Bman's Blues Report

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Next In Line , from the Tyler Morris Band , and it's solid. Opening with arena rocker, Ready To Shove , Morris shows his strong technical guitar skills, with  Morten Fredheim on lead vocal, joined by Scott Spray on bass, Tyger Macneal on drums and Mike Dimeo on keys. On blues rock classic, Willie the Wimp , Joe Louis Walker has the lead on vocals, nicely complimenting some real tasty blues riffs by Morris. Very cool. Down On My Luck is a heavy footed blues rocker with a good swagger. I like Morris' lead guitar approach on this one giving the track real traction. Changing gears, Choppin' is a cool shuffle instrumental with guitar melody and punched up by the Uptown Horns. Very cool. Thunder has a more Hendrix edge with isolated vocals and wah wah. Without doing a straight Jimi thing, Morris captures his feel in his own sound. This Ain't No Fun has the staggered rhythm of Whippin' Post combined wit...

I just had the opportunity to review the newest release, Simmered & Stewed by Tas Cru and it's a cool blues rocker. Opening with snappy revival rocker, Dat Maybe , Tas Cru is grooving his own tune on vocal and guitar with Ron Keck on percussion, Mike Lawrence on bass, Chip Lamson on piano and Guy Nirelli on organ. Boogie track, Grizzle N' Bone is up next with cool backing vocals by Mary Ann Casale and Andy Hearn on drums, Bob Purdy on bass, Jeremy Walz on guitar, and Nirelli on organ. Somber ballad, Time and Time is a real nice track with super bluesy guitar work from Cru and warm backing vocals by Casale and Alice "Honeybea" Ericksen. Excellent! R&B track, Road To My Obsession has a really cool rhythm along the lines of Tony Joe White. With harp work by Dick Earl Ericksen and stylistic guitar work by Cru, this may be my favorite track on the release. Cover My Love is a cool ramblin song with cool resonator work by Cru, nice harp work by Ericksen and ...

I just received the newest release, Southland, from James Day & the Fish Fry and it's hot! Opening with New Orleans style R&B track, Chain of Pain , Day leads the way on vocal with it's modified twisting beat complimented by Dave Young on bass and John Meriglano on drums. Ron Baldwin hammers out a great piano lead and Day slides the fretboard on guitar. Very Nice! One of my favorite tracks on the release, Next New Thing is a hot Chicago style track with a twist of New Orleans from Baldwin on accordion. Stilladog ... listen up! The harp work on this track is cooking (Think Hoy Hoy Hoy)! Mark Shewchuk lays down a really meaty swing blues guitar solo topping of a really great track! Muscadine Wine has a simple rhythm reminiscent of the Coasters' Idol With A Golden Head. A cool party track with solid organ and unusual guitar riffs. Time & Money is a straight up blues track with nice piano runs. I particularly like Day's vocals and Mark Hummel's harp ...

I just received the newest release (9/23/14), Walk Away , from Jimmy Carpenter and it has style. Opening with Can't Let Go , a strong melodic track featuring Carpenter on vocal and sax, Anson Funderburgh and John Fohl on guitar, John Gros on B3, Casandra Faulconer on bass, and Wayne Maureau on drums. Title track, Walk Away , has clean simple vocal harmonies and a slick funky beat featuring cool sax work from Carpenter. When You're Ready , another catchy tune, shows a stronger hand on guitar with the addition of Mike Zito and a stinging solo results. She's Not You is a slower ballad with a cool sax intro from Carpenter. Reba Russell adds nice backing vocal on this track and Gros warms the bottom with organ melodies allowing plenty of space for Carpenter to solo further on sax. Coming off with a strong strut, 7th Street Shuffle has a real nice swagger led by Carpenter on sax. Fohl has a nice op to lay down a cool guitar solo and Gros is right there with B3 over a solid l...