Bman's Blues Report

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Everything Can Change , from Adam Karch and it's an interesting mix of acoustic and electric fused folk/blues music with solid vocals. Opening with It's Your Song , a contemporary, radio style track with a solid melody and clean acoustic guitar work, Adam Karch shows his stuff on vocal and guitar, backed by Richard Deschenes on bass and Marc-Andre Drouin on drums. JJ Cale's classic, After Midnight gets a substantial rework and I like it. Starting with acoustic slide and fine finger picking, Karch's stylistic vocal phrasing really changes the track and it's as cool as the original. Very nice. Porch Groove (Sunday Morning) is a real relaxing meandering melody on acoustic guitar. Very nice. Another nice cover is Bob Dylan's Don't Think Twice, It's Alright. Karch has one of those voices that is warm and refreshing and his picking style is clean and concise. Very nice. Wrapping the release i...

I just had the opportunity to review the latest release, The Gypsy Woman Told Me , by John Primer & Bob Corritore and it's a great dose of contemporary Chicago style blues. Opening with Keep A-Driving , Primer on vocal and guitar really does a nice job of setting the stage with Corritore supporting nicely and with solid piano work by Bob Welch, Kedar Roy on bass and June Core on drums. With a bit of boogie built in, Knockin' On Your Door , with Primer again leading on vocal gives Corritore a nice chance to spread a bit with great harp tones and Primer's guitar work is tight and well phrased. Lil Son Jackson's Gambling Blues is one of my favorite tracks on the release with quick paced acoustic guitar and fleet fingered lead by Primer and a fatter harp part by Corritore. Primer's own, Little Bitty Woman falls right from the Muddy Waters tree with a bouncy, Chicago blues pace, riding harp and Waters like slide work by Primer. Very cool. Slow blues, Walking ...

I just had the opportunity to review the debut release, Can You See Me? , from Maya Rae who demonstrates strong vocal skills and a fine hand for melody to match her lyrical skills. Opening with title track, Can You See Me? , Maya Rae who has a clear, pop style voice, with traces of Joni, Fiona and other successful folk style vocalists backed by guitar whiz Steve Dawson, Jamie Dick on drums, Jon Estes on bass, Kai Welch on keys and uke, and backing vocals by Allison Russell and JT Nero. Very nice opener. With just a dash of country styling, The Sun Will Come Out Again is another strong composition with a solid melody, and includes vibes by Charlie McCoy, Kristin Weber on violin, and Larissa Maestro on cello. I really like the delicate vocal treatment and musical contrast by Rae on Picture Frame and the vocal harmony work on Storm Leaf really makes for a nice pair of tracks. Bluesy, Freedom Fighter , is one of my favorites on the release with Welch on Wurlitzer, Dawson on slide a...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Higher Vibrations , from Mark Telesca and it's a cool acoustic showcase. Opening with original track, 99 Years , Telesca demonstrates an articulate and interesting guitar style while accompanying his solid vocals on this bluesy folk track. Cool opener. Another original track, Turn On A Dime , leans more heavily on Telesca's story telling and his ability to create a cool ambiance with his vocals and guitar. Very nice. Fred McDowell's Louise   gets a nice dose of acoustic slide guitar, further enhancing Telesca's rework of this blues classic. I also like his cover of Robert Johnson's Come On In My Kitchen with clean acoustic guitar work, slide and his own contemporary vocal blues styling. With a cool finger picked style, Papa's On The House Top , has a certain brightness that really makes Telesca shine. Al Green's, I'm A Ram , is toned down substantially but maintains the writers forcefu...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, The Funk, the Soul & The Holy Groove by Deltaphonic and I really like it. Opening with what sounds like a book from George Clintons book of funk, Liars really hits a terrific groove. With Andrew T. Weeks on vocal and guitar, Paul Provosty on lead guitar, and Trenton O'Neal and Ciaran Brennan on drums, this thing is super. Jerry Henderson on bass and  Andriu Yanovski on keys add critical funk to an already funk track. Excellent opener. With a thumping bass by Henderson and a cool guitar riff by Provosty, bouncing off of the snappy rhythm of O'Neal Bad People has that perfect New Orleans feel. Weeks' vocals are wild and Provosty's guitar playing is intelligent and hot. If It Don't Bleed has a lumbering rhythm, maintaining it's overall funky feel but with solid vocal harmonizing with Josh Kagler. A real nice change up is soulful ballad, The Denouement , with it's strong melody and super v...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, What My Eyes Have Seen..., from John Blues Boyd , and it's tasty. Opening with shuffle track, In My Blood, John Blues Boyd has the mic with silky smooth vocals, backed by Kid Andersen on guitar, Jim Pugh on piano, Quantae Johnson on bass, June Core on drums, and Eric Spaulding and Jack Sanford on sax. Solid opener.  Title track, What My Eyes Have Seen... is a really cool track with soulful vocals by Boyd over a dark bass line/guitar lead by Johnson and Anderson. There is quite a bit going on here with super percussion from June Core and Kid Andersen, Jack Sanford on sax, John Halblieb on Trumpet, Ric Feliziano and Pugh on organ. Excellent! Straight up blues number, A Beautiful Woman (For Dona Mae) is strong vocally with nice guitar soloing by Andersen and featuring Nancy Wright on sax. 49 Years is a real nice slower blues number with strong piano lines by Pugh, wailing sax by Spaulding and super blues phrasing b...

