Bert Deivert – Pony Blues
Self-produced CD
13 songs – 55 minutes
One of the finest mandolin players in the world today, Bert Deivert turns back the clock on his latest CD, channeling his early heroes of the instrument – Yank Rachell, Carl Martin and others – on the 15th album of his career, delivering a masterful, reverent mix of traditional numbers and first-generation blues standards that fit effortlessly with new creations.
Bert’s a Boston native who began his career playing on the streets of San Francisco in the early ‘70s. Based in Denmark for decades, he’s worked with a cross-section of talents, ranging from Charlie Musselwhite, Eric Bibb and Sam Carr to rockabilly legend Wanda Jackson, the New Lost City Ramblers’ Tom Paley and Pong Srabua, an uber talented blues guitarist from Thailand.
A follow-up to his successful 2020 release, I Ain’t Leavin’, this disc comes with the comfortable feel of a back-porch concert in the Delta despite being recorded in two studios in Denmark and others in Venezuela, Sweden and Southeast Asia. Deivert glides across the strings in a hypnotizing manner and provides vocals in a relaxed tenor that welcomes you in from the first notes.
Deivert performs solo on about half the tracks with barebones accompaniment from guitarist Jesper Theis, harp players Mats Qwarfordt and Puree C. Muadmuang, drummer Fredrik Lindholm, bassist Olav Gudnason, cellist Charlot A. Rivero, violinist Eva Deivert and Emmy Deivert on backing vocals – all of whom make limited appearances.
The traditional “Little Sadie” breathes new life into the first-person regret and confession of a man who shoots down his lady in cold blood. Despite the theme, Deivert’s light touch and warm delivery mute much of the heartbreak. It gives way to the originals “I Stand Up,” which pledges love, faith and devotion to a lady, and “Clarksdale Rag,” a revisit to a time in the ‘60s when watching Son House in action permanently changed Bert’s life.
Qwarfordt graces St. Louis Jimmy Oden’s familiar “Goin’ Down Slow” before Muadmuang joins in on Deivert’s “The Best Blues Bar in Town,” another reverie that describes walking “’til I had to sit down” to get there. But once inside, “we don’t get tired, the place is on fire, the walls are drippin’ with the songs that expire…” while the traditional “Louis Collins” recounts “the angels” laying away another lost soul.
Despite referencing the year 1928, “Downtown Blues” finds Bert abstaining from whisky but eager to drink a beer as he pays a backyard visit to his lady love. A sweet take of Rev. Gary Davis’ “I Am the Light of the World” precedes the title cut, “Pony Blues.” It’s a genuine article from the ‘20s — recorded by Charlie Patton — and comes with old-time appeal while Mance Lipscomb’s “Charlie James” is a re-conceived treasure thanks to violin and cello accompaniment.
“Hesitation Blues,” another traditional delight, precedes “World Is Gone Wrong,” a first-generation pleaser penned by Walter Vinson of the Mississippi Sheiks, before the original “Run a Little Slower” brings the disc to a sweet close as Deivert delivers a loving vow to give his lady more than any woman in his past if she’ll only give him the chance.
If you’re into loud guitars and more, Pony Blues will have you running for the door. If, however, you have a love for older, more sensitive sounds, this one will leave you craving for more.
