Bman's Blues Report

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, BB King's Blues Summit 100 , by Joe Bonamassa and it's terrific! Opening with Paying The Cost To Be The Boss , Kingfish Ingram is featured on vocal and guitar and he really gets it done. With it's laid back BB King style and with the help of Joe Bonamassa on guitar, Lemar Carter on drums, Travis Carlton on bass, Jeff Babko on keys, Steve Patrick and Tyler Jaeger on trumpet, Marc Douthit and Jimmy Bowland on sax and Barry Green on trombone, this is a strong opener. Marcus King does an incredible job on vocal and guitar delivering Don't Answer The Door . (I've bought entire albums based on 1 track that doesn't stack up well against this track). King, Bonamassa and Josh Smith really work the guitar on this track and support from Carter, Carlton, Babko, Patrick, Jaeger, Douthit, Bowland and Green are icing on this very nice cake. Buddy Guy gets Sweet Little Angel and he digs in giving it pure Guy trea...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, The Sun Is Shining Down , from one of the fathers of modern blues, John Mayall and it's quite good. Opening with Hungry and Ready , Mayall on harmonica and lead vocals, Melvin Taylor on lead guitar, Greg Rzab on bass, Jay Davenport on drums and Carolyn Wonderland on rhythm and with Ron Dziubla on sax, Mark Pender on trumpet, Richard Rosenberg on trombone providing a power horn sound. Dynamic opener. Markus King really hits hard on Can't Take No More with slashing guitar riffs over the tight rhythm by Davenport. With it's driving bass line by Rzab, Chills and Thrills , Mayall plays a nicely phrase piano solo and adds B3 warmth and Mike Campbell lays down a strong guitar lead. Very nice. Slower blues, A Quitter Never Wins showcases Mayall on lead vocal nicely, floating on his own key backing and intuitive harmonica punctuation. One of my favorites on the release is Driving Wheel again featuring Melvin Taylor o...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Cypress Grove , from Jimmy "Duck" Holmes and it's a excellent slice or real delta blues. Opening with Skip James' Hard Times , Holmes is right there, front and center playing guitar and singing the blues just like God planned it. I mean it doesn't come much fresher than this. Get it while you can! Title track, another Skip James composition, Cypress Grove , has great feel and pace with Holmes joined by Eric Deaton on bass and Sam Bacco on drums and percussion. Don't be expecting a trap set... were talking basic...  Very nice! Muddy Waters' Rock Me has a super grinding bass line and with the addition of Marcus King on guitar and Dan Auerbach on lush slide, has strong texture. Another James track, Devil Got My Woman , is a super showcase for Holmes vocal styling and guitar work. I mean this track hurts it's so good. Excellent! All Night Long is really a short jam track which features ...