Bman's Blues Report

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Temple of Blues II , from Cactus and it's strong blues rock...old school! Opening with Back Door Man Pt 1&2 , Eric Gales leads the way on vocal and guitr with Artie Dillon on rhythm guitar, Billy Sheehan on bass and featuring the driving drum work of Carmine Appice . Super. Pat Travers is featured on lead and slide guitar on Moanin' At Midnight with Ed Terry on vocal, Dillon on rhythm guitar, Jim Caputo on bass and Appice on organ and drums. Travers style really give the track a great bluesy feel, really grinding in. Very cool. Ron Bumblefoot Thal on guitar leads the way on Tokin Chokin' , a fun, country pop rocker with edge. Terry handles vocals and with plenty of splash cymbals by Appice, and Johnny Rod on bass, Bumblefoot really sails on slide. Tail Dragger has a Brit blues rock feel with Terry on vocal and Rockin Jake on harp. Appice's driving drum line with Rudy Sarzo on bass, gives guitarist ...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Dark Encounters , from Prog Collective , a project founded and helmed by Billy Sherwood of Yes note. Opening with Darkest Hour , longtime Billy Idol guitarist, Steve Stevens is featured with soaring guitar riffs over Sherwood's bass, keyboard and drum composition. Atmospheric and intense, this is a strong opener. Steve Morse (Dregs/Deep Purple) adds his own virtuosity to Ominous Signs with a more structured composition allowing more freedom for Sherwood's own exploration. Dark Days is one of my favorite tracks on the release with Bumblefoot (GNR) contributing some real nice guitar and vocals, Patrick Moraz (Moody Blues) on keys, Omar Hakim (Weather Report) on drums and Sherwood on bass. Soft Machine's John Etheridge lays down some nicely phrased guitar lead on The Fifth Hour , paired with Sherwood on bass, keys and drums. Very cool. Another of my favorite tracks, Between Two Worlds features Steve Hillage (Gon...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Legends Play The Beatles , from Cleopatra Records , and it's an interesting mix of Beatles covers by notable rock, pop and folk icons. Opening with Here Comes The Sun , Richard Page has the lead vocal and Steve Morse has the guitars, backed by Jay Schellen on drums and Billy Sherwood on keys. With a nearly identical arrangement to the original, Page sets the stage. Heart's Ann Wilson does an acoustic cover of Across The Universe backed by acoustic guitar and percussion. Very nice. Surprise rockers Molly Hatchet Cover Back In The USSR ... Beach Boys style backing vocals and all. Air Supply covers, A Long And Winding Road with a bit more theatrical vocal lead by Russell Hicthcock and nice bass work by Billy Sherwood. Another interesting cover is Tomorrow Never Knows by Electric Moon. Komet Lulu's FX, Sula Bassana synth and drums by Marcus Schnitzler rocks this track. My disappointment on the release is Jack Bruc...

I just had the opportunity to pose the newest release, All Blues , from Peter Frampton and I think it's his best effort in years. Frampton Comes Alive was great in it's time but this release shows maturity and poise. Opening with Willie Dixon's I Just Want To Make Love To You , Frampton reworks this classic track without adding a lot of fluff. With Rob Arthur on keys, Adam Lester on guitar, David Labruyere on bass, and Dan Wojciechowski on drums this is a great basic core. Kim Wilson adds strong harp riffs throughout and Frampton shows that he knows more than the basics about blues with his more traditional based guitar riffs. Very nice. On Taj Mahal's She Caught the Katy , Frampton adds even a little more of a funky bottom than Mahal used and the track feels really good. The firm bass work by Glenn Worf and stiff woodblock by  Wojciechowski give this track legs and Frampton uses them nicely to propel fluid guitar riffs. Very nice. Instrumental cover of Carmichael...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, The Mutual Admiration Society , from Sterling Ball, John Ferraro and Jim Cox and it's got a cool vibe. Opening with Jesse Winchester's Payday Song, an instrumental featuring Ball on guitar and bass, Ferraro on drums and Cox on clavinet. a simple rock shuffle, a cool opener. The In Crowd , is jazzed up instrumental version of  Billy Page's 60's hit and features Steve Morse giving it his country flavored jazz lead. Nice. Sonny Boy Williamson's Checkin' Up On My Baby has up tempo beat and is the stripped down 3 some featuring snappy riffs from Ball and organ by Cox. Ball's driving bass line is king on Big Joe William's Baby Please Don't Go and Steve Lukather does a real nice job with modern blurred guitar work to compliment the rock style take. Roy Head's Treat Her Right has a detuned (less HP) feel with it's swinging shuffle. Cox is featured on piano and organ and Ball lays i...

Now here's something different! I just received the new release from The Fusion Syndicate . This band is made up of jazz, rock and blues superstars and the recording is all you could wish for in this format. Billy Sherwood, writer of all compositions and with a background of top bands as long as your arm played keys, guitars drums, synth and vocals throughout this recording. The opening track, Random Acts Of Science , has strong hints to the Mahavishnu Orchestra featuring Rick Wakeman (Yes) on keys, Jerry Goodman (Flock, Mahavishnu Orchestra) on violin, Nik Turner (Hawkwind) on sax and Jimmy Haslip (Yellowjackets)on bass. This is a terrific track and one that shows not only the virtuosity of all of the instrumentalists and excellent writing skills of Sherwood, but also brings back into the forefront one of my favorite fusion violin players. This is no lightweight composition and all instrumentation is first class. Next up is Stone Cold Infusion , a funky track featuring Steve S...