Bman's Blues Report

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, The Blues And I Should Have A  Party , from Zoe Schwarz Blue Commotion and it a cool blues rocker. Opening with Please Don't Cheat On Me , lead singer and band leader Schwarz continues where she left off on This Is The Life I Choose, with strong guitar riffs by Rob Koral, Pete Whittaker on Hammond and Paul Robinson on drums. Title track, The Blues And I Should Have A Party , has a super slow pace with excellent guitar riffs by Koral under the melody. Rich Hammond organ work by Whittaker really sets a soothing stage for an excellent solo line by Koral and the soulful vocals of Schwarz. Excellent! Don't Worry Blues is another 12 bar entry with a cool groove. A firm bass line and Hammond work establishes the mood and Schwarz and Koral trading the lead is the standard. Whittaker lays down a nice organ solo and Koral is back with firm soloing of his own. Very nice. An up tempo jazz fused track, My Handsome Man , chan...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, This Is The Life I Choose , by Zoe Schwarz Blue Commotion and it's quite interesting. Opening with Hold On , a driving rocker with a definite British flavor, ZSBC starts where they left off on their last release with solid vocals and well executed tracks. Featuring Zoe Schwarz on lead vocal, Rob Koral on guitar, Pete Whittaker on Hammond and Paul Robinson on drums, these guys have their own sound. Slower ballad, Broken , has a really nice melody nicely highlighting Schwarz's voice as well as tasty riffs by Koral. Rolling jazz track, I Want To Get Something Started With You , has a super bottom with a nice bass line and adventurous guitar lead by Koral. One of my favorite tracks on the release is title track, This Is The Life I Choose , with it's sensitive melody, supple vocals and throaty guitar work. Wrapping the official release is another ballad, Call Of The Night , another really nice ballad with an invi...

I just received the newest release, I'll Be Yours Tonight LIVE , from Zoe Schwarz Blue Commotion and it's quite good! Opening with a rocker, Your Sun Shines Rain , Schwarz reminds me a lot of early Yeah Yeah Yeahs but done in San Francisco in 1968. Interesting. Fine & Mellow is a perfect title for this track. Schwarz really uses nice phrasing vocally and I particularly like the guitar work of Rob Koral. Pete Whittaker on Hammond and Paul Robinson round this band out nicely, Whittaker even taking a really nice expressive solo of his own. Very cool! High energy rocker (think My Generation), Let Me Sing The Blues with a light country twist gets the crowd moving. Si Genaro joins on harp and Andy Urquhart on trumpet adding even more dimensionality. Koral is not afraid to step out at all and his work on this track is cool and blistering. Smile has a really distinctive San Francisco sound. Vocal tension, instrumentation and backing vocals. Angel Of Mercy for some reason puts...