Bman's Blues Report

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Retro Revival , from Alex Lopez and it's a solid blues rocker. Opening with One More Time , Alex Lopez on guitar and vocal leads an updated blues number with acoustic rhythm and fiery electric lead by Lightning of Memphis Lightning. Vocal harmonies and with the backing of Steve Roberts on bass and Kana Leimbach on drums make this a solid opener. Soulful vocals by Lopez make When I Sing The Blues a standout track with simple arpeggiated rhythm guitar and basic drum and bass backing. R&B track, What The World Needs Now has a super beat and Lopez's vocals saturated with keyboard backing and an electrifying guitar solo by Lopez works great. Cranking up the rock edge a bit with a solid rock riff and heavy bottom and kick drum, Angry has real attitude. Wrapping the release is Keep On Living with ringing acoustic guitar and subtle vocals. Settling into an easy rock rhythm George Harris adds to B Bender guitar work...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Looking For A Change , from Alex Lopez and it's a cool blues based rocker. Opening with Train , a classic style rocker with a tight snare reinforced beat. Overtones of Led Zep permeate the track with lead vocals and guitar by Alex Lopez, bass by Steve Roberts and Kana Leimbach on drums. Solid opener. Driving rocker, Blues They Rock, has a strong feel and a great hook. Solid vocal phrasing and Page style guitar lead gives this track a great spark. Night Closing In is a smooth bluesy ballad with a nice melody. Lopez steps up with a real nice solo on this one giving the release a real crescendo. Wrapping the release is Jack Bruce's Politician , one of the classic blues rock tracks of all time and really hit hard by Mountain and Cream. Lopez does does a real nice job on vocal and delivers on guitar with stinging guitar riffs over a firm bottom by Roberts and Leimbach.    If you support live Blues acts,...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Nasty Crime , from Alex Lopez and it's a solid blues rocker. Opening with rocker, World on Fire , Kana Leimbach leads the way with a firm drum rhythm, joined by Kenny Hoye on keys. Lopez handles lead vocal and places a grinding guitar riff over the bass lines of Steve Roberts. Lopez's melodic lead and slide guitar give the track a full attack over the relentless attack by Leimbach. With a swing, Lopez delivers easy blues ballad, When The Sun Goes Down , with soulful vocals over a cool piano riff. A melodic guitar solo by Lopez and a memorable melody,  makes this track a solid radio contender. Title track, Nasty Crime , is a straight up rocker with a funky back beat. With jangly guitar work by Lopez and John Lord like organ work by Hove over a snappy beat, this is one of my favorite tracks on the release. Driving rocker, No Way , shows how tight the band can be. With a solid melody and strong vocal attack this is a...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Rising Up , from Alex Lopez and it's a solid blues rocker. Opening with Light It Up, a blues based rocker with a tight bottom Alex Lopez on guitar and vocal leads a tight ship of Kenny Hoye on keys, Steve Roberts on bass, and Kana Leimbach on drums. Title track, Rising Up , is a funky rocker with beefy organ work by Hoye and solid backing vocals by Latonya Oliver and Dana Merriwether giving  Lopez room for a cool solo of his own. Blues ballad, Not This Time is my favorite on the release with a memorable melody, solid instrumentation and inspired guitar work by Lopez. Very nice. Even Up The Score is a cool track built around the basic feel of Albert King's Born Under A Bad Sign... hard to go wrong with that bass figure. Wrapping the release is the radio track from the release, Smile with it's catchy melody and radio ready vocals. melodic guitar soloing and droning bass lines are the key to this solid entry. ...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Yours Truly, Me , from Alex Lopez and it's a smooth and polished radio blues rocker. Opening with Woe Is Me, a pop rocker featuring Lopez's on lead vocal, backed by Kenny Hoye on keys, Steve Roberts on bass and David Nunez on drums with some particularly nice light jazz runs on guitar. I'm A Working Man shows cool guitar form over a somewhat funky drum and bass bottom. Blues ballad, I Love You Blues (Redux) has a sweet melody and melodic guitar soloing, backed by solid organ and piano work byKenny Hoye and with Steve Pagano on bass and Michael Maxim on drums.  Sinful is a cool bluesy ballad with some of Lopez's best vocals on the release. His guitar playing has great style and adventure. Very nice. Wrapping the release is Cheating Blues (redux) with it's rock n roll styling. Pagano's bass work and the tight drums riffs of Maxin give solid bottom to Hoye for his organ solo.    If you sup...