Blues
Recorded at the Queens Hotel in Nanaimo (Island Pacific Studios 'neath the stage), "BONE-IFIED" is one of the best live productions I've heard to date. This CD was produced by Jerry Adolphe, recorded by John MacLean & Sheldon Zaharko and Mixed at Blue Wave Studios. The superb performances throughout are a real treat.
If you dig bonafide electric blues, Paul Deslauriers' expressively-searing guitar and slide solos will most-definitely knock your sox off (Paul has played the Montreal International Jazz Festival with his own band on 3 seperate occasions). His rich vocals are exceptionally dynamic and soulful. Paul Buonassisi's rapid-fire honky-tonkin' keyboards add to the frenzy of the fast tracks and provide a rich jazzy texture to the mellower tunes (he has shared the stage with Martha Reeves and James Cotton). Drum dynamo Jerry Adolphe (Jim Byrnes, Sass Jordan, Pinetop Perkins, Taj Mahal, Spirit Of The West, Laurie Jordan, Cash McCall, Albi, Oliver And The Elements, etc.) and bassist-extraordinaire Craig Soon (Guitar Shorty, Eddie Shaw) kick ass up and down the Richter scale. My favourite tracks:
"Crossroads"-a funky version of Robert Johnson's classic with lots of ripping slide guitar. The rawness of this opening track belies the more "cleaner" or mellow material that follows.
"Mr. Fiction"-rich guitar and keyboard chordings embellish this heavy-duty ballad about trust. "So wake up my fearless friend, to everything there is an end, and don't believe that you can't gain from learning to love the pain."
"Walkin' Blues"- Not for pedestrians mayhaps, Paul almost breaks that E-string!!!
"Hey Joe" - At first, I wasn't expecting much from this track (I've heard 400,000 versions and jammed this song 11 million times since I was fifteen). However, the warm chord structure in Joe always lends itself to wonderfully depraved noodling & gymnastics. BCB's rendition is loaqded with clever little hooks, razors and steel-toed boots. Goes down real good with any drink that uses beer for a chaser!
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Co-founded in Montreal, Canada in 1992 by guitarist Paul Deslauriers and pianist Paul Buonassisi, these boys were deemed by some critics at the time to be "Canada's hottest blues-rock band". After a year of extensive touring in eastern Canada, selling out clubs and woo-ing festival goers everywhere like at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, the band relocated to Vancouver to branch out and create a larger and more diversified fan base.
Their official recording debut came in 1994, when they gave us "What A Way To Make A Living" and then "Bone-ified" in 1995; two independent gems that sold extremely well, without any official form of distribution!
A definite highlight for the band was kicking off their 'Bone-ified Tour' opening up for one of Canada's top bluesmen, Colin James, on his cross Canada jaunt in the summer of '95. They followed that up in May of '96 by snatching the 1st runner-up position in Demo Listen Derby, the highly esteemed contest held annually by Vancouver's no. 1 rock radio station 99.3 The Fox. Paul Deslauriers picked up further honors by receiving the Best Guitarist award.
The band also contributed 2 songs to the Vancouver Seeds XI CD and appeared on the televised Demo Vision / Project Discovery. That same year, Deslauriers received further industry recognition for his song writing skills. He picked-up an award for best Rock/pop/alternative song in the 1996 Write-On Song Contest for the song 'Thin Prayer' and another in the best blues-rock category for his song 'Bye-bye Baby'.
Black Cat Bone's independently produced video for the song 'Mr. Fiction' was also a regular on Much Music's Indie Spotlight, thanks to numerous 'write-in' fan requests. Director Bruce Sweeny also used the song in the soundtrack for the film 'Dirty', featured at the 1998 Vancouver International Film Festival. Also, in 1995, the Godfather of blues himself, Bryan Lee, invited both Paul's to play on his then upcoming album 'Heat Seeking Missile'. They were even chosen to play as Bo Diddley's back-up band.
Tragically, in December 1996, Black Cat Bone co-founder Paul Buonassisi suffered serious injuries in a near fatal car accident which left him unable to continue his work with the band. Paul Deslauriers has since toured with international acts like Garou, Amanda Marshall, Johnny Ferreira & the Swing Machine, France D'Amour, and currently fronts his own blues-rock power trio called the Paul Deslauriers Band and also has a very successful acoustic duo with Dawn Tyler Watson.
As for Black Cat Bone, although they did reunite in the summer of 2004 for a handful of shows, the band is not currently active nor touring. However, both albums have been re-issued under Deslauriers' own Big Toe Productions, commemorating each album's 10th anniversary. What A Way To Make A Living and Bone-ified are currently available online at CDBaby. Robert Johnson and Clapton/Mayall fans will surely appreciate the covers like 'Walking Blues', 'Rambling on my Mind', and the totally re-arranged 'Cross Road Blues'.
At the time of the band's demise, they were working on a follow-up album and expanding their sound, as heard on the award winning song 'Thin Prayer'. There's a wealth of unreleased Black Cat Bone material in the vault. Great music is timeless, and if the fans want it, the vault can and will be opened. So check back often with the band's official site for new releases, and up-to-date info on Black Cat Bone.
**
PAUL DESLAURIERS- Guitars, Vocals
PAUL BUONASSISI- Piano, Vocals
Various rhythm sections over the years including:
Jerry Adolphe- Drums (Chilliwack, Sass Jordan, Pinetop Perkins)
Craig Soon- Bass (Eddie Shaw, Guitar Shorty)
Pat Steward- Drums (Bryan Adams, Odds, Colin James, Mathew Good)
Doug Elliot- Bass (Odds, Sharkskin)
Al Webster- Drums (Amanda Marshall, Jeff Healey, Big Sugar, Colin James)
Graham Chambers- Drums
Marc Deschenes- Bass (Steve Hill)
D.C. Duncan- Drums
Andre Brisebois- Bass
Paul Harwood- Bass (Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush)
Ian McCuaig- Drums
Brad Ferguson- Bass (Rich Hope)
and
Billy guy - Drums
Could be more...
**
01. Cross Road Blues 6.58
02. Mr. Fiction 6.57
03. Walking Blues 6.49
04. Rambling On My Mind 8.27
05. Misery 7.22
06. Worried Life Blues 8.03
07. Mad 5.34
08. Hey Joe 17.45
**
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