Bman's Blues Report

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Friends Along The Way , from Mitch Woods and it features a who's who in the blues business. Opening with Ma Rainey's C.C. Rider , Van Morrison on vocal and Taj Mahal on vocal and guitar, join Mitch Woods on piano for a early blues style rendition of this classic. Very nice. Oliver Perry's Keep A Dollar In Your Pocket is a great boogie with Elvin Bishop on lead guitar and vocal, joined by Woods on piano and Larry Vann on drums. Woods really lays in his notorious piano boogie style and Bishop's guitar signature is prime. John Hammond steps up on Don Roby's Mother In Law Blues , adding not only super National steel riffs but solid lead vocals. Rolling piano riffs by Woods makes this one of my favorites on the release. Springing to life is Nasty Boogie with Joe Louis Walker on lead vocal and guitar and excellent piano by Woods. Very nice. Jimmy Liggins' Saturday Night Boogie Woogie Man is a ripping ...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Thanks For Tomorrow , by Harrison Kennedy , and it's refreshing. Opening with All I Need Is You , Kennedy shares the mic with Ruthie Foster, backed by Colin Linden on acoustic guitar, John Dymond on bass, Jesse O'Brien on organ and Gary Craig on drums.. With a strong melody and blues overtones, it's a solid opener. With a casual, Taj Mahal feel, Easiest Thing really is nice with Chris Caddell on guitar and slide. Warm organ backing by O'Brien adds depth on this, one of my favorite tracks on the release. Women is my radio selection on the release with a strong melody, excellent vocals by Kennedy and again cool slide work by Caddell. With a remake of Van Morrison's Crazy Love , Harrison's soulful vocals, coupled with Caddell's "Lindley Like" slide work really does the trick. Wrapping the release is Just Wanna Play with a light, springy feel and featuring Kennedy adding harmonica to hi...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Blues For Breakfast , by The Phantom Blues Band and it's a solid party. Originally formed as Taj Mahal's backing band, PBB began performing on their own and released their first release back in 2006. With a few changes in the lineup most significantly Les Lovitt replacing Darrell Leonard on trumpet and Jim Pugh replacing the nearly irreplaceable Mike Finnigan after his fight with cancer ending in 2021. This newest rendition of the band opens with a roaring  cover of I Take What I Want with Larry Fulcher on bass and lead vocals paired with Johnny Lee Schell on lead vocal and guitar. Backed by Tony Braunagel on drums, Joe Sublett on sax, Les Lovitt on trumpet and Jim Pugh on piano and organ this track has real juice. New Orleans flavored, She's Into Something has strong percussion by  Braunagel and the horn work of Joe Sublett and Les Lovitt really spices things up. Schell drops into a nice Texas style guita...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, You Ain't Done , from The Proven Ones , and it's a solid blues flavored rocker. Opening with Get Love , a contemporary blues rocker with hints of Jim Dewer, The Fab Thunderbirds and SRV, lead vocalist Brian Templeton has a powerful voice, and with the stinging guitar riffs of Kid Ramos and Mack McCarthy on trumpet, and with Jimi Bott on drums, Willie J Campbell on bass, and Anthony Geraci on keys, a super opener. Gone To Stay pushes further into the grunginess of rock and with a Nirvana like attack, ventures further into the rock arena. Bott's driving drum work really give this track a firm footing. With a firm backbeat, title track, You Ain't Done is one of my favorites on the release with solid vocal blending from Mike Zito and LaRhonda Steele, a great trumpet compliment from Mack, cool slide work from Ramos and a rich organ solo from Geraci. Ruthie Foster lends her fabulous lead vocal to Whom My Soul ...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Kiss My Sass , from Annika Chambers , and it's a great mix of blues, soul and R&B tracks. Opening with rolling shuffle, Let The Sass Out, Chambers leads a powerful force with Corey Stoot and The Mighty Org on guitars, Greg Brown Jr. on drums, Larry Fulcher on bass and Anthony Terry on sax with Nicola Polar on backing vocals. Great opener. That's What You Made Me is a real nice R&B track with a heavy kick drum by Brannon McLeod and a great bass line by Fulcher. Chambers really gets in the groove on this one and glistening key work by Randy Wall and Polar's backing vocals ice the cake. Very nice. What's Your Thing is a really nice soulful track featuring Chambers with Ruthie Foster. With just the right amount of soul and steel guitar by the Mighty Org this is a really nice song.  Brand New Day is one of my favorites on the release with wailing slide in the background and a solid droning bass line...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Stay Above Water from Scottie Miller Band and it's a cool mix of blues, rock, R&B. Opening with shuffle track, Burned All My Bridges , Miller on lead vocal and keys is backed by Mark O'Day on drums, Patrick Allen on guitars and Dik Shopteau on bass. Keep This Thing Going has a funky feel with Larry McCabe on trombone, David Eiland on tenor sax, Scott Snyder on trumpet and John Croarkin on bari sax and special guest Ruthie Foster on vocal. Very nice. It Better Groove has a smooth R&B sound with great bottom by Croarkin. Slick piano and organ work by Miller and chicken style pickin' by Allen sets this track apart. Special ballad, Guardian Angel , has a real nice melody and features simple vocal and mandolin by Miller. One of my favorites on the release is Circles with a real nice funky groove. This track has a slow strut with popping bass, funky guitar, cool organ and nicely blended vocals. Very co...

