Bman's Blues Report

 I just had the opportunity to review the newest release from Landslide Records , 40th Anniversary , a two disc compilation celebrating their 40th anniversary and a full house of great artists. Opening with Tinsley Ellis and the Heartfixers and Drivin' Woman . Ellis is a great choice to open this retrospective with his fiery guitar attack and tight rock shuffle beat. Strong opener. The Bluesbusters' track, If The Phone Don't Ring , is up next led by Little feat guitar and vocalist Paul Barrere in collaberation with Dregs keyboardist Lavitz and associated Feat personalities. This is a great track and solid addition to this release. Damon Fowler contributes Make The Best Of Your Time . Fowler was a great addition to Landslides lineup with his rugged vocal, strong rhythm and terrific slide work, I always look forward to his releases. Sean Costello was a unique talent and spectacular blues player. His contribution here is Motor Head Baby with it's slow swagger and Costello...

 I just had the opportunity to review the newest release (September 24, 2021), Put A Lid On It , by Diane Durrett & Soul Suga and it's a blend of soul, blues and gospel. Opening with In My Soul, Durrett works her magic with a soul base and gospel overtones and rich backing vocals over Yoel B'nai Yehuda on B3, Melissa Junebug on drums/percussion and Gregg Shapiro on bass. Cool opener. I like Sweeter Love Grows as the releases best radio track due to it's sweet melody and nicely blended vocals, a solid guitar solo by Daniel  Groover and some of Durrett's best lead vocals on the release. Another track with gospel overtones, Wish It Would Rain has really solid footings, soulful lead vocals and great, piano and organ work by Yehuda. Very nice. Wrapping the release is punched up funky rocker, Make America Groove , featuring Mike Burton on sax, Melvin Jones on trumpet, Fuji Fujimoto on bass and Ian Schumacher on guitar and a chorus of backing vocalists including Adam M...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Plays The Blues , from Jimmy Carpenter , and it's cooking. Opening with Magic Sam's You Belong To Me , and it's puffing smoke like Jr Walker. Saxman/vocalist, Carpenter really steps out on this release with authentic R&B style sax with Mike Zito on guitar accented nicely by Tony Diteodoro on guitar, Matthew Johnson on drums, Bob Bridges on bass and Marc Adams on keys. Jimmy Plays The Blues is an excellent soulful blues in the style of T Bone Walker. Using Carpenter's sax as the lead instrument, wailing out the melody, this track is hot. Solid shuffle track, Blues With A Feeling features tight guitar riffs and nice piano work paving the way for singing sax solo work by Carpenter. Freddie King's Surf Monkey has that great 60's vibe with Zito playing against Carpenter on lead lines. Very cool. Otis Rush's All Your Love has great feel with nice tom tom work by Johnson and shimmery guitar w...

I just received the newest release (June 3, 2016), Red Clay Soul , from Tinsley Ellis and it's got real soul. Opening with All I Think About , Tinsley Ellis shows that he is continuing to spread his wings. The rocking country blues track, features Ellis on lead vocal and guitar, joined by Kevin McKendree on organ and piano, Lynn Williams on drums and Steve Mackey on bass. With a bit more R&B styling, Givin' You Up has strong commercial potential with a solid hook and instrumentation. Callin' has an easy soul feel with an almost Al Green sound. I really like the melody on this track and Ellis alternates his blues runs with his own vocals. Very nice. Anything But Go stays in the soul vein and Ellis does a real nice job of delivering on vocals. McKendree's rich keyboard work anchors this track and Ellis' own melodic riffs are contained and well placed. One of my favorite tracks on the release, Hungry Woman Blues , is a deep soul track with a strong blues twi...

TINSLEY ELLIS ANNOUNCES RELEASE OF NEW STUDIO ALBUM TITLED RED CLAY SOUL ON JUNE 3 PRE-ORDER LIVE ON MAY 15 VIA ARTIST SITE AND AMAZON Extensive Global Tour Planned From May Through December To Support Release Atlanta, GA --- Tinsley Ellis has travelled a million miles, and through that journey he has become a man with clarity about where he stands today and his future destination.  As a proud Georgia-based artist, with his new album Red Clay Soul he celebrates a legacy built on four decades of performing, recording and song writing.  Travelers headed to Florida or other destinations in the Southeastern U.S. encounter red clay embankments as they hit the state of Georgia, and Ellis has chosen to title this new collection Red Clay Soul to celebrate the music of the area.  He offers, "Georgia is where the Blues has got Soul. From the gospel inspired Ray Charles, to the R&B of James Brown and Otis Redding, to the Rock and Roll of Little Richard, to ...

