For Reviews of our new CD Is This Tomorrow, please go to http://thehenrys.ca/ITTreviews.htm ------------------------------ JOYOUS POROUS Among all the infectious noise being made by acoustic slide guitar players in recent times, Toronto kona player Don Rooke and his ensemble of like-minded abstract sound architects stand out on their fourth album as the high-minded intellectuals in their class, the quiet scientists scratching away at the borders of the folk/time continuum while the other guys are staging a hootenanny. "Old instruments, new sounds" is the way Rooke describes what The Henrys do - they use sophisticated recording and playing techniques and elaborate audio processes to extract from a resonator guitar and other plucked acoustic instruments the harmonics, overtones and oblique noises behind the rustic notes to create landscapes that are astonishingly romantic, frightening, sexual, spiritual - and quite beautiful. Brave new music. -Toronto Star review by Greg Quill, December 14, 2002 ===================== The Henrys have never been a band keen to sacrifice quality for quantity. Centred on the compelling fretwork of bandleader Don Rooke, the enigmatic septet has released four albums since 1994's excellent debut Puerto Angel. It's been more than enough to secure The Henrys a place as one of Canada's most intriguing ensembles. The long-awaited followup to 1998's Desert Cure, Joyous Porous again delivers the goods in grand fashion: the haunting slide of Rooke's National Steel darts in and out of the cinematic, dream-like instrumentals like sharp bursts of essential dialogue - always refined, soulful and to the point. The Henrys all-inclusive sound - a flickering fusion of languid blues, darting jazz, ambient musings and fragmented folk - is a subtle, organic thing of beauty. -Ottawa XPress, review by Steve Baylin ============== Music became a thing when the first recording was made, and music ever since has tended to become more thing-like and less situational. A studio recording that feels like a situation is truly a rare entity, and eventful in the fullest sense of the word.Music as situation requires rules, and a shared approach, but also demands enough freedom for sounds to find their way to the places where they need to be. In a word, it needs to be porous, and that's a joyous state indeed on the best tracks of this fourth album from the Toronto-based ensemble The Henrys. Don Rooke, the group's main writer and lead guitarist, has a soft spot for front-parlour roots music. But he's equally drawn to a kind of cool abstraction that creeps up on his old-seeming tunes, and subjects them to an analytic, postnostalgic fondling. The rough outlines of the method will be familiar to anyone who has heard a few Bill Frisell records, though the tone and the temper are quite different. Frisell mainly plays electrics, but Rooke's core instruments in The Henrys are the kona, the Weissenborn and the National Steel. These are all vintage acoustic guitars, and they provide him with a range of throaty, atmospheric sounds, and the basis for a meditative slide style. The Henrys love thick natural sounds like those of the pump organ that clacks and surges at the start of the title tune, and juicy old electronics such as the Mellotron, the Theremin, and the Arp synthesizer. The density of the timbres allows for a kind of short-hand that suits the group's brainy, yet sensual, style. With just a few chords on the Weissenborn, Rooke can open a deep blues space in VF61,the opening track, then follow the groove into a strange pentatonic octave unison with bassist David Piltch, while trumpeter Michael White peppers the scene with distant aphorisms. It takes only a few acid guitar chords and a hustling rhythm line to set the stage for the drawling bluesy arioso that Mary Margaret O'Hara drops into One Body. This track feels like the antithesis of the neatly made studio number, though only on the groove-based Li'l Ms Demeanor did O'Hara (who contributes to six tracks in all) apparently wing it straight to tape. There are two covers: Maria Elena,a genuinely old and sentimental tune from the thirties, and Charles Mingus's Goodbye Porkpie Hat,in a version so brilliantly understated as to make virtually every note a poem. Almost everything here works on first hearing, and works even better after that. Globe and Mail, Robert Everett-Green ==================== The Henrys are at it again. And it's glorious. In a world full of wannabe slide people and instrumental crapola, Don Rooke and company