Bman's Blues Report

 I just had the opportunity to review the first full length release, Goin' Back , from Pierce Dipner , and it's a solid blues entry. Opening with Fool's Gold, with it's classic blues vamp, Pierce Dipner on vocal and guitar leads the way. Backed by Arnold Stagger on bass, Blaise Lanzetta on drums and Joe Munroe on keys, were off to a strong start. Empty Bed Blues has a strong Elmore James feel with his familiar slide riff but Dipner's vocal and instrumentation is all his. On slow blues, Tore Us Apart, Dipner's guitar lead is cradled nicely in the warm keyboard work of Munroe. His vocals are solid and his solo lines are original and set the tone nicely, punched up by Stagger and Lanzetta. On Sean Costello's No Half Steppin' , Dipner delivers on vocals with a more R&B feel, dressed nicely by Rick Matt on sax, JD Chaisson on trumpet and Reggie Watkins on trombone. Great radio track. Another R&B style track, Won't You Come Home has a real nice ...

I just received the newest release, I Can't Change from Billy The Kid & The Regulators and it's quite good! Coming out of the gate with title track, I Can't Change , Billy and the Regulators hit the funky groove with Reggie Watkins on trombone, Rick Matt on sax and JD Chasin on trumpet. Billy Evanochko, Jon Vallecorsa and James Dougherty on guitar and vocals lead the way and Yolanda Barber's complimentary backing vocals are excellent! Arnold Stagger on bass and Brian Edwards on drums really anchor the bottom and stylized guitar soloing tops this super opener! On Ain't Gotta Prove Nothing, Billy leads the way vocally and with voracious guitar work. Another track with a serious funky feel driven by Stagger, this track moves! Radio styled, R&B ballad, What Are We Fighting For has a catchy melody and warm horn work, nicely complimented by Dougherty's singing slide work. R&B styling on Story of the Blues suits this band well. This is a tight track ...

Ted (Bundy) and Andy (Shack) have been talking about doing a Blues Brothers tribute for the past 20 years or so. Finally, one night over a couple of beers they decided to move forward with the project. They called their old "bandmates" from previous projects: Brian Solomon, David Schroeder (Schro) and Kurt Fleckenstein (Jorge) who were instantly on board and excited. After two years of changes in the horn section due to folks moving for jobs or leaving for Afghanistan (and thankfully returning home safe and sound), the Booze Brothers are happy to present Brian Dahm, Jeremy Ketter, Marty Herchko, Greg Sloan and Dan Rusnak as the horn line up for this project. The band rounded it out and added Rich Risnear on keys in February of 2014. Our love of the music the Blues Brothers band has produced (or reproduced) has brought us together. We hope you share our love for this timeless music and enjoy our shows as much as we enjoy performing for you. EVERYBODY GET RIPPED!!!!!!   If ...

Nik C & The BlueTops are a musical group excelling at a soulful style of blues and funk that will move you and make you move. Nik Callahan - Vocals / Guitar Keith Gamble - Bass Jules Coulson - Drums    “Like” Bman’s Facebook page. I use Facebook to spread the word about my blog (Now with translation in over 50 languages). I will not hit you with 50 posts a day. I will not relay senseless nonsense. I use it only to draw attention to some of the key posts on my blog each day. In this way I can get out the word on new talent, venues and blues happenings! - click Here  

I just received a new release, Empty Roads , from Dan Bubien . It's not often that I get to review an artist from my original hometown, Pittsburgh Pa. but it's a solid pleasure when I do...and the music is great! Bubien presents not only a pleasant rack of tunes but a strong voice and great instrumentation. This release is a bit more "popular" sounding than I typically listen to but it's always cool when musical strength, catchy tunes and vibrant grooves collide. Opening with the title track, Empty Roads , a funky, Little Featesque, track with strong vocals and cool guitar. Excellent start. The guitar work on this track is straight forward and interesting exhibiting solid chops. Fight Club pulls even more funk with Andy Taravella on drums, Gary Ripper on bass, Timmy Mabin on keys, Jonathan Vallecorsa on guitar, and especially Eric DeFade on sax. Crazy Days really has a strong Philly sound (the other side of the state) and I really like it. If you don't kno...

