Cleopatra Records Inc - A Blues Tribute To Creedence Clearwater Revival - New release Review

I just received the newest release from Cleopatra Records, A Tribute to Creedence Clearwater Revival. Opening is a rousing Fortunate Son with Mike Zito and Sonny Landreth on slide guitar. These guys tear it up...nuf said! The Mynabirds are up next with Bad Moon Rising, a female interpretation of the track sounding like a blend of U2 and Crissy Hines with a Bo Diddley rhythm. Proud Mary is covered by Blitzen Trapper. An easy rocker with light drums, vocals, a few tidy guitar riffs and keys. Down On The Corner is covered by Spirit Family Reunion with a solid Cajun flavor. A raspy but solid lead vocalist, nicely blended backing vocals and accordion cover most of the melody with addition of banjo and harmonica as well as assorted percussion instruments. Have You Seen The Rain is covered by Dead Man Winter. This is a simple vocal track with minimal instrumentation (tambourine and acoustic guitar) and I think that it's one of the purest tracks on the release. Looking Out My Back Door is covered by LeRoux and has a solid New Orleans feel with upfront snare drumming. Nicely blended vocals over this funky march is really quite pleasant and key and guitar solos are shot but tight. Duke Robillard covers Who'll Stop The Rain bringing along a troop of heavy hitters like Bruce Bears, Brad Hallen and Mark Teixeira. Duke takes the lead vocal and keeps fretwork to mostly nice atmospheric chords with a short break. Bears plays a real nice solo punching up the track. South Memphis String Band featuring heavy hitters Jimbo Mathus (drums and vocals), Alvin Youngblood Hart (guitar and vocal)and Luther Dickinson on bass takes the hard line rick road and sets a cool stage for slide work over the hot rocker Up Around The Bend. Susie Q gets a bluesy lope by Will Wilde. A nice blues rocker with hot harp work and relentless rhythm guitar and drums makes this another contender for top track. Run Through The Jungle gets a real bluesy rock version that is pure Smokin' Joe Kubek & Bnois King. Another hot track, Kubek lays down some nice riffs here. Kirk Fletcher covers Green River with some of the richest guitar work on the release. Fletcher definitely knows his way around the guitar and spares no mercy here! Wrapping the release is Born On The Bayou covered by Trampled Under Foot. The dimension of a solid female vocalist in Danielle Schnebelen over what is other wise a solid Creedence mix makes for a cool wrap of a cool release.

  If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”

 

Ulrich Ellison - Synergy - New Release Review

I just received the most recent release, Synergy, from Ulrich Ellison and the band has picked up where they left off. Opening with My Shoes Keep Walking Back To You, a blend of rock, funk and jazz, is a super intro for Ellison to highlight his well crafted vocal, guitar, keyboard blend complimented by Sabine Ellison on bass and backing vocals and Winton Reynolds on keys. My Maryann is a melodic ballad with warm vocals and singing guitar lead over nicely blended vocals. On Morganfield classic Rollin' and Tumblin', Ellison uses a Jeff Beck arrangement with his own twist. A nice arrangement to showcase his guitar skills with strong drum work from Avila. Sleepless has a stronghold on progressive rock and a nice melodic hook. Crisp guitar riffs from Ellison and cool violin work from Michelle Alany carry this track. On Around The Moon, a soft rock ballad, airy guitar effects, nicely blended keys and vocals make this a cross airplay track. Machete has a little taste of the far east blended into a euro rock sound. Lead violin by Alany, behind the vocals of Ellison creates a whole different world on this rocker with strong keys from Reynolds and cool guitar riffs from Ellison. Leaves Keep Falling delves further into the euro rock sound with classical styling and middle eastern rhythms. Never leaving it's classical styling this is cool track harkening back to earlier days of album rock (before they made it pop). Singing guitar riffs are carried on a bed of violin. Very cool. Never Remains The Same is a pop rocker with a nice melody and light guitar lead. Ellison has a nice hand at his guitar, using it as a second voice rather than as a hammer to drive stingers. I'm Falling has a distinct feel of British pop music and in some cases even Peter Townsend. Move On Closer is a light jazzy number with a Latin feel. Instrumental contributions from Ellison, Alany and Davila and vocal lead from Ellison makes this one of the strongest tracks on the release. Don't Be A Fool has a definite Texas blues base with some stinging guitar but still not leaving the rocking feel that Ellison creates throughout this release. Wrapping the release is Driftin Blues, taking an ethereal trip on a classic theme. Opening the guitar up for a romp on a progressive but jazzy ride along with a supportive bass from Sabine Ellison and especially Davila on drums makes this track my favorite of the release.

  If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”