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KIm Fields Review

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Blues Revue April / May 2007 by Dennis Grueling

Live consists mostly of prewar blues covers, but don't expect a mediocre attempt to capture the "vibe" or "atmosphere" of the original recordings. Both of these players are masters of prewar styles. Guitarist Eric Noden has released two prior albums on his own Diving Duck label, and Joe Filisko could be the best prewar blues harmonica stylist in the world today. Standards of the acoustic blues canon ("Canned Heat Blues," "Kindhearted Woman," "Cut You Loose") lie alongside obscurities such as "Bay Rum Blues"(featuring Filisko's awesome first position harp), a beautiful version of the Rev Gary Davis'"I Heard the Angels Singing" and the complexly arranged "Stovepipe Blues." For evidence of Filisko's harp mastery listen to his breathtaking technique on Sonny Terry's "Whoopin the Blues" and Sonny Boy Williamson I's "Truckin' my Blues Away."Very few blues harp players possess the level of control heard here. Some postwar-influenced amplified harmonica appears too on "Kindhearted Woman" and "Cut You Loose." Noden best demonstrates his guitar talent on "Kindhearted Woman" and Fred McDowell’s "Write Me a Few Lines." He handles vocals on eight blues classics as if they were his own creations, while Filisko steps behind the mike for four tunes including "Whoopin the Blues," where he hoots and grunts between breath-defying harp licks. As the title states these tracks were recorded live and these two Chicago-based masters successfully breath new life into the prewar songbook. Not enough acts look back to the 1920's and 30's for inspiration, so let's hope this is the first of many collaborations between Filisko & Noden.

Buddy Guy's Blues Letter by Chuck Wassserburg

For the last couple of years acoustic guitarist Eric Noden and harmonica virtuoso Joe Filisko have been performing pre-1940s blues and ragtime music for audiences in and around their home base of Chicago. Each one is highly regarded in his own right – Noden has put out two well-received solo CDs and Filisko is acknowledged around the world as one of the masters of the diatonic harmonica. Their intention in recording a live CD was to introduce these less-known songs to a wide audience and to capture them in the intimate setting that’s so important to acoustic music. The 13 songs show their eclectic tastes, which range from Delta Blues like Robert Johnson’s “Kind-Hearted Woman” to the Appalachian standard “Mountain Dew” and everything in between. In each song the guitar and harmonica work in and around each other, weaving a tight mesh - Noden and Filisko don’t so much step out in front of one another to solo as they seem to be finding ways to help each other propel the songs forward. In a charged-up adaptation of Fred McDowell’s “Write Me a Few Lines,” Filisko’s harmonica chugs next to Noden’s rusty-sounding slide guitar; the effect is thrilling, like riding a fast train that threatens to jump the tracks but somehow always stays the course. The CD’s liner notes are a real bonus and give a sense of Filisko and Noden’s encyclopedic knowledge of their sources. But these two are no mere curators. It’s a testament to how completely they inhabit the songs,and to their deep respect for the musicians behind them, that if you didn’t know the sources you could be forgiven for thinking the duo had written some of them. There’s no contrivances and no slavish imitation. Noden’s vocals are distinctly his own, rough but unforced, as if he’d used some fine-grained sandpaper on his vocal chords. He does some particularly fine turns on “Canned Heat Blues” and on a version of Rev. Gary Davis’s “I Heard the Angels Singing” that ought to make anyone’s hair stand on end. Filisko brings an astounding range of harmonica voices – he captures the rounded country style of Sonny Terry and can also sound reedy and sweet on “Stove Pipe Blues”; or he can blow about as grungy as you’ll ever hear on the raucous Ricky Allen/Mel London “Cut You Loose,” that closes the CD. Individual strengths don’t always make for a whole that’s greater than the sum of its parts. The good news here is that the 13 songs on “Live” are a breathtaking example of what can happen when the chemistry is right – when two skilled performers who deeply respect each other share a passion for the same music.

Dirty Linen #129 April / May 2007 by Mike Parrish

Fingerstyle guitarist Eric Noden and harmonica player Joe Filisko have long been colleagues at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music and their shared love of traditional acoustic blues has led to this collaborative recording. This baker's dozen of tunes is drawn from the wealth of acoustic blues performed by the likes of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee,the Reverend Gary Davis and Mississippi Fred McDowell during the interval between the first and second world wars. The duos encyclopedic knowledge of and reverance for, this music is evident in both their energized performances and their authorative liner notes, in which the two alternate in expounding on their musical role models. Instead of coming across as a novelty revival act, Filisko & Noden make a thoroughly convincing case that this music is the real deal, and their spirited performances make it sound both fresh and contemporary

Harmonica World---review by Pat Missin

Joe Filisko is perhaps best know as a master harmonica craftsman, creating instruments for some of the world's top diatonic harmonica players. He is also one of the most knowledgeable people on the subject of pre-war country and blues harmonica styles, but as those of you lucky enough to catch him at this years NHL festival will know, his knowledge goes beyond the acedemic and he can breathe life in the traditional American harp styles like few other players. This album finds him in the company of guitarist Eric Noden playing to a small specially invited audience, the intimate feeling of the session being perfectly captured on the CD. The set features pieces by such harmonica luminaries as Gwen Foster, Sonny Terry, John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson as well as adding harmonica to tunes from the song books of singer/guitarist Tommy Johnson and Robert Johnson. On first listening to this album the immediately impressive thing is just how accurately Joe recreates the styles of these great masters, often requiring some deceptively advanced technique. However, perhaps even more of an achievement is that he does so without it coming across as some sort of souless audio cloning exercise, instead managing to bring a muiscality to the proceeding that can only come from a deep love of the instruent and the music. Of course being partnered with someone of Eric Noden's abilities is no small help either, his guitar playing is capable of both power and sensitivity . The two musicians obviously having that sixth sense that can only come from many hours of playing together. My own favourite track is the tune "Mountain Dew", taken from the harmonica/banjo duo of Red Parham and George Pegram, but a close second is the moving tribute to the late Chris Jones, Jesus on the Mainline In the sleeve notes, Joe says "If I were to be guilty of having my own style it would most likely be heard here. Don't be fooled by his modesty-Joe always rises above mere imitation, bringing his special touches to the American harmonica tradition. Anyone with any interest at all in that tradition needs a copy of the CD. The booklet is an education in harmonica styles.

