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Jim Christy
Call him the Canadian Tom Waits, I'm sure he won't mind. Transplanted South Philadelphia poet Jim Christy is now one of Canada's favourite sons, appearing on the CBC and criss-crossing the country looking for more stories to tell. A Night in Grombalia mixes beat poetry with wailing alto saxes and rootsy guitar licks. Christy's voice is as gritty as Tom Waits, whose musical soul percolates through most of this album. Christy is also a world-traveler, traveling to Honduras and other war zones as a journalist. He is also a sculptor and artist whose works are on display all over the world. As an author, he's written biographies of fellow spirits Jack Kerouac and Charles Bukowski, as well as a couple of crime novels set in early Vancouver. It all melds together in the end. Christy is not just our poet. His work tells the stories of Canadian places like southern Alberta and northern BC, but all these locales seem to have some beer-soaked jazzhole on a back street somewhere. The cruel landscapes of Western Canada fade into cold, brutal Philadelphia streets. By the last track on A Night in Grombalia, "Tonight in The World", Christy visits Russia, Poland, the Middle East and other exotic places, moving the narrative to a global scale. Christy's work is perfect for a night of drinking rotgut and watching David Lynch movies. You half expect Sheryl Lee to walk in the door by the end of the album. Take a trip, but take a gun. RECOMMENDED TRACKS: "Tonight in The World", "Petticoat Junction", "There Are No Sufis in South Philadelphia" - Steve Marlow, CFBX Radio, Kamloops, BC
By Steve Marlow |
