Bman's Blues Report

If you’ve spent any time around the mid-Atlantic roots scene over the last forty years, you’ve likely crossed paths with J.P. Reali . He is the kind of picker who feels less like a performer on a stage and more like an old friend sharing a lifelong obsession from a front-porch rocking chair. For decades, Reali was a pillar of the Washington, D.C. blues circuit, collecting award nominations and heading down to Memphis for the International Blues Challenge , all while mastering the bouncy fingerpicking of Piedmont ragtime and the heavy slide guitar of the Mississippi Delta . Now based out of Newark, Delaware, his latest creative detour feels like his most personal one yet. On his new late-2026 EP, Grateful Blues , Reali revisits his college days at American University when he was a dedicated Deadhead catching as many Jerry Garcia shows as possible. Recorded up the road at Turtle Studios in Philadelphia, the record strips away the stadium-sized jams of the Dead and runs them through th...

  I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Blues Since Birth , by J.P. Reali and it's a stripped down blues rocker. Opening with The Devil's Take , J.P. Reali digs in with a grinding boogie. His own vocal and dirty guitar riffs and slide guitar, Chris reali on bass, Josh Borden on keys and Jim Larson on drums make for a cool opener. A bluesy take on Bob Dylan's It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry , is one of my favorites on the release with some of the best vocals by Reali, hot slide styling and keyboard soloing by Borden. Contemporary blues track, Blues In A Minefield , is soothing and would work nicely into a radio playlist. Santana like phrasing on guitar and low key backing by Borden on keys, Gill Glass on bass and Larson on drums. Another favorite is Eileen Left with it's country rock flavor. Wrapping the release is title track, Blues Since Birth , featuring Reali on vocal and steel hollow body guitar and slide and simple kickdru...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, A Highway Cruise , from J. P. Reali and it's cool and laid back. Opening with My Baby Likes To Boogie , a nice paced shuffle, Reali leads the way on vocal and guitar, with cool guitar soloing  by Duke Levine on electric guitar, hot riffs by Kevin Barry on lap steel, and nice piano work by Tom West, with Jim Haggerty on bass, Mark Teixeira on drums and Dennis Brennan on harmonica. On Chuck Berry flavored, The Ballad Of A Burglar, these guys nail the Berry guitar rhythm and Reali's vocal cadence is spot on. Levine's guitar riffs are crisp, Barry,s slide work creamy and Brennan's piano work adds great texture. Blues for Casey has a real nice Grateful Dead or Arlo Guthrie feel with it's acoustic carefree flow. Barry on dobro and Levine on mandolin balance nicely with West on piano and Brennan on Harmonica. My favorite track on the release. Wrapping the release is Whiskey For Blood , a  country blues tr...