New Blues News – 3/31/2017
New Blues News – 3/31/2017
Vanessa Collier – Meeting My Shadow (Ruf): Singer/composer/multi-instrumentalist Vanessa Collier has really been busy since her first release! She toured both in the the US and abroad; she’s signed with Ruf Records (which guarantees excellent distribution); she teaches and adjudicates solo and ensemble performances and donates her time in schools; and she continues to compose music, including eight of the eleven tracks on this disc. She covers several different musical styles from blues to soul to rock and gospel. She also covers Rosetta Tharpe’s “Up Above My Head” and does an especially awesome version of the soul classic “You’re Gonna Make Me Cry”. Her covers stand out because she makes the song her own while completely honoring the original version. Collier plays sax, flute and various keyboards, as well as the “shuitar” (click here to find out more about that) and other percussion instruments. She also has a terrific voice! It’s almost as if there are too many great choices at her disposal. Supporting musicians include TK Jackson (drums, percussion, vocals); Daniel McKee (bass); Laura Chavez (guitar, resonator); Charles Hodges (keys), Marc Franklin (trumpet, flugelhorn); Josh Roberts (slide guitar); Brenda Jackson (organ); with Lenny Bradford (bass) and Nicholas Stevens (drums) on the opening track. Check this out! Click here to listen to the songs on this disc.
Delta Moon – Cabbagetown (Self-produced): Down home blues with a slanted sense of humor and an occasional commentary on individual and human behavior (“Refugee”, “21st Century Man”). The group includes Tom Gray (vocals, lap steel, guitar, keyboards, harmonica); Mark Johnson (guitar, banjo, backing vocals); Franher Joseph (bass, backing vocals); and Marlon Patton (drums). The super hokey country personae pose can mask the more straight-forwardly serious topics, but they had me hitting “replay” to separate the sarcasm from the serious. The music itself is down-home and straightforward and mostly acoustic. They do a fine cover of Son House’s “Death Letter Blues”. I would certainly recommend checking this disc out. There’s wit and wisdom and some plain old fun. My favorite line:
“The thing about tomorrow, it’s coming ready or not
And the day before tomorrow is the only day we got.”
Click here to listen to a song from this disc.
James Luther Dickinson – I’m Just Dead, I’m Not Gone (Memphis International): This disc is obviously a tribute to James Luther Dickinson, who told his sons Cody and Luther, “Play every note like it’s your last, because one of them will be.” Most of the songs were recorded in June, 2006, at the New Daisy Theatre on Beale Street and the final two were recorded at the Beale Street Music Festival in 1983. Dickinson never had a great voice and it didn’t get better with age, but his piano was still fine. Probably, this disc is for completists, but the 2006 version of “All Out Of Blue” is certainly moving and the “Hadacol Boogie” shows the man could certainly kick up a fuss. The 1983 “Ubangi Stomp” is good Dickinson and it features members of the Sun Records crew, Cowboy Jack Clement, Billy Lee Riley, Roland Janes, Stan Kessler and J.M. Van Eaton. Click here to listen to a song from this disc (“All Out Of Blue”).
Eight O’Five Jive – Swing Set (Self-produced): Remember the “New Swing Era” from the 90’s? NO? Doesn’t matter – this group would have fit in perfectly! They have the sound and the wit! Are you hip to the jive? Most of the songs are originals and include titles like “Make Mine A Double”, “I Won’t Wear Flats (To Your Funeral)” and “Watch Out For Their Wives” – and the covers are all reet and so sweet, too! The band includes Lee Shropshire (vocals), Andy Scheinman (guitar, backing vocals), Patrick Mosser (sax, backing vocals), Bill Bois (bass, backing vocals), and Duane Spencer (drums, backing vocals), with occasional horns by the “Horn Stars”. Click here to listen to samples of the songs on this disc.
Coco Montoya – Hard Truth (Alligator): Veteran guitarist/singer Coco Montoya understudied and played rhythm with Albert Collins, then spent five years touring with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers before starting out on his own in 1993. He has released eight discs as a leader since then (three with Alligator) and has now returned to Alligator for this release. Montoya doesn’t compose much, but he sings and plays with fire and sings with a powerful attention to detail that often matches his guitar work – right to the point in order to express the essentials but minding the essentials so he doesn’t overplay excessively. Montoya is supported by Mike Finnegan (keys), Billy Watts and Johnny Lee Schell (rhythm guitar), Bob Glaub (bass) and Tony Braunagel (drums), with guest appearances by Lee Roy Parnell (guitar) and Teresa James, Deb Ryder, Billy Watts and Mike Finnegan (backing vocals). The short version is: this disc is a complete KILLER! It has the restraint and power of the best blues and that’s a rare quality these days. At the same time, this is today’s blues! Recommended!!! Click here to listen to the songs from this disc.
Kopasetically,
Professor Bebop
