Artist: Deanna Bogart
Title: Real Time
Writer: Rick Galusha
When a radio station or a record review gets the latest offering from a recording label it’s usually accompanied with a “sell sheet” or biography. Few things exemplify the waste of the music industry better than “sell sheets.” Crammed with factoids and usless hype these one sheet bios bend the truth and include stupid phrases like, “writes like Bob Dylan,” as if anyone ever could.
Blind Pig recording artist Deanna Bogart’s latest album, ‘Real Time’ came with a sell sheet – which I promptly set aside in order to listen and let the music do the talking. Usually the San Fran / Chicago based Blind Pig records contemporary “blues” acts with a heavy 70’s rock music texture. Keyboardist, horn player and singer Deanna Bogart sure ain’t no blues artist – at least not in the common vernacular use of the word. “Gosh” methinks, “What’s the sell sheet say?” …”Adding the energy of boogie-woogie contemporary blues, country and Nora Jones-like-jazz, Bogart has created a unique fusion of musical styles.” I nearly fell over: the sell sheet was accurate.
Bogart began her musical career in a Maryland based band, ‘Cowboy Jazz’ where she learned to play western swing rhythms. Later Bogart moved over to the D.C. based, ‘Root Boy Slim’ band where she learned to play a suburban R n’ B sound. Subsquently, ‘Real Time,’ her seventh album, is all over the musical genre map but throughout the journey the playing is excellent, the songs have clear melody lines, and the arrangements are more than quick studio jams per most “blues” recordings.
On the track, “Bite the Bullet” Bogart plays a jumpin’ piano ala Marsha Ball that rollicks with a fast tempo and panoramic solos. ‘Table for Three’ borders on a Vince Guaraldi (Charlie Brown) like pianoscape that is jazzy yet very approachable for the nonJazz fan palate. The opening (and title) track is a well written tribute to the history of “good music” as Bogart sings about Lester Young’s days in Kansas City, The Woodstock festival, and ever her own tours in Europe. The second track, ‘Everybody Has a Story’ is very Gregg Allman-like in that it seems to be moving and once the song ends the listener has been transported along the journey.
This is a very good album – it is hardly a “blues” album - but rather a sound that transcends genre classification and is simply, “good music” and as Duke Ellington is atrtributed to having said, “There are only two kinds of music; good music and bad music.” The latest offering by Bogart is really good music and would make an excellent gift for your over-35 friend that loves music – and yes, that friend, could be yourself.
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