Bman's Blues Report

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, BB King's Blues Summit 100 , by Joe Bonamassa and it's terrific! Opening with Paying The Cost To Be The Boss , Kingfish Ingram is featured on vocal and guitar and he really gets it done. With it's laid back BB King style and with the help of Joe Bonamassa on guitar, Lemar Carter on drums, Travis Carlton on bass, Jeff Babko on keys, Steve Patrick and Tyler Jaeger on trumpet, Marc Douthit and Jimmy Bowland on sax and Barry Green on trombone, this is a strong opener. Marcus King does an incredible job on vocal and guitar delivering Don't Answer The Door . (I've bought entire albums based on 1 track that doesn't stack up well against this track). King, Bonamassa and Josh Smith really work the guitar on this track and support from Carter, Carlton, Babko, Patrick, Jaeger, Douthit, Bowland and Green are icing on this very nice cake. Buddy Guy gets Sweet Little Angel and he digs in giving it pure Guy trea...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Temple of Blues , from Cactus , and it's a strong blues rocker. Opening with Bukka White's Parchment Farm really rocks. Using Mayall's basic arrangement, Carmine Appice on drums really drives it hard with Billy Sheehan on bass, Jim McCarty on guitar, Joe Bonamassa on lead guitar and Jim Stapley on vocal and harp. Excellent opener. Willie Dixon's Evil gets a real nice heavy makeover with heavy weight drum work by Appice and great guitar lead by McCarty. Dug Pinnick on bass really sets the groove and Dee Snider on lead vocal is outrageous. Coopper and White's country anthem, No Need To Worry is now a slow blues with excellent vocal and guitar phrasing by Warren Haynes with Jorgen Carlsson on bass and Appice on drums. Cactus original (from their 70's album) Big Mama Boogie (Pts 1&2) is a great track with Appice in his own seat at drums and James Caputo on bass. Stapley on vocal and harp does a r...

I just received the newest release, West of Flushing South of Frisco , from Supersonic Blues Machine and it's a smokin' cool release. Featuring the leadership of Lance Lopez (guitar and vocal), Kenny Aronoff (drums and percussion) and Fabrizzio Grossi (bass, Hammond and vocals) this band is cooking. Opening with Miracle Man , a southern influenced blues rocker, the band is really off to a great start complimented by Jimmy Z Zavala on harp, Serge Simic on acoustic guitar, Garrett Hollbrock on lap steel and Francis Bentez and Andrea Grossi on backing vocals. Next up is I Ain't Fallin Again , a sophisticated rocker with a cool back beat and a solid drive. Billy F Gibbons leads the way on vocal and guitar on Running Whiskey a straight up rocker with a definite Gibbons flavor. Remedy , features Warren Haynes and his influence is immediately noticed with a warm, laid back feel. Trading lead riffs and vocals with Lopez, Haynes doesn't dominate the track at all and it...

ROOTS MUSIC VISIONARY OTIS TAYLOR CREATES A TIMELESSS PSYCHEDELIC ALBUM AND DEBUTS HIS  TRANCE BLUES FESTIVAL LABEL Hey Joe Opus/Red Meat seamlessly blends hypnotic songs and instrumentals; features guests Warren Haynes, Langhorne Slim and String Cheese Incident’s Bill Nershi, out May 5 BOULDER, Colo. — Hey Joe Opus/Red Meat , the new album from visionary roots music songwriter and bandleader Otis Taylor , is a psychedelic masterpiece. Blending his uniquely poetic songwriting and the compelling musical approach that he calls “trance blues,” the recording — due on May 5, 2015 on Taylor’s new Trance Blues Festival label — cuts to the core of the human spirit with its mix of vocal and instrumental performances, letting its hypnotic sound as well as Taylor’s lyrics tell its story. The artist explains that his 14th album is “about decisions and their consequences. It’s about how ...

I just received the newest release (March 31, 2015), Into The Sun , by Robben Ford and I really like it! Opening with Rose Of Sharon a smooth bluesy track with a very clean melody, Ford strokes a well articulated solo making very use of single and double time for emphasis. Day Of the Planets actually has an garage rock feel but but delivered on a polished silver platter. Howlin' At The Moon hits the road with a funky staggered rhythm. Brian Allen on bass lays down a nice funky groove with Wes Little on drums and Ford plays off the funk delivering a solo that rides the rumble. Very cool! Rainbow Cover is a straight up rocker with organ highlights and clean guitar riff adornment. Juttified features guests Keb Mo' on vocal and Robert Randolph on pedal slide. An easy blues swing with rolling piano and stylized fiddle set a super floor for Ford to highlight his nicely stylized solo. Breath Of Me featured ZZ Hill on lead vocals for possibly my favorite track on the release. H...

  GUITAR LEGEND ROBBEN FORD’S NEW ALBUM INTO THE SUN   CAPTURES HIS CONTEMPORARY SONGWRITING MASTERY To Be Released Via Mascot Label Group On March 31 st   Guest Appearances By Blues Icon Keb’ Mo’, Vocalist ZZ Ward,   And Fellow Guitar Heroes Warren Haynes, Sonny Landreth,   Robert Randolph and Tyler Bryant  February 5, 2015 - Guitar virtuoso Robben Ford’s forthcoming new album Into The Sun (Mascot Label Group) shines a bright light on his artful, contemporary songwriting and the stunning playing that’s made him a favorite foil of Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, George Harrison and other legends. The five-time Grammy nominee describes the 11-song set as “one of the top recordings I’ve ever done” — a staggering observation considering his extensive discography, which embraces more than 35 albums under his own name and with his various bands. There’s also Ford’s session and sideman work, which includes hundreds of ...

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...

Blues harmonica legend, James Cotton releases his new CD “ Cotton Mouth Man ” which will be available at local and online record stores beginning May 07, 2013. May is also a time in which Cotton’s 77 year old face fills the cover of the current issue of Living Blues magazine. Writer and walking Blues almanac, David White provides a 10-page look at a career spanning nearly 60 years. This CD was premiered at a live performance, Saturday, May 25, 2013 at the Tupelo Music Hall in Londonerry, New Hampshire. Cotton Mouth Man follows the trend of collaboration and featuring key players to round out the disk filled with 13 no-nonsense blues tunes. This by no means is a compromise but in this case is a certain gift to the listener. Guests as they appear in order are Joe Bonamassa, Gregg Allman, Keb’ Mo, Warren Haynes, Ruthie Foster, Delbert McClinton and vocalist Darrell Nulisch, long time veteran of Cotton's road band. The backbone of Cotton's band on this CD are the great...

Blues harmonica legend, James Cotton releases his new CD “ Cotton Mouth Man ” which will be available at local and online record stores beginning May 07, 2013. May is also a time in which Cotton’s 77 year old face fills the cover of the current issue of Living Blues magazine. Writer and walking Blues almanac, David White provides a 10-page look at a career spanning nearly 60 years. This CD was premiered at a live performance, Saturday, May 25, 2013 at the Tupelo Music Hall in Londonerry, New Hampshire. Cotton Mouth Man follows the trend of collaboration and featuring key players to round out the disk filled with 13 no-nonsense blues tunes. This by no means is a compromise but in this case is a certain gift to the listener. Guests as they appear in order are Joe Bonamassa, Gregg Allman, Keb’ Mo, Warren Haynes, Ruthie Foster, Delbert McClinton and vocalist Darrell Nulisch, long time veteran of Cotton's road band. The backbone of Cotton's band on this CD are the great...