Bman's Blues Report

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Live , from Teresa James & The Rhythm Tramps and it's jam packed full of blues, R&B and soul. Opening with In The Pink , a funky, R&B number with hot vocal work and keys by Terresa James, Terry Wilson on bass, Billy Watts on guitar, Herman Matthews on drums, Lee Thornburg on trumpet, and Ron Dziubla on sax. Solid opener. Put The Squeeze On Me has great blues feel and James really works it hard, old school style and Watts lays down a real nice guitar lead giving the track James Brown like fever. Soulful, Don't Make A Habit Of It , is a smooth, radio ready, track with a great melody and nicely showing off James' vocal work. With the addition of Paulie Cerra on sax this track has the strength of a Van Morrison track with the super soul of James. Very nice. One of my favorite tracks on the release is ballad, The Day The Blues Came To Call with a strong melody, expressive vocal phrasing and a nice gu...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Here In Babylon , from Teresa James and the Rhythm Tramps and it got a funky yet soulful sound. Opening with I Know I Ain't Been So Perfect , James on lead vocal and piano really captures the new neo soul feel with a great opener, backed by Jay Bellerose on drums, Billy Watts on guitars, Mike Finnegan on B-3, Terry Wilson on bass. Very cool. Laid back, Head Up, Heart Open has a nice sway (think Doobies) with tight backing vocals by Watts, Wilson, Gregg Sutton, Jessie Wilson and James and the warmth of horns added by Darrell Leonard on trumpet and Joe Sublett on sax. Lumbering, Ground Zero , has a solid bottom, courtesy Wilson and a plucky guitar line by Watts. With it's smoky club feel, You Had To Bring That Up is really the nicest showcase for James on piano and vocal. Relaxed, cool and gritty, a really solid track. Piano boogie, I Gotta Roll is another favorite with a super groove, punched up by Leonard an...

I just received the newest release, Bonafide from Teresa James & the Rhythm Tramps and it's a rocking blast! Opening with R&B track, I Like It Like That , James leads the way on vocal and over the top piano with super bass work by Terry Wilson, Guitar by Billy Watts and drums by Tony Braunagel. Excellent opener. On Spit It Out , James really hits her stride with Al Green like pace. This track really makes you want to dance with hot vocals and nice horn work by Darnell Leonard and with Mike Finnigan's excellent B3 additions. Funky, Hollywood Way has a super groove with Wilson crafting a nice bass line and real nice slide work by Billy Watts. Backing vocals by Wilson and Watts really add to the richness of this track and James' phrasing is tight! A cool soul track, You Always Pick Me Up , is right down the slot with warm vocals and all of the poise of the queen of soul herself. With a spiritual warmth and the addition of trumpet by Lee Thornburg and sax by Ron...

I just received a copy of Come On Home , the new release from Teresa James and the Rhythm Tramps . The release opens with Come On Home To Me , a funky blues track with a touch of country. James has a special voice and displays it nicely on this track. I particularly like the saturated guitar tones that co-writer Terry Wilson grinds out of his guitar box on this track. If I Can't Have You had the feel of a Jimmy reed track that was never written featuring a vocal duet with Finnegan. This is actually a strong track and will likely also get airplay. Long Way From Texas has that Texas rock sound with a touch of Chuck Berry. Mike Finnegan lays down some nice piano riffs on this track and Billy Watts has a few hot guitar riffs as well. Forgetting You is an Otis Redding style R&B ballad and James airs out the pipes showing the girl's got soul. Still Got The Message is another updated R&B style tracks along the lines of Wilson Pickett. It's a well written track and t...