Rob Green’s Soul Dancing
One of the newest additions to the local musical landscape might not be one of our youngest musicians. At 62, Rob Green is a newbie to releasing CDs but this week enlists a throng of veteran musicians to help bring his debut CD, Soul Dancing to life. Born in Owen Sound, Green would beome a part of the greater Hamilton area community when he became a teacher beginning in Stoney Creek.
“I started at Orchard Park Secondary School in 1975, then Saltfleet, Ancaster and back to Saltfleet,” recalls Green. “I was a drama teacher for 37 years bringing musicals and plays to festivals. I stayed so long because I enjoyed it but I retired in January 2012.
“The reason I got into acting was because I was nervous in front of people,” adds Green. “I figured I’d take a couple of acting classes at university and then I wouldn’t be nervous but I loved acting and became a professional and a teacher. One thing lead to another and to another and there I was 37 years of teaching.”
Seven years ago, Green was inspired by a more musical muse and began exploring local open mic nights and fleshing out new songs. “I’ve been making music since I was sixteen,” reasons Green. “I have no formal lessons. I just played by ear, by soul and by heart. I was really inspired when I first heard Bruce Cockburn when I was sixteen or seventeen, I’ve followed him ever since. Some people say that my music reflects him; I take that as a compliment.
“I had written songs most my life but these songs mostly came in the last four or five years,” adds Green. “There is one that was inspired by 9–11. You come to an age, to a stage in life — I decided it was a bucket list thing to do, to make my own album. It was something I always wanted to do. I wanted to put an album together get a bunch of musicians together and then I ran into Terry Crawford. I had taught his older brother and he had a recording studio and said let’s do it. I just wanted to do it, I finally did it and here it is. I can’t believe the quality of musicianship and performance. I’m really happy with it.”
Soul Dancing is a competent recording of Green penned tunes culled from his life experiences and yes, a musical touchstone might be Bruce Cockburn. The obvious next step after the recording and printing of a CD is a release party and so Green — backed by his Soul Dancers band including Trebilcock (guitar), Sal Rosselli (sax), Terry Crawford (percussion), Dan Reid (bass), Caleb Kelly (violin), Brook Blackburn (guitar), Chris Wheeler (guitar), Lena Montecalvo (vocals), Lyndsay Grant (vocals), Sharon Musgrave (vocals) Karli Bortolotto (vocals) — brings his music to life on the local stage this week.
“Life has a lot of hills and valleys and I wrote about them on this album,” explains Green. “It’s a soulful, spiritual journey that became this album. The song I wrote “Soul Dancing” became the title. It’s dancing, spiritually it’s people I’ve met and the people that have come before me and when the final curtain comes and I walk through that door, I’ll be soul dancing with those people.
“I wish I had done this when I was twenty or twenty–two but I didn’t and it be a shame to end this life with leaving some things that you wanted to do undone and this is one of the things I wanted to do,” continues Green. “I taught and now I want to enjoy my life and this is part of clearing up three years of my life. It’s about tying up some loose ends and moving on to the next chapter which may include music, it may not. I’m also a professional actor in movies, television and commercials. I don’t know what the next chapter will hold.
“A lot of people are joining me to help release this CD so it’s going to be a party, an event and hopefully a celebration,” adds Green. “When I did plays, we’d raise awareness and money for the less fortunate kids on the street and I thought we could do a similar thing with this CD release. In the end, I’d like a lot of people to hear this music. I think it has an appeal to people from old to young. Older people have talked about how mellow it is and the spirituality of it, and I had one of my high school kids listen to it and he just said, ‘wow, Mr. Green, I didn’t know you could do that’.”
Rob Green plays this Thursday May 9, 2013 at Stonewalls with Gina Milanese, Brooke Blackburn, Karli Bortolotto, Justin Toito and Sharon Musgrave opening at 7:30pm. Tickets are $10 and CDs are $15 with partial proceeds of CD sales going to Wesley Urban Ministries. Click on robgreenmusic.bandcamp.com/
Read the aritcle on View Magazine.
Single Sentence Music Reviews: Rob Green –
‘Soul Dancing’… Outstanding Debut Album
As I listened to Rob Green’s debut album ‘Soul Dancing’ I was trying to come up with just one word that would define the whole record and I kept coming back to “enjoyable”, so just press play and relax to this outstanding musician that blends genres with a voice that makes it seem almost effortless.
Read the aritcle on sonicmoremusic
“Soul Dancing” is the debut release from singer/songwriter Rob Green. Teamed with a supporting cast of talented musicians and vocalists, “Soul Dancing” takes the listener down a winding path of life. The result is a collection of songs that can be described as a bit moody with some haunting melodies. Somewhat autobiographical, Green presents a message of hope and inspiration.
Green’s performances harkens back to the days of the Canadian Folk Music scene in the 70’s and 80’s. You can hear the influences of Bruce Cockburn, Gordon Lightfoot and Leonard Cohen in his delivery (In the liner notes, Green credits Cockburn as a major influence). A signature trait of this collection is the interplay between acoustic and electric guitars. The addition of violin and saxophone on a couple of tracks, add some interesting spice to these songs.
Some of the standouts include:
“Soul Dancing” – a duet with Lyndsay Grant. With Caleb Kelly providing a beautiful backing melody on violin, this is an upbeat, yet comfortably serene song.
“Look To The Light” is probably one of the most inspirational songs on this release. On this track, Green’s nimble acoustic guitar is complimented by some tasty licks from the electric guitar of Jacob Moon.
“The Rock” is one of Green’s grittier efforts, with something of an anthem feel to it. Defiant lyrics are made poignant by a strong backbeat and electric guitar riffs with attitude.
Overall, “Soul Dancing” is a solid effort. Thoughtful and thought-provoking lyrics are coupled with exceptional musicianship. A debut that is definitely worth your time.
Jeff Niziol
Independent Music Reviewer
(Formerly of USNewJazz.com)
