Bman's Blues Report

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Blue Flame , from Peter Karp and it's a cool blues rocker. Opening with Rolling On A Log , Karp on lead vocal and guitar is joined by Kim Wilson on harp, Daniel Pagdon on bass and Paul Unsworth on drums. Kicking it up a gear, Train O' Mine is a hard driving blues rocker with Dave Keyes on piano and Dennis Gruenling sailing on harp. Warming things up a bit with slide resonator Karp gets a little greasy on Valentine's Day . Very nice. Quiet ballad, The Turning Point develops nicely into a radio style track with an interesting melody and featuring a nice guitar solo by Mick Taylor. My favorite track on the release is The Arson's Match with a distinct Elmore James feel. Featuring Karp's best vocals on the release, hot harp from Wilson and Karp and fat fat slide, nice track. A laid back, rural feel is the ticket on From Where I Stand and another of my favorites on the release. A bright melody, clean v...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Alabama Town , from Peter Karp and it's rich with texture. Opening with title track, Alabama Town , Peter Karp takes the lead on vocal and guitar, joined by Daniel Pagdon on bass, Mike Catapano on drums, and John Zarra on mandolin. A solid rocker and opener. With a driving swing, Till You Get Home , has great feel. Karp's vocals are crisp and Mike Latrell's piano work is smart. On That's How I Like It , a modern blueser the guitar tones are fat and rich joined by Dennis Gruenling on harp. Very cool. Shuffle track, Blues In Mind features real cool piano work and key backing vocals by Dae Bennett, Joanie Coleman, Kesha Love, Toni Summler and Elliot. On bluesy ballad, I'm Not Giving Up , Karp sings soulfully over arpeggiated guitar chords. Warm gospel like choral backing and stinging guitar soloing by Mick Taylor makes this one of my favorites on the release. The Prophet has a stripped down blues form...

I just received a cool new 2 CD release, Bad News Travels from John Ginty and it's quite live, tight and entertaining. Opening with Switch , a walking bass line driven B3 extravaganza. Paul Kuzik sets the tempo and Ginty takes over where Booker T left off. With a double drums setup featuring Dan Fadel and Andrei Koribanics this is a tight track. Very nice! Arrivals is a funky jam with cool guitar lines by Mike Buckman and Ginty playing against his retort. Next up is Black Cat featuring Albert Castiglia. A slow blues groove, Ginty sets a really nice stage for Castiglia to take the lead on vocal and guitar. I've only ever seen Castiglia on Youtube (never live) and he is an exceptional player. I am looking forward to seeing him if he ever makes it to Phoenix. He doesn't over sing, his phrasing is inviting and his vocals are really nice. Ginty plays both piano and B3 solos taunting Castiglia into a really sweet and extremely fiery guitar solo. Excellent! On fu...

I just received a cool new DVD from John Ginty , The Showplace Sessions Live . This is a live video session of Bad News Travels and it's quite live, tight and entertaining. Opening with Switch , a walking bass line driven B3 extravaganza. Paul Kuzik sets the tempo and Ginty takes over where Booker T left off. With a double drums setup featuring Dan Fadel and Andrei Koribanics this is a tight track. Very nice! Arrivals is a funky jam with cool guitar lines by Mike Buckman and Ginty playing against his retort. Next up is Black Cat featuring Albert Castiglia. A slow blues groove, Ginty sets a really nice stage for Castiglia to take the lead on vocal and guitar. I've only ever seen Castiglia on Youtube (never live) and he is an exceptional player. I am looking forward to seeing him if he ever makes it to Phoenix. He doesn't over sing, his phrasing is inviting and his vocals are really nice. Ginty plays both piano and B3 solos taunting Castiglia into a really sweet and ext...

I just received the new release, Bad News Travels , from John Ginty and it's really quite good. It's unusual that I find a release that is actually built around an organ player (James Brown and Lucky Peterson) but here's one. Opening with The Quirk , Ginty starts this instrumental track with a B3 vamp and slowly piece by piece the band joins in. Dan Fadel on drums, Paul Kuzik on bass and then out pops an outrageous guitar player.... Albert Castiglia. Playing a blues rock fusion, this track rips! (Listen to those drums!) On Black Cat , Ginty slows everything down and Castiglia takes the mic for some really nice vocals. Ginty plays really soulful B3 keys against really tasty blues riffs by Castiglia. Peanut Butter , another instrumental, has a great hook driven by Ginty on keys and Todd Wolfe steps in playing great response to Ginty's call on guitar. This is some really intense guitar work and I credit Ginty not only for assembling this great crew of musicians and bu...