THREE-TIME GRAMMY NOMINEE RUTHIE FOSTER TRANSFORMS SORROW INTO CAREER-DEFINING SOUL/BLUES/GOSPEL/ROCK OPUS JOY COMES BACK , RELEASING MARCH 24 ON BLUE CORN MUSIC Derek Trucks, Willie Weeks, Joe Vitale, Warren Hood among guests on songs by Chris Stapleton, Mississippi John Hurt, Stevie Wonder and even Black Sabbath AUSTIN, Texas — In the tightknit musical community of Austin, Texas, it’s tough to get away with posturing. You either bring it, or you don’t. If you do, word gets around. Praises are sung. And one day, you find yourself duetting with Bonnie Raitt, or standing onstage with the Allman Brothers at New York’s Beacon Theater and trading verses with Susan Tedeschi. You might even wind up getting n...

I just had the chance to review the new 3 CD set, 4 0 Years of Stony Plain and it's a super bag of super recordings and unreleased music. CD One called Singers, Songwriters and much more features tracks by Colin Linden; Spirit of the West; Corb Lund; Doug Sham; Harry Manx & Kevin Breit; Emmylou Harris; James Burton, Albert Lee, Amos Garrett, David Wilcox; New Guitar Summit; Rodney Crowell; Valdy & Gary Fjellgaard; Jr. Gone Wild; Tom Hus; Ian Tyson; Jennifer Warnes; Steve Earle; & Eric Bibb featuring Taj Mahal, The Blind Boys of Alabama and Ruthie Foster. This CD has a real rural feel with folk, country and grassy feel. Louis Riel by Doug Sham is a super track with a Tex Mex country sound. Rockabilly, That's Alright by James Burton and crew is another standout. New Guitar Summit's Flying Home throws a bit of swing jazz in with super nice flavor. Tim Hus's Wild Rose Waltz has real traditional country feel and is pure as snow. Eric Bibb and crew deliv...

I just received the newest release, SoulSlide , from Jeff Plankenhorn and it's a cool melodic release with a country twist. Opening with Lose My Mind , a gospel flavored track, Jeff Plankenhorn shows strong vocal prowess and excellent electric slide skills. Joined by Miles Zuniga on guitars, Yoggie on bass, Brannen Temple on drums and Ruthie Foster and Malford Milligan on backing vocal, this track is excellent! Sam and Dave's, You Got Me Hummin' get's a cool make over with lead vocals shared by Plankenhorn and Milligan, backing vocals by Foster and relentless with fat slide leads. Very nice. Trouble Find Me lays back a bit with more of a pop country flavor. Warm vocal harmonies, organ work by Dave Scher and Rami Jaffe complimented by a super slide guitar voice makes this a prime radio track. Like Flowers has a driving rock beat with Plankenhorn and Foster trading lead vocals. Strong slide work on this track makes it a real strong seller, nicely complimenting the ...

