Bman's Blues Report

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Mississippi Blend , from Ghalia and it's got great attitude and style. Opening with, Gypsy Lady , a blues based track with a rockin beat, Brussels born Ghalia (Vauthier) Volt shows her understanding of real blues with it's raw feeling and emotion. Leading on vocal and slide guitar Volt has a lot of help from Lightnin' Malcolm on lead guitar, Dean Zucchero on bass and Cedric Burnside on drums. Easing into a swampy blues number, Meet You Down The Road has the kind of rawness you'd expect from the hill country with Watermelon Slim on harp, Smokehouse Brown on lead and slide guitar, Zucchero on bass and Burnside on drums. The dual slide guitar sound is intoxicating under her soulful vocals and the tight rhythms are perfectly punctuated by Burnside. Very cool. I really like heavy footed blues rocker, First Time I Died . It has real kick. Volt focuses on vocals and does a great job with excellent timing by Co...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Straitjacket , from Jeremiah Johnson and it's quite good. Opening with title track, Straitjacket, Jeremiah Johnson has a hot one on his hands. With a driving beat, a rolling bass line by Tom Maloney, Benet Schaeffer on drums Frank Bauer on sax and Mike Zito on rhythm guitar, Johnson on guitar and lead vocal this is a solid opener. Blues fused but with a great R&B style back beat, Getting Tired is one of my favorites on the release with a hot sax/bass lead and strong guitar fronting. another really cool track is Blues In Her Eyes with a great melody, solid vocals and crisp guitar lead. Rock and roller, Keep on Sailing has a strong boogie underpinning and slick slide work by Zito. Slow blues number, King & Queen , has some of the best vocals by Johnson on the release and an extended guitar solo on this 6 plus minute track is gold. Excellent! Zito move upfront on 9th and Russell , a slower country rocker wit...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, First Class Life , by Mike Zito and I really like it. This is an excellent follow-up to Zito's 2017 release, Make Blues Not War that I reviewed last year and I think that he's on a great run! Opening with Mississippi Nights , a country blues flavored rocker, Zito leads on guitar and vocals, backed by Lewis Stephens on keys, Matthew Johnson on drums and Terry Dry on bass. Winding his slide out he really gets it cranking. What an opener! Title track, First Class Life not only has great style and feel, it has a real story and excellent slide work making it one of the top tracks on the release (and a super radio track to boot). Slower blues ballad, The World We Live In , has a strong melody and Zito's vocals are spot on. His guitar work, in response to his lead vocal is nicely punctuated. With the country funk of a Dickey Betts composition, Mama Don't Like No Wah Wah , has a real moving groove with Zito, j...

Mike Zito First Class   Blues-rock is a tightrope – and Mike Zito has never lost his footing. At times in his storied two-decade career, the Texas bandleader has rolled up the amps and rocked as hard as anyone. Yet his lifelong fascination with the blues has always reeled him back in. And now, having shaken the rafters with 2016’s acclaimed Make Blues Not War, First Class Life finds Mike diving deep into the only genre that can do justice to his hard-won true stories of hardship and redemption. “Make Blues was pretty extreme and rocking,” he reflects. “This time, I was definitely thinking more blues.” Released in 2018 o...

Big Daddy Wilson Songs From The Road   No matter where Big Daddy Wilson travels on this big, beautiful, mixed-up planet of ours, he takes the South with him. Listening to the soulful storytelling of the man born Wilson Blount in a small town in the Inner Banks region of North Carolina, it's impossible not to conjure images of dusty back roads, cypress groves, a Saturday night juke joint or Sunday morning revival meeting. It's a nostalgic and – some might say – glorified image of rural America. Yet in an age of ruthless demagogues and divisive politics, Big Daddy Wilson chooses to celebrate the simple things that bond us as human beings – a smile, a shared meal, a helping hand – along with cherished values like faith...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release (February 2, 2018), Let It Go , from Bernard Allison and it's quite good. Opening with Cruisin For A Bluesin , Allison is strutting tall with solid vocals, tight guitar riffs and a solid back up band featuring John T. McGhee on rhythm guitar, George Moye on bass, and Mario Dawson on drums. With a funky feel, Backdoor Man is a cool track. Allison has great vocal phrasing and his slide work if fresh and greasy. Another track with a springy beat is Night Train with super tight drums from Dawson and a super groove. Well paced vocals by Allison and nicely stylized blues riffs give the track a strong overall presence. With a low slung jazz vibe, Jose Ned James on sax and Allison on vocal and guitar balance nicely on a cool cross radio track. Sure footed and lumbering, Leave Your Ego has a heavy bottom and smart guitar reinforcement. Allison really gets to grips with his guitar on this one laying down some real nice fier...