Introducing himself on January 16, 2020 at Symphony Space (New York), Dom Flemons called himself “The American Songster”. A songster, he reminded us, plays all sorts of material – and that’s just what he did, presenting the variety within American traditional music. And it was great!
Hs first number was instrumental. With the harmonica in a holder, the he played a complex rhythm on the rhythm bones – like drumsticks, two in each hand, with no strings connecting them. Next song, a holder held the quills to his mouth as he played the banjo and sang “We’ll make it so your man’ll never know!” Later, on ‘Whole Corn Liquor,’ he switched to a gourd banjo, which has a rather dull sound.
He sang ‘Come Here, Black Woman’ a cappella, and we all sang with him on I lost all my money but a two-dollar bill. “I’m feelin’ kinda blue” we sang snappily.
On a medley of three songs he did some Piedmont picking – picking low notes with his right hand and high notes with his left, simultaneously fretting with his left hand. Wow!
Throughout the concert, Mr. Flemons established an easy rapport with his audience, putting the songs in context. He referenced the pantheon of American traditional music – Mississippi John Hurt, John Wesley Worth III, DeFord Bailey and many others. He explained that he wrote Steel ‘Pony Blues’ after learning about Nat Love. Love was born a slave, became a cowboy and, when the range became farmland, a Pullman porter. Bass Reeves was another folk figure, also born into slavery, he became a U.S. Marshall and – it’s said – the inspiration for The Lone Ranger.
Mr. Flemons’ voice can do anything. Sometimes his whooped, sometime he nasalized his voice like a pop country singer, sometimes he octavated into falsetto, sometimes he sounded legit. Splendid!
And with his range of talent he expressed the range of experiences of historic, rural America – from ‘Good-bye Old Paint – I’m Leavin’ Cheyenne’ to ‘My Baby Said Yes Instead of Maybe.’
With great songs like ‘Po’ Black Sheep (“Goin’ to Alabama with my banjo on my knee”) and ‘Pay Day’ (“I did all that I can do – But I can’t get along with you – I’m gonna take you to your Mama – Pay day”), Mr. Flemons kept us riveted to his voice for an hour and a half. What terrific work!
More about Dom Flemons.
Author: Steve Capra