Been on the music for 14 years. Started with blues band BMW-"Blues Music Works". Currently lead singer of "Miss Freddye and the Blue Faze Band". also duo acouistic act "Miss Freddye & Mike Huston on acoustic sounds. Starting singing at the age of 15, mostly in church. Became winner of the West Virginia Blues Society's 2008 Appalachian Blues Competition. Went on to compete in Memphis, TN Feb. 2009, at Club 152. Had the honor and pleasure of having Greg "Fingers" Taylor play some mean, down home harp at CC's Cafe, Sharpsburg, Pa. Opened for Kellie Ricthie at Moondog's, Blawnox, Pa. Jammed with DeWayne Burnside a Moondog's. Had the the honor of singing with the blues band Mississppi Heat in Morgantown, Wv! Recording artist for Bonedog Records, located in McKeesport, Pa   If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, -  ”LIKE” ---Bman’s Blues Report...

Stanley William Turrentine, also known as "Mr. T" or "The Sugar Man", (April 5, 1934 – September 12, 2000) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist Turrentine was born in Pittsburgh's Hill District into a musical family. His father, Thomas Turrentine, Sr., was a saxophonist with Al Cooper's Savoy Sultans, his mother played stride piano, and his older brother Tommy Turrentine also became a professional trumpet player. He began his prolific career with blues and rhythm and blues bands, and was at first greatly influenced by Illinois Jacquet. In the 1950s, he went on to play with the groups of Lowell Fulson, Earl Bostic, and at the turn of the decade, Max Roach. Turrentine received his only formal musical training during his military stint in the mid-'50s. In 1959, he jumped from the frying pan into the fire when he left the military and went straight into the band of the great drummer Max Roach. He married the organist Shirley Scott in 1960 and the two fr...

I just received Vision From Heaven , the recent release by Ronnie 'Byrd' Foster . This is a posthumous release as Foster passed 2 years ago. Mr. Foster was born on September 16, 1949 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was a member of the Pittsburgh Music Hall of Fame and voted Best Drummer in Pittsburgh four years in a row. Over the years, he was a member of the following bands in the Pittsburgh area: Michael G & The Eruptions, Jimmy Mac & The Music Factory (who then became the Igniters), Sweet Lightning, Roy Buchanan, The Silencers, Red Hot & Blue, The Hell Hounds, Mystic Knights of the Sea, Bon Ton Roulet and Iron City House Rockers. In Florida, he was also a member of the following bands: Midnight Creepers, Blues (4) Soul, Daytona Blues Society All Stars, Victor Wainwright and he was a session drummer for Kings Snake Records.  A former Pittsburgh resident myself, I had a chance to see Foster a number of times with Sweet Lightning and of course Roy Buchanan. This is...

Blues/R&B vocalist/actor. Born in Pittsburgh and migrating to California in 1949, Harry Caesar scored an R&B hit in 1952 for Los Angeles entrepreneur John Dolphin's Recorded in Hollywood label with the violent "Goodbye Baby." He was also involved in the L.A. doo wop scene. Caesar has worked more recently as an actor in movies and TV. ~ Bill Dahl, Rovi If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorites band! -  ”LIKE”

Raymond Matthews Brown (October 13, 1926 – July 2, 2002) was an influential American jazz double bassist, known for extensive work with Oscar Peterson among many others. Ray Brown was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and had piano lessons from the age of eight. After noticing how many pianists attended his high school, he thought of taking up the trombone, but was unable to afford one. With a vacancy in the high school jazz orchestra, he took up the upright bass A major early influence on Brown's bass playing was the bassist in the Duke Ellington band, Jimmy Blanton. As a young man Ray Brown became steadily more well known in the Pittsburgh jazz scene, with his first experiences playing in bands with the Jimmy Hinsley Sextet and the Snookum Russell band. After graduating from high school, hearing stories about the burgeoning jazz scene on 52nd Street, in New York City, he bought a one way ticket to New York. Arriving in New York at the age of twenty, he met up with Hank Jones, ...

