Bman's Blues Report

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Songs From The Road , by Mitch Ryder and it's a solid rocker. Opening with Lilli May , Mitch Ryder fronts the band on vocal with Laura Chavez and Sean Athens on guitars, Tomek Germann on bass, Denis Palatin on drums and Lea Worms on keys. On bluesy, All The Fools It Sees , Ryder digs deep with nicely phrased soul vocals with glistening keyboards by Worms and Athens on acoustic guitar lays in some real tasty riffs. Latin flavored, Oh What A Night has really great movement focused by Palatin and Germann and a sweet piano solo by Worms really works nicely. Chavez dishes up a blistering guitar solo and Worms' backing vocals with Ryder make this one of my favorite tracks on the release. Chavez and Athens pair up nicely for dual guitar leads on War and the texture of this track really suits Ryder's vocal style. Athens steps up with a real nice guitar solo on this one and Worms ramps up the heat on organ. Country ...

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 received the newest release, Songs From The Road by Thorbjorn Risager & Black The Tornado and it's terrific! I gotta say I am really looking forward to getting home and reviewing the DVD concert but I am currently on the road so the CD will have to do for now.  Opening with If You Wanna Leave , a solid blues rocker, Risager's vocals are incredible from the first note! Supported by Peter W. Kehl on trumpet, Hans Nybo on Tenor sax, Kasper Wagner on alto sax and Emil Balsgaard on keys this train moves! Risager shares guitar duty with Peter Skjerning and is backed by Lisa Lystam and Ida Bang on vocal giving the track a real fullness. Excellent opener! Paradise has a real nice strut and hot jazz interweave, punctuated by the horn section, Soren Bajgaard on bass and Martin Seidelin on drums. Very nice! Drowning has the flare of a cabaret but Risager's thick, rugged vocals nicely with the trumpet carrier, sax solo and sweet melody. A real nice cover of Big Joe T...

Spin Doctors Pour A 3-Finger Whiskey Shot Offers Fans A Toast With Songs From The Road DVD/CD Out June 23 rd on the Award-winning Ruf Records Series “…rocks like a rodeo bull on amphetamines and had my blood pumping from the first few chords. “  - No Depression Atlanta, GA – Ruf Records recording artist Spin Doctors pay their old blues bar band tab with a June 23 rd release called Songs From The Road , a live DVD/CD out on the label’s award winning series. The ever-popular band from the 90s had radio hits, million plus album sales and a Rolling Stone magazine cover but they always focused on their live performances. Filmed live at Harmonie Club in Bonn, Germany, this was a perfect setting to capture a dynamite set from a band that has made it their business to blow off the roof. “We get up onstage and we turn it on,” says Spin Doctors vocalist Chris Barron. “We play our hearts out.” Stop the man on the street and he might tell you the Spin Do...

Gutsy Soulful Blues-Rocker Dana Fuchs Heads Home From Europe to Conquer The U.S.! Dana answers her Fans’ Pleas! “To look at, Fuchs is willowy flower-fairy with a head of Titian curls…Her voice, though is juke-joint dirty and illicit, evoking Joplin, Jagger, and a fag butt bobbing in a glass of bourbon.” - Classic Rock UK Atlanta, GA – Ruf Records recording artist Dana Fuchs has become a powerhouse vocal sensation in Europe with her Robert Plant meets Janis Joplin vocals, along with a Mick Jagger stage-like swagger, her songs and lyrics come straight from the depths of her tortured yet joyous soul to her audiences. Fuchs is now set to conquer the U.S, as she continues her World Tour in support of her latest release Songs From The Road with a string of key US dates in 2015.  You have to see Dana live to believe it and she has just delivered her fierce live show to her fans’ living rooms with her new live CD/DVD combo, captured at Highline...

I had promised a follow up on Mike Zito and the accompanying DVD to the CD that I reviewed before Thanksgiving. I finally found a spot in my schedule so here we go. The concert opens with Didn't Break A Leg and I have to say it is a terrific opener. Zito and Jimmy Carpenter really smoke the place and that's no crap! Second up is Greyhound, a Keith Richards flavored country style rocker and Zito lays down some really nice slide work. Although the video quality isn't spectacular, the musical quality more than makes up for it. I Never Knew A Hurricane is a quiet ballad and Carpenter harmonizes nicely with Zito on vocal as well as plays warm sax solo fillers. Hell On Me has a cool boogie beat and Zito grinds out a really nice tele solo driven by Scot Sutherland on bass and Rob Lee on drums. Pearl River is a cool bluesy number with a great melody and light arpeggiated guitar work. Zito steps it up and rips the sack wide open on this track letting all the meat out.... very...