have again distinguished themselves as one of the most outstanding and original outfits we've ever heard. Why is it so hard to find music this original? Because it takes talent, first of all, and because it's damn hard to make a living when you're this musically fearless. God bless the Toronto Arts Council (and the Music Section of the Canada Council for the Arts), what a civilized country that is. I swear, half of the great music I hear anymore is coming from Canada. "Recorded at Cellars and Spare Bedrooms," Joyous Porous finds our sonic heroes in outrageous form. As you might have gathered from our previous review of this stellar band, The Henrys are essentially comprised of slide master Don Rooke (yo!), trumpetist Michael White, and bassist David Piltch. The unbelievable guest melodies and vocals of Mary Margaret O'Hara send chills right up my spine every time, Lord Almighty! The compositions are as good as the playing is, and that's saying an awful lot. On top of that, the renditions of Charles Mingus' "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" and the 30s classic "Maria Elena" are right outta this frickin world. These folks are deeply whacked and profoundly talented. I'm not kidding. Get this album, it will help you open up your mind and your spirit. Most records today will not do that. They're conceived with too many parameters and expectations in mind. I don't get the impression here that there's anything necessarily hanging in the balance of the CD's acceptance, and the unique beauty of the work is, on the other hand, unmistakable. Don Rooke's tone on the kona makes me wanna cry, it's so pure. It's an antique instrument from the 20s made of koa wood and played with a steel bar. I love The Henrys, and wish there were more groups like them around. Instead of all these knuckleheads. PureMusic, Frank Goodman, October 2002 ==================== The Henrys, il progetto del canadese Don Rooke, sono certamente una band unica nel panorama attuale. Mischiano il suono di Ry Cooder con le ricercatezze di Bill Frisell. Il risultato è un collage, in parte strumentale, di musica solare e sperimentale al tempo stesso. E poi, come ciliegina sulla torta, c'è la dolce Mary Margaret O'Hara. -Buscadero Magazine, Italy, review by Junior Bonner ==================== When they're on their game, the Henrys sound like no one else. After establishing and refining a sound over four albums, largely built around Don Rooke's woozy slide guitar, the Toronto group are now happy to gurgle away in their own peculiar language. In its best moments, Joyous Porous's mix of twanging steel, wheezing pump organs and Mary Margaret O'Hara's elastic vocals is completely disorienting. A cover of Mingus's Goodbye Pork Pie Hat only reveals itself a few minutes in as the riff peeks out from behind a haze of guitars, while more straightforward moments, like the O'Hara-driven Strangel, verge on pure pop. Utterly alien but oddly familiar at the same time. -NOW Magazine, review by Matt Galloway Don Rooke is a master of two distinct sounding guitars: the Weissenborn and the Hawaiian Kona. From both he extracts sweeping and exquisite beauty, and he's best known for doing so on Mary Margaret O'Hara's recordings (she returns the favour by vocalising with The Henrys). Past Henrys records have been intoxicating rainy day records, even if they occasionally ventured into CBC musical segue territory. Joyous Porous, however, finds the Henrys taking a leap into considerably more experimental waters, where it's all about languid texture and much less about traditional song structure. It makes Friends of Dean Martinez sound like Blueshammer. In the cinematically capable hands of Rooke and company, including O'Hara, bassist David Piltch, violinist Hugh Marsh and others, just about anything is possible. -Exclaim! magazine, review by Michael Barclay ==================== Either The Henrys see the eerieness of their world through a haze of nostalgia, or they see nostalgia through a haze of eerieness; either way, their music has a strangely timeless feel. The group weaves webs of sound around Don Rooke's spidery National Steel and Weissenborn guitar lines. Often, beguiling patterns emerge as melodies and rhythms jump out; elsewhere, quirky atmospherics get stuck into cobwebs. Fans take note: Mary Margaret O'Hara appears on six tracks, the best of which, "Strangel," will induce Miss America flashbacks." -Eye Magazine, review by Mike Doherty, Eye Mag ==================== Those with a reasonably intact memory will