Bman's Blues Report

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Live , from Justin Saladino Band and it's a cool rocker with plenty of radio potential. Opening with Take What You Need , Saladino on lead vocal and guitar, joined by Antoine Loiselle on guitars, David Osel-Afrifa on keys, Denis Paquin on drums, Gabriel Forget on bass, and Lucie Martel on vocal and percussion. Continuing with it's happy go lucky pace and beat, Honey has a great melody and some real nice guitar work. On Tom Petty's You Don't Know How It Feels , Saladino adds in a little slide and some heavy organ giving the track a more bluesy feel. On blues ballad, Peace With You , Saladino really works the vocals laying down the best track on the release. Nicely phrased lead guitar soloing and a quiet background really elevate this track. Very nice. Another favorite on the release is Purple Girl with overdriven guitars with traces of Jimi or Gary Clark Jr. Really a cool blues rocker. Wrapping the release...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, My Getaway , from Dustin Arbuckle and the Damnations and it's a solid blues rocker.  Opening with Say My Name , Dustin Arbuckle, formerly of Moreland and Arbuckle, is upfront on harmonica and lead vocals, backed by Branden Hudspeth on guitars, Dr Mark Foley on bass, and Kendall Newby on drums. With a solid rhythm and the strong vocals that M&A was known for, this is a strong opener. With a familiar Muddy Waters like melody, ramped up tempo and Arbuckle's soulful vocals, Across The Desert is a great follow up. You Got To Go crosses further into the rock arena with R&B rhythm and soulful vocals. With a strong harp vamp and a cool guitar riff, Arbuckle's vocals ride high on top like Peter Wolf on JGB. Very cool. Darlin' Dear is a really nice radio track like Jackson Browne meets Marshall Tucker Band. Nicely blended vocals, and a strong melody are the key to this track. Another interesting track is Whe...

  I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Tales from the Psychedelta , by Kerry Kearney and it's a cool mix of laid back delta style blues and contemporary blues rock. Opening with blues rocker, Five Time Man, Kerry Kearney shows real chops on guitar with fluid lines and crisp riffs, supporting his solid vocals. With Louie Appel on drums, Peter Bennett on bass, and Jeff Naimoli on percussion this is a strong opener. Driving rocker, Mississippi River Stomp with it's slick slide work is a great track, backed by Mario Staiano on drums, David Bennett Cohen on piano, and Ken The Rocket Korb on harmonica, this track will have you rocking in your seat (if not on your seat). Thank You Jesus is one of my favorites on the release with it's easy blues feel, acoustic slide and excellent vocals by Kearney and The Great Sam Taylor, harmonica by Charlie Wolfe Pete Kiernan on harmonica and Eileen Murphy on drums. Memphis High has a lot of the modern southern blue...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Heart On The Line , from Vanessa Collier , and it's quite good. Opening with James Brown's, Super Bad Collier is off to a strong start morphing a quick tempo driver into a slow, funky instant hit. This track has it all with movement, great vocal, a great bottom, and saxy solo by Collier. Backed by Nick Stevens on drums, Scott Sutherland on bass, Laura Chavez on guitar, William Gorman on keys, Quinn Carson on Trombone, Doug Woolverton on trumpet, this track is hot! With a delta feel on Bloodhound , Chavez lays down a cool slide riff and Colliers vocals really take over. With CC Ellis on bass and Stevens on drums, this track has oomph. Randy Newman's You Can Leave Your Hat On gets a really nice rework with plenty of spunk. I really like the horn work on this one pushing it along and Chavez's guitar solo just just right in the groove. Excellent! Original track, Weep and Moan has a really great feel with a slo...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Blues O' Blues , from Tony O. and it's solid old school electric blues. Opening with You Upset Me Baby , Tony O, who has played with a who's wo of blues greats including Pinetop Perkins, Jimmy Rogers, Victoria Spivey, and James Cotton (to name a few) is upfront on vocal and guitar and his playing style, quite reminiscent of BB King keeps you bopping with super backing by The Uptown Horns. On rolling blues number, So Excited , Tony takes an extended intro and a driving bass line and great horn support to Tony's solid guitar lead. Very cool. One of my favorites on the release, My Love Strikes Like Lightning , has strong tempo, punchy horns and really tasty lead guitar phrasing. Jimmy Rogers', You're So Sweet, is up next and Tony leads with solid harmonica and vocal. Excellent piano and snappy drum and bass work give this track real zing. R&B style track, It's Just A Matter Of Time , is a real ...

