Bman's Blues Report

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Smokey Tango, by Laura Tate and it's a bluesy pop oriented release with a lot of style. Opening with Aaron and Joel Neville's, Yellow Moon , and she slides right into the groove with her refined vocals, backed by Terry Wilson on bass and rhythm guitar, Richard Milsap on drums, Jeff Paris on piano and Billy Watts on lead guitar. Complimented nicely by Darrell Leonard on trumpet and Paulie Cerra on sax and perfect backing vocals by Teresa James, this is a strong opener. On Danny Everitt's I Heard A Rumor , Tate spins a love song into a Latin fused track with plenty of spice. With Wilson on Wurlitzer, Paris on piano and Watts on slide, this is another cool track. With sassy, blues infused vocals by Tate and New Orleans styling reinforced by Leonard on trumpet and cool piano by Watts, this track shows real versatility. Ernie K-Doe's A Certain Guy adds a great pop flavor ala R&B with piano lead by Paris an...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Let's Just Be Real , from Laura Tate and it's a light jazzy smooth. Opening with Steve Bruton's Nobody Get's Hurt , vocalist, Laura Tate baits you in with her warm voice, backed by Terry Wilson on bass, Billy Watts on guitar, Jeff Paris on keys, Tony Braunagel on drums, Lee Thornberg on brass, Paulie Cerra on sax and Leslie Smith on percussion. I always like when music is nicely woven like a fine fabric and this track is just that. Original soul track, If That Ain't Love , has a strong radio feel with a catchy melody, nice sax work and an interesting rhythm. Cerra lay out a real nice sax solo on this track and backing vocals add nicely to the mix. lightly salted Latin rhythm on Can't Say No has a great feel and Watts' guitar solo is particularly nice. Thin Lizzy's Boys Are Back In Town gets a balladeer's rework and I find it quite nice. I feel that it will appeal strongly to the pop...