Bman's Blues Report

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Too High A Price To Pay , from Mercedes Nicole and it's a cool mix of blues and soul. Opening with blues rocker, I'll Play The Blues For You , with Mercedes Nicole on lead vocal and featuring Rod Cook screaming some real nice King sized blues riffs on guitar. With Scotty Harris on bass, Jake Sele on organ, Andrew Cloutier on drums and Tommy Warren, Stacy Jones, Ben Lange and Patrice O'Neil on backing vocals a solid opener. John Hiatt's Feels Like Rain is presented as a soulful ballad and Nicole's lead vocals, caressed in backing vocals has a great feel. Another soulful ballad, Breathe Again is radio focused with a strong melody, slow danceable timing and a real nice sax solo by Alexey Nikolaev . Another slow blues track is Elmore James', The Sky Is Crying , with wailing guitar work by Cook. Solid vocals by Nicole and warm organ work by Sele flesh out the track. Wrapping the release is Ease My S...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Constellation , from Mercedes Nicole , one of Seattle top performers. Opening with Ellington's I Ain't Got Nothing But The Blues , Nicole on lead vocal shows her own styling on the cover, with a real nice piano solo by Jake Sele and backed by Kevin McCarthy who put up a solid bass solo, D'Vonne Lewis on drums and a cool trumpet solo by Jay Thomas. On lively shuffle, Your Love , Nicole really seems to float on the music Evan Flory-Barnes on bass, Sele on organ, Lewis on drums and Jerry Wirkkala on guitar. An interesting take on BB King's The Thrill Is Gone is my favorite track on the release with a sway rhythm with strong solos from Sele on organ, Craig Hoyer on piano, and Flory-Barnes on bass and Lewis on drums. Ballad, This Bitter End is Nicole's best vocal showcase on the release, also being the track with the most commercial potential with the addition of Yun-En Liu on violin and cool piano backing ...