JOHN GORKA - "Jack's Crows" High Street Records 72902 10309-2 (1991)

Another one of those bargain-bin discoveries. And again what a pleasure. John Gorka is a singer/songwriter living in the USA, and this is his second album as far as I know. By now he's got a handful of albums all of then definitively worth having IMHO. This one is from '91. John plays guitar by himself, all acoustic but both 6 and twelve-strings. His voice is a real pleasure to listen to. Warm and tender, solid and fragile and a bit on the darker side, a voice that really appeals to me. He's also got a way with words that makes you listen. Songs of love, songs from the road, songs about life's little mysteries are here just waiting to be heard by people who likes that kind of music but so far is unfamiliar with John Gorka. Instrumentation are overall scarce here but on some tracks he's got a full band sound. Super-bassist Michael Manring often plays the fretless bass here, suits the music fine with it's warm sound. On backing-vocals we find prominent names like Shawn Colvin and Lucy Kaplansky, both singers/songwriters with own successful careers. Lyle Workman takes care of the electric guitars and the much used Brian MacLeod drums steady as hell. We even get to hear a string-quartet on one track and a fiddle on another. But that's only on a single track each. Outstanding tracks here are the title-track "Jack's Crows", "The Mercy Of The Wheels" and "Where The Bottles Break". What a superb songwriter he is! The follow-up album to "Jack's Crows" named "Temporary Road" is a true beauty as well. So what are you sittin' there for ?? Go out and get them!

JW ROY and The One Night Band - "Deeper shades" Munich Records MRCD 195 (1999)

Just out of nowhere JW Roy and his band shows up with a very pleasant release. About these guys I know nothing except the info written on the cover of the cd. So I assume that they're from Holland according to the names and their contact-address. The band plays music which fits the most under the banner Americana. And they do it so well that they might as well been born in the middle of the USA. Musically, to compare JW Roy style wise, the name of Canadian Blue Rodeo comes to mind. But the reason I've put JW Roy in the Americana basket instead of Rock, which I would have placed Blue Rodeo, is that Blue Rodeo is a bit wider when it comes to musical expression. JW Roy has written all the music and lyrics here with just a couple of exceptions. On one track he has written the lyrics together with Ad Van Meurs, better known as The Watchman (watch out for future reviews/article about him!). He's also responsible for the lyrics on "Learning To Crawl". And Roel Spanjers which takes good care of the keyboards here has written both music and lyrics to "Savannah Bay". Speaking of keyboards, it's plenty of Hammond-organ playing here, and for you maniacs out there who has read all my reviews, knows that I just love the sound of a Hammond. But there's also piano and accordion here. You will notice already on the opening track "Traveller" how good Roel Spanjers is. He matches the excellent guitars of Richard Van Bergen perfectly. JW Roy got this little husky voice with warmth and flexibility and sings without any obvious accent. "6th Street (the corner of your mind)" is a beautiful ballad which clearly shows what excellent voice JW Roy has. And with bluesy Hammond and twangy guitar you're gonna love this! Another strong ballad here is "Benjamin", but more cut to the bone with just fiddle and acoustic guitar as accompaniment. Wonderful accordion shows up on "I Believe" and leaves the air scented of Tex-Mex music. On "Amsterdam, Sunday Night" JW Roy sings duet with Ilse DeLange who's voice reminds me of Janie Fricke, a strong clear voice. The album closes with only JW Roy on guitar and vocal with some distant harmonica from hired hand Gait Klein Kromhof. A worthy end to a great album.