recollect the Henrys' excellent earlier albums (ref fR158/9 and fRoots 6 CD). They're an intriguing Canadian output mixing progressive rootsy sort-of-acoustic sounds centred around various slidey things played by Don Rooke (Weissenborns, Konas, Nationals, lap steels etc.), and always including some vocalisation by the enigmatic and reclusive Mary Margaret O'Hara. Well, if you do, and if news of another - their fourth, and first since 1998's Desert Cure - tickles your fancy, then you'll be very pleased to know that this one could be their best yet. What the Henrys do is put across the ambience of roots music without actually playing trad. Indeed, O'Hara's singing manages to give the impression that she's singing some torchy country blues without, quite often, actually uttering a conventional word (who needs language to communicate anyway, as any fule world music fan kno?). It's deep into virtuoso textures on slides, acoustic bass (now David Pilch), trumpet, pump organ, violin, kalimba, drums, mellotron, theremin and all sorts - mostly original compositions (apart from Mingus' Goodbye Porkpie Hat and the old standard Maria Elena), and all beautifully recorded. If you're looking for musical fellow travellers, then probably Bill Frisell or David Lindley would be your nearest points of reference, but in all honesty, this group's pretty much in a compartment of one. Telling you that it's among the few records that would be equally at home in fRoots and The Wire might also give you a pointer, but then so's Shirley Collins. hmm. -Roots U.K., review by Ian Anderson, October 2002 ==================== DESERT CURE The third disc from this mostly instrumental Toronto combo firmly establishes Don Rooke as one of acoustic guitar's greatest unsung heroes. Playing lap-style slide on historic Weissenborn and Kona guitars, he alternately evokes the smooth perfection of Jerry Douglas, the languid soul of Ry Cooder, and the dreamtime whimsy of Bill Frisell. But such comparisons are mere reference points - Rooke is a startling original who seems constitutionally incapable of resorting to slide cliches. His tone is drop-dead gorgeous, his technique mirror-smooth, yet he has a mischievous chromatic streak that keeps things from getting too comfortable. The other musicians are formidable too, especially Monte Horton, whose keening electric work is a perfect counterweight for mellow-toned Rooke. Their rhythm section gravitates toward easy, Caribbean-flavoured grooves, but they, too, spike the punch with piquant dissonance - is there such a thing as "tropical noir"? Fretwork of the first order, well worth seeking out. " -Guitar Player, review by Joe Gore, November 1998 ==================== Don Rooke's work on various slide guitars, from the kona to the lap steel to something called a Sonar Zombie, recalls the erudite ramblings of Bill Frisell. This ensemble (which sometimes includes the vocalist Mary Margaret O'Hara) surrounds his playing with sunset tones. -New York Times 'Treats for Off-the-Menu Tastes', review by Ann Powers, January 14, 1999 ==================== It's hard to imagine The Henrys in a rush to do much of anything, and that's a good thing. Over three records, the group's learned to put that pace, or lack of it, to good use, letting the songs unfold gradually without ever losing the plot or getting sleepy. As the title suggests, the local quartet's third disc finds the group supplanting the Hawaiian ambience of 1996's Chasing Grace sessions with an even more understated Dust Bowl feel. Organ, trumpet and softly blown conch shell are added to the diaphanous arrangements, and Mary Margaret O'Hara returns...but the real focus remains Don Rooke's slide guitars (Kona, Weissenborn, dobro and lap steel) weaving in and out of the languid soundscapes and hinting at pop melodies without ever becoming that contained. -NOW Magazine, review by Matt Galloway, September 1998 ==================== Neither world, blues, country, reggae, new age or rock, but with a healthy dose of each of these categories and more...You have a sonic landscape that may take its energy and influence from one source, but turns it into something new and unique each time. There are sound snippets, slow tunes, funky tunes, menacing tunes. Wonderful!" - Folk Roots, U.K., review by Ian Kearey, October 1998 ==================== Rooke ha uno stile personale, suona in modo pulito ma crea dei fraseggi diversificati, cercando sempre risoluzioni nuove per la sua musica, lasciando da parte le ovvieta per esibirsi in uno stile oltremodo