Petrillo Music Shell

5:30-6:15pm - Toronzo Can-

non

6:30-7:45pm - Taj Mahal

Trio

8:05-9:30pm - Buddy Guy

Bud Light Crossroads Stage

"The Next Generation"

11:15am-12:15pm - Jamiah

On Fire and the Red Ma-

chine

12:45-2pm - Marquise Knox

2:30-3:45pm - Jarekus Sin-

gleton

4:15-5:30pm - Shawn Holt &

the Teardrops

Jackson Mississippi Rhythm

& Blues Stage

11:30am-12:30pm - Panel

Discussion – “Essence of

Soul Blues” with Alex Tho-

mas and Johnny Rawls

1-2pm - The House Rockers

2:30-3:30pm - Vickie Baker

4-5pm - Johnny Rawls

5:30-7:45pm - Jam Session

with The House Rockers

Pepsi Front Porch Stage

12 Noon-1pm - Austin

Walkin' Cane

1:30-2:30pm - Lurrie Bell

3-4pm - Paul Oscher Trio

4:30-5:30pm - Cash Box

Kings

continued on page 3

Summer of Fun– Blues Festivals and Events

Inside this issue:

News 1-6, 21-22 Music Reviews 7-20

Playlist, Members 23

Membership Application 24

Upcoming Events 24

Chicago Blues Fest 2015 Muddy Waters and Willie

Dixon Centennial

Outdoors blues in the sum-

mer– nothing is better here

in the northern Midwest.

There is a spectacular sum-

mer of blues ahead of us for

2015.

The kickoff to our local festi-

val season is typically the

Chicago Blues Festival. This

year it will be on June 12, 13

and 14, celebrating the 100th

birthdays of Muddy Waters

and Willie Dixon.

FRIDAY JUNE 12

Petrillo Music Shell

6-6:45pm - Zora Young

7:05-8:05pm - Clarence

Carter

8:25-9:30pm - Syl Johnson

Bud Light Crossroads Stage

11:15am-12:15 - Quintus

McCormick

12:45-2pm - Mary Lane

2:30-3:45pm - Charlie Love

4:15-5:30pm - Nellie "Tiger"

Travis and special guest B B

Queen

Jackson Mississippi Rhythm

& Blues Stage

11:30am-12:30pm - Panel

Discussion with Richard

Shurman- "100 Years of Blues

Greatness: Honoring Distin-

guished Centennials"

1-2pm - Scott Albert Johnson

2:30-3:30pm - Jj Thames

4-5pm - John Primer

5:30-7:45pm - Kenny "Beedy

Eyes" Smith Jam Session

Pepsi Front Porch Stage

12 Noon–1pm - Blues In The

Schools with Stone Academy,

Eric Noden, Katherine Davis

1:30–2:30pm - Studebaker

John's Maxwell Street Kings

3-4pm - Andy T. and Nick

Nixon Band

4:30–5:30pm - Eddie Shaw &

The Wolfgang

SATURDAY JUNE 13

2015 Crossroads Blues Festival

Gate Opens at 11 AM on August 29th

Albert Castigila 8 PM

Dave Specter and Sharon Lewis with Brother John Kattke 6 PM

Mike Wheeler Band 4 PM

Stormcellar with Jo Fitz-gerald 2 PM

Jimmy Nick and Don’t Tell Mama Noon

Dan Phelps and Macyn Taylor in the Pavilion between acts

Harmonica workshop with Justin “Boots” Gates at 3:30 PM

$5 advanced tickets, $10 at gate

Friday & Saturday primi-tive camping available (tents $10, campers $20)

$4 beer, $1 pop and water

Free parking and food available for purchase; no coolers or pets please

Crossroads Blues in the Park this Summer

When we left Byron for Lyran

Park we always knew some-

thing would make us go back

to Byron for something and

that something is blues in the

park! The Byron Park District

acquired land on Mill Road

and there is now a slick facil-

ity with a beautiful, big lawn

and a pavilion to house

bands. We met with the Park

Board and they were up to

doing monthly shows on Sun-

day afternoons so we went

out and found some great

acts to make things happen

there!

Kicking things off on Sunday

June 14 is the great story-

teller and bluesman Doug

MacLeod. Doug was touring

in the area and we wanted to

continued on page 2

The Crossroads Blues Society Newsletter

TheGROOVE May-June 2015

take that opportunity to have Doug visit us and kick off our park series. Opening for Doug at 3 PM is local guitar great Dan Phelps. Doug will play from 4 to 6 PM. It will be a great afternoon of blues with this fantastic BMA and Blues Blast award win-ning storyteller, singer, songwriter and guitar player! In July, we have the young and energetic Jimmy Nick and Don’t Tell Mama. On the 26th. Jimmy’s great brand of blues blends rock and rockabilly into old style blues from the 50’s and 60’s. It will be quite the afternoon of music. Adding to the fun is recent addition to Jimmy’s band– Hot Rod Rodney Brown is featured on tenor sax and he is a great horn player who will de-light listeners! Our last offering for the summer will be the legendary Bobby Messano and his band. Bobby has toured and recorded with the greats as lead guitar player.

