My Sweet Patootie
Album: Good Day
Label: Easy Bake
Tracks: 13
Website: http://www.mysweetpatootie.com

"Good Day" is the aptly titled third album by Canadian trio My Sweet Patootie [ MSP] who hail from deepest rural Ontario.

MSP play an invigorating brand of music which they call "Cow Jazz" or "Acoustic Swing". Basically, it's a delicious confection of Hot Club-style Gypsy Jazz, Country, Blues, Folk and Vaudeville. In other words, it's a blend of all that's good about vintage roots music.

The band was formed in 2007 by two outstanding musicians, Terry Young [guitar] and Sandra Swannell [violin] both of whom were members of the mighty Tanglefoot. Terry and Sandra were joined in 2012 by percussionist Bradford Nowak.

In case you are wondering, "My Sweet Patootie" is a term of endearment which dates back to the 1920's and refers to a "hot dame" or "sassy sweetheart", although rumour has it that it is also a slang term for "posterior" or "derriere"!

"Good Day" opens with the song of that title and it sets the mood for the whole album infectious good humour and superb playing and singing, delightful combination of jazzy guitar, Hot Club violin, luscious strings and horns and harmony vocals.

MSP were heavily influenced by the record collections of their fathers and it shows. The next track, for example, is a swinging, jazzy version of the Patsy Cline hit "Walking After Midnight", which showcases Sandra's fantastic fiddle playing, not to mention her sultry, jazz-inflected vocals.

Probably my favourite song on the album is "Queen Ann's Lace" which was written by Terry and Sandra. It's a lovely song of nostalgia for home and features a superb solos from Terry on guitar and Sandra on fiddle, not forgetting Bradford's contribution on percussion. Great stuff!

Terry's stunning guitar extrapolations introduce a sizzling instrumental pairing of "Tamlyn" and "Cotton-Eyed Joe" on which Sandra's fleet fiddle veers from jazz to folk to country hoedown in the blink of an eye.

"Under The Sun" is a fine, folky song by Meg Tennant and Mike Rogers. Terry heard Meg sing this song back in the 1980's and was so impressed that he asked Meg to write down the lyrics and chords on a serviette which Terry kept for years. Years later he rediscovered the serviette and decided to record the song, so he got in touch with Meg and she gave him her permission to use it.

MSP are not averse to tackling songs from the Great American Songbook as shown by their swinging version of Nancy Hamilton and Morgan Lewis's "How High The Moon", which comes complete with scat-singing in the middle section.

Staying with the classic songbook, Terry contributes a stunning ragtime solo guitar version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow", which will cause guitarists everywhere to weep with envy, such is his technique.

The thing about MSP is that they are not just brilliant instrumentalists and singers, they are also excellent songwriters. Terry and Sandra wrote more than half of the songs on this album, including "Little Lost Bird", "Company's Coming" and "Backseat Love Song".

Terry told me that they had a lot of fun making this album, and it shows. It is a joy to listen to and if you are looking for music to lift you up and make you smile, look no further and have a "Good Day".

POST SCRIPT - So Near Yet So Far

Having been listening to "Good Day" for some time, I was looking forward to seeing/hearing/meeting My Sweet Patootie at the Bothy Folk Song Club in Southport on 16th June 2013. This was to be the very last date on their month long tour of England [and parts of Scotland]. Everything had been going so well, the tour was a success, they had sold plenty of cd's and the weather had been good [for England]. They were a mere 500 yards from the Bothy's home at Park Golf Club. What could possibly go wrong now? BANG ! A road traffic accident in which their trusty Ford Focus was written off [probably]. Luckily they were not hurt but surely they would be able to play tonight after such a traumatic event?

Well, as the old saying goes "The Show Must Go On" and so it did. To their immense credit the stalwart Patooties put on a superb performance and no one would have guessed that they had nearly been wiped out. Their performance was pure Vaudeville "just like The Good Old Days".

Hopefully, My Sweet Patootie will be coming back to these shores next year. Miss them at your peril!

Peter Cowley