VAL LEVENTHAL
Roots and Flowers (Independent Records)
Reviewed by Eric Steiner

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Chicago singer Val Leventhal has released a record that's part folk (think Malvina Reynolds, John Prine or Pete Seeger), part blues (listen how she channels a slow and simmering Memphis-styled blues or a full-tilt Chicago sound). Val's been busy: she's been part of a select group of singer-songwriters who have earned the privilege to perform original material at the Chicago Singer/Songwriter Spotlight at FitzGerald's in Berwyn, and has frequently sung at the Bucktown Arts Festival and Around the Coyote Festival. Folkies will delight in "Sleight of Hand" or the title cut, while fans of plugged in electric blues will enjoy "Ball & Chain" and the rollicking piano-fueled "Fool for the Blues." "Bargirls and Gargoyles" reminds me of the work of another Chicago storyteller, the late Steve Goodman, and I hope that folks like John Prine, John Hiatt or Richard Thompson would consider covering this sad and wistful song of nighthawks at nightclubs. If you've spent any time pursuing a muse in smoky, dark taverns, you know the characters of "Bargirls and Gargoyles" that have come to life in Val Leventhal's song.

Track List:

Roots and Flowers * The Sweetest Love * Sleight of Hand * Bargirls and Gargoyles * Mama Was Purebread * If This Isn't Love * Little Brown Dog * Sacred Ground * Memory of Light * Life is a Cup * Ball & Chain * Shine * Fool for the Blues

[Pick this up at CDBaby.]

© 2005 - Eric Steiner