Bman's Blues Report

F  I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Don't Look Back , from Pierre Lacocque's Mississippi Heat , and it's one of his best. Opening with You Ain't The Only One , Sheryl Youngblood really gets things going with powerful vocals, joined by Pierre Lacocque on harp, Giles Corey on lead guitar, Johnny Iguana on piano, John Kattke on keys, Brian Quinn on bass, Jason Edwards on drums, Marc Franklin on trumpet, Kirk Smothers on sax and Nanette Frank, Diane Madison and Mae Korn on backing vocals. Solid opener. On Chicago blues , Stepped Out Of Line , Inetta Vison and Daneshia Hamilton have the lead vocals and Lacocque really works the harp. Great piano work by Iguana, Corey on guitar, Kattke on keys, Big Mike Perez on bass, Edwards on drums, and Billy Flynn on guitar. This is a super entry. Youngblood is back up front on Can't Take It and with a great rumbling tempo and Fylnn and Corey ripping the lead guitar riffs Lacocque really get down on...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Madeleine , from Mississippi Heat and it a packed solid with blues and blues drenched music. Opening with driving blues rocker, Silent Too Long , Brian Quinn on bass and Terrence Williams set the pace, with Giles Corey laying down some hot guitar riffs and great lead vocals by Carl Weathersby, B3 by Chris Cameron and excellent harmonica riffs by Pierre Lacocque. Solid opener. On Chicago style blues, Uninvited Guest , guitar master Lurrie Bell has the mic and lead guitar duties. With Kenny Smith on drums, this track sets up nicely to showcase Lacocque's harmonica mastery. Daneshia Hamilton really takes charge with excellent vocals on Ridin' On A Hit with backing vocals by Nanette Frank, Diane Madison and Mae Koen. With a super bass line by Quinn and strong harmonica work by Lacocque, this is one of my favorite tracks on the release. Michael Dotson gets the spotlight on Everybody Do Something with excellent vocals a...

I just had the opportunity to review the newest release, Cab Driving Man , from Mississippi Heat and it's a cornucopia of blues. Opening with R&B track, Cupid Bound , Pierre Lacocque is on the harp with sweet tone. Inetta Visor has the lead vocals. Chris "Hambone" Cameron sets up the keys backed by Brian Quinn on bass, Kenny Smith on drums with excellent guitar riffs by Michael Dotson and Sax Gordon on sax. Nice opener. Title track, Cab Driving Man , has great pace with Terrence Williams on drums and sweltering bari sax by Gordon. Visor's vocals are solid and Ruben Alvarez's percussion is tight. Boogie track, That Late Night Stuff features Dotson on lead vocal and his lead guitar work really hits the spot. On delta style blues, Flowers On My Tombstone , Visor lays in some of the best vocals on the release, backed by Sumito Aruyo on piano, Lacocque on harp and Dotson on guitar. Very nice. Icy Blue has a real nice funky bottom to it thanks to Quinn and...

I just received the newest release, Warning Shot , from Mississippi Heat and it's real nice! Opening with Sweet Poison, an Elmore James like track, featuring Inetta Visor on vocal and Giles Corey on super slide. Pierre Lacocque lays in some smoking harp work backed by Neal O'Hara on piano, Brian Quinn on bass and Kenny Smith on drums. Alley Cat Boogie is a fast paced boogie with a driving piano line from O'Hara and Andrew Thomas on drums. Visor really rolls with the vocals on this track backed by Mae Koen, Diane Madison and Nanette Frank on backing vocals. Lacocque rips a super harp solo on this track and Sax Gordon blows a fine solo of his own! Come To Mama has a definite New Orleans flavor with added percussion from Ruben Alvarez. O'Hara puts a real authentic spin on the piano work and Gordon adds some really cool sax work to compliment Lacocque's excellent harp phrasing. I Don't Know is a club style ballad and Visor really digs into her vocal style. L...

On the back of Mississippi Heat's CD Footprints On The Ceiling, there is a photograph of a man with his eyes closed, playing the harmonica with such passion, that one is almost stunned by the actual silence of that frozen moment. Yet when he is heard live or on record on his harmonica, the listener is caught up by its fervent, inspiring presence. The man behind the harmonica is Pierre Lacocque, Mississippi Heat's band leader and song writer. Pierre was born on October 13, 1952 in Israel of Christian-Belgian parenthood. However, shortly after his birth, Pierre's family moved to Germany and France before going back to Belgium in 1957. By the age of 6, Pierre had already lived in three countries. A preview to his future musical career on the road. Pierre's childhood in Brussels resonated with the intense and impassioned Scriptural upbringing of his father, a Protestant minister, now living in Chicago, who became a worldfamous Old Testament scholar. Pierre, his brother ...

I just received the new recording, Delta Bound by Pierre Lacocque's Mississippi Heat . The Heat is packing some big time talent with Lacocque on Harp, Inetta Visor on vocal, Kenny Smith on drums, Billy Flynn on guitar, Chubby Carrier on accordion, Dietra Farr on vocals and Carl Weathersby guitar. The recording opens with Granny Mae , a stylized Chicago blues runner with Visor taking the lead and PL playing up a storm. Look - A - Here , Baby remains cradled in the arms of Chicago. Flynn plays a crisp guitar solo on this track of course in compliment to the solid vocals of Dietra Farr and smokin harp work of Lacocque. New Orleans Man takes a real look south as is indicated by the title with Carrier adding toe zydeco feel on the drumming of Smith. My Mother's Plea slows it down a little bit giving Visor a chance to dig in a little and opening the door for Flynn to play some cool riffs on guitar and for Cameron to show his stuff on keys. One particular treat on the recording i...

Pierre Lacocque: Bandleader Pierre was born on October 13, 1952 in Israel of Christian-Belgian parenthood. However, shortly after his birth, Pierre's family moved to Germany and France before going back to Belgium in 1957. On a Saturday night in the early Fall of 1969, Pierre decided to go to a concert being held at the University of Chicago's Ida Noyes. He had no exposure to Chicago Blues before then, and had no expectations as to what he was about to hear. As he listened to the band playing, he became overwhelmed with emotion and excitement at a sound he never heard before: A saxophone-sounding amplified harmonica! In his own words, " I was absolutely stunned and in awe by the sounds I heard coming from that harmonica player and his amplifier ... It sounded like a horn, yet distinct and unique". The harmonica player went by the name of Big Walter Horton, a name he had never heard before but who changed his life forever. What he heard that night, the music, the mood,...

The group was formed in 1991 in Chicago, Illinois, and was strongly influenced by early electric blues of the 1950s. They played locally in Chicago clubs, and went through several member changes in the 1990s, all the while recording eight albums and a DVD.