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Zac Harmon & The Drive - Live - New Release Review

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 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Live , from Zac Harmon & The Drive and it's super! Opening with soulful, NTRO , Nate Robinson on bass and Gino Iglehart on drums set a solid foundation, with Corey Lacy building on keys and lush guitar work by Zac Harmon and Kingston Livingston really setting the bar. Terrific opener. Blue Pill Thrill has super movement and soulful vocals by Harmon. Lacy on keys works the rhythm with Robinson and Iglehart and Livingston and and Harmon play stinging riffs on guitar really giving this track some kick. Deep blues track, Feet Back On The Ground features Albert King like stinging riffs and super soulful vocals by Harmon. Keeping the music floor low allows Harmon plenty of space to go dynamically from soft to wow quickly adding real emotion to the track. Excellent! Boogie Down is a strong jam with a firm piano base by Lacy giving Harmon plenty of headroom for vocal corralling. Lacy lays in some real tasty keyboar...
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I started a quest to find terrific blues music and incredible musicianship when I was just a little kid. I also have a tremendous appreciation of fine musical instruments and equipment. One of my greatest joys all of my life was sharing my finds with my friends. I'm now publishing my journey. I hope that you come along!


Please email me at Info@Bmansbluesreport.com

The Yardbirds Story Pt 3: The Jeff Beck Years

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The Yardbirds, one of the early British purveyors of American blues music done in a contemporary fashion has a distinction of being the band that fostered the careers of three of the modern blues greatest guitar players, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. Eric Clapton working numerous bands including John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream with jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, Blindfaith with the addition of Steve Winwood and Ric Gretch replacing Bruce, Delaney and Bonnie, Derek and the Dominos, a band formed without the fame of the Clapton name and with featured guest Duane Allman and of course his own self named band. Jeff Beck had the Jeff Beck Group with undiscovered Rod Stewart (who was to headline the original Woodstock Festival (until Jeff decided it wasn't worth the trip), a second formation of the band with Max Middleton and Bobby Tench, Beck, Bogart and Appice formed with the rhythm section of Vanilla Fudge and then various band members formed under his own name. Jimmy Pa...

Clothesline Revival - Orange Clown Train (featuring Charlie Musselwhite)

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Conrad Praetzel and.... GUEST MUSICIANS including Robert Powell, Charlie Musselwhite, Chris Rovetti, Kimi "Bass" Sato, Brantley Kearns, Mark Fuller, Bruce "Creeper" Kurnow, Scoop McGuire and John Patrick Murphy III. "GUEST" VOCALISTS including Leadbelly, Tom Armstrong, E. M. Martin and Pearline Johns, Florence Stamp, Sukhawat Ali Khan, Ora Dell Graham, Mrs Vernon Allen, Lum Wilson "Bill" Jackson, Mrs Myra Pipkin, Almeda Riddle, Charles Haffer Jr, Wendy Allen, Lillie Knox, Fred Fox Lee, Pearl Brewer, Neil Morris, Doug Wallin, Aric Leavitt and an Unidentified Train Caller. Music and arrangement by Clothesline Revival and Charlie Musselwhite. "Orange Clown Train" released on Clothesline Revival's cd "They Came From Somewhere" (Paleo Music 2010). Visuals from Kit Davidson's film "Third Avenue El" (1950), an "impressionistic picture of the Third Avenue Elevated Railway in Manhattan, New York City, befor...

Caldonia - Frank "Sugar Chile" Robinson

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Frank Isaac Robinson (born 28 December 1938), known in his early career as a musician as Sugar Chile Robinson, is an American blues and boogie-woogie pianist, singer, and later psychologist, whose career began as a child prodigy. Robinson was born in Detroit, Michigan. At an early age he showed unusual gifts singing the blues and accompanying himself on the piano. He won a talent show at the Paradise Theatre in Detroit at the age of three, and in 1945 played guest spots at the theater with Lionel Hampton, who was prevented by child protection legislation from taking him on tour with him. However, he performed on radio with Hampton and Harry "The Hipster" Gibson, and also appeared as himself in the Hollywood film No Leave, No Love, starring Van Johnson and Keenan Wynn. In 1946, he played for President Harry S. Truman at the White House, shouting out "How'm I Doin', Mr President?" - which became his catchphrase - during his performance of "Caldonia"....

