Bman's Blues Report

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Passion & Regrets , by Sunny Bleau & The Moons , and it's a smooth mix of rock, blues and pop. Opening with Two Glasses of Whiskey On Ice , with it's bluesy, Latin overtone features Sunny Bleau on vocal and slick guitar work by Nicholas A. Cocco on guitar, Bill Ruffino on bass, James Cunningham on drums  and Rick Steff on keys. Easy shuffle, Low-Down-Middle-Aged- Blues , coasts on piano by Steff and snare swat by Cunningham giving Sunny plenty of room to belt it out. Full swing shuffle, S-H-E-W-O-M-A-N , had a rumbling bass line by Ruffino and features Jeff Jensen trading riffs with Cocco on signature guitar  and Kiersi Joli ripping on harmonica in support of Sunny on vocal. Very cool. Ballad, You Put Me Out , is my choice for radio track with it's memorable melody and straightforward vocal attack. With Steff on Wurlitzer and Sunny on vocal, this track is strong. Wrapping the release is Memphis Bound ,...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, For The Feral Heart , by Mick Kolassa , and it's got a solid mix of blues, Latin and pop track. Opening with Running To You , Kolassa on vocal and guitar leads the way with a galloping rhythm by Andrew McNeil on drums and Bill Ruffino on bass. Jeff Jensen on guitar, and Rick Steff on keys round out the mix for this solid opener.  A redo of Dave Mason's Feeling Alright really has a great feel with it's creeping "Season of the Witch" sensability. Steff's key work is spot on and Jensen's guitar work hypnotic with key backing vocals by Tullie Brae. Very nice. Easy flowing, Love Ain't Supposed To Make You Cry is another track to watch with really sumptuous guitar lead by Jensen, reminicent of the late Peter Green early in his career. Very nice. Love In My Size is a strong acoust ballad with a grat melody. Kolassa on acoustic guitar and vocal is nicely highlighted by Jensen on slide guitar rea...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Uncle Mick's Christmas Album , by Mick Kolassa , and it's quite entertaining. Opening with Mariah Carey's, All I Want For Christmas , and I think its a real solid cover. Never been crazy about pop music and Kolassa's slow bluesy approach with Jeff Jensen on lead guitar, Bill Ruffino on bass, Rick Steff on keys and James Cunningham on drums gives this track a new, fresher life. Original track, The Best Christmas Ever , is up next with a funky R&B approach. Kolassa on lead vocal and with warm backing vocals by Reba Russell and Susan Marshall over cool piano and organ work by Steff set a nice stage and pinched down guitar soloing by Jensen adds spice. Johnny Moore's Merry Christmas Baby really gives Jensen a chance to show some real nice riffs both bluesy and jazzy making it one of my favorites on the release. Tom tom laden rhythm gives Jingle Bells and whole new face. Get far enough from the music tha...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Wasted Youth , from Mick Kolassa, and it's chocked full of hot contemporary blues players doing what they do best. Opening with blues rocker, Throwing Away These Blues , Kolassa on vocal and guitar leads the way with James Cunningham on drums, Tullie Brae on backing vocal, Rick Steff on piano, Jeff Jensen on guitar, Bill Ruffino on bass and Marc Franklin on trumpet. Solid opener. Title track, Wasted Youth , has a thunder bass line by Ruffino and with Doug McMinn on drums, Brad Webb lays in some real nice slide work and Eric Hughes adds some real nice harmonica. Funky rocker, I Can't Get Enough gives Anthony Paule a nice chance to show his stuff and Kirk Smothers blows a real nice sax solo topping the track off. Victor Wainwright plays a real clean piano on Feeling Sorry For Myself , a cool blues track with just the right amount of sway. Brandon Santini adds his superlative harmonica tone to My Mind Doesn't Wa...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Express Connection , from Tomislav Goluban and it's a cool blues rocker. Opening with title track, Express Connection , eastern European harmonica player, Tomislav Goluban flexes his muscle on this hard driving blues rocker with Jeff Jensen on guitar, David Green on drums, Rick Steff on keys and Bill Ruffino on bass. A solid ballad, Pale Blue Eyes has a real nice melody featuring Goluban on lead vocal and cool reverb soaked guitar by Jensen and Mark Johnson on slide and Kelly Zirbes on backing vocal. Blues shuffle, Extra Boom really sits nicely in the groove and Goluban works the Chicago styling nicely on harmonica. Steff lays in a cool electronic keyboard solo and Jensen follows with some cool riffs of his own. Blues rocker, No Future In Your Past , has great pace and features Kirk Smothers on sax, Marc Franklin on trumpet and Zibes on backing vocals. Wrapping the release is Beast Walk with a cool organ melody by S...