Bman's Blues Report

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Winter , from Andres Roots , and it's deep. Opening with Karlova Blues a hill country style blues with snappy drum work and nice slide, Richard Townend has lead vocal and electric guitar with Andres Mikk on drums and Andres Roots on dobro. Winter Blues has a uptempo feel featuring Bert Deivert on vocal and mandolin, Raul Terep on drums and Roots on guitar. Shuffle track, Thanks For Bringing Me Down , features Howard Fishman on vocal and electric guitar, Terep on drums and Roots on guitar. Very cool. Tea For Alex is a really stripped down blues rocker with Terep on drums jamming with Roots on guitar. This is a great jam with some great effects. Tight. Mike Tammepold has the lead on vocal on All In The Cards with Terep on drums, Roots on guitar and Asko-Rome' Altsoo on additional instrumentation. Right out of the Muddy Waters song book, Morganfield Blues , has solid blues roots with Waters guitar riffs by Roots...

I just received the newest release, Live In Lerwick , from Steve Lury and Andres Roots and it's simply cool! This live performance was recorded at the Shetland Blues Festival in Lerwick in September of 2013. Opening with Jr. Wells' Tomorrow Night , Steve Lury handles vocal and harp and Andres Roots on slide guitar with Peeter Piik on bass. Next up is Sonny Boy Williamson's Born Blind . Roots is excellent on slide nicely balancing Lury's harp work. With a very stripped down approach but with modern amplification, the notes soar. On Tampa Red's Rambler's Blues they pick up the pace a bit and Lury really digs in for some great harp riffs. Roots original, Build Me A Statue , has a slow and somber pace. With Roots leading the way on a slide guitar melody and nice harmonizing on harp by Lury, this is one of my favorite tracks on the release. Very nice! On Robert Jr. Lockwood's Take A Little Walk With Me , Roots really winds out the slide, Elmore James style, w...