Bman's Blues Report

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, You Get What You Give: Duets, from Dave Keller and it's a solid set of blues, R&B and soul. Opening with One More Tear , featuring Annika Chambers on vocal, Keller on lead vocal and guitar is backed by Ira Friedman on organ, Alex Budney on bass, Jay Gleason on drums, Mark Earley on sax, Mario Perrett on tenor sax and Tom Palance on trumpet. A potent R&B track and a super opener. Title track, You Get What You Give , pairs Keller with Annie Mack shows a lot of soul in this, radio track with it's strong, memorable melody. One of my favorite tracks on the release, The Evil That Men Do , features Keller trading lead with Trudy Lynn, Annika Chambers, Annie Mack and Johnny Rawls on what is definitely my favorite track on the release. It's composition is sophisticated and melodic and reminiscent of the best of early Elton John ballads. With Friedman on piano and Tom Palance on trumpet, this is a great track. L...

I just received the newest release, Baptized In The Blues , from Annie Mack and it's really fresh. It is composed of 10 original tracks but for my listening it's way too short. Opening with Fool To Believe , a R&B style track with a real New Orleans feel, Mack and her band consisting of Paul O'Sullivan (guitar), Tom Kochi (guitar), Charlie Lacy (guitar)Tim Scribner (keys) and Miles Johnston (drums) get the parade started. On title track Baptized In The Blues , the band really digs deep into the street sound with a lot of addition by Peter Vircks (sax), Zachary Lozier (trumpet)and Matt Darling (trombone). Excellent! On soul ballad Hey, Hey Mama , Mack is backed by the rich vocal harmonies of Kathleen Johnson, Rhonda Johnson, Mocha Ya ya, Nora O'Sullivan and Dianna Parks. Paul O'Sullivan gives this track a bit of a western feel with traditional steel guitar playing. Really nice work. Call On Jesus has a certain Latin feel reminiscent of Black Magic Woman. This...