Bman's Blues Report

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Soul Gone Blu' , from Paul Boddy and it's a rocking blues party. Opening with One Hundred Years , Paul Boddy on vocal and guitar sets a cool rhythm with Jack Daley on bass, Aaron Comess on drums, Rob Clores on keys and warm backing vocals by Jessie Wagner and Lynn Lockamy . Chonnie-On-Chon is a great boogie blues with Mikey Jr. wailing on harmonica and slick slide work by Boddy. Funky, Cussin', Cryin' & Carryin' On , is a real cool track featuring Jessie on lead vocal and she really brings it and Boddy's slide work is fat toned and rich giving it a retro Elvin Bishop /Johnny V feel. Very cool. Wrapping the release is Little Willie John 's Need Your Love So Bad excellent vocals by Boddy and rich slide work by Sonny Landreth . Warm backing vocals by Wagner and Lockamy adds a great feel to the overall track and Landreth takes it home with extremely nice slide soloing. Excellent closer.  ...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, 40: Blues With Horns Volume II , by Chris Daniels and the Kings with Freddi Gowdy and it's pure party. Opening with Jump (When My Baby Says) , Freddi Gowdy gets things going on vocal, leading a hot group featuring Steve Ivey on drums, John Thornburg on bass, Colin Jones on guitars, Chris Daniels on guitar, Bob Rebholz on sax solo, Darryl Abrahamson on trumpet solo, Darren Kramer on trombone solo and featuring a really cool fiddle solo by Sam Bush. Excellent opener. Funky, Everybody's A Millionaire , really moves with a radio feel, vocals by Gowdy and Hazel Miller punched up with tight horns and Tom Capek on B3. Congo Square has a hot Latin feel with Ivey on drums and Christian Teele on percussion. Sonny Landreth plays some trademark slide work adding real tension and Gowdy's vocals blended with Miller and the punchy horn section really gives Landreth's slide work a ripping grit. Wrapping the release is Whe...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Voodoo Nation , from Supersonic Blues Machine and it's a cool blues rocker. Opening with Money , SBM sets up a cool New Orleands flavored funk rocker with a solid drum line by Kenny Aronoff and featuring Kris Barras on lead vocal and guitar, Fabrizio Grossi on bass, Alex Alessandroni Jr on keys and perfect backing vocals by Francis Benitez and Andrea Grossi- Benitez. You and Me is a solid rocker that reminds me of Pink Floyd (and I actually don't know why). I think maybe it has the drive of Roger Waters' The Wall and the guitar attack by King Solomon Hicks  (doesn't sound like Gilmore), but the riffs are cut from the same cloth. Very cool. 8 Ball Lucy is one of my favorites with solid vocals, cool slide by Sonny Landreth and really cool reggae drum work by Aronoff. Title track, Voodoo Nation , has an interesting sound with really potent drum work by Aronoff, wark key addition by Alessandroni Jr. and again...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, The Blues , from William Shatner, yes that William Shatner. What's it like...you'll have to see for yourself.  Opening with blues classic, Sweet Home Chicago , Shatner teams up with Brad Paisley who throws down some cool blues and country riffs along with Jurgen Engler on guitar, bass and banjo, Chris Lentz on keys and Adam Hamilton on drums, bass, guitar and harmonica. Shatners vocals are freeform and emotional. Otis Rush's I Can't Quit You Baby , features Kirk Fletcher who runs some real nice glues riffs of his own and manages Shatner's freeform vocals nicely. Cream's Sunshine of Your Love is up next, mostly in spoken word and I gotta say that Hamilton's work on drums is exceptional and Landreth wails on slide. Deep Purple's Ritchie Blackmore takes BB King's, The Thrill Is Gone to the next level and Shatner's vocals are as relaxed as I've ever heard on this track. Pat Travers ...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, MacDaddy Mojeaux, from Gregg Martinez (pronounced Mart nez with a silent i) and it's a cool soul and R&B set. Opening with Ray Charles' I Believe to My Soul , vocalist Gregg Martinez puts his own  R&B spin on  this classic track with a voice that shows loud and clear why he has lead such bands as King Fish, The Heat and The Boogie Kings. Backed by Tim Courville on drums, Charles Ventre on Hammond, Tony Daigle on percussion, Claude Salles on trombone, Allan Linker on trumpet and Ronnie Eades on sax, this is a great opener. Followed by Don Nix's Same Old Blues , Martinez digs deep down for a great soulful blues ballad, accented nicely by stinging guitar work. Very nice. Skylark's Wildflower is up next with a traditional soul mix but there's no taking from Martinez's pure vocals and style. Very nice with solid background vocals by Carla Benson and Evette Benton. One of my favorites on the r...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Taking the World, by Storm from Warren "Storm" Schexnider and I like it. Opening with John Fogerty's Long As I Can See The Light and featuring Fogerty on vocal with Storm, the original arrangement is pretty much intact with Eric Adcock on piano, Roddie Romero on guitar, Chris French on bass, Gary Usie on drums and featuring a nice sax solo by Derek Huston. On Earl King's Lonely Nights , you get the real feel of syrupy swampy blues with solid vocals by Storm and a real nice guitar solo by Romero and piano solo by Adcock. Very nice.  Bobby Charles' Tennessee Blues has the real flavor of traditional country and western music. With Richard Comeaux on pedal steel, the addition of Beau Thomas on fiddle and the conventional piano treatment by Adcock makes this one of my favorites. Another traditional country track, Merle Haggard's My House Of Memories has great poise and Storm digs in on vocal wit...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Rock 'N' Roll - A Tribute to Chuck Berry , by Mike Zito and this disc is loaded. Opening with St. Louis Blues and Charlie Berry II, Mike Zito handles guitar and lead vocals, backed by Matthew Johnson on drums, Terry Dry bass and Lewis Stephens on keys. Joanna Conner joins on Rock and Roll Music and there is just no match for that dynamo on slide guitar. Powerhouse player, Walter Trout steps in on Johnny B Goode , a long time favorite of blues and rock players alike. Trout's fluid, high intensity attack is well suited for this classic. Very nice. On Wee Wee Hours , master showman, Joe Bonamassa is featured and he lays out a full tour of the fretboard hitting about every fret on every string, making it seem totally effortless and with great feel. Clocking in at almost 5 and a half minutes, Bonamassa gives you the grand tour. Smoking. Robben Ford takes more of a country flavored approach to You Never Can Tell...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release (August 23, 2019), Blue Basso , from Charlie Wooton Project and it's really good. Opening with funky rocker, Jaceaux , Wooton sets a terrific bass line with Keiko Komaki heating up the keys, Doug Winbish on bass and Jermal Watson on drums. Excellent opener. Rolling into a cool radio style R&B number, Arsene Delay has lead vocal on Reflections. Her vocals are sweet and float on the tune with glistening key work and jazzy guitar riffs by Daniel Groover. Come On Come Over has a great funky bottom, and instrumental style vocals, an aggressive bass line and a snappy drum line. One Night is a bluesy ballad with my favorite vocals by Delay. Anders Osborne sits in with a real nice guitar solo giving the track a bit more sting. Very nice. One of my favorite tracks on the release is Fulton Alley with really funky bass and guitar lines. This track, which really crosses over into fusion really humps. Excellent! Guitar wiz S...

