New Blues and Soul News – 1/28/2018
New Blues and Soul News – 1/28/2018
New Blues Adds:
Tinsley Ellis – Winning Hand (Alligator): Veteran bluesman Tinsley Ellis (guitar, vocal) offers nine new songs of his own and a cover of “Dixie Lullaby” (Leon Russel-Chris Stainton). The disc features several guitar changes that creates varying moods as the disc progresses. Certainly, Ellis is a solid guitarist and that is the highlight of this disc. Ellis’ voice shows its limitations and road wear, but when he is on, his is truly ON. Accompanying musicians are Kevin McKendree (keyboards, baritone guitar), Steve Mackey (bass) and Lynn Williams (drums, percussion). The disc has the full bore production for which Alligator is known. Click here to listen to the songs on this disc.
Johnny Fink – Johnny Fink & The Intrusion (Self-produced): Johnny Fink and The Intrusion were finalists in the 2017 International Blues Challenge and this is their first release. Guitarist / singer / harmonica player Fink composed all of the songs on this disc as well. At their best, the band is tight, dynamic and inventive. Fink is an accomplished player and is supported well by bandmates Doug Moore (drums, percussion) and Matt Newman (bass) and on two songs by guest keyboard player Jimmy Rogers. The style is straight-forward Chicago blues with good dynamics. Click here to listen to samples of the songs on this disc.
AJ Ghent – The Neo Blues Project (Self-produced): Slide and steel guitarist extraordinaire AJ Ghent offers this EP featuring five new compositions and a remake of David Junior Kimbrough’s “Do The Rump”, a slice of hard blues funk. Unlike Ghent’s last disc, there are no super polished, flashy performances, but the music here is a gritty, funky, “back in the alley” serving of rockin’ soul blues with influences from D’Angelo mixed with folk blues, touches of gospel, the heavy grunge of the North Mississippi Hill Country and hints of Prince’s pop rock. Lots of variety and unique sounds. Click here to listen to one song on this disc.
Rex Granite – The Rex Granite Band featuring Sarah Bench – Spirit/Matter/Truth/Lies (Self-produced): This blues rock band originally formed in 2002 in Omaha and released their first disc in 2003. It seems they disbanded for a while but have now reunited and offer this new disc. The band features Rex Granite (guitar), Sarah Benck (vocals, guitar), James Carrig (bass) and Anton Divis (drums) with nine original songs and a cover of Percy Mayfield’s “Please Send Me Someone To Love”. There are also a few guests joining up along the way: Daniel Crawford (piano), Lou DeLuca (harmonica), Bucky McCann (sax), Michael Gurciullo (trumpet), with Doug Montera on drums for four songs. Click here to listen to four songs from this disc.
Mick Kolassa & Friends – Double Standards (Self-produced): Mick Kolassa is a long time blues singer and promoter who has been playing blues for 50 years. On this disc, he has pulled together numerous friends to present a mellow retrospective of several old time blues songs from composers like Willie Dixon, Tampa Red and others. This is the second release by Kolassa whose total profits will be donated to the Blues Foundation. Kolassa’s band includes Jeff Jensen, Colin John and David Dunavent (guitar); Bill Ruffino (bass); James Cunningham (drums); Chis Stephenson (organ); Eric Hughes (harmonica); Jeremy Powell (piano); and Alice Hasan (violin). Special singing guests are Sugaray Rayford, Heather Crosse, Victor Wainwright, Annika Chambers, Tas Cru, Tullie Brae, Eric Hughes, Erica Brown, Patti Parks, David Dunavent, Gracie Curran, and Jeff Jensen. It’s a mostly laid back session with some very good songs and performances. Click here to listen to samples of the songs on this disc.