Possessing one of the most elegant baritone voices in the annals of recorded music, Grammy Award-nominated Chuck Jackson has set a benchmark for aspiring vocalists of all genres. In turn, he's engendered deep respect from contemporaries and aficionados around the globe. His seductive rasp is emblematic of his inimitable style and is underscored on all levels of his monumental recordings. Consistent with this, Chuck's rhythmic compositions are truly prolific and speak volumes to his extraordinarily poetic histrionics, coupling evocative lyrics and eclectic instruments with posh studio arrangements. From his early days at Scepter Records to his Motown Records' productions, Chuck's discography consists of some of the most memorable popular and R&B hits ever arranged: "Any Day Now," his 1962 chart-stopping signature song, is one of the most recognizable crossover tunes in popular music vaults and has been covered by countless artists since. By contrast, "...

Jimmy Thackery played live in Phoenix, AZ last night at Bob Corritore's Rhythm Room. First, as most of you know, I think that this is a terrific place to see a band (with Rolling Rock in stock) and it was standing room only. Jimmy and the Drivers, Mark "Bumpy Rhodes" Bumgarner (bass) and George "Bam Bam" Sheppard (drums) put on an absolutely excellent show. Now I'm not the kind of guy who takes a pencil to a concert so don't ask me what the track list was. I did talk with Sheppard between sets to see if they had a written set list and he indicated that Jimmy cues them for each and every song. I just gotta tell you, Jimmy knew exactly what to play to keep the crowd on it's heels. Jimmy opened the show with a barn burner blues rocker and the crowd reacted likewise. I think that it really pumped Thackery up because as many times as I've seen them, this was the most consistently excellent performance that I have seen. Tunes that I remember for sure ...

Jimmy Ponder (born May 10, 1946 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American jazz guitarist. Ponder started playing guitar at age 14, and was heavily influenced by Wes Montgomery and Kenny Burrell. He began playing with Charles Earland at 17, and in the following years played with Lou Donaldson, Houston Person, Donald Byrd, Stanley Turrentine, and Jimmy McGriff. He moved to Philadelphia and later New York City in the 1970s, and recorded extensively as a leader for a number of jazz labels. Since the late 1980's Jimmy has frequently returned to his hometown to perform with his popular trio alongside two of Pittsburgh's other Jazz greats; Roger Humphries and Gene Ludwig. Ponder's most commercially successful releases were his 1978 Muse Records set All Things Beautiful (U.S. Billboard Jazz Albums #38) and 2000's Ain't Misbehavin', for HighNote (U.S. Jazz #16) If you like what I’m doing, Like ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and t...

Nancy McKeen is a freckle-faced, off the wall crazy Irish girl who belts out the blues like someone who's lived them. A fiery red-head with powerful pipes, her musical influences include; Susan Tedeschi, Janis Joplin, Shannon Curfman & Etta James, as well as Al Green & Grace Slick. Formed in 2009, the other members of The Bluz Machine include three veterans of the area music scene: Mark McFeely on guitar, Bob Giacometti on bass and Pat Rush on drums. Known for their live performances, The Nancy McKeen Bluz Machine has opened for Johnny Winter, Chicago, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Ana Popovic, Eddie Money, The Nighthawks, Taj Mahal, The Blasters, Gary Hoey, Rory Block, Matt Schofield, Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers, The Jamie McLean Band, The Dirty Pearls and Shannon Curfman, who invited Nancy to join her on stage to share vocals on "The Weight". The Nancy McKeen Bluz Machine has appeared at The Wheeling Heritage BluesFest, The Westmoreland Arts & Heritag...