 I just had the opportunity to review the newest release from Johnny Iguana , Chicago Spectacular! and it's a cool mix of styles and packed with blues notables. Opening with Roosevelt Sykes' 44 Blues , featuring John Primer, Bob Margolin and Michael Caskey, Iguana does a great job on keys and Primer's lead vocals are super. On Willie Dixon's Down In The Bottom  ,Primer has the mic again and with cool guitar lead and with Michael Caskey on drums another cool entry. Gil Scott- Heron's Lady Day and John Coltrane has a cool, laid back jazzy feel and features Phillip-Michael Scales on lead vocal and guitar. Iguana really rocks the piano on this one with simple rhythms by Caskey. Lil' Ed guests on Burning Fire with flaming lead guitar and vocal. Rolling piano work by Iguana and solid drum work by Kenny Smith makes this one of my favorite tracks on the release. Lil' Ed is back on Elmore James' Shake Your Moneymaker and Ed knows how to make that slide talk. V...

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Stronger Than Strong , from John Nemeth and it's tasty. Opening with Chicago bluesy, Come On And Take It , with Nemeth on vocal and harmonica, Danny Banks on drums, Matthew Wilson on bass and Jon Hay on guitar. With it's tight rhythm and classic styling, it's a solid opener.  With darker overtones and Nemeth's soulful vocals, Sometimes is a strong player that is a great showcase for Nemeth's vocal strength and harmonica reinforcement. Throw Me In The Water is a great rocker with a rockin beat and a moving bass line by Wilson, potent vocals by Nemeth and some flashy guitar work by Hay on guitar. Very nice. I really like Chain Breaker with it's blues vamp driven by Wilson and plenty of room for Nemeth and Hay to cruise. Very cool. One of my favorite tracks on the release is Work For Love with it's infectious bass line and Nemeth's soulful vocals. Adding a little bounce to a classic blues pat...

  I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Mistaken Identity , by Johnny Nicholas and I really like it. With it's kooky lyrics, blues overtones and country western flavor, it's packing. Opening with, She Stole My Mojo , Johnny Nicholas on vocal, guitars, piano, and harmonica tells a wild tale with a loose riff, joined by Scrappy Jud Newcomb on guitars and vocals, John Chipman on drums, percussion and vocals and Chris Maresh on bass and vocals. This is a wacky track but a memorable one. Nice opener. With it's country strut, Mule and the Devil is a cool track with Newcomb on mandolin and the addition of Chris Stafford on organ. With a funky New Orleans feel, title track, Mistaken Identity is not only a clever story but has nicely blended backing vocals and cool Clavinet work by Eric Adcock. Tight Pants is a super rocker with a high octane rhythm. With it's rock n roll feel and free wheelin' vocals, it's hard not to bop. One of my favorite ...

  I just  had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Brand New Eyes , from Doug MacLeod and it's super. This release on Reference Recordings, Fresh label captures MacLeod alone on acoustic guitar and resonator in a pristine setting. Opening with title track,  Brand New Eyes , MacLeod uses his vocal and finger picking pace to stimulate the track and a foot tap to stabilize the pace. Easing into a John Lee Hooker like trance with resonator and a solid foot stomp, MacLeod really captures the feel of Delta Blues on Something Dark Is Walking . An obvious student of the old masters, this track is spot on. With a traditional rag style and strong finger picking, Zu-Zu Woman is a terrific track and one of my favorites on the release. With raw emotion, I Rolled A Nickel feels delta authentic with the jangle of the resonator and slide, foot stomp and wailing like vocal. Very nice. Story telling country blues, The Nature of the Man has a great tempo and solid vocals ma...