Amanda Pruitt – Strong (Self-produced): Amanda Pruitt has a large voice just perfect for Country blues and in this case we’re talking uptown like the style most often associated with Nashville. She also co-wrote four of the six songs on this disc. Backing musicians include Clinton Gregory (electric guitar, fiddle); Vaughn Lofstead (electric, acoustic, slide guitar); Steve Holland (drums); Dave Francis (bass); Rodger Morris (piano, keys); Mike Daly (steel, dobro, slide guitar); Mike Douchette (harmonica); and Marcia Ramirez (backing vocals). Click here to listen to a song from this disc.
Chris Smither – Call Me Lucky (Self-produced): This is singer/songwriter Chris Smither’s eighteenth release since 1970. He wrote or co-wrote all but three of the sixteen songs – covers of “Maybelline”, “Sittin’ On Top Of The World”, and “She Said, She Said”. Smither is a masterful craftsman with a road worn voice and solid guitar skills. His accompanying musicians are Billy Conway (drums, percussion), Keith Gary (piano, vocals), David Goodrich (electric guitars, baritone guitar, piano, percussion, diddly bow, vocals), Matt Lorenz (violin, pump organ, piano, guitar, vocals) and Mike Meadows (drums). Smither is a wordsmith in the class of Dylan or Leonard Cohen, though quite different from either. Click here, then click on the songs with an arrowhead to listen to a few samples of songs on this release.
Various Artists – Strange Angels – In Flight With Elmore James (Sylvan Songs): This is a tribute to the mastery of Elmore James. They have selected 13 songs, all associated with James, but several not written by him, to explore the reach and his command of the songs he performed. The list of players includes Doug Lancio (slide), G.E. Smith, John Leventhal, Rodney Crowell, Joe McMahan, Rick Holmstrom, Warren Haynes, Billy Gibbons, Pete Bullock, Duke Levine, Thomas Juliano, Keb Mo and Tony Gilkyson, and they’re only the guitarists! The variety of this disc is terrific. The singers range from Bettye LaVette, Rodney Crowell and Warren Haynes to Shelby Lynne and Allison Moorer, Keb Mo’, and Tom Jones! This is certainly one of the best tribute discs ever put together. Click here and scroll down to listen to samples of four of the performance on this disc.
New Soul Adds:
Bettye LaVette – Things Have Changed (Verve): Bettye LaVette has covered the work of numerous songwriters, including Bob Dylan, but this time it’s all Dylan. The match is a good one: both have craggy voices that bring a stark emotion to the recordings. LaVette has one advantage in that she typically invests her voice more fully while Dylan has often sung in a throw away style. The songs here range from “It Ain’t Me Babe” and “The Times They Are A-Changin’” to newer compositions like “Things Have Changed” and “Ain’t Talkin’”. This is an early “radio” release so there’s not much information about players, except that Keith Richards and Trombone Shorty appear on one song each and Dylan’s regular guitarist, Danny Campbell, apparently leads the remaining musicians. The overall sound is relatively stark as most of LaVette’s recent releases have been. Click here to listen to the title song.
Orgone – Undercover Mixtape (Colemine): Orgone (that second “o” is a long vowel) is: “1. A universal life force. 2. A cosmic unit of energy, the creative force in nature. 3. A soul music juggernaut with 8 heads and one heart.” (https://www.orgonespace.com/) This is a California group performing soul and funk songs from the 60’s and 70’s from their own vantage point. The band includes Sergio Rios (guitar), Adryon de León and Fanny Franklin (vocals), Dan Hastie (keyboards), Will Phillips or Stewart Killen (percussion), Sam Halterman or Sean O’Shea (drums), Joel Bowers (sax), Darren Cardoza (trombone), Devin Williams (trumpet) and Dale Jennings or Tim Glum (bass). The songs include solid funk throughout featuring such gems as Rufus Thomas’ “The Breakdown” and lots more. If you like funk, call up WTJU and request it. I regret I am unable to find a sample from this disc, but here is a recording of a live song from a year ago. Click here to get the ring of this thing.
Kopasetically,
Professor Bebop
