Bman's Blues Report

I just received the most recent release, Stat(u)e of Mind from Southpaw Steel 'N' Twang and it's terrific! This is a creative release with a lot of diversity. Opening with Gateway , a subtle instrumental, JP Monkkonen on bass, acoustic and baritone guitars, Tero Mikkonen on drums, percussion and ukulele, and Ville Leppanen on steel, electric, resonator and vocals, this is a really nice tune with lead primarily in resonator. Gentle Storm has a blend of progressive with a touch of country with Leppanen on lead steel. Funky instrumental, Aloha Garage , has a snappy drum beat, strong bass line and a cool lead steel making this a cool rocker. Water , has bit of a Latin feel and at times sounds like The Mars Volta with rowdy vocals but cruising swing on steel. Very cool! Route 68 really jazzes it up but with a modern touch. Excellent jazz chords and jamming with a bit of twang bar laid in is just the right touch. This track really opens up with strong addition of drum work...

I just received a new release, Hale's Pleasure Railway from Southpaw Steel 'n' Twang and it's really an eclectic blast! Opening with Open Field , Ville Leppanen plays some distinctively American country style pedal steel guitar riffs over jazz grass riffs on guitar. Joined by Tero Mikkonen on drums and JP Monkkonen on bass, these guys have concocted a formula that really successfully blends country, jazz, blues and bluegrass sounds in an exciting way. Bayou , again with pedal steel lead has a bit of muted strings and jazz fusion funk sounds. This is a great track. Alternating between picking and slide is a cool effect for this all instrumental track. Secret Sunset has a distinctively Hawaiian sound even including ukulele. Ville breaks away from the solid Hawaiian slide work and picks a bit giving the track texture but this thing is all tropical. Bad Alley has a beautiful classical (electric) intro before entering into a modern take on swamp blues and gypsy jazz wi...