Harry Manx/Kevin Breit, Jubilee (NorthernBlues Music Inc., 2003)

In last week's Green Man Review we looked at a new CD by Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, the inventor of the mohan veena. Harry Manx is the only musician outside of India to play this instrument. He studied with Bhatt, and on his first two solo recordings Manx managed to bridge the gap between Indian music and the blues...an almost monumental achievement. On Jubilee Manx is joined by another Canadian musician, guitarist Kevin Breit, and the duo have produced one of the mellowest, sleekest, most sensual albums of the year.

Breit, who has played with Norah Jones, Cassandra Wilson, Bill Frisell, Janis Ian and k.d.lang, met Manx at a guitar workshop at Summerfolk 2001. Breit's trio "Folk Alarm" provided sympathetic backing for Manx's raga-blues and they developed a quick and long-lasting respect for each other. It has taken a couple of years as they followed their individual career paths but Jubilee finds them together and loving it!

The album begins with Sleepy John Estes's "Diving Duck Blues" done in a funky quiet style, Manx sings in his easy voice and plays acoustic slide and harmonica while Breit adds a popping electric lead. Snazzy. A special treat is Harry's harmonica solo; he doesn't overblow like so many current players, and instead gives us a melodic relaxed passage. "When Abbott Met Costello" is an instrumental featuring Kevin on cavaquinho (a Portuguese lute that may have evolved into the ukulele) and Harry on acoustic slide. Then comes a sleepy version of Danny O'Keefe's "Goodtime Charlie's Got the Blues." It's almost country, nearly blues -- they own it! Beautiful slide guitar playing by both.

The next instrumental, called "No Particular Place to Be/Itchy Knees and Elbows," counts in with a shuffle, and quickly turns into a picking clinic with Kevin Breit on mandocello and banjolin while Harry Manx plays an acoustic slide and double on National Steel guitar. It's fun, and it scratches those itchy joints. You may be familiar with the next tune; Mark Knopfler and the Notting Hillbillies included a rendition of "Take This Hammer" on their album. This version finds a similar slow gospel groove, with echoes of "I've Been Workin' on the Railroad" tossed in for good measure. "Curly Ray and his Brother" is a mellow moody piece, with slide guitar (Harry), and Kevin overdubbing mandolin, mandola, mandocello and resonator guitar. It could be the soundtrack of an unmade movie. Then they funk things up a bit with "Funny Business," the first taste of of percussion on the album. Producer David Travers-Smith adds tambourine and shakers to a sizzling electric slide solo by Kevin!

Harry brings out the mohan veena only twice on Jubilee, and it's on the next two cuts. "Raga Gujari-Todi" is an Indian based string duet, with Breit on National Resonator; "Unmoved by Love" is a ballad with Harry's vocals. The mohan veena sounds marvelous in both settings. The rest of the album finds covers of the Doobie Brothers' hit "Taking it to the Streets" (an instrumental that really moves), and Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" with Manx playing banjo! There are several more instrumentals at different tempos and with various stringed instruments, that simply add to the variety and virtuosity. All in all Jubilee is a wonderful album. It's comfortable, and challenging, and familiar, and startling, with some of the best sounding guitar recordings in recent memory.

Thanks to NorthernBlues Records for putting this out there, and to Harry Manx and Kevin Breit for their incredible fretwork! Whew! Nice little insert booklet too...