Bman's Blues Report

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Bring It On Home , by Head Honchos and it's electrified. Opening with Not For Me , Head Honchos with it's dual lead guitar combo of Rocco Calipari Sr. (also on lead vocal) and Rocco Calipari Jr., Roberto Agusto on bass and Scott Schultz on drums hits like a cannonball. Featuring Steve Ball on organ, this opening track is rockin. Work is another high energy track with really crisp drumming by Schultz and hot slide work by Calipari and a hot bass solo by Agusto. Very cool. Funky, Next To You, has a really nice bass line and hot slide tones. Vocal harmonies and overall music composition makes this one of my favorite tracks on the release. Swampy, Fire On The Bayou has a great southern funky party feel. CC Copeland really funks up the bass line and snappy percussion gives it a cool feel under smoking hot guitar riffs. That Driving Beat has more of a contemporary feel with a wall of horns featuring Joe Brown on s...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Williwaw , by Ross Osteen Band , and it's quite good. Opening with Muddy Waters' Mannish Boy , Osteen who handles guitar and lead vocal doesn't hold back. He howls out the lyrics like they had never been sung and his slide guitar riffs are fat. Backing Osteen id Patrick Gaynor on crisp drums and the thumping thunder of Jim Vint on bass. very cool. Show Her is a lumbering blues number with solid vocals and dynamic spacing to allow planet of room for Osteen's guitar work. Very nice. In John Lee Hooker style, Little Rooster is a great boogie with a stripped down feel. Vint's bass drives the train, Gaynor's snare work accents the rhythm and Osteen taunts himself vocal and guitar response. Very cool. Nighttime is a great jam over a Bo Diddley beat spurred on by Gaynor. Osteen's slide work is relentless. Wrapping the release is an interesting composition called Jellyfish Jam . It has a solid bott...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, For Love & Money , from Harpdog Brown and it's a 40's & 50's New Orleans flavored trip. Opening with swinging, No Eyes For Me with a hard driving bass line by Jeremy Holmes and stiff drum sticking by Robert Vail  Grant under the rowdy vocals of Brown and a full horn section featuring William Joseph Abbott on alto sax, Skye Lambourne on trombone and Jerry Cook on Bari and tenor sax. The Comeback has a cool, low slung feel with rich Hammond work by Dave Webb and a nice sax solo by Cook. Boogie track, Reefer Lovin' Woman opens with a great muted trombone intro by Lambourne over a boogie piano riff by Webb. Brown really digs in on vocals getting the band ramped up and with a lot of finesse, Abbott hits nice clarinet solo followed by another great trombone solo by Lambourne. Harpdog whips out his harp and lets it wail topping off this great boogie. One of my favorite tracks on the release is soulfu...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Here and Now , from Ellis Mano Band and it's got swagger. Opening with blues rocker, Whiskey , Edis Mano on guitar, Severin Graf on bass and Nico Looser set a powerful bottom complimented by Kico Babic on Hammond setting a strong foundation for the strong vocals of Chris Ellis and backing vocals by Samina Afra and Sarah Huber. Very cool. Changing things  up, title track, Here and Now has a distinct R&B feel and Ellis lays it out there. Acoustically based, Goodbye My Love, is really a nice pop track with clean guitar soloing by Mano. My favorite track on the release is A Lifetime , with soulful vocals by Ellis and an explosive bluesy solo by Mano. Excellent! Wrapping the release is Jennine with it's New Orleans feel. With a distinct party feel, Dave Blaser adding slick trumpet and Ellis, Graf Looser, Mano and Weibel on backing vocals, a really nice closer.    If you support live Blues acts, u...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Empty Arms , from Peter Poirier , and it's a solid does of R&B/blues. Opening with BB King's cool shuffle, Bad Luck , vocalist/lead guitar player takes the lead backed by a strong troupe of players including Brad Hallen (bass), Mark Teixeira (drums), Matt McCabe (piano) and Mark Earley (saxes). Sleepy John Estes' Someday Baby maintains much of it's original character  with maybe a little Muddy influence. Playing it fairly straight, Poirier's vocals are clean and his guitar lead tight. BB King's, I Wonder Why , is one of my favorite tracks on the release with a great swing. Earley lays in a real nice sax solo and Poirier's vocals and guitar work are really solid. With a Latin beat, BB Kings' And Like That is compact like BB wrote it with tight, essential guitar soloing and nice sax by Earley. Willie Dixon's I Cry For You has a super Chicago strut and Poirier's vocals are terri...