CW Stoneking - Jungle Blues

Author

Jason Price

Published

Thursday 23rd October

C.W. Stoneking, the champion of hokum is back with his second album, Jungle Blues. After befriending four scientists in a bar in the Port of Spain, Trinidad, C.W. decided to accompany them across the Atlantic, deep into the jungles of West Africa, where he was struck by the dreaded jungle blues, and thus giving rise to this fantastically evocative album.

A concept album of sorts, the dramatic stories within the songs tell of adventure in times and places from long ago. This complements the music and recording methods, which seem straight from the 1920s. The mysterious jungles of West Africa make for an endless number of stories to tell, and Mr Stoneking has done a marvellous job bringing these epic tales to life with simple, sparse arrangements. He has a unique way with words, conveying stories and emotion in small spaces. Early blues are again a primary source he uses to extract soul and meaning into his songs, and elements of calypso, rag-time and swing also influence him. C.W.’s songs are generally devised on his steel bodied dobro guitar or tenor bango, and are all superbly crafted and executed with the help of his Primitive Horn Orchestra, featuring trumpet, trombone, and saxophone, to name a few.

The title track, Jungle Blues, is an introduction to the albums conception, and is a delightful, swinging number. Jungle Lullaby tells of long and lazy days with a beautiful girl deep in the dangerous jungle. The song travels at such a lovely pace that it very well could send one to sleep, dreaming of giant spiders and snakes. Any dreamy thoughts are abruptly awoken by the upbeat tale of the ‘Brave Son Of America’, which was originally a song by Wilmouth Houdini, the self proclaimed King of Calypso. This song features some exquisite horn elements from C.W.’s band and is an ode to the famous US General MacArthur. From the calypso swing, its back to classic blues, in fact the Jailhouse Blues, a well worn number on lost love whilst languishing in prison. This is followed by Housebound Blues, which is sung by C.W.’s partner, Kirsty Fraser. Housebound Blues is a sultry piano number describing all those problems with a man who is always out drinking, leaving the woman to look after the house.

All tracks contribute to the unique feel and quality of the album, and overall this is another exceptional set from a man who continues to impress not only in his originality, but the strength of his songs. Remarkably out of time and step with modern music, this collection of songs is authentic and sparkling, further cementing C.W. Stoneking’s reputation as a revered character in Australian music.