Geoff Muldaur
“the Secret Handshake” (Hightone Records, 1998)
“Password” (Hightone Records, 2000)
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Geoff Muldaur has class, and that is a double entendre, because he not only has class in the sense of culture and quality, but he also has a thing or two to teach us, as if her were holding classes in Blues and Jazz appreciation.
I have always known that Geoff Muldaur has impeccable taste in music, his repertoire has always been a wide mix of styles that are both entertaining and instructive. More often than not, his repertoire has inspired me to go do a bit of research and discover new artists or musical sub-styles in the rich American Folk/Blues/Jazz heritage that I wasn’t previously aware of or familiar with. Longtime fans of Ry Cooder will know what I’m talking about, if he doesn’t already have one, Geoff Muldaur should have an honorary degree in ethnomusicology…
Geoff has always made music very personal, never compromising over the arrangements or orchestrations or complexity of musical ideas, nor the fine musicians that accompany him. He began recording in the mid 60’s with the (Jim) Kweskin Jug Band alongside his wife, singer Maria (born D’Amato) Muldaur, continuing with his own solo efforts with Maria, and also as part of Paul Butterfield’s Better Days band. He even had a bit of good fortune when his recording of the song “Brazil” was used as the theme song in the popular Terry Gilliam futuristic science-fantasy film “Brazil”.
I recently rediscovered the magic that Geoff does with music in a pair of solo albums on Hightone records – “the Secret Handshake” (1998) and “Password” (2000). Both records are similar in their scope and flavor, labeled by Muldaur as “American Music: Blues and Gospel”, ‘though for my tastes I would characterize the first one as more dynamic and eclectic, and the second one as more subdued and introspective.
Make no mistake, both albums are interesting and varied, but I simply feel a stronger connection to “Secret Handshake”.
The album begins with an acoustic rendering of “The Wild Ox Moan” (from the late 30’s Library of Congress recordings of Vera Hall) where Geoff does a beautiful falsetto moan. The opening number is followed by a full brass band and vocal choir for the Gospel classic “This World Is Not My Home” and then we suddenly switch to a Zydeco groove for the classic Leadbelly song “Alberta”. This is followed by a quiet personal tale of Geoff’s escapades as a youth in trying to find the grave of Blind Lemon Jefferson in East Texas in order to sweep it off as the classic Blind Lemon verse on the gravestone epitaph requests – “see that my grave is kept clean”- “Got To Find Blind Lemon – Part One” (part two can be heard on the album “Password”).
A couple more Zydeco style numbers follow, a country stringband number, a solo piano and vocal song, a lovely blues arrangement of Sleepy John Estes’ “Someday Baby”, and closing with solo vocal and guitar. I can almost guarantee that you’ll play this album over and over again before you have heard enough.
Eli Dr. Blues Marcus - Blues, Blues, Blues, and some other stuff too...
3 comments:
I'm a little late responding to this entry, but an old friend just brought it to my attention.
Your observation that Geoff Muldaur has something valuable to teach us resonated with me deeply. Like Ry Cooder (who you also make note of), Emmylou Harris, or Geoff's first wife, Maria Muldaur (hmmm... all Warner Brothers artists during their prime years!), Geoff has opened doors for me, leading into early jazz, jug band music, gospel, and even some fairly recent things (Don Pullen?!). I've spent much of the CD reissue boom happily exploring the roots of these and similar artists.
For the past three or four years, I've also had the extreme pleasure and privilege of working directly with Geoff on several projects. First among these is a compilation of the recordings that inspired him. Whether such a thing could ever be released commercially is an interesting question to try and answer (it would be a seven or eight disc set), but at the very least, the information should one day be available on Geoff's website, profusely illustrated with photos of the artists and the recordings where Geoff first encountered the performance. There's still a lot to do, but it's getting there.
If my health holds out, Ry and Emmylou will surely follow. (Music is the healer, one can only continue to hope.) Both efforts are well begun, and only need some free time to get going again.
Btw, do you have any idea where we could find that late 30�s Library of Congress recording of "Wild Ox Moan"?
thank you for writing me,
I have seen and heard Geoff live a few times throughout the 1970's
- opening once in Boston for Doc and Merle Watson,
performing with Amos Garrett, and at different Canadian Folk Festivals
but I never had any personal contact with him. He is certainly an inspiration and a musician with impeccable taste.
I believe that the "Wild Ox Moan" might be found in one of the Smithsonian- Folkways Records collections from the Lib. of Congress
they once had a service that allowed you to request specific recording on a custom basis
I'll try to look through my own collection, but that will take some time...
take care,
Hello! Thanks for offering to look around for the song. It's probably not necessary, though - I don't think the LOC version was ever released commercially.
There is a version of "Black Woman" (original title) on a CD called "Classic Blues From Smithsonian Folkways Recordings" (SFW CD 40134), but this was a later recording. It was, however, the version that originally turned Geoff on to the song! This recording was originally released on a 10" Folkways compilation titled "Jazz, Volume 2 - The Blues" (Folkways FP 55), which is where Geoff heard it.
There's also a third recording that Vera Hall did for Alan Lomax, which appears on one of the volumes of the famous "Southern Folk Heritage Series" on Atlantic. This is the only place that the song is titled "Wild Ox Moan", btw.
I'm curious about the original Library of Congress recording, since it was Hall's first. Haven't been able to figure out how to get it, but it isn't essential to the project. Just one of those things that would be nice to have for a big old appendix!
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