Little Village artist: Curtis Salgado - Fine By Me - New Release Review

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Fine By Me, from Curtis Salgado and it's a great mix or rock, pop R&B and blues. Opening with country rocker, My Girl Is A Nut, with Salgado on vocal and harmonica, Alan Hager on guitar, Keith Brush on bass and Jimi Bott on drums. Chugging rhythm on Better Things To Lie About has a great feel, reinforced by Joe McCarthy on trumpet, Lars Campbell on trombone, and Tim Bryson on sax and features super vocal and harmonica by Salgado. One of my favorite tracks on the release is I'm Gonna Forget About You featuring vocal duet with Salgado and Robert Cray. Jim Pugh on piano and B3 gives the track depth and Jerry Jemmott on bass and Kid Andersen joining Cray on guitar really adds the spice. Hear The Lonely Hearts is a terrific soul track featuring Salgado on lead vocal backed by The Sons of Soul Revivers (James Morgan, Walter Morgan and Dwayne Morgan) on harmonizing vocals. With Rome Yamilov on guitar and Kid Andersen on bass, this is a standout track. Safe At Home is a solid pop rocker with Salgado on vocal backed by Lisa Leuschner, Kid Andersen on guitar and keys, Hershel Yatovitz on slide and bass and Paul Ravelli on drums. Slow blues, You Give The Blues A Bad Name features Anson Funderburgh on guitar and he really digs in. I think that Salgado's best vocals are on this track, with Billy Watts on guitar, Terry Wilson on bass, Loren Gold on piano, Tony Braunagel on drums and the illustrial horn backing of Joe McCarthy on trumpet, Lars Campbell on trombone and Tim Bryson on sax. Excellent track. Wrapping the release is shuffle,  Under New Management with nicely styled guitar lead by Funderburgh. Salgado really gets the groove moving on vocal  with Wilson on bass, Loren Gold on piano, Bruanagel on drums and McCarthy, Campbell and Bryson on horns. Salgado lays in some real tasty harmonica making this an excellent closer. 

  If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”

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Severn Records artists: The Texas Horns - Get Here Quick - New Relese Review

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Get Here Quick, by The Texas Horns and it's smokin'! Opening with Guitar Town, a real Texas style blues, cooked up with  Anson Funderburgh and Johnny Moeller on guitars and Gary Forsyth on lead vocals. Kaz Kazanoff on tenor, John Mills on bari and Al Gomez on trumpet and this track is hot. With a bit of New Orleans flavor, Instrumental, Feelin' No Pain is all horns to the floor with excellent piano work by Red Young, bass by Russell Jackson and Tommy Taylor on drums. Mills lays out and excellent sax solo and Moeller shows why he is regarded as one of the top bluesmen in Texas today. Title track, Better Get Here Quick is another instrumental with rich tandem sax lead and excellent guitar accents by Moeller. Gomez steps up with some crisp lead work of his own and Youngs takes a nice few bars of his own. Very cool. An excellent New Orleans style instrumental, 2018, has a super march style snare lead by John Bryant with Chris Maresh on bass and again featuring excellent work by Moeller and Connolly. Gomez's trumpet is bright and punchy. Very nice. Curtis Salgado is up front on lead vocals on Sundown Talkin'. His vocals are always soulful and stellar and this track is no exception, being clearly the radio track on the release. The horns flex their muscle through out and excellent accents by Moeller give the track a great presence. Instrumental, Funky Ape really gives Kaz, Al and John a chance to play and they push you back in your seat. Excellent! Wrapping the release is Truckload of Trouble, a springy, instrumental with a solid horn melody and with a cool muted trumpet interlude by Gomez, and a sweet sax lead by Kaz as well. Ronnie Earl is featured on lead guitar adding a bluesy component to an otherwise driving horn composition. This is a real cool outing for the Texas Horns. Enjoy! 

