Bman's Blues Report

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Revelation , from Piper & The Hard Times , with a solid mix of rock, R&B, funk, soul and blues. Opening with New Orleans flavored, Trouble Man snappy snare work by Dave Colella, Amy Frederick on piano and Hammond, Parker Hawkins on bass and Piper Green rich, soulful vocals. Steve Eagon lays in a real nice guitar solo with nicely saturated tone and plenty of blues and Eddie Meyer adds great depth on tenor sax. Strong opener. Funky, Heart For Sale , has a great bottom thanks to Hawkins and Colella and with nicely added rhythm by Eagon and Frederick and a hot sax solo by Dick Aven, Piper really rocks this track. Crave You has a great driving bass line and I love Eagon's guitar attack and Chris Floyd on harmonica complimenting Piper's vocals. Come Back Knockin' is another romping track with Floyd really sounding off on harmonica and super lead work by Eagon on guitar. One of my favorites on the release. W...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Revelation , by Dennis Johnson and it's a solid blues rocker. Opening with Don Nix's Going Down , Johnson on slide and vocal, adds a little bounce to the track for a straight up rocker. With Anton Fig on drums, Jonathan Stoyanoff on bass, Bob Fridzema on piano, this is a cool opener. On title track, Revelation , Johnson plays a fluid soulful melody on slide, backed by Stoyanoff and Fig with the warm B3 work by Fridzema as a solid cushion. Very nice. On Robert Johnson's 32-20 Blues , Dennis Johnson gets a bit of rockabilly beat on rhythm, tightened up by Fig and with a combination of his vocal and slide emphasis, this track is a driving rocker. Big Joe Williams' Baby, Please Don't Go is up next with just a bit of backbeat allowing Johnson to really work the track over with his slide. This is definitely one of my favorite covers of this track in recent years. On another Robert Johnson track, Ramblin'...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Revelation , from Dennis Johnson and it's a cool blues rocker. Opening with Don Nix's Going Down , Dennis Johnson on lead vocal and guitar digs on on a traditional arrangement backed by Anton Fig on drums and with a steady bass line by Jonathan Stoyanoff and cool piano soloing by Bob Fridzema gets the party going. Talk To You is a great, driving rocker with a straight drum and bass line, super slide work by Johnson and aggressive keys. Robert Johnson's 32-20 Blues is up next and with a great rhythm really gets rockin. Dennis' adds super slide riffs to this already updated track for a totally contemporary feel. Very cool. Ramblin is a cool boogie with a power bass line and call and response between Johnson on vocal and slide. With Elmore James based riffs, this track hits a real nice groove. Wrapping the release is Don't Owe You A Thing with a terrific driving drum line. Johnson on vocal and slide gu...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Revelation , from Tullie Brae who mixes power vocals and a heavy rhythm section producing a solid rock sound. Opening with Price of the Blues , Brae belts with a  Grace Slick like swagger laying heavy on the bass line of Bill Ruffino, and adding her own slide work on with David Green on drums. Powerful opener. On ballad Mississippi Rain , we see the other side of Brae's sensitive vocals with excellent guitar phrasing by Jeff Jensen and bright piano highlights by Rick Steff. On blues rocker, Break These Chains , Brae strikes a nice medium with a bluesy vocals, deep raspy guitars by Jensen and nicely highlighted by Brandon Santini on harmonica. My favorite track on the release is soul track, New Shoes with it's straightforward radio melody. Smooth, gospel like piano work over the organ on this track really drives the bottom and Brae's vocals are spot on. My other favorite track on the release is Shine , anoth...