New Release: Karen Carroll's Blues Mix - Karen Carroll - review

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I have just received a preview of the to be released recording by Karen Carroll called " Karen Carroll's Blues Mix". This recording is totally different from what I have heard in the past from Karen but I really like it. Karen has a very dark and mysterious voice and she uses it very productively. This recording ventures in many directions including Blues, Neo Soul,Hip Hop, Funk,Gospel, maybe even rap... good rap. The recording is primarily Karen's stunning voice with blended harmonies, acoustic guitar and harmonica, electric keys and drum. Ok, so you want to know what it may remind you of... a really great singer with the wonderful textural harmonies reminiscent of D'Angelo, Stevie Wonder on harmonica, Snoopy (Doggy Dog)dropping by for some gin and a very confident singer just out making great music. She worked with young American artist, Michael Booze of "Boozefam," in Europe to develop the new hip-hop tracks. I'm not a huge urban Hip Hop fan but ...

If I Did Not Have You - Arthur Adams Blues Band

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Arthur Adams was born in a small town in Medon, Tennessee; twelve miles from Jackson, Tennessee. Jackson is eighty-four miles north of Memphis, Tennessee. Arthur attended Tennessee State University for one year, then, joined Jimmy Beck's Band in the early sixties. He traveled throughout the south and moved to Los Angeles, California in the late sixties where he began his recording and writing career. His first album "It's Private Tonight" is on Blue Thumb records. "Home Brew" and "Midnight Serenade" are both on Fantasy records. "Back on Track" is on Blind Pig records, and "Soul of the Blues" is on PMRC records. Arthur has played some of the top blues and jazz festivals in the world. Central Jazz & Blues Festival in Los Angeles, Long Beach Blues Festival, Chicago Blues Festival, Pocono Blues Festival, Biscuit & Blues club in San Francisco, B.B. King's Blues clubs in both Hollywood and Memphis, Le Passage B...

Joe Bonamassa adds Glasgow date to 2012 UK Tour

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FREE 'Dustbowl' MP3 Download: www.jbonamassa.com/dustbowl/flip1 2012 UK ARENA TOUR 24 HR BOX OFFICE: 0844 478 0898 Book Online: www.thegigcartel.com Award-winning blues rock star, guitar hero and singer-songwriter Joe Bonamassa and his ace touring band, have just added Wednesday 4th April 2012 at the prestigious Glasgow Royal Concert Hall to his 2012 UK tour. To mark the news of this special Scottish show, Planet Rock will run a special ticket pre-sale from 9am on Wednesday November 30th via their official website www.planetrock.com . Tickets for the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall date will go on sale to the general public on Friday December 2nd   from the 24 hour ticket hotline - 0844 478 0898 , and online at: www.thegigcartel.com . Fresh off his successful European tour with Black Country Communion, and rave reviews of BCC's "2" album, Joe's forthcoming UK solo tour will see him perform material from his current st...

I Wrote A Letter - John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers with Sippy Wallace

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John Mayall, OBE (born 29 November 1933) is an English blues singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, whose musical career spans over fifty years. In the 1960s, he was the founder of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band which has included Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, Peter Green, John McVie, Mick Fleetwood, Mick Taylor, Don "Sugarcane" Harris, Harvey Mandel, Larry Taylor, Aynsley Dunbar, Hughie Flint, Jon Hiseman, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Andy Fraser, Johnny Almond, Walter Trout, Coco Montoya and Buddy Whittington. “Like” Bman’s Facebook page (available in over 50 languages). I will not relay senseless nonsense. In this way I can get out the word on new talent, venues and blues happenings! - click Here

Eric Gales Update

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“Like” Bman’s Facebook page (available in over 50 languages). I will not relay senseless nonsense. In this way I can get out the word on new talent, venues and blues happenings! - click Here

