Little Miss Higgins and the Winnipeg Five’s new CD ‘Bison Ranch Recording Sessions’ combines the efforts of two of my favourite prairie musicians, — Nokomis, Saskatchewan’s jazzy, folk singer Little Miss Higgins and Winnipeg based crazy folk-roots group the F- Holes.
They make a perfect match on a CD full of music combining Little Miss Higgins’ ’20s rural jazz sensibilities with the killer musicianship of the F- Holes.
H Jolene Higgins aka Little Miss Higgins, has a sexy jazz cabaret voice which is almost more at home in the 1920s than it is today, yet is still timeless. Together they sound like they have been playing together for years.
They play a variety of music including tender ballads like ‘ The Barns we Used to Dance In.” and the sultry ‘Restless Heart’ and the sultry ‘ I Want to Go to Your House Tonight.’
They also play several toe tapping rockabilly numbers like ‘Chateau Poulet,’ which is sung in French.
Throughout the band combines renditions of earnest jazz like their cover of jazz standard ‘Keep a Song in your Soul,’ with Higgins’ quirky humour on ‘ I Was at An Auction’ which combines her wit with her love for traditional old time music.
‘Dead Cow Hill combines a bit of history with a lot of jazz and folk music.
One of the many beautiful things about the F-Holes is their use of horns. Jimmie James McKee uses his trumpet and Euphonium with great taste which enhances the jazzy feel of the Bison Recording Sessions.’
The music will take you back to a more innocent time and in the process get those toes a tapping.
Artists: Little Miss Higgins and the Winnipeg Five
Genre: jazz/ roots/ blues
