1997 Reflex Blue's "Different Point of View" won Best Northwest Recording
1998 Reflex Blue won Best Contemporary Blues Act
2000 Reflex Blue won Best Contemporary Blues Act
2000 Ellen Whyte won Best Female Vocalist
2001 Reflex Blue won Best Contemporary Blues Act
Article Reprint from the October 1998 BluesNotes
Editor's Note: Ellen Whyte & Reflex Blue are one of the most dynamic Blues ensembles playing in the Northwest. Their performances and musical arrangements are "a cut above " and it shows that each time they take the stage. The band won the CBA's "Muddy Award" last year for "Best Northwest Recording" for their incredible album titled, "Different Point Of Blue" and they are getting ready this month to release a brand new effort and with that in mind we sent BluesNotes staffer K. T. out to find out all the details!
Ellen Whyte & Reflex Blue articulate their fondest desire for the future: to take the music and run with their new recording,
"Here and Gone", the title of their latest CD release. "We wrote the kind of music we are most inspired by," says
Ellen. This release features a mix of Funk, Jazz, R&B and Blues sounds. It contains 11 original tunes.
Whyte often gets an idea for the core of a tune; the heart of the song. It might be only a title and a chorus, but she has a firm concept of that part you can sink your teeth into. Co-writer and spouse
John Mullin (also Executive Producer of this release), listens to her idea and then writes the rest of the tune.
Whyte feels amazed and gratified that he can so wonderfully flesh
out the tune by extending her initial idea and to say exactly what she wanted to say. "John has such a gift for song writing," she says wonderingly. After that, guitarist
Garry Meziere "comes along with the music" and a new tune is born.
"I'm incredibly proud of the work that the band did - they put their best work on this album," Whyte continues. "People expect more from the second project - I think they'll get it and then some. They are calling it an album because even though it is a CD and was recorded with modern state-of-the-art equipment, the whole recording has "such a lush, comforting sound," to quote Whyte again. Though done in a studio, it has a performance based feel overall, with very high production values inside and out. Mastered at Bernie Grundman Studio in Los Angeles, it was recorded primarily at Falcon Studio in the Portland area.
This band owns a signature sound, but the CD packaging is also a signature theme piece. Whyte had the original concept for the insert which includes a "collector style" booklet with dramatic and hard-hitting but attractive photos and artwork, along with printouts of all the tune lyrics. The design, photos, and graphics are by Frank DeSantis of Photo Works North West Inc. This CD rates an A+ for packaging and design.
At least 14 local artists performed on this CD. They include, Janice Scroggins, Chris Baum, Dover Weinberg, Mike Vanliew, Renato Caranto, Mike Kelly, Greg Garrett, Mike Horsfall, Jim Williams, and Brian Davis. The band, Reflex Blue, is manned by Garry Meziere on guitar and vocals, Sonny Boyardee on bass and Jay Lundell on drums.
When asked to comment on any one specific tune, the band immediately agreed "Circle Around". This is a visceral, ethereal tune, that stretches the boundaries of song writing. The first verse uses the spoken word, then eases into the melodic portion. Meziere describes it as "very textural, ethereal and compositional. The song has a very mesmerizing quality," he says. "It sucks me in." This tune sounds like the sound track for a mysterious, sultry, retro-type "love flick".
Another signature sound tune is the instrumental "Bring On The Storm", presenting an audio image of thunder and wind. Meziere is featured as soloist on guitar. "In a general sense, the album shows a lot of growth and seasoning in the band," Meziere muses. "It's a bit of a mix, which is not so unusual for us. It was a long process this time. We spent a lot of hours rehearsing and started recording in April of '97." (One of the tunes was written by Whyte many years ago and now enjoys treatment by this group on the recording.) "Musically the band is growing into a direction of shows in larger venues with larger audiences." The desire to perform one long set of hot tunes for a wider fan base is perfectly understandable. This band is eager to travel.
Executive Producer and songwriter, John Mullin says the band's recording projects are
"working the way I had envisioned." He claims that he actually got started in song writing when he began to collaborate with
Whyte. "I feel really honored to have the opportunity to work with her. I love what she does." One tune on
"Here and Gone" had been set aside, incomplete, and was brought back out for this project as a good fit.
Mullin says that Whyte gets the basic idea for a tune and he helps with additional lyrics. "I love how she thinks. Things bubble up from her unconscious."
Mullin enjoys using Whyte's tunes as an opportunity to write. He also likes the way
Meziere writes music, so this CD has a wholeness to it in the music as well as the graphics.
The band loves traveling together and they regard touring as a "mini-vacation". Drummer Jay Lundell comments that they also need the applause. He notes a bluesy foundation in this project with some eclectics in the rhythm patterns he uses. He appreciates the challenge of this project and got to approach each tune in a different way, rhythmically and stylistically. Of course, this adds an element of fun to the drummer's job.
Bassist Sonny Boyardee, referred to as Lundell's right-hand man, notes that the contributions from a large number of players reflect what the band wants for a sound foundation. As the different players also rotate through the band at various live performances, they satisfy what Ellen Whyte & Reflex Blue see and hear mentally. Boyardee comments additionally that "If I don't get mentioned I must have done my job right."
The band Ellen Whyte & Reflex Blue delivers a hip and cosmopolitan style. The song writing possesses a more progressive way of thinking while also producing coherent thoughts and not just the emotional venting of much modern music. "If we touch people in a way they hadn't expected, then we're doing our job," Whyte says. The title tune on the CD "Here and Gone" gets high marks for marketability. This is a hot stage band that gets fans jumping. The CD is a worthwhile investment and when you do hear them live, you'll be happy. See them now while you can, because when they take off, they're gone!
Article by "The" KT
© 1998 Cascade Blues Association