OKIE DOKIE STOMP - DAVE HERRERO / FELIX REYES / JIMMY SUTTON

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Dave is a seasoned professional who has been blessed to play some very exclusive shows at such a young age. Among them are: Copenhagen Blues Festival (Denmark), Herning Blues Rock Festival (Denmark), USO tour of Hungary, Bosnia and Macedonia (supporting Archie Bell and the Drells), Chicago Blues Festival (With the Jimmy Burns Band, With Kenny Smith, With Dave Specter), Linkoping Great Jazz Festival 2x (Linkoping, Sweden), Springfield Blues Festival (Springfield, IL), SXSW (4 years), Tour Sweden 4x, Tour Norway 8x, 3 month tour Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland accompanied with Blues in Schools, Springing the Blues Festival 3x, Fitzgerald's Nightclub with the Blasters, A Taste of Lincoln (with Katherine Davis), Doug Sahm Memorial Tribute Concert at Antone's Nightclub (with Lazy Lester and Charlie Sexton) Dave Herrero began playing music professionally at the tender age of 20 years old in Jacksonville, FL. Initially, he was largely influenced by Muddy Waters, Albert King and th...

Leavin' - Mississippi Gabe Carter

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Mississippi Gabe Carter was born in South Bend, Indiana. He was raised in rural Southwest Michigan. He was the only child of divorced parents and moved around among towns within the area. Carter was given his first guitar at age five. The guitar was purchased, by his father, for $5.00 at a garage sale. Carter started by teaching himself to play blues on one string. He also played along with his father, who played blues on the piano. As a young man Carter saw a guitarist by the name of Jack Owens -- of Bentonia, Mississippi -- in a documentary that had been rented on video from the local public library. Carter, from that point on, was deeply influenced by the music of Owens; and the school of music that is native to the Bentonia region of Mississippi. By far, the most well known musician from Bentonia was Skip James. During Carter's last decade of living and busking on the streets in Chicago, he earned the nickname "Mississippi" through his front porch, "down-hom...

Joe Bonamassa Gear

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Angel - The Jeff Healey Band

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Two fine young artists gone way too soon! “Like” Bman’s Facebook page (available in over 50 languages). I will not relay senseless nonsense. In this way I can get out the word on new talent, venues and blues happenings! - click Here

Dolly Dagger - Andy Aledort

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Andy Aledort has been a significant figure in the international music scene over the last 20 years. As a senior editor for the top guitar-oriented music magazines GUITAR WORLD, GUITAR FOR THE PRACTICING MUSICIAN, GUITAR EXTRA, GUITAR LEGENDS, and GUITAR WORLD ACOUSTIC, among others, his work is unsurpassed as a music transcriber, instructional columnist and journalist. He has authored over 200 books of guitar transcriptions as well as a series of guitar-related instructional books and videos/DVDs, all of which are distributed worldwide, for the leading music publishers Hal Leonard Corp., Warner Brothers Publishing and Cherry Lane Music. Aledort is a performing musician as well: along with leading his own ensembles in the New York/tri-state area, he is often tapped for high-profile appearances with artists such as Buddy Guy, Dickey Betts, and the Allman Brothers band. Over the last three years, he has also participated in a series of Jimi Hendrix Tribute concerts, most recently e...

Pali Gap - Lance Lopez

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There's no doubt about it, the state of Texas is well known world wide for its fiery blues guitar players. Even just a cursory look will reveal the state's rich tradition, which easily rivals Chicago and Mississippi for producing players who have been both originators and contributors to the legacy of the guitar's significant role in the genre's history. Dating back to the 1920's with "Blind" Lemon Jefferson, continuing through the 1950's with such legends as Freddie King, T-Bone Walker and "Lightning" Hopkins, with the advent of the rock era of the 1960's the pressure cooker exploded. Albino blues giant Johnny Winter, from Beaumont, in 1968 was signed to what was then the largest advance in the history of the recording industry---$600,000. Houston's ZZ Top, with the Reverend Willie G, i.e. Billy F. Gibbons - armed with a '59 Les Paul- during the 70's went from being "That little ol' band from Texas" to being wo...

