Bman's Blues Report

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Everything Now , by JW-Jones and it's a solid mix of blues, R&B, rock, and pop. Opening with title track, Everything Now , JW-Jones on lead vocal and guitar has penned a cool, pop rocker with a strong melody, featuring Stanton Moore on drums, Gordie Johnson on harmony, rhythm, bass and keys making this a super opener. Blues rocker, Papa's In The Pen has a cool rhythm and Jones' vocals are strong with a tight guitar solo pushing the track nicely. With Eric Eggleston on harmony vocal, rhythm guitar and percussion, Aaron Sterling on drums and Jeff Rogers on keys another solid entry. Shuffle track, Take Your Time features Jimmie Vaughan on guitar with his signature style, and includes Jason Corbiere on drums. My favorite track on the release is To Tell You The Truth (I Lied) with Jones' best vocal on the release and it's supple bluesy feel. Cutting loose on guitar Jones really gives this track an ext...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Everybody Let's Roll , from The Texas Horns , and I really like it! Opening with title track, Everybody Let's Roll , The Texas Horns (Kaz Kazanoff on tenor sax, Al Gomez on trumpet, and John Mills on bari sax) come out steaming with Carolyn Wonderland on lead vocal, Mike Keller on rhythm guitar, Sean Giddings on keys, Chris Marsh on bass, and Tom Brechtlein on drums and featuring Anson Funderburgh with some real nice guitar lead. Solid opener. Piano boogie, I Ain't Mad With You , led by Matt Hubbard really rocks with excellent solos from Kaz and Johnny Moeller and a fat fat bottom by Mills. Excellent! A really interesting (bluesy) rework of The Beatles, I Want You (She's So Heavy) , has great horn blending with Gomez taking the lead on trumpet. With it's jazzy drum hitch by Brannen Temple, a cool organ solo by Sean Geddings and a blast of blues by Moeller on guitar, this is a punchy track.  Soulful, Pr...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release (October 22, 2021), Pinky's Blues , from Sue Foley and I think it's her best yet! Opening with title track, Pinky's Blues, Foley digs in on guitar, establishing that this is a going to be a blues guitar release right up front. Her riffs are stinging and relentless. Angela Strehli's blues strut, Two Bit Texas Town has a great aggressive, Willie Dixon feel featuring Foley on vocal and with vicious SRV like riffs,  Jon Penner on bass, and Chris Layton on drums. One of my favorite tracks on the release is Southern Men and it's story telling format. Foley not only does a great job on vocal  but with bends and a lot of vibrato, really whammy's this track. Excellent! Another Strehli penned track, Say It's Not So really works nicely with rich vocals and double stopped rhythm work by Foley. Here soloing throughout is really nicely phrased and emotional. Excellent! Clarence Gatemouth Brown's Okie Dok...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, The Pleasure's All Mine , from Jimmie Vaughn and it's a super blues cd. Opening disc one with title track, The Pleasure's All Mine , Jimmie Vaughan lays right in the slot with this low slung blues track. His guitar work is stylistic and tasty, his vocals are solid and fat sax by Kas Kasenoff work really caps it nicely with George Rains on drums, Ronnie James on bass, Billy Pitman on rhythm guitar and Greg Picollo on tenor sax. Terrific instrumental, Comin' & Goin' really hits the spot with tight drums rhythms by Rains and a melodic guitar lead. Excellent! Up beat shuffle, How Can You Be So Mean , will get you bopping in your seat. Vaughan has one of those voices that works really nicely with swing beat music and his guitar style has just the right sting. Really nice. Cool boogie track, Roll, Roll, Roll has a strong bottom and Vaughan's vocal paired with his loose, but slick style makes for an ...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Please Come Home , from Jimmie Vaughan and it's solid. Opening with Lloyd Price's R&B track, Baby, Please Come Home Vaughan has the mic and joined by George Rains on drums, Ronnie James on bass, Billy Pitman on rhythm guitar, Doug James on bari sax, Greg Piccolo on tenor sax, this band is rockin. On Lefty Frizzell's shuffle No One To Talk To (But The Blues) , Vaughan's vocals are stellar and his guitar playing low slung and meaningful. Chuck Willis' What's Your Name? has a real great tempo and the steady drumming by Rains sets the tempo and James' sax work is fat and meaty. Very nice. Low slung, It's Love Baby (24 Hours A Day) has a real nice off beat pace and Vaughan's guitar lead answers the response nicely and his soloing with James' bari work is really nice. Fats Domino's So Glad has a great feel with hot sax work by James and Piccolo and I really like Vaughans unu...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, The Ice Queen , from Sue Foley and I think it may be her best yet. Opening with Come To Me with Charlie Sexton joining on vocal and slide guitar, Foley adds a little funk to her already bluesy deal with Chris Maresh on bass, Chris Layton on drums and Kyle Thompson on maracas. Run has a country 2 step feel and Foley really drives this one with her ambitious guitar rhythm. Slow blues and title track, The Ice Queen , shows Foley at her purest with George rains on drums and Billy Horton on bass. Her riffs are right off a Hooker release and her vocals are simple and direct. Very nice. Shuffle track, The Lucky Ones features Jimmie Vaughan trading lead vocal and guitar riffs. With the addition of Mike Flanigin or organ, the track has an additional dimension and Foley's guitar riffs play nicely against Vaughan's. Billy Gibbons joins on Fool's Golds and his vocals really work great with Foley's. his solo work...