particolare. Un musicista fuori dalle convenzioni ed una band che, di conseguenza, suona in modo 'diverso'.... Chiusura impegnativa per un disco di non facile approccio ma di indubbia bellezza. La musica e anche impegno e Don Rooke lo sa benissimo. Da ascoltare: perfetto per la serate invernali che si stanno appropinquando. -Buscadero Magazine, Italy, review by Paolo Caru, November 1998 ==================== Oh, baby, every once in a while you run into something really special. These two blessed discs by this apparently alien outfit from Toronto defy, decry, and refry description. Our story begins with the irrefutable genius of leader and slide player Don Rooke. Mostly he plays an antique slide guitar called a Kona. He calls it "...a rare acoustic instrument with unique tonal purity. Konas were manufactured out of Hawaiian koa wood in the 1920's. It is played slide style, flat, with a small steel bar." In this case, when you're Don Rooke, it is played with sheer genius. He is the musical equal of slide masters Ry Cooder and David Lindley, as well as the phenomenal Dave Tronzo and Indian wonder V.M. Bhatt. His haunting compositions leave few genres untapped, combined and turned out like reversible flowers. Along with the Kona, Don also uses a Weissenborn, National Tricone, and Hawaiian King guitars, and cuts the occasional acoustic track. The fretting guitarist is the graceful, the eloquent Monte Horton, a superb and very original player, first rate ensemblist. Producer John Sheard contibutes masterfully and essentially on keyboards, standing out memorably in select moments when called upon. David Trevis on bass and Michael Billiard on drums are an inspired, flawless rhythm section, a composer's dream. Michael White plays beautiful trumpet and conch shell, sparingly used. Special guest Mary Margaret O'Hara on vocals, she's simply amazing. Microtonal, sings in tongues, oblique and omnipresent, looming in the studio corners. Truly rare. These landmark records of (mostly) instrumental genius cannot be found in stores, but can be purchased from the artist Don Rooke at their website. I am hard pressed to find words adequate to their level of artistry, but am conversely pleased to be able to offer our readers a chance to listen instead, to tracks jazzmospheric and sometimes lethally funky, sample a couple from each record on the listen page. Incredible acts unknown, thugs rule. What a world. -www.PureMusic.com, review by Frank Goodman& ==================== Don Rooke's mostly instrumental combo balances profound roots sensibilities with a restless, open-ended spirit. Rooke's main instrument is a Kona, a Weissenborn-like instrument from the 1920s. His touch is immaculate, his tone drop-dead gorgeous. Rooke sometimes evokes Jerry Douglas's perfection, Ben Harper's funk, Bob Brozman's liquid vibrato and Dave Tronzo's intensity, yet his unique voice never loses its focus as the group veers across genres. The smoky-toned electric work of co-guitarist Monte Horton is a perfect foil for Rooke's singing slide, and the rhythm section is equally formidable. Deep music from deep players - and a field day for tone fiends." -Guitar Player, review by Joe Gore, November 1997 ==================== The Henrys from Toronto are a quartet which presents its musical work mainly in instrumental form. Since their debut album Puerto Angel they've remained true to their collective goal. Music without image, without forced stylishness and mixed together in front of the homey fireplace. Henrys chief Don Rooke is a master of the kona (a Hawaiian slide guitar with an unusually clear tone) who used to back up a friend, vocalist Mary Margaret O'Hara, during many a concert. Working with the Henrys was just a small step for her. She sings without words, but is able to hit the most amazing sequences of notes. Her vocal chords must be made out of pinkish marshmellowy stuff, so smooth, sweet and humorously does she work her way along the songlines of the Henrys' material. Like a "Fieldmouse" hunting for "Social Piranhas". Guest trumpeter Michael White makes his muffled horn sound like an oboe. The whole thing could be adequately described as Country-Blues-Ocean-Jazz-Improvisations for never-shot movie scenes that are projected at our ears rather than our eyes. Because of their originality, The Henrys are a relief for souls that are fed up with pop music. Contrary to what the album's title suggests, they don't need to chase after recognition or even grace. With music that can safely be heard in bars, bedrooms, during