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IDLA/Linus Entertainment artist: Michael Kaeshammer - Something New - New release Review

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Something New, from Michael Kaeshammer, and recorded at historic Esplanade Studios in the heart of New Orleans' Treme district, it has a definite NO flair. Opening with Scenic Route, Kaeshammer blends a rockin pop melody with great New Orleans style and hot piano riffs for a super opener with twists and turns. Backed by George Porter Jr. on bass, and the hard work of Johnny Vidacovich on drums, this track is a super opener. Pushing the horn section (William Sperandei on trumpet, Chris Gale on sax, William Carn on trombone) forward on Do You Believe, featuring Curtis Salgado on vocal and Matt Perrine really belting out the sousaphone lines with authority over a really snappy drum rhythm. Very cool. I particularly like the vocal and piano exchange on She's Gone over Vidacovish's spot on drum work and guest Whurlitzer work by Chuck Leavell. A soulful track with great drums... very nice. Who Are You is another solid entry with a great mix of R&B and New Orleans jazz. Randy Bachman and Colin James guest with guitar on this track and his playing works nicely with Kaeshammer's mix of R&B, and jazz piano work. Very nice. Cyril Neville has the lead vocals on soulful ballad, Heaven and Earth and some of the richest vocals on the release, backed by sparkling piano by Kaeshammer. Excellent! Wrapping the release is Weimar, a solid instrumental piano ballad with flavors of multiple influences. Kaeshammer's key work is flawless and clean presenting a nice closer for a cool release. 

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Alligator Records artist: Curtis Salgado & Alan Hager – Rough Cut - New release review - Stilladog - Guest Writer

Driving home from work the other day I heard a song called “I Want My Dog To Live Longer” on the Bluesville channel on Sirius XM. It was done by Curtis Salgado & Alan Hager. I know Curtis and have seen him play a number of times but I did not know Alan who is a guitarist from Portland, OR where Curtis lives also. These two have played together off and on for quite a number of years. So now that Alan is the guitarist for Curtis’ road band I guess they figured the time was right. So it’s here and it’s called Rough Cut. Based on that one track I had to check it out. Once I heard it I had to tell Bman how much I liked it and he asked me to review it.

The album starts off with a very John Lee Hooker sounding track entitled “I Will Not Surrender.” This is a very personal blues written by Salgado. You can almost feel him fighting death as he sings. He’s survived liver cancer, lung cancer (twice), addiction, and quadruple bypass surgery. So he knows about not surrendering. A great opener for the album which turns out to be far from the blue-eyed soul Cutis is known for. This is definitely traditional blues, originals and covers both.

On the second track, “So Near To Nowhere,” Salgado breaks out his harp for the first time and the best lyrics on the album. “I’m asking God why I ain’t dead yet. He said, I warned ya boy but you never listen. The devil don’t want the competition.”

It’s mostly just a duo with Hager on guitar, Salgado on harp and vocals, although Curtis plays piano on one track. A few others have minimal accompaniment but otherwise it’s just two friends playing blues.

The duo cover a number of Blues classics such as Muddy Water’s I Can’t Be Satisfied which gets the country blues slide treatment from Hager which is strong in its own right and complements Salgado’s vocals perfectly. This theme repeats itself with many of the other covers such as Depot Blues by Son House and Long Train Blues by Robert Wilkins which is strong on harp as well.

The cover songs are absolutely great and also include Sonny Boy Williamson’s “Too Young To Die,” Big Bill Broonzy’s “I Want You By My Side,” and Elmore James’ version (not the Mississippi Fred McDowell one) of “You Got To Move” which contains some awesome Elmo slide by Hager. The tune entitled “Morning Train” is also commonly known as “Get Right Church,” and may be the strongest cover on the album.

Which brings us back around to “I Want My Dog To Live Longer.” This song touches the heart of anybody who ever had, or has, a faithful canine companion. I can’t say it’s my favorite song on the record but it is obvious that Curtis Salgado and I see eye to eye on what enrichment dogs bring into our lives.

That all said, I really think this is going to be one of the overall strongest blues albums of 2018. The blend of originals and covers is a perfect balance. No flash guitar, no hot horns, just solid blues music which is not so easy to come by these days. It may be a Rough Cut but it is smoothly done.

