Big Blue Records artist: Barbara Blue - From The Shoals - New Release Review
I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, From The Shoals , by Barbara Blue , and it's some funky, R&B blues. Opening with The Shoals , Barbara Blue on lead vocal leads way with a stellar backing band featuring Bernard Purdie on drums, David Hood on bass, Clayton Ivey on keys and Will McFarlane on guitar. On Clarence Carter's Tell Mama , Blue adds a nice compliment of Marc Franklin on trumpet, and Brad Guin on sax plus Davor Hacic- Hutch on guitar for a solid rendition of the classic track. Shuffle track, Slide Man is a cool track featuring Blue on vocal and McFarlane on slide guitar. With it's catchy melody and smooth guitar work, this is a cool number. Too Far is my favorite track on the release with it's arpeggiated guitar submelody and excellent guitar lead by McFarlane and strong sax work by Guin. Wrapping the release is slow boogie, Trail of Tears with it's drone bass line by Hood and strong vocal lead by Blue, nicely accented by M...