Bman's Blues Report

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Duke and his Dames of Rhythm, by Duke Robillard and it's a mighty swing fest. Opening with From Monday On , Sunny Crownover has the floor, backed by Bruce Bears on piano, Brad Hallen on bass, Mark Teixeira on drums, Jon Erik Kellso on trumpet, Billy Novick on clarinet and alto sax, Carl Querfurth on trombone and of course Robillard on guitar. A bright prance, this track has super clarinet, strong guitar riffs, a powerful bass line and a particularly nice trombone solo by Querfurth. Maria Muldaur had the floor on Got The South In My Soul and again, powerful clarinet soloing by Novick and bright guitar riffs by the Duke really set it off. Kelley Hunt steps up to the mic on Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone , a solid blues ballad with solid vocals, jumping into swing time with Mark Earley's brilliant tenor sax solo. Kellso's trumpet work, Bears' piano work, another clarinet solo by Novick a...

I just received the newest release, Blues Full Circle , from Duke Robillard and it's styling. Opening with Lay a Little Lovin' On Me , Robillard has lead vocals and the band is sets up a creep. Bruce Bears lays the ground work on piano, backed by Brad Hallen on bass and Mark Teixeira on drums. Robillard ealks in with a really nice fat guitar scream giving the track real attitude. Nice opener. On easy shuffle, Rain Keeps Falling , Bears and Robillard swap lead work under the vocal keeping it tight. Mourning Dove slows it down a bit and Duke plays some of his most expressive riffs of the release. Ouch! Back up to tempo, No More Tears , has a nice groove and Robillard steps out in style backed by Bear's organ work. Very nice. Jimmy Lewis' Last Night features Sugar Ray Norcia and his vocals are rich. Robillard's guitar work is clean and tight and Saw Gordon Beadle lays in some real nice sax work. On New Orleans saturated, A Fool About My Money Bears and Teixeira ...

I just received the newest release, The Beautiful Bones , from Kelley Hunt and it's surprisingly good! Opening with a high stepping This Time , singer / song writer Hunt shows a little Billy Preston flair on piano under her solid vocals. Backed by Brian Owings (drums), Tim Marks (bass), John Jackson (guitar), Mark Jordan (B3), Mitch Kelley (sax) and Jon-Paul Frappier (trumpet) this band gets it moving. Golden Hour has a strong gospel feel with cool backing vocals by Regina McCrary, Alfreda McCrary, and Ann McCrary. Kelly is really a super vocalist and supports herself well with percussive piano work. Jackson lays down some cool guitar riffs on this track as well. Let It Rain is a solid R&B style ballad without a lot of star search pyrotechnics. Actually quite nice. Release And Be Free is soul personified with a hot taste of gospel. This is someone who has tasted the waters of Aretha Franklin. Now that is a strong statement but first I'll clarify that I did not say t...