Bman's Blues Report

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, 80 Years of International Friendship , by Janice Harrington , and it's a strong entry by Janice. Opening with Old Age , an apparent tribute to her 80th birthday and it shows Harrington in fine form vocally with a firm bass line by Tabbel Dierssen, cool guitar soloing by Z.z. von Schnerck and Charles de Beaulieu, Eggo Fuhrmann on piano and Lars Plogschties on drums. On BB King style, Seven Day A Week Man Blues , Harrington exhibits great feel and has Kenn Lending on guitar playing a terrific response to her call, backed by Verner on keyboards, Svenni Savafnisson on bass and Frank Larsen on drums. Telephone Blues has the same lineup and gives Harrington the opportunity to dig in deep, pushed by the solid guitar work of Lending. Very nice. Ray Charles' Hallelujah I Love Her So , gets the full big experience with Harrington swinging. With Robert Miesbauer on alto, Max Lichtenwagner on alto, Theresia Puhringer on alto, ...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Move On, from Farmers Road Blues Band & Janice Harrington and it's got great spirit. Opening with James Cotton's I Ain't Doin Too Bad featuring Dirk Theege on slide and Janice Harrington on lead vocal and with Randolf Muhl on drums, Ralf Gehrt on keys, and Jens Bornhoft-Juhl. Dinah Washington's shuffle track, Salty Papa Blues has a great feel and a swinging sax solos from Helke Dorn and Olaf Barkow as well as a tight trumpet solo from Melf Uwe Holmer. Work Your Magic has real swagger with some of Harrington's best vocals and juicy sax work from Dorn and Barkow. Gehrt lays in some real nice piano strides, Holmer's trumpet phrasing is real nice  and Theege's guitar soloing is solid. Very nice. With a bouncy bass line and a jazzy guitar lead, Blues Rockin' has a cool groove. Moritz Kruit on guitar has a BB King approach to his soloing with fits nicely with the track, Gehrt's org...

I just received a copy of the most recent release, Yesterday Today and Tomorrow from Janice Harrington and it's really strong and sensual. I'll start off by saying that there can be a very fine line between what we term Jazz and what we term blues and it really depends upon the listener and the context. This has a number of markers of jazz music but it is strongly blues and I really like it. Featuring Lloyd Mayers (piano), Keter Betts (bass) and Jimmy Cobb (drums) the album opens with I Thought About You , a strong vocal performance from Harrington accompanied primarily by Mayers. On New Blowtop Blues , Betts takes some really nice acoustic bass lines leading to a very strong strong blues track featuring great phrasing from Harrington complimented by Mayers on piano. This is a terrific track. A really tasty bass solo on this track is well worth mentioning as these bottom guys never get the attention that they deserve. Salty Papa Blues has a cool walking bass line leading t...

Janice Harrington born in Cleveland, Ohio, grew up within the tradition of Black American Music. In the 60’s,at the peak of the Black Liberation Movement, her career as a Gospel, Blues and Jazz singer began. Her greatest idols, to name a few are Mahalia Jackson and Dinah Washington.In 1969, she opened her career with a tour through South East Asia, where she sang for the U.S. military during the Vietnam war. Janice was a star guest in the Las Vegas Flamingo Hotel from 1975 to 1977.During that period of time she was also well known as actress in the theater and in the American TV series „Days Of Our Lives“. In the 1970’s, she was on stage with Billy Daniels, Lloyd Bridges, Frank Sinatra Jr., Sammy Davis Jr. and Lionel Hampton. Janice began her career in Europe in 1980. While she lived in Norway, she sang for Bishop Desmond Tutu, when he received the Nobel Peace Prize and was also the opening act for Joan Armatrading. In 1989, Janice and the Kenn Lending Blues Band were the opening act f...