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Train To Key Biscayne , from Peter Ward and it's energetic. Opening with The Luther Johnson Thing , Luther Guitar Junior Johnson is upfront on lead vocal with Peter Ward on guitar, Mudcat Ward on bass, Neil Gouvin on drums and Anthony Geraci on piano. A cool shuffle with slick guitar lead, nice harp and excellent vocal phrasing, a super opener. Laid back, almost country styled, title track, Train To Key Biscayne features Sugar Ray Norcia on lead vocal and Jiri Nedoma on piano. Ward's warm guitar soloing backed by the sax work of Aaron Gratzmiller gives it a cool retro feel. One of my favorite tracks on the release is Blues Elixir (Ronnie's Here) featuring Ward on lead vocal and really nice trademark guitar lead work by Ronnie Earl. Backed by Nedoma on piano and with solid harp work by Norcia, this is a really cool track. Johnny Nicholas is up front on lead vocal on Change (Ain't Never For The Good) a...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Live at the '62 Center, from Albert Cummings and it's solid blues rocker. Opening with 500 Miles , a vibrant rocker, Cummings, a super guitar player and vocalist leads a great troupe of musicians including Warren Grant on drums, Yanko Valdes on bass, Pete Levin on keys, and Kit Holiday and Lydia Harrell on backing vocals. Driving high stepper, No Doubt shows all of the fire of a SRV track with wailing blues guitar soloing a tight drumming over a beefy bass line. Very cool. Boogie rocker, Sweet Love , has a great groove and taunts you to turn it up. Valdes' bass line and Cummings guitar lead keep the heat on.  My favorite track on the release is Lonely Bed with it's gripping guitar lead and Cummings pleading vocal style. Clocking in at over 8 minutes...wow! I love the saturated guitar tone that Cummings gets on Hurts Me Too . Taking Elmore James classic track, leaving out the slide and giving it a bounc...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Incinerator , from Jimbo Mathus and it's really good. if you've been reading my reviews and commentary for a while, you know that I really like the work of Mathus. His output varies from deep blues (Buddy Guy) and 30's jazz (Squirrel Nut Zippers) to Mississippi hill country music and flat out rock (and many things in between). I wasn't sure what to expect from Mathus on this outing after his multi year hiatus touring with the SNZ but it is seems to be an unsorted mixture of everything he's been working on for the past few years. Opening with You Are Like A Song , a cool natural country song featuring Mathus on piano and lead vocal, backed by Matt Patton on bass and Bronson Tew on guitar this track is an instant radio track. The melody will stick in your head and Patton and Tew's backing vocals are all country. Very nice. One of my favorite tracks on the release, Really Hurt Someone is a strong so...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, If I Die Tomorrow , from Tokyo Tramps and it's a cool and unusual mix of rock, blues and progressive music resulting in unique and enjoyable mix. Opening with Flowing Water , a cool rocker with a great beat, lead guitarist Satoru Nakagawa sets a theme and bassist Yukiko Fujii and Tim Carman on drums set a firm bottom. Cool opener. If I Die Tomorrow has interesting roots with construction not unlike the great Mountain or Hendrix, with it's heavy bottom by Fujii and screaming guitar work by Nakagawa. I really like Carman's drum attack and the Hendrix like overall feel on the track with Fujii adding keys. Very cool. Reverb saturated ballad, Woman is sensitive with a strong blues feel. Nakagawa doesn't pull any punches with his suspended guitar noted and screaming lines. Really nice. Misty Forest is one of my favorite tracks on the release with it's aggressive guitar lead and tight drumming. Nakagawa r...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Men Of The Swamp Live , from Packrat's Smoke House and it's swampy delta blues at it's best. Opening with The Night Jack Frost Killed Possum Brown , a slow blues track with a raw edge with traces of Jr Kimbrough. Featuring Anthony "Packrat" Thompson on lead vocal and harmonica, Robert "Lightning Boy" Thomas on guitar, Aaron Pop Watson on drums, Kenny "The Wizard" Sly on bass and Peter Beers on keys. Taped live at Babe James Center, New Smyrna Beach, Florida, this is a really nice set. On Hush Hush , a definite Chicago style shuffle, Packrat's harp work is wailing and Lightning Boy's guitar work true to the style. Very cool. One of my favorite tracks on the release is Smoke Stack Lightning with Lightning Boy leading the way with a real round guitar sound and Packrat's wailing harp, this track is great! Another of my favorites on the release Smokehouse Boogie with a ...