Crossroads Blues Society Newsletter--review by Harmonica Joe

Eric Noden and Joe Filisko are two awesome acoustic blues artists. Joe is a very accomplished harmonica player, teacher, historian of harmonicas and a builder of custom harmonicas. He is also a vocalist doing five songs on the CD. Eric is one fine finger picking guitar player, pianist, songwriter and vocalist. Both Eric and Joe also teach music and do workshops on roots music and their instruments. The met in the 1990's while teaching at the Old Town School of Folk Music.. They have been playing music together for the last few years as well as doing solo shows and performing with others. I could go on and on about both of their music knowledge abilities and desire to keep the music alive. Their newly released CD "Filisko & Noden--Live"was recorded to showcase the music that they have been playing together for the past few years. These songs are all from the 1920-s-1940's. Among the names are "Mountain Dew" and "Bay Rum Blues" which we are all familiar with. The Main purpose of this CD was as Eric Noden states "to capture the emotional spirit and musical artistry that made these musicians unique."Eric and Joe have done this well and have also added their take to the mix. The whole CD is about the roots styles that are the basis for much of our modern popular music. Filisko and Noden have created a record of the music as it was originally performed. Their mastery of their instruments and of these songs is a real tribute to their dedication to preserve the roots music. They have taken the songs such as "Canned Heat Blues" by Tommy Johnson with Joe adding harp to it, "Kindhearted Woman" by Robert Johnson and "Truckin' my Blues Away" by Sonny Boy Williamson and played them as they were played but also putting themselves into them. Also added to the mix are tunes by Rev. Gary Davis, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Memphis Jug Band and Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. There is something for everyone in the mix. Listen to this record will let you realize the outstanding ability of both Joe and Eric to make the instruments of their choice come alive to let us all re-live the roots music of the past in the present. This is one music history lesson that we should all venture to take. Thanks to both Hoe Filisko and Eric Noden for their dedication to letting us know about the roots of our music.

Kim Field (author of Harmonicas, Harps and Heavy Breathers)

Joe Filisko and Eric Noden as serious students of the blues tradition as well as world-class musicians and performers. If you ask them about the concept behind their brilliant new CD, “Filisko and Noden Live,” they will talk about their joint desire to recruit new fans for the music and tonalities upon which American popular music is built. Mission accomplished. From the astonishing opening number, Foster’s “Bay Rum Blues,” through the closing cut, T-Model Ford’s “Cut You Loose,” Filisko and Noden, recording live in front of a small audience of bedazzled listeners, offer up a nonstop treasure trove of the highly varied music we tend to corral under the generalized term “the blues.” The deep blues of the Mississippi Delta, the intricate and melodic blues of the Carolinas, jug band tunes, hillbilly numbers, gospel music, and Chicago blues—all are beautifully served up on “Filisko and Noden Live.” For the uninitiated, this CD will be a transformative musical experience—the opening of a door to a vast storehouse of prewar blues performances. Filisko and Noden are a powerful pairing. Blues is storytelling music, and Eric Noden’s soulful, smoky vocals serve these songs beautifully. When it comes to his guitar mastery, there is seemingly no acoustic blues style—ragtime, Delta blues, slide, old-timey—that Noden cannot effortlessly summon. Joe Filisko demonstrates time and again on this CD why he has gained a worldwide reputation as a harmonica wizard. He has chosen some of the most technically difficult tunes in the pre-war harmonica songbook (“Bay Rum Blues,” “Whoopin’ The Blues,” “Stovepipe Blues”), and he nails them. Filisko’s abilities as a rhythm harmonicist are the equal of his skills as a soloist, and the pneumatic glory of Joe’s fabled harmonica tone—whether unadorned or transformed through the use of his hands, a tin can, or an amplifier—ripples throughout these tunes. More importantly, these two virtuosos support each other seamlessly; the dazzling interplay between them can only come from a telepathic level of musical partnership. Join the great musical circle, then, and savor “Filisko and Noden Live.” In doing so, you’ll be celebrating two marvelous musicians who have captured not only the sounds but the emotional spirit of some of the richest bloodlines in American music.

Blues Matters (UK)

Completely unknown to me Joe Filisko (harmonica/vocals) and Eric Noden (guitar/vocals) have been performing since 2004. However, this in no way is music of the 21st century. These guys create the Blues music of the 1920s through to the '40s and do it very well indeed. Captured live in January 2006 this is just about as authentic as you can possibly get. Absolutely devoid of any embellishments, this is so stripped back that you can taste and smell the Deep South . The street corner performers, dime stores and bars are vividly brought to life. Every track is a cover and that is partly why it is so good. No attempt has been made to change the original arrangements at all and this CD shows just how good these songs are. Don't feel cheated by this short review. I have scrapped several different longer versions. Instead I will simply say this. This CD is wonderful and should be in every Blues lovers' collection. There is not a bad cut on here, and smiling you will find yourself listening again, again and again. Graeme Scott

listen to and purchase Filisko & Noden "Live" from CD Baby

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