Michael Rubin – 5 Minutes of Passion
Many Hats Records
11 Tracks – 43 minutes
Michael Rubin was born in New Jersey and hopped around the country from Pittsburgh, Sonoma, New Orleans, and Manhattan before settling into Austin. Now if you want to see perform, he seldom ventures outside of Texas. Michael started playing the harp at age 15 and started performing at 16. Today, he makes most of his living teaching harmonica. He has performed in genres ranging from the blues to opera, and in the band pit for the Tony nominated Broadway play, The Civil War. He has also backed Ruthie Foster and Cyril Neville. He cites Paul Butterfield, Sonny Boy Williams II, and James Cotton as his favorite harp players. He is considered a master harmonica player playing all variations of the instrument from a chromatic harp to the smaller diatonic harp.
Michael on harp and vocals are joined by guitarists Cesar Crespo, Josh Futero, and Matthew Smith on various cuts, bassist Michael Archer, drummer Jason Corbiere, and Emily Gimble on keyboards. Michael advises that he has “Non-traditional vocals” and his storytelling falls outside of the lines of what would be considered traditional blues topics, but all are presented with wit and whimsy, with the harmonica in the forefront of every song.
Guy Forsyth on banjo and backing vocals, Patrick Harwell on trumpet and trombone, Paul Santios on sax and clarinet, and The McMercy Family Band adding backing vocals join Michael on the first cut as he exclaims in a Dixieland vibe that
“I ain’t going to sing “Dirty Words” no more” and “no more double entendres” “although I am a grown man”. He then moves to an instrumental “Doo Doo Da” in a bluesy romp. On “Big If” he determines “If I were king, I would rule world. If I had hair, I would get all the girls.” “It all depends on if your if is true enough.”
“Alien in a Chair” offers advice and perhaps some chastisement citing “Spaceship came down and began to land. Alien was friendly and held my hand. Offered him a chair but he didn’t understand. Brought him and set him down. Said it was the greatest thing ever and need to get chairs on my planet. ” He then notes “Talking about something is not the same as doing it. Some people like to watch; all they’re doin’ is viewin’ it. You ain’t movin’ forward until you start pursuin’ it.” On a somewhat countrified tune “5 Minutes of Passion” he acknowledges “If you keep talking about the harmonica, she’ll think you odd, her head will nod. Just give her five minutes of passion and then pull out”. Sweet Gary Newcomb guests on the pedal steel guitar.
He again offers advice in a swing tune “Dig That Ditch”. “You can’t dig a ditch till you know how to do it. But if you don’t dig that ditch that don’t ever get dug”. “Little Circus Town” is a plaintive cry about life acknowledging “You can leave the little circus town, but you can’t quit the freak show”. “Gravity” is a message song stating, “I don’t use gravity, if you want to use it go on feel free.” “I can be just as happy floating in the air”. and further notes he does not want any vaccinations or politics, as “I have not voted for years” He concludes “I don’t need anybody else” “I may be crazy, but I got my health”.
He defends taking a “Nap”. “If I did nothing, would that be so wrong? “One thing I got to get done, take a nap is at the top of the to do list. Doing less don’t make me less than.”. Greg Izor guests on the chromatic harp for a solo as Michael switches from a chromatic harp on the lead and then plays the diatonic on the solo. The song offering the opinion “The propaganda is in the hands of people, and the people are in the hands of the propaganda.” But the harmonica leads are the focus of the song with the cited interjection in a fuzzy vocal are the sole lyrics repeated in the song. On “Grudge” he notes “That thing you said to me 25 years ago you thought I forgot but one day you will find when I hold a grudge, I hold it for a long time”. “My kindergarten teacher put me in a corner, and I have not talked to her in a long time.”
Michael’s skills on the harmonica are impeccable and certainly delivers on the stated mastery on the instrument. Gary’s vocals have a somewhat weary, but appealing texture. And as noted, his lyrics for the most part shift well away from what would be called traditional blues. But it is that wit and humor he throws into them along side of his harp that together will cause you to want to come back for more.