breakfast or in cars, this wonderful quartet from Canada should entertain us as often and long as possible. On "Avenues of Forgiveness" there's a "Mouse in Sheep's Clothing" - be honest, where else can you find this?" -Rolling Stone Germany, review by Gitti Golden, November 1996 (translation from German by Ton Maas) ==================== CHASING GRACE How can Toronto's finest lounge-lizard instrumental band follow up last year's debut, "Puerto Angel"? Simple - with an album that stretches their musical adeptness and boundaries still further...Plenty more of the sinuous slide guitars and torque-wrench tight rhythms that are easy to listen to but a long, long way from Easy Listening...The compositions and playing are impeccable...Make this one of your essential albums." -Folk Roots Magazine, U.K., review by Ian Kearey, October 1996 ==================== Musically, The Henrys arrive at a strange hybrid, an almost ambient concoction of swinging jazz, country and blues, tinged by flickering neon. David Trevis's near dub bass pours out like hot tar...The Henrys seem to have cultivated a completely new genre. -Q Magazine, U.K., review by Martin Longley, October 1996 ==================== Pop by any of the Henrys' live sessions and you're bound to be treated to a set of edgy instrumental ambience, blurring demarcation lines between jazz, dustbowl twang and sun-baked Hawaiian blues. All the parts appear to be in place on Chasing Grace... There is an unfaltering sense of ease with which Don Rooke guides the sessions, juggling kona, acoustic, lapsteel, National and Hawaiian King guitars with relentless creativity. And each of Rooke's compositions are impeccably arranged and tastefully played, with the guitar/bass/drums configuration augmented by trumpet, keys, and conch shell and with Mary Margaret O'Hara providing occasional flutters. -NOW Magazine, review by Matt Galloway, October 1996 ==================== A mostly acoustic band with folksy roots and progressive branches. A few tunes feature vocals, but the album's most soulful singer is Don Rooke's Kona guitar, a Weissenborn-like slide instrument. Lovely stuff. -Guitar Player, February 1997 ==================== The Henrys play classic Americana - wonderfully arranged, sharply talented and springing from the sheer joy of playing. In a time where most see "roots rock" as a return to simpler folk forms, the Henrys distinguish themselves by adding flourishes that accentuate and decorate the music into something extraordinary. A couple of songs feature stunning vocals from Mary Margaret O'Hara, whose clear voice can at times be confused with at theremin. Subtle and immersive." -INK New Media Magazine, Georgia, review by Mark Chester ==================== Puerto Angel The sticker on the front proclaims the involvement of Mary Margaret O'Hara. Sure enough, the near mythical songstress crops up on three tantalising occasions on the debut album of her fellow Canadians, most notably on the suitably traumatic Dark Dear Heart. If that weren't enough, The Henrys themselves make a lovely, light, languid instrumental noise of their own, most readily recalling some of the multi-ethnic dabblings of Ry Cooder and David Lindley. Leader Don Rooke plays a pretty mean kona, which turns out to be an acoustic Hawaiian guitar, but their style incorporates just about everything from country to jazz. John Hiatt's Radio Girl with vocals by one Michael Dunston seems, at best, misplaced in such gentle surroundings for what is otherwise a small gem of slowly unfolding delights." -Q Magazine, U.K., review by Peter Kane, January 1996 ==================== A delight on numerous levels - sprightly, balming, edgy and eclectic, making casual darts in the direction of country, jazz and pop. -Mojo Magazine, U.K., January 1996 ==================== Originally released in 1994 in their native Canada, Puerto Angel is the debut of The Henrys, who have a lot going for them (other than the great name). Like What? Five excellent musicians with molto simpatico and - cover the kiddies' ears if easily offended - mucho taste, alors. The Henrys have a few master strokes, the first being resident composer-in-chief/steel drummer/dobro player and kona virtuoso Don Rooke. Kona? Yep, it's a Hawaiian steel-strung slide guitar with a hollow neck, that just rings and resonates like you wouldn't believe. Some of the tracks accordingly have a Cooder-Kottke feel to them, and good for them - if you're going to be compared to somebody by idiot reviewers looking for points of