Bman's Blues Report

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Dreamcatcher, by Micki Free and it's a solid blues based rocker. Opening with bluesy, When The Devil's At Your Door , Micki Free on screaming lead guitar and Ray Green on vocal really anchors down and fires. With Mark Leach on keys, Benny Rietveid on bass and Cindy Blackman Santana on drums, this is a powerful opener. A funky bass line by Rhonda Smith on My Sweet Baby , and drums by Santana on drums sets the pace and Free on lead vocal and guitar carries the weight. With a bit of a heavier feel, Night Crawler is bass heavy with Rietveid holding the bottom and Santana setting the rhythm. Free's vocal and guitar attack gives this track real acceleration and Leach on keys is a solid addition. Wrapping the release is a live version of title track, Dreamcatcher featuring a real nice Native American flute solo and guitar work by Free over a nice bed of keys, bass, and drums by Leach, Rieveid and Santana. Solid clos...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Turquoise Blue , from Micki Free , and it's a fiery blues based rocker. Opening with Ridin' - 420 , Micki Free unleashes his hard driving rocking sound with solid lead vocal and guitar, backed by ken "Mojo Man" Riley on bass, Mark "Muggy Do" Leach on keys, Soaring "Hawk" Lopez on really driving drums and Trish Bowden on backing vocals. His lead work is white hot with plenty of flare for a power opener. Heavy Mercy opens with a great guitar riff and builds with a droning bass line and relentless, soaring, overdriven guitar. A ripping cover of Hendrix's All Along The Watch Tower gives Free a "rock standard" to unleash on and he does a real nice job. Slipping into a blues groove on Spring Fever, Free takes a shuffle approach with stinging guitar riffs over a guitar/keys melody and tight underpinnings by Lopez and Riley. Another slice of the pie, World On Fire , features And...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, T attoo Burn Redux , from Micki Free and it's pretty smooth. Opening with God Is On The Phone , vocalalist and guitar player Micki Free sets a cool tempo with a nice R&B baseline but with hot Santana like fiery guitar riffs. Joining Free on lead vocal is Howard Hewett, Cindy Blackman-Santana on drums, Bill Wyman on bass, and Mark Leach on B3. Title track, Tattoo Burn has a solid thumping single note bass line with Billy Gibbons style vocals and crisp blues guitar riffs. On blues ballad, Six Feet Down In The Blues , Free's soulful vocals and crisp riffs are nicely balanced by the Hammond flow of Leach. Mojo Black Coffee has great appeal with a pounding George Thorogood rhythm and featuring Randy Singer on harp. On Jimi's Hey Baby , Free does a real nice redo of the classic with a fuller guitar arrangement, pinched harmonics and fluid runs making it certainly one of my favorite tracks on the release. Wra...