Bman's Blues Report

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Grown In Mississippi , by John Primer and it's deep rooted blues, Delta style. Opening with John's Blues Holler , an authentic style acapella track replicating the sounds that Primer heard by field workers in his youth. Rolling into Born In Mississippi with Primer showing his slick finger work and his warm vocals on acoustic guitar. Fluid, precise and solid. Very nice. Willie Dixon's Down In The Bottom features Primer guitar and vocal and Watermelon Slim on slide dobro, and backed by Billy Earheart on piano. Very nice. Bobby Rush joins on Nothin' But A Chicken Wing adding some nice harp work to this funky blues track featuring Primer on lead vocal and guitar, Harvell Thomas Jr on bass and Quicksand Martin on drums. This track is stripped down and moving. Another track with a cool funk is When I Met The Blues driven by Lee Williams on drums and featuring Lightnin' Malcolm on guitar and Primer on guita...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Bluesland Theme Park  by Heavydrunk and Watermelon Slim and it's really sweet! Opening with charging, Bluesland Theme Park , a high stepper with vaudevillian sound and Mad Dogs and Englishman horn vamp.  With Rob Robinson on lead vocals and Watermelon Slim on harmonica this is really potent. Featuring great interpretative innovation by Roy Agee on trombone, Emmanuel Echem and Lorenzo Molino on trumpet, Evan Cobb and Maxwell Abrams on sax this is a potent opener. Funky, New Wine is another meaty track with excellent vocals and notable bass by John Allouise and Brian Allen, Ricky Burkhead on drums and some real nice slide work by Slim. Watermelon Girl has a really nice Texmex/island feel with excellent vocals, nice slide and great percussion work by Burkhead. Another favorite on the release is Better Worser Too with thick vocals and, sassy horn work and funky funky bottom. Can be remiss by not mentioning th...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, They Call Me Uncle Mick! , from Mick Kolassa and he's assembles a great group of musicians for his most recent set. Opening with Bo Carter's clever, My Pencil Won't Write No More , Kolassa on lead vocal and guitar, is joined by Eric Hughes on harmonica, Jeff Jensen on guitar, Tom Leonard on drums, Carl Caspersen on bass, and Rick Steff on piano for s super rag style opener. Original track, Used To Be , has a real nice bluesy feel with a solid strut. Steff's piano work, and with the addition of Doug McLeod on guitar has a cool acoustic groove. Slow shuffle, Why , another original by Kolassa, has a real nice feel, with some of Kolassa's best vocals and nice guitar work by Jensen and complimentary harmonica work by Hughes. Wrapping the release is country rocker, The Cheese Song , a simple story song nicely adorned by Curtis Gill on slide guitar.    If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blu...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release (July 16, 2021), Troublemaker , from Clint Morgan and it's a lot of fun. Opening with Hangman Woman a cool country flavored rocker, Clint Morgan is on lead vocal with a casual Johnny Cash like approach. backed by Wendy Moten and the McCrary Sisters on vocal, Doug Lancio and John Del Toro Richardson on guitar, Kevin McKendree on piano, David Santos on bass, and Kenneth Blevins on drums, this is a hot opener. On traditional track, Go Down, Moses, Morgan's lead vocal, complimented nicely by Ann McCrary and Regina McCrary over a nicely orchestrated backing this track is very strong.  On a cover of Johnny Cash's Big River , Morgan nicely blends Cash's style with Ray Charles and the addition of Lancio's baritone guitar work and Jim Hoke on sax really hits the spot. One track that stands out as totally different is spoken word over a blues rocking rhythm, It's Rough Out Here with jamming guitar riffs, Mc...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Traveling Man , from Watermelon Slim and it's quite good. Recorded Live at The Blue Door in Oklahoma City in 2016, these recordings capture the authenticity and focus of Slim's work. The first set, recorded on September 24, opens with Blue Freightliner , Slim on resonator slide guitar and vocal captures the spirit of the original delta blues. Deliberate, foot stomper, Northern Blues is one of my favorites with a great little guitar dun and perfect balance. Very nice! Substituting harmonica for guitar on Jimmy Bell , Slim shows another facet but the sound is still pure and all delta. Very cool. Wrapping the first set is Holler #4 , a stripped down blues track with a skeletal framework set by slide resonator and pure hollering blues vocals. Solid closer. Set 2 (disc 2) was recorded at The Depot on February 28 and opens with a more commercial track, Let it Be In Memphis . Slim carries the melody of this more certa...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Mississippi Blend , from Ghalia and it's got great attitude and style. Opening with, Gypsy Lady , a blues based track with a rockin beat, Brussels born Ghalia (Vauthier) Volt shows her understanding of real blues with it's raw feeling and emotion. Leading on vocal and slide guitar Volt has a lot of help from Lightnin' Malcolm on lead guitar, Dean Zucchero on bass and Cedric Burnside on drums. Easing into a swampy blues number, Meet You Down The Road has the kind of rawness you'd expect from the hill country with Watermelon Slim on harp, Smokehouse Brown on lead and slide guitar, Zucchero on bass and Burnside on drums. The dual slide guitar sound is intoxicating under her soulful vocals and the tight rhythms are perfectly punctuated by Burnside. Very cool. I really like heavy footed blues rocker, First Time I Died . It has real kick. Volt focuses on vocals and does a great job with excellent timing by Co...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Church of the Blues , from Watermelon Slim and it's great! From the time Slim opens on St. Peter's Ledger , this release is hot. Leading on slide and vocal and backed by John Allouise on bass, Brian Wells on drums and Bob Margolin on guitar, this is a super opener. On Muddy Waters' Gypsy Woman , Slim really takes the harp for a trip with hair curling squeals and vibrant Waters style slide work. Excellent!  Funky, New Orleans flavored Post Modern Blues has a great rhythm with Nick Schnebelen on slide, Matt Blagg on trumpet, Kevin Webb on trombone and Chris Hicks on sax. Very cool. Joe Louis Walker lends a soulful hand on electric guitar with gripping punch on Mni Wiconi . The Water Song with a light funk, R&B style horn backing and solid vocals. Really nice. One of my favorite on the release is That Ole 1-4-5 with it's traditional styling, strong vocals and with Ike Lamb and Slim sharing the excellen...

