Pot Pourri

Walkin’ Each Other Home
Clela Errington
Independent (clelaerrington.bandcamp.com/album/walkin-each-other-home)

In today’s musical world of autotune, synthesized everything and the outright fakery of AI, having a new album of genuine artistry and stripped-down arrangements is a refreshing treat. Imagine someone simply sitting at a mic with an acoustic guitar and singing good songs. What a concept. But that’s exactly what veteran singer-songwriter-guitarist, Clela Errington has done.

Yes, she’s gotten a little help from some very musical friends, most notably blues/roots master Jimmy Bowskill, who does co-producer duty, and plays guitar, mandolin and bass. Other main musicians include Steve O’Connor on keyboards and accordion and Ian McKeown on drums and percussion. But it’s Errington’s soulful vocal interpretations that carry the album, which explores a few styles, but leans heavily toward slow and mid-tempo, bluesy numbers. It opens strongly with a traditional song, I Know You Rider, that kind of puts me in mind of early Stevie Winwood. Careless Love is another traditional song, but in more of a country vein, with a distinct lilt. Got to Make a Change Blues, is a fun sassy cover of a Memphis Minnie blues shuffle designed to get you up on your feet.  

If you’ve not yet heard of Errington, despite this being her fifth album, you could be forgiven, since she spent much of her adult life in Prince Edward Island. But she’s been back in the Toronto area for a while now and can regularly be seen gracing stages here with her warm presence. She often performs with her daughter, singer Jocelyn Barth, who lends her voice to two tracks here, including the Errington original that closes out the album, Full Moon Dark Time, and the blend is exquisite.

Overall, Errington’s warm vocals and accessible style, along with the intimate recording technique, make Walkin’ Each Other Home feel like a good friend is sitting right over there singing these songs just for us.

Mi Pequeña
Eliana Cuevas; Jorge Glem
Lula World Records (lulaworldrecords.ca/product-page/mi-penqueña-by-eliana-cuevas)

Venezuelan/Canadian/International chanteuse and composer, Eliana Cuevas, has long been acclaimed for her previous six well-received albums and dynamic live performances, as well as for her vision as a bandleader and composer. Her choices are rife with diverse cultural and cross-ethnic musical influences. Cuevas’ Mi Pequena (My Little Girl) was created in collaboration with the well-respected multi-Latin GRAMMY-winning cuatro player, Jorge Glem. The cuatro (sometimes mis-identified as a Ukelele by the un-enlightened) is at the very core of indigenous Venezuelan music, and Glem is one of the foremost cuatro artists to be found on the globe.  

The opening title track was composed by former Cuevas collaborator, the late, iconic Aquilas Baez and features a diaphanous intro by Glem, which is joined by Cuevas’ sensual, sibilant and resonant voice, dancing through this lovely, melodic, folk-inspired composition. Cuevas is blessed with not only a supple vocal instrument, but is also a master communicator – beyond language or culture – existing in the shared musical stratosphere. On La Partida (Simon Diaz/Carlos Bennett) Glem reaches levels of artistry and technique on the cuatro which are breathtaking, as is Cuevas’ powerful and gymnastic vocal. 

Other exquisite tracks include Henry Martinez’ muy romantico ballad, Venme a Buscar. Cuevas exposes her very soul here, using vocal dynamics like a paintbrush. On Glem’s delightful Cambur Pinton, rapid fire Spanish lyrics rendered exquisitely by Cuevas intensify the rhythmic dynamism of Glem and the under-exposed scope of the essential cuatro. Cueva’s only composition here, El Quarto Venezolano (The Venezuelan Fourth) is a stunner, with Cuevas on piano, re-enforcing the rhythmic spine, with Glem’s cuatro and Cuevas’ sumptuous voice weaving a powerful Venezuelan spell that will captivate all listeners of this finely crafted and exceptionally performed recording.

Listen to 'Mi Pequeña' Now in the Listening Room

Schmaltz & Pepper
Schmaltz & Pepper
Independent SP01 (schmaltzandpepper.com/store)

During a “random” chamber music gig he played back in November 2023, stellar musician and principal TSO clarinettist, Eric Abramovitz, commented to fellow virtuoso, violinist Rebekah Wolkstein, that he had always wanted to be in a klezmer band. Wolkstein’s reaction? “Let’s do it!” And right there, she got out her computer, started scheduling stuff and Schmaltz & Pepper was born.

Six months later, the band was playing concerts and summer festivals, wowing audiences with their dazzling mastery and musicianship, performing original, sassy, sophisticated and, yes, schmaltzy (in a good way) material in breathtaking arrangements! 

And now we have their brilliant, eponymous debut CD. Rounding out this klezmer supergroup are three more top-tier, award winning musicians: Drew Jurecka on violin and bandoneon; pianist Jeremy Ledbetter; and Michael Herring, bass. Their jazz, swing, classical, Roma and European folk music infused brand of klezmer is virtuosic, soul-stirring, innovative and just plain fun! The track titles, alone, are entertaining: Mozart the Mensch, Gefilte Fugue, Tango Shmango, Manischewitz Mazurka, to name a few. And then there’s the rip-snorting (pun intended) The Yiddish Bullfighter. Wolkstein, also an accomplished vocalist, treats us to both a humorous lament about trying to find the perfect (non-musician) man in I’m Sorry Mama, and a delightful, “Modern Major General-esque” romp in Evil Eye. 

Schmaltz & Pepper have upended the traditional boundaries of klezmer music, joyously Stirring the Pot (see track 1) on the Jewish and world music stage.

sayr: salt | thirst
Jussi Reijonen
unmusic (jussireijonen.bandcamp.com)

sayr: kaiho - live in Helsinki
Jussi Reijonen
unmusic (jussireijonen.bandcamp.com)

Guitarist and oud player Jussi Reijonen was born in Finland and raised in Finland, Jordan, Tanzania, Oman and Lebanon, and has spent much of his adult life in the USA. In 2025 he released two albums: Sayr: salt / thirst recorded in a studio and Sayr: kaiho, recorded “Live in Helsinki.” Reijonen’s liner notes explain that the Arabic concept of “sayr” means a “course” or “motion” and in his own music it refers to “a musical pathway unfolding through improvisation” to a “a memory palace of sound.” 

One of the fascinating aspects of these works is the guitar at their centre: a late-40s Gibson LG-2 acoustic that was “gifted to him by a former student.” It is common to hear this kind of guitar playing folk, country or roots music where its lineage has been built, but in these two albums its acoustic properties are moved into a much more exploratory realm and the result is a unique beauty. The music is not as melodic as it is “sonorous” with plucking, eastern minor scales, silences and melancholy riffs that pull a different and inspired resonance from the instrument. 

Reijonen has stated “sayr is an exploration of the small, the simple and the sparse; the rugged earth” which takes the idea of “roots music” off in a much different direction. For example, the piece salt is 17 minutes long with several different sections and moods: it begins softly with many complex chords plucked and sustained, then moves into a faster section with lyrical swirls and a tonality revealing more of an eastern influence. Repetition is used throughout but each succeeding statement is changed as it reveals another emotion or thought. 

It is an inspiration to hear such meditatively beautiful sounds released from this 80-year-old instrument and I recommend repeated listening for everyone.

Listen to 'sayr: salt | thirst' Now in the Listening Room