reference, these guys aren't a bad start. But there's a fair amount of Other Stuff happening on the tracks - the second interesting pont is that for an instrumental band, there's a lot of vocals around, all by guest artists. Michael Dunston growls effectively through a John Hiatt song, and then along comes Mary Margaret O'Hara. It transpires that Rooke has worked with O'Hara before, and she comes along and does her weird vocal thing on three tracks, as well as singing The One Rose absolutely straight - probably the biggest shock of all. And it all works really well. Third, those comparisons above are only valid for some of the album; there are jazzy, bluesy grooves, slow, aching solo pieces, and some unclassifiable tracks that demand being listened to. Good vibes all around. Catch them if they tour - if they're half as good live, they're still well ahead of most. -Folk Roots Magazine, U.K., review by Ian Kearey, December 1995 ==================== &puerto_review6="A band well worth getting to know." -Rock & Reel, U.K., Spring 1996 Highlighting dobro and Hawaiian slide guitar, the Canadian instrumentalists produce a sound somewhere between Leo Kottke, Ry Cooder and David Lindley, all very quiet night under the stars open spaces. -What's On, London, U.K., 1996 ==================== Het lijkt alsof de makers van deze CD zich hebben ingespannen om vooral niets te verklappen over do muziek die ze maken. Hun naam zegt niets en de titel van hun debuutalbum al evenmin, behalve dan dat het de naam van een plaats in Mexico is. Ook de foto op het hoesje is tamelijk abstract. Wat doen ze dan, die Henrys? Wel, ze maken Hawaiian-muziek. Oudere lezers zullen zilch zich misschien nog de hoogtijdagen van dat genre herinneren, met de Kilima Hawaiians als onbetwiste sterren aan het Nederlandse firmament. In tegenstelling tot de Hawaiian-muziek uit de jaren viftig, die nogal sentimenteel en voorspelbaar was, is de muziek van de Henrys avontuurlijk, veelzijdig en virtuoos, maar ook verstild en poetisch. De leider van het kwartet, Don Rooke, bespeelt de kona, een instrument dat in Los Angeles werd gebouwd tijdens de eerste Hawaiian-golf die de Verenigde Staten eind jaren twintig bereikte. Het is een soort slide-gitaar, maar dan eentje met een ongewoon fraaie en warme klank. Puerto Angel is overwegend instrumentaal, maar op enkele nummers is de Canadese stemkunstenares Mary Margaret O'Hara te horen, telkens weer in een geheel andere gedaante. Puristisch kan deze CD niet worden genoemd. De Henrys flirten vrijelijk met funk, jazz rock en zelfs hillbilly, maar zonder ooit hun ware inspiratie to verloochen. -Ode Magazine,Rotterdam, Nederland, review by Ton Maas, November 1996 ==================== A classic album made for introspective moments. -Roots & Reggae, U.K, November 1995 ==================== My number one album of 1994. Under the fluid, guiding hands of Don Rooke - who plays kona, dobro, lap steel and steel drums - The Henrys move effortlessly through stirring country ballads with [singer] Mary Margaret O'Hara ("The One Rose", "Dark Dear Heart"), lonesome desert laments ("Look So Good," "Coyote Basin") and jazz ("Bunt"). The dexterous Henrys take it all in stride and listeners will revel in their musical diversity. This second release covers tons of rootsy material and does it so very, very well." -Ottawa Express, review by Joe Reilly, ==================== Very idiosyncratic and very lovely. -CBC TV Arts National, review by Karen Gordon ==================== Accessible and challenging, The Henrys' Puerto Angel is my favourite Canadian release of the year. It is also one that comes out of left field. Who would expect an album with a kona (a Hawaiian acoustic slide guitar) as one of the central instruments to be the creation of Toronto musicians? The mainly instrumental, somewhat jazzy tunes provide the anchor for these alternately playful and moody explorations. Notable tracks include the swinging "Nunc Pro Tunc" and the twisted funk of "Muscle Beach", which features some atonal steel drums and untraditional mouth music from O'Hara. Puerto Angel is an intriguing pleasure." -Exclaim! magazine, review by Bruce Tisdale ==================== Outstanding players and seamless as an ensemble. -NOW Magazine, review by Kim Hughes ==================== A diverting album by this distinctive Toronto-based band. Mary Margaret O'Hara makes a heartbreaking return. -Toronto Sun, review by John Sakomoto, ==================== Puerto Angel was charted in Germany's Rolling Stone Magazine as an Editor's Choice, 1996