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Fabulous Day , from Pasty Thompson and it's a solid radio release. Opening with title track, Fabulous Day , Patsy Thompson establishes the playing field and belts out a cool radio track. Backed by Chris Rolin and the illustrious, Red Volkert on guitars, Bruce Morrison on bass, Chris Meister on drums, Andy Smyth on piano, Mike Sarryshyn on fiddle and Bruce Boulton on steel guitar. Country flavored, Picking You Up , has a great feel, Volkert's deep fretted riffs set the track off nicely and the winding steel riffs of Boulton are a great accent. Latin flavored, Passion is one of my favorite tracks on the release with nice fiddle runs by Sarryshyn and nicely executed Spanish style guitar lead by Rolin. Another track with a solid country flavor is Joy Ride with a strong melody, nicely harmonized backing vocals, a nice guitar solo by Rolin and cool steel accents by Boulton. Wrapping the release is a bluesy country tr...

I just had the opportunity to review to most recent release, Friends a & Family , from Jim Diamond Review and it's a swinging party. Opening with I'm Cryin' , Jim Diamond Boyington leads the way on lead vocal and some stellar guitar riffs. I love the bari work of Ryan Stiles and John Reese Pleasant's organ really works nicely, backed by Beth Deminski-Boyington on drums, Chris Herndon on rhythm guitar, Mark Wagner on bass and Joe DiGiuseppe on tenor. Great opener. Tight Mini Skirt is a cool jump track featuring Hank Mowery showing real nice harmonica solo throughout. Sometime In June is a cool instrumental which almost seems to want to break into a Latin rocker but maintains a southern R&B flavor with Stiles again ripping a solid bari solo and cool organ work from Pleasant. Jim's guitar solo is nicely phrased and extended. Very nice. Funky, I'm Walkin' , has a great bass line by Wagner, with Nick Mowery screaming a strong guitar solo and DiGius...

Pat "Mother Blues" Cohen, a Music Maker Relief Foundation partner artist sings weekly outside of a nursing home that's had an outbreak of COVID, where her brother lives. Pat's is a powerful story of artist giving back the way they can, even while the artist herself, with cancelled shows, little money, little digital literacy, and underlying health problems, is at a disadvantage. This is true of so most of the MMRF partner artists, primarily older black musicians. Pat had to leave New Orleans after Katrina flooded her house and was set to make a major comeback there with a slot at New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Fest, which is obviously not happening now. She lives outside of Charlotte, NC these days. Following are pieces from PBS NewsHour, CNN, and Rolling Stone.com on Pat, as well as her compatriots Sam Frazier, Jr. of Birmingham, AL, Ironing Board Sam (also formerly from NOLA) of Montgomery, AL, and New Orleans' Alabama Slim, and how Music Maker works clo...