Bman's Blues Report

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Wake Up Call , from Rick Rowe and it's a solid jam. Opening with shuffle, Inside Straight , Rick Roe on piano, Robert Hurst on bass and Nate Winn on drums set a solid footing and Marcus Elliot outlines a super melody. Roe steps up on piano stretching the concept nicely and Hurst plucks an exceptional solo on his own. I love Winn's drumming adding that perfect snap to an already super opener. The Return of Mr. Pea is a cool track with a super rhythm. Elliot and Roe lay out the melody and Elliot takes the concept for a ride, handing it off to Roe who really lays it out. A driving line by Hurst and Winn make this one of my favorites on the release.  Latin flavored, La Cancion has a really nice groove featuring Elliot on soprano sax and Roe on piano. Hurst plays another inspired bass solo and Winn on drums really takes the track to another level. The Ringer is another terrific track with my favorite Roe piano sh...

  I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Catalyst: The Music of Gregg Hill , by Dave Sharp Worlds Quartet & Elden Kelly and it's full helping of diversified world flavors. Opening with Traveling With Gregg , Dave Sharp on bass enlists Henrik Karapetyan on violin, Igor Houwat on oud, Elden Kelly on guitar and Mike List on percussion on an exotic East Indian/fusion journey. Karapetyan on violin with List on percussion set the pace and Houwat and Kelly engage enthusiastically. 13th Century Lion has a medieval/eastern flavor creating a thematic nature led by Houwat and Kelly and anchored by List on drums. Karapetyan takes an adventurous ride on violin, exchanging with Houwat accented by List. Cidade has a warm melody crafted by Karapetyan and Kelly with minimal percussion by List. Houwat takes a real nice excursion on oud before returning to Karapetyan. This is a really solid track and my favorite in the set. Wrapping the release is The Stray Moonduck ...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, TechnoCats: The Music Of Gregg Hill , by TechnoCats and it's got a real nice feel. Opening with shuffle, Come On Down , the TechnoCats have a solid groove going with Michael J. Reed on drums, Xavier Davis on piano and Javier Enrique on bass. Nathan Borton on guitar sets off with a real nice guitar solo and Chris Glassman on bass trombone, lays out a real nice one as well. Enrique plucks a real nice bass line and gets a stretch to solo as well. Strong opener. After a nicely presented piano intro by Davis on I Want To Live , Glassman takes the lead on trombone, improvising around a strong melody. Davis rolls back in with inciteful piano lead over the solid bass line and soloing of Enrique and tight drumming of Reed. Very cool. Latin flavored, Rista! Rista! is a cool, up tempo track with a lively bass line, tight percussion, and excellent solos by Borton, Davis and Glassman. This is my favorite track on the release. Sunn...