There are few CDs I'm anticipating more excitedly than the second installment of Mike Ross's Dennis Lee Project. Since its launch, his first CD has been in heavy rotation at our house. We love it—classic melodies you can't help singing, a strong pop sensibility enriched with jazz, blues, and rock influences, and dazzlingly rich instrumentation, all grounded by Mike's own versatilevoice and mean piano hands.
Mike Ross's music would almost be enough on its own without his intelligent, wry selections from Dennis Lee's poetry to serve as lyrics. But Mike's music with Dennis Lee's poems are a match made in heaven.
This summer, you can hear Mike's Dennis Lee Project in the Carmody Comedy Barn, with back-up from Daryl Gallant on bass, Kirk White on drums, and Beth Gould, Jennifer Truman, and Lisa Lennox on vocals. As an ensemble performing Mike's expertly arranged charts, they demonstrate Mike's uncompromising commitment to a full sound and full-on musicianship.
It was a miracle that the Comedy Barn was still standing at the end of the night, since so many of the songs are barn-burners. "I Remember, I Remember" is an instant classic, and I would drive halfway to Timbuktu to hear "Summerhill Fair" alone—and I could go on naming songs well past my word limit for this article. I laughed and cried and then laughed again.
Mike "gets" the poetry of the Lee's lyrics and has musical ideas to match—and often to add a whole new dimension to the words. His energy and winning stage presence endear any audience to him—how can you not love a man who tells a story about finding ecstasy and inspiration in a twenty cent yard-sale sugarbowl? He admits he is "a sucker for lullabies," but you won't want to sleep through a single song. (And if you don't demand an encore, you'll be sure to miss a gem of a goodnight song, and it's your own darn fault.)
The Dennis Lee Project show is so good that it rankled a bit to see Mike Ross on such a small stage, pouncing on an unsuspecting electric keyboard while perched on a stack of three metal chairs.
The Carmody Comedy Barn has resonant wood panelling, and Mike and his band make the most of the venue. But it's still too small a space to contain this show and this talent. And I have to ask: How long are Islanders and visitors going to put up with seeing incredibly talented performers like Mike Ross doing their best with limp, stale, or lame material at Confed Centre while shows like The Dennis Lee Project are playing in barns?
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