RUTHIE FOSTER PICKS UP THIRD CONSECUTIVE GRAMMY NOMINATION FOR PROMISE OF A BRAND NEW DAY Also nominated for the Koko Taylor Award in Blues Music Awards AUSTIN, Texas — Singer-songwriter Ruthie Foster has been honored by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS) with her third straight GRAMMY nomination for Best Blues Album . Foster’s Promise of a Brand New Day , produced by Meshell Ndegeocello , follows nominations for The Truth According to Ruthie Foster in 2009 and Let It Burn in 2012. The GRAMMY Awards are held February 8, 2015 in Los Angeles. Ruthie Foster also received a nomination for the Koko Taylor Award, honoring notable female blues artists, in the Blues Music Awards ceremony to be held May 7, 2014 in Memphis . Released Aug. 19 on Blue Corn Music , Promise of a Brand New Day features special guests Doyle Bramhall II and singer Toshi Reagon . ...

I just received the newest release, Blues People , from Eric Bibb and I think it's his best in quite some time! Opening with Silver Spoon , a primarily acoustic track rooted deeply in the delta but with hot contrasting electric blues riffs from Popa Chubby in the distance and bass and drums by Glen Scott. Excellent! Driftin' Door To Door has a bit more of the walking blues sound with nice picked and slide work from Bibb and Michael Jerome Browne. Very nice. God's Mojo is a quiet jazz framed blues track with nicely figured key work and light drums by Glen Scott. Bibbs vocals are particularly focused on this track. Turner Station has a more modern acoustic blues sound with Bibb and Browne on guitar. As the track builds more fullness appears with Scott on Hammond, backing vocals and electric keys as well as Neville Malcolm on bass. On Pink Dream Cadillac , Bibb paints a vivid story as Staffan Astner adds some tasty slide work. Guy Davis' Chocolate Man features Davis...

Get ready for a weekend of blues, roots, and rock music at the 17th Annual Doheny Blues Festival on May 17 & 18, 2014 . Enjoy 20+ performances on three different stages, tasty microbrews, local vendors and delicious food. Headlining the 2014 festival are Gregg Allman, The Doobie Brothers, Gov’t Mule, Buddy Guy, and Vintage Trouble. Also joining the line-up are Keb’ Mo’, James Cotton & Friends, Ruthie Foster, Charles Bradley & The Extraordinaires, The Mannish Boys Revue, and John Németh & The Bo-Keys. Grab your friends and family and head down to Dana Point’s Doheny State Beach for the Doheny Blues Festival on May 17 & 18, 2014 www.dohenybluesfestival.com

I just received the newest release, Jericho Road , from Eric Bibb and it's masterful. Opening with Drinkin' Gourd , a quiet but powerful track Bibb crafts a beautiful track complimented by African drums and woodwind. Freedom Train has a broad expression of openness and unconstrained feelings. Let The Mothers Step Up steps up the jazz feel with feelings of the best of Joni Mitchell jazz rock or Steely Dan. Have A Heart is a terrific song with the strong jazz fusion sound crafted by Meshell Ndegeocello. Vocals floating lightly on a bed of musicianship makes this a delightful track. Guest vocals by Ruthie Foster add a a textural warmth as well. The Right Thing is more of a musical chant featuring Victor Wooten on bass and lush vocal backing by Paris Renita and Glen Scott. Can't Please Everybody is a really cool track with an irregular beat kind of a mix of blues, funk and jazz rhythms. I really like this track, crafted like a 3 dimensional song. A sonic sculpture. Ther...

Blues harmonica legend, James Cotton releases his new CD “ Cotton Mouth Man ” which will be available at local and online record stores beginning May 07, 2013. May is also a time in which Cotton’s 77 year old face fills the cover of the current issue of Living Blues magazine. Writer and walking Blues almanac, David White provides a 10-page look at a career spanning nearly 60 years. This CD was premiered at a live performance, Saturday, May 25, 2013 at the Tupelo Music Hall in Londonerry, New Hampshire. Cotton Mouth Man follows the trend of collaboration and featuring key players to round out the disk filled with 13 no-nonsense blues tunes. This by no means is a compromise but in this case is a certain gift to the listener. Guests as they appear in order are Joe Bonamassa, Gregg Allman, Keb’ Mo, Warren Haynes, Ruthie Foster, Delbert McClinton and vocalist Darrell Nulisch, long time veteran of Cotton's road band. The backbone of Cotton's band on this CD are the great...