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Five Alligator Artists Receive 11 Blues Music Award Nominations

FIVE ALLIGATOR ARTISTS RECEIVE ELEVEN BLUES MUSIC AWARD NOMINATIONS

Toronzo Cannon Leads With Four, Followed By Curtis Salgado With Three

Lil' Ed Williams Receives Two Award Nominations

Shemekia Copeland and Moreland & Arbuckle Receive One Nomination Each

On Monday, January 9, 2017, The Blues Foundation announced the nominees for the 38th Annual Blues Music Awards, the blues world's highest honors. Five Alligator recording artists received a total of eleven nominations.

Chicago bluesman Toronzo Cannon received four nominations, including Album Of The Year and Contemporary Blues Album Of The Year for his Alligator debut, The Chicago Way. He was also nominated for Song Of The Year (for Walk It Off) and Contemporary Blues Male Artist Of The Year. Cannon has one previous nomination.

Soul and R&B singer Curtis Salgado received three nominations including Soul Blues Album Of The Year (for The Beautiful Lowdown) and Song Of The Year (for Walk A Mile In My Blues). He also received a nod for Soul Blues Male Artist of The Year. Salgado has 13 previous nominations and five wins.

Lil' Ed Williams received two top nominations, one for B.B. King Entertainer Of The Year, the other for the coveted Band Of The Year for Lil' Ed And The Blues Imperials. Williams has 20 previous nominations and two wins.

Singing sensation Shemekia Copeland received a nomination for Contemporary Blues Female Artist Of The Year. Copeland has 34 previous nominations and has won a total of eight awards.

Moreland & Arbuckle received a nomination in the Best Blues Rock Album Of The Year category for their Alligator debut, Promised Land Or Bust. This is the group's first nomination.

The 38th Annual Blues Music Awards will be presented in Memphis on May 11, 2017 at the Cook Convention Center.

Alligator artists and nominations are as follows:

TORONZO CANNON:

Album Of The Year: The Chicago Way

Contemporary Blues Album Of The Year: The Chicago Way

Contemporary Blues Male Artist Of The Year

Song Of The Year: Walk It Off, by Toronzo Cannon
 

CURTIS SALGADO:

Soul Blues Album Of The Year: The Beautiful Lowdown

Soul Blues Male Artist Of The Year

Song Of The Year: Walk A Mile In My Blues, by David Duncan, Curtis Salgado and Mike Finnigan

 

LIL' ED WILLIAMS:

B.B. King Entertainer Of The Year - Lil' Ed Williams

Band Of The Year - Lil' Ed And The Blues Imperials

SHEMEKIA COPELAND:

Contemporary Blues Female Artist Of The Year

MORELAND & ARBUCKLE:

Rock Blues Album Of The Year: Promised Land Or Bust

Five Alligator Artists Nominated For Eight Blues Blast Awards

 

FIVE ALLIGATOR ARTISTS NOMINATED FOR EIGHT BLUES BLAST MUSIC AWARDS Blues Blast, the internet blues magazine, has announced the nominees for its 2016 Blues Blast Music Awards. Five Alligator Records artists received a total of eight nominations. Shemekia Copeland, Curtis Salgado and Toronzo Cannon each received two nominations. Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials and Tommy Castro & The Painkillers each received one. Voting is free and open to the public at www.bluesblastmagazine.com beginning July 1 and running through August 15. Winners will be announced at the 2016 Blues Blast Music Awards ceremony, held at The Fluid Events Center in Champaign, Illinois on September 23rd, 2016. Alligator nominees are as follows: SHEMEKIA COPELAND: Contemporary Blues Album - for Outskirts Of Love Female Blues Artist CURTIS SALGADO: Soul Blues Album - for The Beautiful Lowdown Male Blues Artist TORONZO CANNON: Contemporary Blues Album - for The Chicago Way Male Blues Artist  LIL' ED & THE BLUES IMPERIALS: Blues Band TOMMY CASTRO & THE PAINKILLERS: Rock Blues Album - for Method To My Madness ### www.ALLIGATOR.com

Meet The 2016 Mammoth Bluesapalooza Band Lineup - Watch Video!