Bman's Blues Report

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Full Circle , from Jimmy Burns & Soul Message Band , and it's chocked full of funky soul music. Opening with Express Yourself , written and made huge by Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band back in the 70's, Jimmy Burns steps up and delivers the funk. Backed by Chris Foreman on B3 , Greg Rockingham on drums, Lee Rothenberg on guitar, and featuring Steve Eisen on bari and Tenor saxes this is a red hot smoking opener. Jazz track, Ain't That Funk For You , a super groove by Albert Grey really gets that hard bop feel going with Featuring Greg Jung on sax and Foreman on B3 backed by Rockingham on drums. Excellent! Jimmy Burns had a hit in 65 with Chuck Colbert's Give Her To Me and he traces his steps with a soulful rendition here with super sax work by Eisen, warm B3 backing by Foreman and solid vocal backing by Typhanie Monique. Soul classic, Since I Fell For You , penned by Buddy Johns...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Good Gone Bad , by Chris Shutters with special guest Jimmy Burns and it's a fun packed blues rocker. Opening with driving rocker and title track, Good Gone Bad , featuring Chris Shutters and Jimmy Burns on vocal and guitar, joined by Byron Harris Jr. on bass and drums, Rick Warner on piano, and Tony Shutters on harmonica. Super opener. Adding Art Bishop on sax, this band gets funky on Can't Play The Blues Like B.B. Chris takes the lead on vocal and guitar and this track has just that perfect edge with the horn reinforcement sounding quite like Sly or Clinton. On boogie, Unwind, Frank May's bass line defines the rhythm and a more melodic approach makes this a cool radio track with a clean, meaty sax solo by Bishop. Straight up rocker, Living In A Dream , has a super pace and with it's quiet bridge and a hard working bass line by Harris Jr. the track gets a real edgy rock style guitar solo by Shutters and...

I just received the newest release, it ain't right , from Jimmy Burns and it grooves! Opening with Big Money Problem , it's got Morganfield bounce and featuring Ariyo Ariyoshi on keys, Anthony Palmer on guitar, EG McDaniel on bass and Bryant T Parker on drums, Jimmy Burns is super on vocal and guitar for a tight opener. Burns really gets into his space on R&B vocal track, Will I Ever Find Somebody? . His vocals are warm and inviting with nice key work from Ariyo and joined by Roosevely Purifoy on organ, Chris Neal on tenor sax and Aaron Getsug on bari, this track has a great sound. Otis Rush's Snaggletooth Mule has a nice funky blues feel (Thrill Is Gone) and Burns shows great vocal prowess as he lays out some really nice guitar work over Purifoy and Ariyo on keys. Percy Mayfield's Long As You're Mine gets a full horn backing and a sixties Ray Charles R&B feel. Burns plays some pretty flashy guitar riffs and Ariyo hits the keys as well. Nice! Slinky 12 b...

Jimmy Burns (born February 27, 1943, Dublin, Mississippi, United States) is an award winning American soul blues and electric blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although he was born in the Mississippi Delta, Burns has spent nearly all his life in Chicago. His elder brother, Eddie "Guitar" Burns, is a Detroit blues musician. Burns's father was a sharecropper who performed as a singer in medicine shows. At the age of 12, Jimmy Burns moved with his family to Chicago and four years later joined The Medallionaires who recorded a couple of doo-wop tracks. Recording mostly solo in the 1960s, Burns issued singles for the USA, Minit, Tip Top and Erica labels. He toured the Midwest with his backing group, the Fantastic Epics, and with another outfit called Jimmy Burns and the Gas Company into the early 1970s. Burns then took a long break from the music industry to raise his family. He performed infrequently until the early part of the 1990s, when he started a long residency a...

Singer, guitarist, and songwriter, Jimmy Burns is a contemporary bluesman who combines his Delta roots with R&B and soul to come up with a sound uniquely his own. Burns is a charismatic performer with an expressive, soulful, voice and a melodic guitar style to match. With a keen sense of his musical heritage Burns has created an upbeat style that has won critical acclaim both at home and abroad. Born near Dublin, Mississippi in 1943, Burns was fascinated by music early on. He loved the sounds coming out of the church, and the blues he heard on the streets. Burns’ sang in church and taught himself how to play guitar while he was still in the Delta. One of his particular favorites was Lightnin’ Hopkins, His oldest brother, renowned Detroit bluesman Eddie Burns, is also a guitarist who played with John Lee Hooker for a number of years before striking out on his own. Burns was 12 when his family moved to Chicago. Within a year he was singing with a gospel group called the Gay Lites. Se...

Jimmy Burns (born February 27, 1943, Dublin, Mississippi, United States) is an award winning American soul blues and electric blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although he was born in the Mississippi Delta, Burns has spent nearly all his life in Chicago. His elder brother, Eddie "Guitar" Burns, is a Detroit blues musician. Burns's father was a sharecropper who performed as a singer in medicine shows. At the age of 12, Jimmy Burns moved with his family to Chicago and four years later joined The Medallionaires who recorded a couple of doo-wop tracks. Recording mostly solo in the 1960s, Burns issued singles for the USA, Minit, Tip Top and Erica labels. He toured the Midwest with his backing group, the Fantastic Epics, and with another outfit called Jimmy Burns and the Gas Company into the early 1970s. Burns then took a long break from the music industry to raise his family. He performed infrequently until the early part of the 1990s, when he started a long residency at...

Jimmy Burns (born February 27, 1943, Dublin, Mississippi, United States) is an award winning American soul blues and electric blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although he was born in the Mississippi Delta, Burns has spent nearly all his life in Chicago. His elder brother, Eddie "Guitar" Burns, is a Detroit blues musician. Burns's father was a sharecropper who performed as a singer in medicine shows. At the age of 12, Jimmy Burns moved with his family to Chicago and four years later joined The Medallionaires who recorded a couple of doo-wop tracks. Recording mostly solo in the 1960s, Burns issued singles for the USA, Minit, Tip Top and Erica labels. He toured the Midwest with his backing group, the Fantastic Epics, and with another outfit called Jimmy Burns and the Gas Company into the early 1970s. Burns then took a long break from the music industry to raise his family. He performed infrequently until the early part of the 1990s, when he started a long residency at...