Danny Cox in Concert, All Souls Unitarian Church
By El Dormido (dormido@hotmail.com)

I first saw Danny Cox doing an acoustic blues set at the  Kanasas City, Kansas Street Blues Festival.  His performance, with Terry Bonnor, in the Club Paradox, was underwritten by the Kansas City Folk Arts Alliance, Cross Currents Unlimited.

I found him an humane and humorous blues stylist.  His guitar playing was fluid, his singing robust and mature. So I jumped at the to see him again at the All Souls Unitarian Church just up from the Plaza, again fronted by the Kansas City Folk Arts Alliance, Cross Currents Unlimited.

The audience was more of a 'folk music' crowd.  I heard snippets of conversation about 'the Ol' Spindrift.', and the Foolkiller, places way out of my usual beaten blues path.

While blues is an underpinning of Danny's performance, his reach is much broader.  At the core is the expression of the human heart.  There was humor and warmth gathered from a world of experience that conveyed a substance of what we share simply as human beings.  The joy of sexuality, an awareness of
the fear and uncertainty in the human condition, enduring love matured, whimsy with children, the whole gamut.

Appearing with Danny was guitarist Terry Bonner, a partner of 30 years, with Denny Osburn on piano and Michael O'Shiver on harp.

Danny's first song was the old folk warhorse, "If I Had A Hammer", specially dedicated to an audience member who had successfully survived 2 tours of duty in Iraq.

The song was done with a rolling, lilting rhythm that reminded me of Motown, of "My Girl", without being obvious.  His falsetto easily rose from his vibrant baritone.  I Remember Danny being a very fluid blues guitar player but with 4 musicians on stage, it is his voice that takes charge.

He sang Shel Silverstein's song, "The World Through Children's Eyes," from his "Sunny" LP recorded for Kansas City's Vanguard Productions.  There is a humane and compassionate heart at the core of this song.  Humor and warmth gathered from a world of experience that conveys a substance of what we share among ourselves as people, the joy of sex, a tinge of fear and uncertainty, and an appreciation for enduring and mature love.

I caught a bit of Danny's visit with Chuck Haddix on the KCUR-FM show, "The Fish Fry" the night before, and Danny was explaining that now his perspective was on making 'adult' music with themes expressing the mature life. "Kids Don't Understand", a bluesy, up tempo ditty about the non-negotiable, chaotic world with our endearing, lovable but exasperating children, reflected this approach.  "Kids", as funny as it was, is a song definitely grounded in the real world, and definitely only an adult could write.

"Unconditional Love", included on his self-produced CD on sale at the concert, was the high point of the show for me.  It worked because of the honesty in the song, and the performance, that shows us we can laugh at ourselves, that acknowledges our humanity, reflecting a capacity to feel, to be wholly alive.

Danny spent 7+ years spent training horses among the charros down around Gudalajara and he brings us some of that Mexican flavoring in "Mariachi Blues", which was included on "Feel So Good", a Casablanca Records LP from way back when.

Danny O'Shiver's harp was especially noteworthy here.  It took me back to my childhood and Olivera Street in downtown LA, down by the train station, where true Maraiachi bands roamed beneath the trees between the vendor booths in the open air Mercado, that harp tinkling in joyful abandon over the driving rhythms and boisterous singing.

History lessons are included in Danny's performance.  He relates how the Mexican song, "La Bamba", is of African origin, from slaves who escaped from Texas to Vera Cruz, continuing to remember and honor their place of origin, M'Bamba, in what is now known as Zaire.  This is the audience participation of the show, everyone joining in on the well known chorus, Danny leading with those trills and ululations.

He also traced the history of the cowboy song, from Ireland with "Streets of Laredo", and "Me and My Uncle."  He noted he found the song among recordings of black cowboys in the Library of Congress.  It was also included in this "Live at the Family Dog" LP, probably before Bob Weir got a hold of it.

He sang a song for his children, "Human Touch", again off his recent self-produced CD.  He was the 'mid-person' at the birth of his children, and sang about that moment when time stands still.

He performed the conclusion of the Theater for Young America production, "Frederick Douglass: Deliverance From Chains", in which he stars as the title character, then goes into the Civil War era "Nelly, Nelly", sung a
capella,

He finished the concert with a topical updating of "Will the Circle Be Unbroken"; "Breaking the Color Line", from the show and the CD "K.C. Monarchs", which he co-wrote; "Going Back to K.C."; "Just Like a Woman'; andthe encore "Ragtime Man", something Tampa Red might have done.

At the end, the audience left warmed and encouraged with the solid heart beat of music.  Danny's performance was of depth and character beyond the blues, folk, or drama.  It was built on an appreciation for human nature. It conveyed an ebullient joy of the human spirit.