the sixth single release from the ‘transatlantic quarantaine sessions” that ElectroBluesSociety did with Boo Boo Davis
Between 1998 and 2020 Boo Boo has been touring Europe at least a few times each year and most of his music was written and recorded during those tours. Covid put that ‘tradition’ on hold . But with the help of the internet and Chris Brown in St Louis, the guys from ElectroBluesSociety (Netherlands) together with Boo Boo started to write and record new songs. So far we have released six songs but there is a lot more in the pipeline.
The new single is released digital and available on all the download and streaming platforms.
You must be logged in to post a comment.