I just received the newest release, Songs From The Road from Mike Zito & The Wheel and it's terrific! This like a number of other releases in this series is a 2 disc set and in this case, one a DVD and I'll tell you, I can't wait to get this thing home and watch it! I'll do a separate review of the CD here and a follow up for the DVD shortly. Opening with Don't Break A Leg , a real hot funky number is cooking. With Zito on vocal and guitar and hot sax lines from Jimmy Carpenter, a funky organ solo from Lewis Stephens, Scot Sutherland laying down a funky bass line and the tight rhythms of Rob Lee on drums, this is Zito at his best! Next up is Greyhound with an almost Keith Richards attitude but with a bit more country flavor. Carpenter rides high on sax with soul and clarity. A change up is a quiet remake of Prince's Little Red Corvette and again the supple vocal like sax leads of Carpenter. Another rocker with attitude is Rainbow Bridge . I really lik...

I just received the newest release, Songs From The Road from Dana Fuchs and it's quite dynamic. Recorded Live at Highline Ballroon in New York City, Fuchs opens with Bliss Avenue . Fuchs hits the stage hard with a dramatic vocal entrance and a stinging tele solo from Jon Diamond really turned my head. Next up is Handful Too Many , a track showing a lot of commercial potential with a pinch of country and warm backing from Elaine Caswell, Nicki Richards and Bettie Sussman (The Screaming Sirens). Livin' On Sunday is a really cool track with a funky revival back beat. The "Screaming Sirens" really give it that extra edge and may be one of my favorite tracks on the release. How Did Things Get This Way really has a Stones feel and Fuch's "Pearl" like vocals shine through. Diamond is again hitting the frets hard this time on Les Paul but this track is a hard driven rocker. R&B track So Hard To Move is a really nice ballad and both the solid bass work...

Mike Zito and The Wheel Makes An Illegal Turn In The Right Direction Live CD/DVD Songs From The Road Out November 11 th Atlanta, GA – Ruf Records artist, Mike Zito is set to release his Songs From The Road Live CD/DVD on November 11 th .  Zito, an award winning artist and producer, wows the Texas home crowd with his blues boogie-woogie one winter night in January 2014, at Houston’s Dosey Doe only a few miles away from where he lives in Beaumont. Straight from the start, Mike takes command of the stage with songs from his vast catalog over the years, with songs like Greyhound, “ Gone To Texas” and “ Pearl River” , co-written by the great Cyril Neville, won a Blues Music Award in 2011. Even a clever cover of the Prince classic ” Little Red Corvette” , would impress the Purple Rain man himself. Mike’s guitar work soars, sings and cheers against his velvet voice perhaps only after years of perfecting the two. Mike has cultivated this sound, one t...

I just received the newest release, Songs From The Road , a double live summary of Coco Montoya 's work recorded at Seattle's Triple Door venue on August 17 and 19 00f 2013. Opening with I blues rocker, I Got A Mind To Travel , Montoya shows a strong trace of his time spent with Albert "Iceman" Collins. Joined by Brant Leeper on keys, Rena Beavers on drums and Nathan Brown on bass this is a terrific opener. Montoya plays stinging solos and Leeper rides the organ for a nice solo. On Latin influenced blues track, Hey Senorita , Leeper again plays a strong organ solo and Montoya lays down some realy tasty guitar riffs complimenting his strong vocals. Too Much Water has a R&B style and Montoya lays out some of his more stylistic riffs on the release so far. His vocals lend themselves nicely to this Robert Cray style and showing Montoya's versatility. Smokey Robinson's, The One Who Really Loves You , made popular by Mary Wells, is a really nice soul track a...

 JOANNE SHAW TAYLOR THE NEW LIVE ALBUM: SONGS FROM THE ROAD 2-Disc CD/DVD Set U.S. Release Date on Ruf Records: November 12, 2013 ATLANTA, GA - One night. One shot. No safety net. If there was pressure afoot as Joanne Shaw Taylor walked onstage at The Borderline club in the U.K. on May 12th, 2013, then the bandleader used it as rocket-fuel, channeling the vibe into the set of her life. Now, that explosive performance is captured on Songs From The Road : a live album with the soul power to jostle the greats off the podium, coming November 12 on Ruf Records. “I’m really pleased with it,” says Joanne. “It’s everything I wanted it to be.”    As the latest release in Ruf Records’ acclaimed Songs From The Road series, this CD/DVD set is the live album her fans have been screaming for. “ The timing is good,” agrees Joanne. “My fans, and especially the blues fans, have been asking me for a live album for a while now. I’m glad th...