Stony Plain Records Signs Acclaimed Canadian Roots Guitarist/Singer Sue Foley and Will Release Her Label Debut CD, The Ice Queen , March 2, 2018 Special Guests on New Disc Include Jimmie Vaughan, Z.Z. Top’s Billy F Gibbons and Charlie Sexton EDMONTON, AB – Stony Plain Records announces the signing of acclaimed Canadian roots guitarist/singer Sue Foley, and will release her label debut CD, The Ice Queen , on March 2, 2018. Produced by Mike Flanigin, who also plays organ on the new disc, The Ice Queen was recorded at Firestation Studios in San Marcos, Texas. Joining Sue Foley as special guests is a trio of legendary Texas guitarslingers – Jimmie Vaughan, Z.Z.Top’s Billy F Gibbons and Charlie Sexton - as well as a host of other Lone Star State all-stars, including Chris “Whipper” Layton (formerly of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble) and George Rains (drums), Derek O’Brien (guitar), Chris Maresh and Billy Horton (bass) and The Texas Horns: John Mil...

                                                                                                                               ROBERT CRAY BAND AND PROVOGUE / MASCOT LABEL GROUP ANNOUNCE AUGUST 28 RELEASE DATE FOR 4 NIGHTS OF FORTY YEARS LIVE DVD and Blu-ray Accompanying 2-CD Set Features 90 Minutes Of Live Concert Footage Alongside An In-Depth Interview W...

An extra full house was the scene recently at the Rhythm Room, Phoenix, AZ USA when blues legends and veteran road pros Nick Moss and Jimmie Vaughan delivered killer sets of tasty Blues. Chicago based Nick Moss and Michael Ledbetter (guitar and vocals), were joined by Bob Corritore (harmonica and vocals) and drummer Patrick Seals for a full hour of house rocking ‘Chicago style’ tunes. Just two weeks into a seven week Western USA tour this group was jumping. According to road tour manager, Javik Smith (son of Willie “Big-Eyes” Smith ) the core band will work the West for five additional weeks, take a short rest and then head out to the Eastern leg of the USA as the summer progresses. Moss showed his decades of experience through the fret board runs, fills, comps and seamless blending with guest harmonica player Bob Corritore and members of his regular band. Great support came from Michael Ledbetter on rhythm guitar and vocals who has been with Moss for the past two years. Class...

Angela Strehli (born November 22, 1945, Lubbock, Texas, United States) is an American electric blues singer and songwriter. She is also a Texas blues historian and impresario. Despite a sporadic recording career, Strehli spends time each year performing in Europe, the US and Canada In the early 1960s, Strehli learned the harmonica and bass guitar before becoming a vocalist. In 1966 she visited Chicago, and attended concerts given by Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters and Buddy Guy. In her final university year, Strehli and Lewis Cowdrey formed the Fabulous Rockets. Strehli then sang as a backing vocalist for James Polk and the Brothers and assisted with Storm, which had been formed by Cowdrey and Jimmie Vaughan. In 1972, she was a founding member of Southern Feeling, along with W. C. Clark and Denny Freeman. Three years later Strehli became the stage manager and sound technician at Antone's, a nightclub in Austin, Texas. By 1986, Strehli had recorded Stranger Blues (EP) which help ...