Mark Pucci Media is happy to announce that our artists have received 8 nominations for the upcoming Blues Blast Music Awards! Here’s the entire list of our nominees & we’d appreciate your consideration in voting for these well-deserved artists. Information on how & when to vote is listed at the end. 2015 Blues Blast Music Award Nominations Traditional Blues Album ·          Mud Morganfield  &  Kim Wilson  - For Pops (A Tribute to Muddy Waters) Soul Blues Album ·          Otis Clay  &  Johnny Rawls  - Soul Brothers ·          Tad Robinson  - Day Into Night Rock Blues Album ·          Tinsley Ellis  - Tough Love Acoustic Blues Album ·          Big Dave Mclean  - Faded But Not Gone ·   ...

I just received the newest release, tough love , from Tinsley Ellis and he continues to write scorching riffs. Opening with Seven Years , a bluesy ballad, Ellis has a tone all his own with the soul of Robert Cray, the articulation of Mark Knopler and the the heat of SRV. Very cool. Midnight Ride has a romping blues feel with warm organ flow from Kevin McKendree, a driving bass line from Steve Mackey and tight percussion from Lynn Williams. A cool track with hot riffs, this one could catch the radio pretty easy. Give It Away is a quiet ballad featuring Ellis' vocal and acoustic slide techniques. Hard Work has more of a JJ Cale feel with an easy country blues drive. All In The Name Of Love has a really nice R&B feel with McKendree on electric keys. Another track with a particularly strong melody line also features Jim Hoke (sax) and Steve Herrman (trumpet) backing soulful guitar riffs. Should I Have Lied is one of my favorite tracks on the release with BB King like phrasing...

I just received the newest release (April 29, 2014), Primitive Son , from Eli Cook and it's a rockin, snarling blues guitar release. Opening with War Horse , Cook and gang (Wade Warfield on drums and Rob Richmond on bass) crank up a Led Zep feel with a southern twist. It has a mesmerizing groove and cool guitar riffs. Revelator has a bit more pop to it adding Vinny Appice (drums), Jorgen Carlsson (bass and B3) and Steffen Presley and Greg Hampton on backing vocals. Sweet Thang has a slinky sound and features Tinsley Ellis on additional guitar. High In The Morning , a southern influenced track features Sonny Landreth on some slick slide work. Reese Wynans adds some Vocals remind me quite a bit of Black Label Society. Won't Be Long is a real nice little acoustic ballad featuring Cook on acoustic slide and vocal. Motor Queen steps out with real attitude... a club swingin blues rocker with Leslie West joining on guitar. This track has a lot of attitude and is one of my favorit...

Just received the newest release (January 14, 2014), Midnight Blue , from Tinsley Ellis and it's a smoker! Hot on the heels of instrumental release Get It!, Ellis comes hot out of the chute with If The River Keeps Rising , opening easy with vocal and acoustic guitar but then letting the dogs out with overdriven electric guitar and solid bottomed bass and drums. Fat slide solo's always make me happy and this is a good one! On Mouth Turns Dry , Ellis uses a classic blues rhythm (The Hunter) with a twist and a forward driving blues rocker with solid vocals and frenzied guitar work. Super track! Surrender has a smoother radio play style with nice bass lines from Ted Pecchio. Solid R&B style blues giving Ellis a great opportunity to show his fluid chops. It's Not Funny has a Louisiana beat and sound with cool resophonic slide sound. This is a cool take on the New Orleans sound and pianist Kevin McKendree and drummer Lynn Williams creat a great theatre for this funky trac...

I just got a copy of the newest Tinsley Ellis release, Get It! and it's really strong! Ellis has put together a 10 track all instrumental recording and he demonstrates that you can say a lot without uttering a word. Opening with Front Street Freeze , Ellis cranks up the funk accompanied by Kevin McKendree on keys, Lynn Williams on drums and Ted Pecchio on bass. Ellis plays smokin guitar that he is known for and adds a little Albert Collins sting. Sassy Strat is another track with a funky bottom. Speaking with his own guitar voice and a bit of wah, Ellis takes a Beck, lay back and let it come to me approach on his melodic lead. McKendree keeps the flame hot with Billy Preston like richness. The Milky Way is a very solitude track with quiet drums and organ on the bottom and single line leads not unlike those seen from Dutch guitar great Jan Akkerman. This is a really nice track with a strong melody and smart use of the fretboard. Detour is a twistin' Texas infused surf trac...