Queen of Blues/Rock Guitar Joanna Connor Performing At The Dallas Guitar Show New Album Coming This Summer & Lots of Festival Dates  Northport NY - M.C. Records is proud to announce that the Queen of Blues/Rock Guitar, Joanna Connor will be performing at The Dallas International Guitar Festival this Friday. Other legendary guitarists performing at the weekend long event include Sonny Landreth, Paul Reed Smith, Larry Mitchell, Eric Gales and many more.  Click the photo of Joanna to get the complete schedule for all three days.                                                           Joanna Connor might be the best—or most original—blues-based slide guitar player you're likely to come across today. Or tomorrow.   Guitar World   -  https://www.guitarworl...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, The NOLA Sessions from Tom Hambridge and it's got real feel. Opening with Easy flowing, Blues Been Mighty Good To Me , Hambridge has lead vocal and of course drums backed by superstar Allen Toussaint on piano, max Moran on bass and Wendy Molten on backing vocal. Smooth opener. On Bluz Crazy , Hambridge has a distinctive slap on the snare that I really like and the lope of the track is further enhanced by John Fohl on guitar with Tommy MacDonald on bass and Kevin McKendree on piano. Very nice. Sonny Landreth's Slydeco guitar on This End Of The Road gives the track a real nice edge on a John Hiatt style track. Great two stepper. With real New Orleans style, I Love Everything has a great melody and sense of rhythm. With Shance Theriot on guitar, Calvin Turner Jr. on bass, David Torkanowsky on piano, McKendree on B3, SaRachael on backing vocals and The Naughty Horns this track rocks! Landreth is back again on Lit...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Blues With Horns Vol 1 , by Chris Daniels and The Kings with Freddi Gowdy and it's a lot of fun. Opening with country rocker, Sweet Memphis , Sonny Landreth has his slide would up and Freddi Gowdy's vocals a pure. Backing Gowdy and Daniels are Randy Amen on drums, Kevin Lege on bass, Colin "Bones" Jones on lead guitar, Jim Waddell on alto and tenor sax and Darryl Abrahamson on trumpet. Very cool. Fried Food/Hard Liquor is an interesting blend of Steeley Dan and blues. The backing vocals provided by Hazel Miller, Coco Brown, Jacob Davis and the band mates are warm and well blended and acute guitar soloing by Jones is tight. Just the right touch of horns gives this track a super feel.  Get Up Off The Funk is driven by the funky guitar rhythms of Jones and Lege but it's the excellent sax work by Waddell that punts this track out of the stadium. Excellent! Elvin Bishop's Can't Even Do Wrong R...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Up All Night , from Albert Castiglia and it's smokin! Up to his 7th release now and still getting better, Castiglia opens with Mike Zito's Hoodoo On Me blistering his way on guitar and leading on vocal. Joined by Jimmy Pritchard on bass and Brian Menendez on drums, this is a great opener. With a heavy footed rock beat, I Been Up All Night is a classic funk rocker. Castiglia has great presence with fluid blues riffs and raspy vocals over the big bass lines of Pritchard and tight drumming of Menendez. Excellent! Driving rock n roller, 95 South is a super track highlighted by real nice slide work by Sonny Landreth. Another Mike Zito track, Quit Your Bitching has beautiful slow blues phrasing and may be my favorite track on the release. Smooth vocals, inspired guitar soloing lead the way. Cyril Neville's Unhappy House Of Blues has a solid blues bass with a great harp topping by Johnny Sansone. Another rock...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, The Call Of The Night , from Josh Hyde and it's super. Opening with title track, The Call of The Night , Josh White lays out a bluesy track that is ready for the radio with a great melody, nice vocal harmonies, nice organ support by John Gros, smooth vocals by Hyde paired with a stylized guitar solo that maintains compactness while expressive feeling, Jamey Bell on drums and Joe V. McMahan on guitar. The Truth is a really hot swampy funk rocker in the style of Little Feat with great pace and beautifully woven instrumentation. This really is an excellent track with nicely crafted guitar work, a moving bass line and tight organ work giving it a lot of spunk. Close is a quiet ballad with a sweet melody and expressive slide guitar work by Buddy Flett. Sonny Landreth joins the mix on Offshore adding his distinctive slide styling to this bluesy funk rocker. On acoustic, It's Not Too Late , Hyde shows some of his bes...

