Treasa Levasseur: Low Fidelity
Written by Ellen Marie Hawkins
Treasa Levasseur
(picture courtesy of www.treasalevasseur.com photocredit:Mark Peter Drolet)
Treasa Levasseur’s Low Fidelity is really good. I know that sounds so simple, but that’s the thing; that simple realization that an album is well done usually comes with time for me. Not so with this cd. Her vocals are so good. The musicians are amazing.
Call it blues, soul, jazz, rhythm and blues; call it what you want but there is no denying that this is good. I wish I could convey what that simple word means or how shocked I was that I came to the realization so quickly, but there it is. This is good stuff.
Although she’s from Toronto, Canada, Treasa sounds like she has spent her entire life studying the blues from the greats from the deep south of the States. She acknowledges some of that in “Stuck in Soulsville,” a song about Memphis. The horns in this song deserve major props; I can only hope you’re not too busy dancing to notice.
The other great songs on this album are definitely the open song, “Help Me Over,” but it’s not until Treasa sings the album title, halfway through the cd, that you realize this isn’t a disc that gets all sloppy and lazy on the second half. In fact, I think I prefer the latter tracks. Not that the opening ones aren’t good, like I said, they are, but it’s like she’s truly reaching her stride. Or maybe it’s just it takes me a couple of songs to start to get over my admiration enough so that I can fully appreciate what good music this is.
That said, “Low Fidelity,” a sassy song about not putting up with a no good man is fantastic, and the funny but true, “Big Fat Mouth,” is just so darn fun and true that it’s sure to have high rotation on your ipod. I couldn’t decide if I liked the lyrics, the horns, or the “uh, huh, uh huh, yeah, yeah” of the background vocals the most.
And just when you think you may have an idea what Treasa Levasseur is about and understand exactly what type of music she writes and sings, she closes the album with “Amen,” worthy of a southern choir, full of spirituality and searching that knocks on heaven’s door and leaves you breathless.
Be sure to check Treasa out at www.treasalevasseur.com or on Itunes. Low Fidelity is a 2010 JUNO nominee for best Blues Album. Don’t be the last to figure out why she deserves that nomination and many more to follow.
Tags: album, blues, jazz, low fidelity, rhythm and blues, soul, treasa levasseur
