Sunny and her Joy Boys took the stage at Narrows Center for the Arts last night, March 20, and they put on an engagingly good show, performing jazz standards originally recorded by female singers in the 1920s, ‘30s, and ‘40s.
The five-piece band, featuring vocalist Sunny Crownover and guitarist Duke Robillard, performed many titles they had recorded for their 2009 debut CD, Introducing Sunny and her Joy Boys. Thankfully, the Narrows Center has superior acoustic qualities. The Center sits atop the fourth floor of an old mill building, and its wide-open area and high ceiling gave the music plenty of breathing room. “This is the best music room in New England,” Robillard said when he opened the second set. “No offence to John Chan. We love Chan’s too.”
Crownover, Robillard, and their crew opened with the classy “Strictly from Dixie” tune, and they played it with proficiency, the southern fried melody percolating from guitar and clarinet.. Crownover’s voice was almost too good to be true. She has the perfect timber for these tunes, and she has a strong hold on dynamics that allowed her to sing all of them with expansive authority and style. Crownover had to sing to a lot of melody from the lead guitar as well as the clarinet/tenor saxophone/pennywhistle player(Billy Novick) and through and a around a lot of twisty rhythms from a busy a second guitarist Paul Kolesnikow and upright bass player Jesse Williams.
Crownover’s voice is rich with experience and that was one of the music’s biggest strengths. Another is Jesse Williams’ bass playing, a lot of plucking with oomph, thickness, and a palpable beat. This bassist is the reason this quintet can get by without a drummer. He keeps the beat while helping to drive the rhythm ,and he also offers some counterpoint melody too.
“You’re Driving Me Crazy” found Billy Novick playing a sweet sax melody with gentle application. Along with Robillard’s firm finger picking method, it created a weave of sound for Crownover to gently sway over. After being a blues belter for several years, Crownover’s voice fits right in with these old time melodies, marking a second genre of music that she succeeds in. Her voice became expansive on “That’s My Desire,” as the bass kept perfect time while also providing foundation. The saxophone mirrored the widening of the sound. That the five-piece could create so much layering, texturing, grandness was another “Wow!”
Novick’s clarinet was featured well in “Traveling All Alone,” with a lot of melody around what Robillard was already putting out. Second guitarist Paul Kolesnikow held the song together by being a very busy rhythm man, as he was throughout the evening. That steady supply of rhythm gave Robillard a solid platform to launch those tremendous bursts of melody. Kolesnikow played some pretty punchy rhythms on “Stop, You’re Breaking My Heart,” challenging Crownover to put her voice through a lot of twists and turns.
“Woe Is Me” was a humorous tale with Novick playing a pennywhistle, an instrument so thin he could hold it in his fingertips but an instrument that let him get a lot of bright, shiny notes out of its stick-like body. Using the instrument was an original idea by this band. It was also good of Robillard to let the other melody instrument player have so many moments to shine. Every member had slots to showcase what they had going on. The best moments were when Robillard and Novick were complementing each others melodies, when Williams played counterpoint, Kolesnikow’s rhythm controlled the arc of a song, and when Crownover’s voice expanded without losing its timbre.
There is a lot for serious listeners to key into when they’re checking out Sunny and her Joy Boys. “Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea” created a sailing mood with its breezy melodies. The band also got down and dirty on the blues standard “He May Be Your Man,” and, Robillard featured an Asian slant to his lead on an old Mae West standard called “Occidental Woman.”
“You’re My Thrill,” with its mysterious and sensual percussion(Robillard on bongos) could make you picture a fem fatale behind a curtain. Yet, this one piece was where the group lost some steam. This was a lack of chemistry between the players and Crownover didn’t seem to know how to project the needed fetching approach in her voice. She offered none of the yearning quality on the CD version. Then the five got swiftly back on track for the remainder of the first rate show. Sprightly melodies, twisty rhythms, and old time vocal timbers enchanted until the end.
www.myspace.com/dukerobillardpresentssunnyandherjoyboys
