Davis Hall & The Green Lanterns

Toronto Blues Society - John's Blues Picks - February 1, 2022 - by Terry Parsons

This is one of those albums that pushes the boundary of Blues in ways most people could never imagine. I am sure some blues purists would say that it is not blues, but if you listen closely you can hear blues undertones throughout every cut on this CD.

The product of “Dark Orchard” mastermind and Downchild drummer, Jim Casson, Davis Hall and the Green Lanterns is not so much a collection of blues songs, as an exploration of the unexpected places that blues can go.

This album asks what happens if Dark Orchard took their uniquely ambient sound and applied it to tinge a blues idea. Add in Jim’s experimental percussion, sampling and loops to create something completely different, and yes enticingly familiar.

One of the great pleasures of Music is Experimenting with new ideas, new sounds and sharing those with likeminded people. This project was pieced together through a series of other projects that bought guitar, bass and even tuba into play. Authored and created by a group of friends socially distanced but musically connected.

A Monument to musical creation through exploration, every song on this album draws its name from a place somewhere in the Niagara region. Even the band name does that. “Davis Hall” was a Community Centre near where Jim went to nursery school while the “Green Lantern” was a soda shop.

The album opens with “Temperanceville”, lively with a cool New Orleans groove, it features brilliant interplay between tuba (Jay Burr) and guitar (Wayne DeAdder) with some sweet slide (Mike Branton). The second cut is the fun and funky “Marshville Station”, this time with a new lineup including Russ Boswell (bass), Bernie LeBarge (guitar) and Brent Barkman (organ). The music brilliantly mimics the hustle and bustle of a downtown station as people scurry from home to work to home, heads down never noticing the people around them. Not necessarily constant motion, more the flow of humanity in closed circumstance.

Up next, “The Right Road To Boyle”, another feisty New Orleans offering with tuba undertones and smooth guitar over the top. I am not sure what the geographical reference is here, but it has a frantic energy that is infectious.

The fourth cut is the spooky “Finding Tintern”, which features the haunting harmonica of Steve Marriner. The echo-ish nature of the sound belies a large and expansive space, lending itself to the mystery of dark places. The fifth cut, “Gasline”, is a quirky jam, rich with funky guitar and smooth rhythm. A jittery little jump that would be well at home in a smoky New Orleans club at 2 in the morning.

Up next is “Formerly Diffin’s Corners”, which brings the dobro of Stephen Miller into the fold, and adds a trombone to the tuba and the brilliant percussion one expects from an incredible player like Jim Casson. It has a dramatic feel straight out of a 70’s cop movie feel. The seventh cut on the album is the low, slow and atmospheric “Crowland,” a swampy little tune that would go perfectly with fire flies on a hot and humid southern night.

Up next, “White Pigeon” launches you right back into the funky world of Jim’s rhythmic percussion, counter-pointed by Wayne and Mike’s guitar and slide, each playing off the other. The ninth cut is “Sulphur Springs”, probably the most atmospheric cut on the album. The only way I can describe the sampling is that it seems to cycle through sounding like wind through wires, howling wolves and singing whales. Kind of creepy, but very cool!

The album closes with the tenth and final track, “The Dream Of Chantler” brings the brilliant harmonica of Al Lerman in for what is probably the bluesiest cut on the album, fueled by the rhythm of crickets. There’s something about that sound that just speaks to the soul, and Lerman’s harp works perfectly with it.

This album is an intriguing collection of original sounds and ideas that challenges the listener and defies the idea that blues is just one thing. It’s Not! In this case, it is all things.

And now for something completely different, although I find joy here too. “What if Dark Orchard (Jim Casson’s experimental music project) and ‘The Blues’ got together in New Orleans and watched Twin Peaks with Daniel Lanois?” That’s the premise behind Davis Hall & The Green Lanterns. Originally conceived in the early days of COVID-19 as a remote collaboration with bass player Russ Boswell, Casson laid down drum tracks in his home studio that he shared with Boswell who added funky bass licks and a song outline. They invited Bernie LaBarge to add some guitar lines and Brent Barkman on organ; and Marshville Station, the second track on the current album, was born. Although the project was shelved for a while, the ongoing pandemic has provided the perfect opportunity to revisit the idea.

I’ve been a sucker for blues tuba since I saw Taj Mahal at the Mariposa Festival 40-some years ago backed by a quartet of tubas headed by the late, great Howard Johnson (1941-2021). Well, that’s how this adventure begins, with the funky, N’awlins-flavoured Temperanceville co-written by Casson, tuba player N. Jay Burr and guitarist Wayne DeAdder, with Mike Branton sitting in on slide guitar. The personnel of the Green Lanterns changes from track to track, with Casson on drums, keyboards, autoharp and even theremin the only constant, but the result is always bluesy and frequently scorching. Burr, DeAdder, Boswell and Brandon make numerous contributions and guests include Steve Marriner and Al Lerman on harmonica, Stephen Miller on dobro, and an archival appearance by 60s DJ Bob Bowland from CHOW radio in Welland, Ontario. Casson explains the name of the group, and of the songs, as a tribute to the Niagara Peninsula, the stomping grounds of his formative years. “Davis Hall” was the name of the community centre in his hometown where he attended nursery school, “The Green Lantern” was the soda shop in town when he was a kid and the names of all the songs correspond to place names on the peninsula. Who knew that the fruit belt could be so darn funky? This one is guaranteed to lift your spirits (and your heels)!

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent self titled release by Davis Hall & The Green Lanterns and I really like it! Opening with Temperanceville with it's cool New Orleans march rhythm anchored by N. Jay Burr on tuba and Jim Casson on drums, Mike Branton on slide guitar and Wayne Deadder on guitars exchange leads on this making this a terrific opener. Funky, Marshville Station, again has an incredible groove set by Casson and Russ Boswell on bass and with the addition of Brent Barkman on organ and Bernie LeBarge adding solid lead guitar lines over the top, this is a great track. Deadder Branton and Burr are back on The Right Road to Boyle has terrific, easy flowing slide over a solid New Orleans beat. White Pigeon gives Deadder a solid opening to lay down some real nice jazz style riffs and Branton's slide work, doubled with Burrs tuba sets a funk rocky Southern feel. Wrapping the release is The Dream of Chantler with eerie slide work by Branton balanced with the harmonica work of Al Lerman over the keys and sampling of Casson. This is an unusual release and one that you should really check out.

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