Bman's Blues Report

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, I'm Still Here- Big Jay Sings The Blues from Big Jay McNeely and it's solid old school blues. Opening with shuffle track, You Never Miss The Water with Big Jay on lead vocal and sax. Yep... Big Jay got the blues. On blues standard, Baby Please Don't Go , Big Jay sets a super groove on vocal followed by honking sax and tight guitar riffs. I really like boogie track, Once I Had A Woman , with John Lee like form and style and slide in the back. I Love To Feel Free has a real nice swing to it with Big Jay on lead vocal. Ringing slide and prime lead guitar riffs really set this track off nicely and Big Jays sax is fat and solid. Wrapping the release is Still Got A Long Way To Go with a solid bass line and real nice slide and lead guitar work behind Jay's vocals. This is an excellent closer for a real nice posthumous release of McNelly's work.    If you support live Blues acts, up and coming ...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Beware Of My Dog , by Carolyn Gaines with it's contemporary blues roots. Opening with title track, Beware of My Dog , vocalist Gaines works Big Mama's Hound Dog rhythm and theme to craft her own effort and featuring a cool sax solo by he cousin, Big Jay McNeely. I got to say, sometimes it's an album cover and sometimes it's the name of a song that gets me. Stone Out Your Raggly Mind is about as cool a track title I've heard. A simple shuffle, carried by Gaines on melody, backed by guitarist Fred Clark, Glen Doll on harp, Rudy Copeland on organ, Del Atkins on bass and Chad Wright on drums, and of course McNelly on sax. Very cool. Adapted from Muddy Waters' Hoochie Coochie Man, Hoochie Coochie Woman and Gaines really digs in. Along with her vibrant vocals, a smart guitar solo by Clark and reinforcement by Doll bakes this track. One of my favorite tracks on the release, Junior Kimbrough's Don...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Honkin' & Jivin' At The Palomino , from Big Jay McNeely and it's hot! Kicking down the door on the opener, Palomino Hop , McNeely has flames coming from his horn, backed by Marty Rifkin on pedal steel, Steve von Gelder on fiddle, Dale Watson on guitar, Ronnie Mack on guitar, Keith Rosier on bass and Billy Block on drums. Excellent! On Don Gibson's,  I Can't Stop Loving You , McNeely set out a soulful rendition not unlike Ray Charles own arrangement.  Pretty Girls Everywhere has a cool, sixties twist, beach sound with fiddle work by Gelder, Steel by Rifkin and Big Jay on vocal and sax. Shuffle track, Honky Tonk has extended instrumental lead from McNeely and Gelder plus a great pounding return. Very cool.  Bluesy, Young Girl Blues is set deep with the best vocals by McNeely, and balanced soloing throughout. Wrapping the release is Big Jay Shuffle , and excellent closer with Big Jay honkin' ...

Sax Legend BIG JAY MCNEELY Blows His Brains Out On This Live CD/DVD Recorded in 1989 At The World Famous Palomino Club! Los Angeles, CA - Hot on the heels of his blockbuster comeback album, Blowin’ Down The House - Big Jay’s Latest & Greatest , R&B vocalist and the King Of Honking Sax, Big Jay McNeely, announces this incredible concert recording from 1989 to be released in a multi-media package September 15. Honkin’ & Jivin’ At The Palomino features a killer concert performance put together as part of Ronnie Mack’s well-loved Barn Dance, an musical showcase that drew everyone from Bruce Springsteen to Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. The set pulls from multiple decades of soul, pop, rock & R&B, here given a bit of the country swing and twang by the amazing Barn Dance band that includes Ronnie Mack himself! The video footage proves that Big Jay’s showmanship never diminished as he entreats and cajoles the audience to dance, sing and shout along with him th...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Blowin' Down The House , from Big Jay McNeeley and it'S quite cool. Opening with club style funky track, Love Will Never Fail, McNeely shows his trademark squeal and rich horn work that has made him stand out among horn players. On soul track, My Love Never Ended , McNeely hits a solid groove with one of the best tracks on the release and soulful sax honking. Very cool. I've Been Mistreated has a real aggressive sound like early James Brown, Ike Turner or Hendrix. With rockin' guitar work and fat sax work, this track is way cool. Hard driving, Party , really jams with fluid guitar riffs over a rumbling bass lines, Mcneely really gets the place screaming for an exceptional jammer. Swing track, Big Jay's Hop , is a bit more contained but no less rockin'. McNeely's trademark lead sax work is unmistakable and fat fat fat. Blow, Blow, Blow is really hopping with sax sax sax. Excellent! Willie T...

Big Jay McNeely (born Cecil James McNeely, April 29, 1927, Watts, Los Angeles, California, United States) is an American rhythm and blues saxophonist. Inspired by Illinois Jacquet and Lester Young, he teamed with his older brother Robert McNeely, who played baritone saxophone, and made his first recordings with drummer Johnny Otis, who ran the Barrelhouse Club that stood only a few blocks from McNeely's home. Shortly after he performed on Otis's "Barrel House Stomp." Ralph Bass, A&R man for Savoy Records, promptly signed him to a recording contract. Bass's boss, Herman Lubinsky, suggested the stage name Big Jay McNeely because Cecil McNeely did not sound commercial. McNeely's first hit was "The Deacon's Hop," an instrumental which topped the Billboard R&B chart in early 1949. The single was his most successful of his three chart entries. Thanks to his flamboyant playing, called "honking," McNeely remained popular through the 195...