the hum / By Bob Doran

Cruisin’

Karen Dumont’s new CD, music for farmers and accordions galore

(Aug. 14, 2008)  We were finishing up a day at the Humboldt County Fair, which is more or less a day at the races. (I managed to hit a couple of exactas and come out ahead.) While perusing the canned fruit, model trains, quilts and other exhibits in the Home Ec building, we chanced upon an old friend, Karen Dumont. You may remember Karen from her years as director of the Arcata Interfaith Gospel Choir, or from her time as a blues and jazz chanteuse fronting various bands. She moved up to Oregon a couple of years back, so I had lost touch. We caught up.

She was at the fair to sing backup for Spanky McFarlane, who was on a break between sets on the Midway Stage. As it happened, Karen had a copy of her brand new CD, Blues Cruise, in her hand. She claimed she knew she’d run into me and it was for me. We do have some sort of psychic bond since, as we discovered years ago, we were born on exactly the same day, so maybe she really did know she would see me.

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I slipped the CD in the car stereo on the way home and grooved on down the road. Great stuff! Karen is in fine form, backed by some fine players on neo-electric blues tunes that range from smooth and jazzy to rough and bluesy as required.

“I’ve got six songs on there that I wrote, so I’m stoked,” said Karen, who noted that she’s having a CD release party Saturday night at Six Rivers Brewing, which will also serve as the unofficial Buddy Brown Blues Festival after-party. (Check the calendar section for a detailed piece on the B.B. Blues Fest.) “I will be out in Blue Lake handing out my little handbills and sitting in,” said Karen, before we returned to discussion of the album.

“Part was recorded in Portland with some musicians I’ve been working with up there, then I came down here to finish the project with Mike Kapitan and Chris Matheos producing. I’ve got Doug Vanderpool on my little “Blues Cruise” song (the title track). Julie Froblom’s on there playing sax, and I have a lot of hometown people.” Among them are some of her Gospel Choir buddies, Halimah the Dreamah and Barbara Culbertson, plus the afore-mentioned Spanky.

“On Saturday at Six Rivers we’ll do a lot of songs off the album,” she continued. “I’ll have the group from down here with me — Chris and Mike, Julie and Doug, Rob Anderson on drums, Dan Perez on guitar, a perfect group. And since we have the whole night, we’ll do some of the funk we used to do. It’s going to be great. You have to come.”

Well, I believe I’ll have to. Incidentally, if you compare the names above with the players at the Buddy Brown fest, you’ll see that just about all of them will be out at Perigot Park. Getting Karen up on stage should be a breeze.

Elsewhere Saturday, the city of Arcata presents another Arts in the Park in Redwood Park. They’re calling this one Tango Under the Stars, although I don’t know how many stars will be out at 7 p.m.Music is by Yo Tango. While dancing is encouraged, I imagine doing a tango in the grass might prove a bit complicated.

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