Little Wing - Jeff Beck

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Beck playing a great tribute at New Orleans Jazzfest “Like” Bman’s Facebook page (available in over 50 languages). I will not relay senseless nonsense. In this way I can get out the word on new talent, venues and blues happenings! - click Here

Redhouse - Chantel McGregor

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Realising at an early age that if you picked up a guitar you got attention, especially from her dad whose guitar it usually was, it was inevitable that she would get one of her own. So at the ripe old age of three, she got her first guitar, a half size acoustic. At seven she started lessons but soon noticed that not only did the electric guitars have a smaller neck, making them ideal for little hands, but they could also make a lot more noise. After more lessons and a lot more noise, and at the grand old age of eight she became the youngest person in the country to pass a Rockschool grade. More lessons followed and with them came the realization that if you want people to listen, you need to sing! So it came to pass that at the age of twelve she arrived at the famous Melborn Hotel in Bradford to play and sing at the weekly jam session. Helped and encouraged by all the musicians, she developed rapidly into a incredible rock and blues musician. Now described as a "prodigy...

Red House - Slash and Boz Scaggs

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Saul Hudson (born July 23, 1965), known by his stage name Slash, is a British-American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During his later years with Guns N' Roses, Slash formed the side project Slash's Snakepit. He then co-founded the supergroup Velvet Revolver, which re-established him as a mainstream performer in the mid to late 2000s. In 2010, Slash released his eponymous debut solo album, featuring an all-star roster of guest musicians. Slash has received critical acclaim as a guitarist. Time named him runner-up on their list of "The 10 Best Electric Guitar Players" in 2009, while Rolling Stone placed him at No. 65 on their list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" in 2011. Guitar World ranked his solo in "November Rain" No. 6 on their list of "The 100 Greatest Guitar S...

The History of Red House

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"Red House" is a song written by Jimi Hendrix and originally recorded by The Jimi Hendrix Experience in 1966. The song, a slow twelve-bar blues, "is one of the most traditional in sound and form of all his official recordings". It was developed during his pre-Experience days while Hendrix was performing in Greenwich Village and was inspired by earlier blues songs. Hendrix recorded several studio and live versions during his career; later, "Red House" has been recorded by a variety of blues and other artists. "Red House" has "the twelve-bar structure, the lyrics, the accompaniment, and the arrangement [that] are more or less conventional" with Hendrix's guitar performance setting it apart. Billy Cox described "Red House" as "Jimi's way of using his musical roots, everything he knew and understood best, in a pop context". The song is a slow twelve-bar blues, usually notated in 12/8 time in the key of B (althoug...

Red House - Devils Creek

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These guys are heavily influenced by Rory Gallagher, Status Quo and early 70's British bluesy hard rock. They've got a great groove in the rhythm section, a fine guitarist in Guy Rosewel. The other members of Devils Creek consist of Tim Chapple on Bass Guitar and Terry Brown on drums. I'd like to catch a full recording of these guys music! “Like” Bman’s Facebook page (available in over 50 languages). I will not relay senseless nonsense. In this way I can get out the word on new talent, venues and blues happenings! - click Here

Hey Baby - Jimi Hendrix

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James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter. He is widely considered to be the greatest guitarist in musical history, and one of the most influential musicians of his era across a range of genres. After initial success in Europe with his group The Jimi Hendrix Experience, he achieved fame in the United States following his 1967 performance at the Monterey Pop Festival. Later, Hendrix headlined the iconic 1969 Woodstock Festival and the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival. He often favored raw overdriven amplifiers with high gain and treble and helped develop the previously undesirable technique of guitar amplifier feedback. Hendrix, as well as his friend Eric Clapton, popularized use of the wah-wah pedal in mainstream rock which he often used to deliver an exaggerated sense of pitch in his solos, particularly with high bends, complex guitar playing, and use of legato. As a recor...