Legendary Singer-Songwriter Bruce Cockburn Showcases His Acoustic Guitar Technique on New Instrumental CD, Crowing Ignites , Coming September 20 on True North Records, Supported by 40+ Date North American Tour WATERDOWN, ON – True North Records announces a September 20 world-wide release date for Crowing Ignites , the new all-instrumental CD from legendary Canadian (now based in San Francisco) singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn.  Crowing Ignites was produced, recorded and mixed by Colin Linden, and recorded at the Firehouse in San Francisco. It showcases 11 all-original compositions by Cockburn, who plays acoustic guitar throughout, backed by a stellar cast of sympathetic musicians. Cockburn will support the new disc’s release with a summer/fall tour schedule throughout the United States and Canada.  In 2005, Bruce Cockburn released Speechless , a collection of instrumental tracks that shone the spotlight on the singer-songwriter...

JOSH NEWCOM TO RELEASE THE BLUES GONNA GETCHA VIA WARPAINT ENTERTAINMENT ON JUNE 28, 2019 Prolific Entertainer Plans Vast Itinerary to Support Multiple Upcoming  Studio Albums Scheduled Over the Coming Year ALBUM RELEASE SHOW PLANNED ON JUNE 28 IN INDIANOLA, MISSISSIPPI  AT B.B. KING’S CLUB EBONY –  ALL BOX OFFICE PROCEEDS TO BE  DONATED TO THE B.B. KING MUSEUM  Rose Bud, AR --- Josh Newcom is an anomaly. As a musician and entertainer, he is continually in a whirlwind of creation. His mind never hits pause, and inspiration comes from all facets of life, family, his travels, alongside any subject that enters the bandwidth of his mind. Over the course of the last year and a half, he self-produced ten albums, each genre specific. As opposed to confining his talent to a sole genre, his love of all music has been the inspiration to pool these individual creations in to collected bodies of work, each loosely defined as Country, Bl...

Dallas Roots Rockers The 40 Acre Mule To Release New Disc On State Fair Records July 19th "It used to be called boogie-woogie. It used to be called rhythm & blues. Now, they call it rock & roll." Chuck Berry’s words are at the very heart of Roots Rock & Roll 5-piece, The 40 Acre Mule. The self-described “Rhythm & Blues Outfit” are a powerhouse of vintage revival with a reputation for seamlessly blurring the lines between country, soul and rock audiences with ...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Meet Me In Memphis, by King Bee & The Stingers featuring lead vocalist, Sarah Menefee who's vocals are dripping with soul. Opening with You're All I Need , a cool R&B track with a fat horn laden bottom by Tom Clark, The Stingers show light footed prowess with Mark Menefee on harmonica, DK Buchanan on guitar, Buddy Mitchell on drums and Ken meadows on bass. Rolling blues number, Half A Mind has a romping rhythm with Mark showing his harp chops and giving Buchanan a clear path for some tight riffs of his own. Title track, Meet Me In Memphis is one of my favorites on the release with Sarah showing the richness of her lower octave. With only a minimal of backing, Mark's harmonica seems to hang in the air like smoke and Mary Druin's guitar soloing slices cleanly. Very nice. Another favorite on the release is an interesting rework of Howlin Wolf's Smokestack Lightning . I really like Sarah's...