"A gifted native son, Josh Hyde is one of my favorite artists from Louisiana. Funky, atmospheric and soulful, his new album, "The Call of the Night", was a pleasure to work on."  (Sonny Landreth) https://soundcloud.com/user-45065947/sets/josh-hyde-the-call-of-the/s-CTNFD Recorded at the iconic Dockside Studio in Maurice, LA, on the banks of the Vermillion Bayou in the heart of Cajun Country, "The Call of the Night" was produced by Joe V. McMahan (who has helmed projects by Webb Wilder, Mike Farris, Kevin Gordon and Sarah Potenza, among many others). Hyde (guitars & vocals) was joined in the studio by Joe V. McMahan (guitar), Ron Eoff (bass), Jamey Bell (drums), Bryan Owings (percussion) and John Gros (keyboards). Special guests on "The Call of the Night" include Sonny Landreth, Buddy Flett, Tony Daigle, James Westfall and Laura Mayo. From the slippery title track with its indelible image of "a slow heart attack, your smile...

I just received the newest release, Breaking Free , from Layla Zoe , and it's powerful. Opening with Backstage Queen , a power blues rocker, you know you are in for something special. Layla Zoe has a special voice and has surrounded with a terrific band featuring Jan Laacks on guitars and Hardy Fischotter on drums. This is a power setting sounding like nothing I've heard since John Bonham died with over the top drum work. Excellent! Why We Hurt The Ones We Love , highlights the richness of Zoe's voice with subtle organ work and acoustic guitar by Laack. With nicely crafted electric guitar soloing, the track has a blend of Marshall Tucker Band and the Rolling Stones. Slide genius, Sonny Landreth, lays in beautiful slide riffs on Wild One , a slinky track with glistening guitar chords and nice tom tom work by Fischotter. Very nice! Blues ballad, Highway of Tears , features a really soulful lead guitar melody and an emotional vocal delivery by Zoe. A powerful track. Title t...

I just received the newest release, D.L. Duncan from Dave "D.L." Duncan and it has a good feel. Opening with I Ain't The Sharpest Marble , a rockin boogie track, Duncan lays down a cool groove on vocal and guitar with David Hood on bass and Vince Santoro on drums reinforcing the bottom. Kevin McKendree hammers out a real nice piano line making this a solid opener. Dickerson Road has a super guitar rock sound (think All Along The Watchtower) and Duncan sets his strings searing into the stratosphere. On Walter Vinson style blues track, You Just Don't Never Know , McKendree adds nicely to the texture on the track and the McCrary Sisters provide a warm background as Duncan sings lead, Delbert McClinton plays harp with Duncan's guitar adornment. Very nice! Your Own Best Friend has a distinctively Gregg Allman sound and Sonny Landereth adds a heaping share of his distinctive slide sound. McKendree takes a really nice piano solo over B3 and with the McCrary Sisters...

The Best of the Blues at the Nicest Time of The Year Janiva Magness Sonny Landreth Victor Wainright 2015 Daytona Blues Festival Tickets Are Now on Sale Purchase Tickets Here It’s that time again! Time to buy your Daytona Blues Festival ...