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Blind Lemon Sessions , from Mick Kolassa and its a cool retrospective of classic, traditional and new tracks, all done in an acoustic environment. Opening with Lonnie Johnson's Jelly Roll Baker , Mick Kolassa on guitar and lead vocal, Seth Hill on bass and Eric Hughes on harmonica. Clean and easy, a solid opener. On Bob Carlton's tune Keep On Truckin' (The Ja-Da Song, later made popular by Blind Boy Fuller and Hot Tuna as Keep On Truckin') Kolassa takes the Hot Tuna route adding Alice Hansen on violin giving it a nice, rural feel. Up next is a cover of Jace Everett's Bad Things , the theme song for HBO Series, True Blood. I gotta admit, Everett hit a homer with this track and although Kolassa's voice isn't as cool as Everett's, this is a cool cover and with the addition of guitar by David Dunavent, a real nice job. With some real nice violin work by Hansen, Kolassa covers classic, St. Jam...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Memphis Light , from Tomislav Goluban , and it's a cool eastern European slice or blues. Opening with rocker, Hayloft Blues , harmonica man, Tomislav Goluban introduces his 11th studio release with the backing of Jeff Jensen on guitar, David Green on drums, Rick Steff on keys, and Bill Ruffino on bass. Jensen plays a hot intro on soulful blues number, Fun Starts Here , featuring Vince Johnson who really pounds out the lead vocals. Jensen smokes the track with a great guitar solo, contrasted with cool piano work by Steff. Country Bag , a strong Chicago blues style track gives Goluban a great opening to show his blues chops and guest, Mark Johnson lays down some real nice slide guitar giving the track great texture. Another flavor introduced is a surf blues, Party Time Blues , with it's rocking rhythm, melodic harmonica, a slick slide solo by Johnson and cool backing vocals by Reba Russell and Daunielle Hill. Wrap...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Greenville, MS … What about you? , from Kern Pratt and it's a straight up blues rocker. Opening with Loving That Feeling , Kern Pratt is digging into that southern funky blues pot with a great New Orleans rhythm. leading the way on vocal and guitar, this track is moving with Chris Gill on slide, Bobby Walker on rhythm guitar and drums and Bob Dowell on bass and keys. Cool opener.  Slow blues track, Baby's Got Another Lover is a real nice track with Pratt singing lead and responding with smart guitar riffs of his own. With the addition of Shannon Goree on drums, this is one of my favorites on the release. In the vain of Jimmie Oden, Something's Gone Wrong has a really nice bottom courtesy of Dowdell and Pratt again gets a nice chance to stretch on guitar and Kris Jenson lays out a real nice sax solo. Bluesy ballad, Rita not only has nice instrumentation but a perfect radio melody. Sharing lead vocal spot w...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent self titled release Tennessee Redemption and its strongly written and performed. Opening with Glad To Be , a solid radio track, Brandon Santini is up front on  harmonica, backed by Jeff Jensen on lead vocal and guitar, Timo Arthur on guitar, Bill Ruffino on bass and David Green on drums. With it's rumbling bass line and funky wah wah guitar rhythm, We Got A Thing Going On has a real cool sound. A swampy overall sound and nicely woven instruments, under Santini's super lead vocals makes this one of my favorites on the release. A dark underpinning on Leave My Body and Jensen's nice lead vocals create a lot of tension with an active bass line, particularly nice drum work by Green and nicely crafted guitar lead. This isn't your basic blues track and really has a lot going no. Definite cool track. Gospel flavored Come On Up To The House has a real nice laid back country feel with soothing lead vocal by Jensen and w...