Bman's Blues Report

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release,  Live at Brighton Road , from Dani Wilde , and with it's easy going acoustic set coupled with it's driving electric set, it's quite entertaining. Opening with Memphis Minnie's Bumble Bee , Wilde has lead acoustic guitar and vocal coupled with her brother brother Will on harmonica. This is a smooth contemporary adaptation of this classic track showing how clear Wilde's vocals really are and coupling her own tight guitar work with her brother's adept harp making for an excellent opener. Acoustic ballad, My Old Man is a bright, radio track with a nice melody and warm vocal blending with Kate Cameron and Faye Streek. Very nice. Mike Rutherford's The Living Years is a really nice arrangement of a large radio hit and with nicely blended backing vocals is a really strong contender for nicest of the acoustic set. I can certainly see why she wanted to get this set on disc. Very nice. Opening the elec...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Live At The Iridium , from Leo Bud Welch and it's a solid, real deal blues rocker. Opening with original track, Praise His Name , Welch lays out a real nice hill country style blues track accompanied by his own guitar, drums and vocals. Excellent opener. On Muddy Water's Still A Fool , Welch conjures up the feel of the primitive blues with minimal effort. This is a great track and Welch compliments it nicely.  Another of my favorites on the release is Rosco Gordon's shuffle,  No More Doggin' . Welch sets a cool pace and delivers from the gut. Very nice. Always a favorite, Willie Dixon's My Babe is loose and bouncy. On Sweet Little Angel, Welch's vocal phrasing is all his own giving it an interesting texture and his cool guitar playing makes it a definite top track. I've always liked Don't Let The Devil Ride and Welch's cool rock style handling of this classic is classic in itself. O...

Gospel Blues Phenom LEO BUD WELCH Leads An Old Fashioned Blues Revival  On His New Concert CD/DVD LIVE AT THE IRIDIUM ! Los Angeles, CA - He’s 85 years young and just getting started! Mississippi bluesman Leo Bud Welch has been playing and preaching real deal gospel blues music since he first picked up a guitar in 1945, but he remained on the outskirts of the profession music industry known only to friends, family, and a handful of elder blues statesmen. That is, until Welch signed his very first recording contract at the ripe old age of 81! It’s a remarkable story that is now the subject of a full-length documentary film called Late Blossom Blues currently screening at film festivals around the world. Since the release of his debut album Saboulga Voices in 2014 and the follow-up I Don’t Prefer No Blues in 2015, Welch has completely taken the blues world by storm, and now he offers his very first live concert album recorded at NY’s prestigious club The Irid...

BOB MARLEY’S 70TH BIRTHDAY WILL INCLUDE YEARLONG CELEBRATION OF RARE AND UNRELEASED MATERIAL FROM THE MARLEY FAMILY VAULTS AND PRIVATE COLLECTION 1ST COMMEMORATIVE RELEASE OUT ON FEBRUARY 17th WITH BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS--EASY SKANKING IN BOSTON ’78 Historic June 8, 1978 recording at Music Hall captures band at their height Feb 17 release on Blu-Ray/CD combo pack, dvd/cd and cd versions Los Angeles, CA – January 6, 2015 – Bob Marley’s 70th birthday year (2015) will include a variety of releases and events to commemorate the legend, his work and iconic impact.  Over the course of the year, his legacy will be remembered by new releases of rare and unreleased material as well as fan favorite deluxe editions of his most memorable work.  The first release will be available on February 17.   BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS – EASY SKANKING IN BOSTON ’78, features two historic live shows from Boston’s Music Hall, June 8, 1978.  This new and unreleased...

I just received a cool new DVD/CD which featured a documentary about a real music outlaw. This documentary by Robert Gordon and Paule Duane feature real live footage of a wild man with a wild past. Jerry McGill had recorded with Sam Phillips Sun Records in 1959 and been the road manager for Waylon Jennings under the name of Curtis Black. This is the story who lived the life of a real outlaw, serving prison time, swinging a gun around, robbing and thieving. I knew a man like this once in my life (but without the gun) and as stated by Robert Gordon, historian and film maker, someone who I may not have wanted in my house, but someone I was glad was in my life. This is not a dry, dusty, fluffy documentary with a lot of pretty scenery but the real time documentation of a 70 year old man who has not at all mellowed, full of most everything and ready to spring at the whisk of a mouse whisker. This is a documentary about music but this is really a healthy slice of life and one that will like...

I just received the newest release, Songs From The Road from Mike Zito & The Wheel and it's terrific! This like a number of other releases in this series is a 2 disc set and in this case, one a DVD and I'll tell you, I can't wait to get this thing home and watch it! I'll do a separate review of the CD here and a follow up for the DVD shortly. Opening with Don't Break A Leg , a real hot funky number is cooking. With Zito on vocal and guitar and hot sax lines from Jimmy Carpenter, a funky organ solo from Lewis Stephens, Scot Sutherland laying down a funky bass line and the tight rhythms of Rob Lee on drums, this is Zito at his best! Next up is Greyhound with an almost Keith Richards attitude but with a bit more country flavor. Carpenter rides high on sax with soul and clarity. A change up is a quiet remake of Prince's Little Red Corvette and again the supple vocal like sax leads of Carpenter. Another rocker with attitude is Rainbow Bridge . I really lik...