I just received the most recent release, Ghosts of the Riverside Hotel , from Mick Kolassa . A cornucopia of blues like last years release by Kolassa, "Michissippi Mick" , the net proceeds will go to The Blues Foundation and Generation Blues. Opening with Hank Williams' Ramblin' Man , Kolassa on lead vocal and guitar, Jeff Jensen on Lead guitar, Bill Ruffino on bass, Robinson Bridgeforth on drums and Chris Stephenson on organ, this is an interesting track with march like rudiments and tasty guitar work. Slow swinging blues track, Grapes & Greens , featured nice electric guitar and slide work from Jensen and Eric Hughes on harp coupled with solid lead vocals by Kolassa. Lou Singer's depression era, One Meatball , gets a light reggae rhythm treatment under the vocal harmonizing by Reba Russell and bright piano passages by Victor Wainwright. I Always Meant To Love You is a swinging 12 bar with some real jazzy riffs from Jensen, complimented nicely by Kirk Smo...

James "Super Chikan" Johnson is a Blues Music Award winning American blues musician, artist and guitar maker based in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He is the nephew of fellow blues musician Big Jack Johnson. James Louis Johnson was born in Darling, Mississippi on February 16, 1951. He spent his childhood moving from town to town in the Mississippi Delta and working on his family's farms. He was very fond of the chickens on the farm, and before he was old enough to work in the fields, he would walk around talking to them. This led his friends to give him the nickname "Chikan Boy". At an early age, Johnson got his first rudimentary musical instrument, a "diddley bow", which was simply a piece of wood with a piece of baling wire stretched from end to end. As he grew up, he came up with new ways to improve and vary the sounds he could make with it, and finally, in 1964, at the age of thirteen, he bought his first guitar, an acoustic model that had only two stri...