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Revelation , from Tullie Brae who mixes power vocals and a heavy rhythm section producing a solid rock sound. Opening with Price of the Blues , Brae belts with a  Grace Slick like swagger laying heavy on the bass line of Bill Ruffino, and adding her own slide work on with David Green on drums. Powerful opener. On ballad Mississippi Rain , we see the other side of Brae's sensitive vocals with excellent guitar phrasing by Jeff Jensen and bright piano highlights by Rick Steff. On blues rocker, Break These Chains , Brae strikes a nice medium with a bluesy vocals, deep raspy guitars by Jensen and nicely highlighted by Brandon Santini on harmonica. My favorite track on the release is soul track, New Shoes with it's straightforward radio melody. Smooth, gospel like piano work over the organ on this track really drives the bottom and Brae's vocals are spot on. My other favorite track on the release is Shine , anoth...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Wisdom & Decay , from Jeff Jensen and it's flavorful. Opening with Little Milton's I'm Living Off The Love You Give , you get a strong sense of soul from Jensen's hometown of Memphis. With Jensen on guitar and vocal, this band is packed with sound featuring Bill Ruffino on bass, David Green on drums, Chris Stephenson on organ, and a powerful dose of horns from Kirk Smothers on sax and Marc Franklin on trumpet. 2000 Days has a sensitive Latin rhythm and James Cunningham on percussion. A nicely phrased guitar solo by Jensen gives this track a nice boost.  With a formula that made the Doobies popular, Jensen hits that smooth rhythmic groove, pumped up by horns, clean melodic guitar riffs and backed by Reba Russell on vocal. With a slinky Latin feel, Downtown , has a firm bass edge by Ruffino, muted trumpet and simmering guitar lead giving the track a fiery feel.  Bob Dylan's Tonight I'll Be Sta...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Dragonfly , from Long Tall Deb and Colin John and I really like it. Opening with On The Way Down , an eerie blues track, Deb and Colin John sing in duet over cool, thick, slide guitar breaking into a driving "brick" like anthem. John really winds up on electric guitar under Deb's vocals making for an exceptional opener. Title track, Dragonfly , is a cool Duane Eddy, western surf  style track with fanned chords, vibrato and tom toms. Excellent! Slinky ballad, I'll Be The One , features some of Deb's best vocals on the release with a soulful style and a nice rhythm. This is the radio track for the release with a strong melodic line, nice guitar work by John and complimented by Jimmy Castoe on drums, Nate Hofman on organ, and Melvin Powe on bass. Another track with a western twist is Remember Why , with great baritone guitar work by John and snappy drum work by Jo El. Horizontal Lightning is a partic...

I just received the newest release, The River City Sessions , a live recording from Jeff Jensen and it's smokin! Opening with T-Bone Walker's, T-Bone Shuffle , Jensen steps right up on lead vocal and guitar and shows what everybody has been talking about for years. This guy can play! Backed by Bill Ruffino on bass and vocals and Bridgeforth Robinson on drums, this is a great opener. Up tempo blues rocker, Make It Through , has a nice running bass line and a bit of the Wet Willie funk. A light breezy track with a cool hook, a definite crowd pleaser. Empty Bottles is a quirky little country style blues with clever lyrics. A casual but deliberate pace winds up into a boogie and Jensen shows a little rockabilly flair. Very nice! JJ Boogie is a cool hard driven boogie with a solid drum lead, working bass line and slick guitar riffs. Excellent! Slow blues, Find Myself All Alone , shows a lot of emotion both vocally and on the fretboard. Sit back and catch the show here... Jense...

I just received the most recent release, Ghosts of the Riverside Hotel , from Mick Kolassa . A cornucopia of blues like last years release by Kolassa, "Michissippi Mick" , the net proceeds will go to The Blues Foundation and Generation Blues. Opening with Hank Williams' Ramblin' Man , Kolassa on lead vocal and guitar, Jeff Jensen on Lead guitar, Bill Ruffino on bass, Robinson Bridgeforth on drums and Chris Stephenson on organ, this is an interesting track with march like rudiments and tasty guitar work. Slow swinging blues track, Grapes & Greens , featured nice electric guitar and slide work from Jensen and Eric Hughes on harp coupled with solid lead vocals by Kolassa. Lou Singer's depression era, One Meatball , gets a light reggae rhythm treatment under the vocal harmonizing by Reba Russell and bright piano passages by Victor Wainwright. I Always Meant To Love You is a swinging 12 bar with some real jazzy riffs from Jensen, complimented nicely by Kirk Smo...