Page 2 The Groove- Crossroads Blues Society Newsletter

Summer Blues in the Park

continued from page 1

Area Music Industry Youth Jam winner from 2014 and has captured the hearts and minds of blues fans in the Rockford and Northern Illinois area. He entertained us last year between sets at the fest and he now gets a chance to host a group harmonica lesson with free harps for the first 25 kids 10 and under! See our poster inside this issue for this great festival! Also check us out on line at our new link (same site, just a new and easier link): www.crossroadsbluesfestival.com to see the latest on our festival. Below are some idea we are having for 2015 festival attire. We’re still finalizing our designs and styles, but it will look something like these samples! .

As most of our readers know, the Cross-roads Blues Festival is entering it’s 6th year on the Saturday before Labor Day weekend. Plans are now completely solid for our August 29th festival. Festival ticket sales are already going crazy months before the fest and there is a super buzz about it around the Stateline area and with blues fans. $5 advanced tickets? Are we kidding? Hell no! We do have one change: unfortunately, Jason Ricci is not available for the harp workshop, so we have local wunderkind Justin “Boots” Gates who will be holding a workshop for us. Justin is a Rockford

2015 Crossroads Blues Festival Update

Steve Winwood, Lou Gramm, Starz, Shadows of Knight, Franke and the Knockouts, Clarence Clemons, and Benny Mardones. His new album “Love and Money” just hit the streets and it is getting extraordinary airplay! Bobby’s been nominated for 19 Gram-mys over the years so this is another show that you will not want to miss! Crossroads is making these shows happen by partnering with the Byron Park District and we are looking to fund the musical acts with sponsorship and donations from local businesses and blues fans. Contact us at sub_insignia@yahoo.com or 779-537-4006 to find out how you can support live music. The park is a great new setting. Bring a blanket or chairs, a picnic lunch or dinner and have a great time grooving to the blues!

Crossroads Blues Society Officers

and Board Members Contact Info President: Steve Jones sub_insignia@yahoo.com

Vice-President: Bill Graw williamjgraw@gmail.com

Secretary: Bonnie Fox bonitafx@gmail.com

Treasurer: Terry Keller terry@markpack.com

Board of Directors:

Denny Barker harkthebark@mchsi.com

Rick Davis rick_davis_937@comcast.net

Bob Haendler rhaendler@comcast.net

Ken Pearson cntrylivng@aol.com

Rick Hein mrrickhein@sbcglobal.net

Page 3 May-June 2015

Boxers 6:00 PM Damon Fowler 7:30 PM Son Little 9:00 PM The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band

Big Bull Falls Blues Festival up in Wausau is on August 14 and 15 with a big lineup: FRIDAY AUGUST 14 Blues Disciples Howard Luedtke and Blue Max The Jimmys with Jim Liban SATURDAY AUGUST 15 Jimmi and Band of Souls Danielle Nicole Band Selwyn Birchwood Walter Trout Sonny Landreth

Our own Crossroads Blues Festival at Lyran Park is Saturday August 29: Noon Jimmy Nick and Don’t Tell Mama 2PM Stormcellar with Jo Fitzgerald 4 PM Mike Wheeler Band 6 PM Dave Specter and Sharon Lewis with Brother John Kattke 8 PM Albert Castiglia Dan Phelps and Macyn Taylor between acts 3:30 PM Justin “Boots” Gate Harmonica Workshop

The Mississippi Valley Blues Festival moves to Labor Day weekend on Septem-ber 6 and 7, a Saturday and Sunday this year. Lineups are still being determined at press time. SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 6 SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 7

The Paramount Blues Festival in Grafton is the next weekend on September 11 and 12: FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 11 GARY HOEY 8:30pm DAVY KNOWLES 6:45pm AARON WILLIAMS & THE HOODOO 5:00 pm SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 12 TBD at press time

La Salle Business Association’s BBQ-n-Blues in the Friday September 11th part of the joint blues and jazz event (Blues Fri-day, Jazz Saturday): Friday September 11 Crossroads - 4:00 PM Written Warning - 5:30 PM The Lizzi Neal Band - 7:00 PM Morry Sochat - 8:30 PM Back Pack Jones - 10:00 PM

So the summer festival season is nearing with plenty of great things to do. Add all the park music series and and individual events and 2015 looks to be a grooving summer of musical fun!

SUNDAY JUNE 14 Petrillo Music Shell 5-6:05pm - Billy Branch and the Sons of Blues and special guest Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater 6:20-7:45pm - Willie Dixon Centennial Tribute featuring Billy Branch, Keshia Dixon, Tomiko Dixon, Bobby Dixon, Freddie Dixon, Alex Dixon, Cash McCall, Sugar Blue, John Watkins and Andrew Blaze Thomas 8:05-9:30pm - Muddy Water’s Centennial Tribute featuring Bob Margolin, Mud Mor-ganfield, Big Bill Morganfield, John Primer, Rick Kreher, Bob Stroger, Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith, E.G. McDaniel, Bar-relhouse Chuck , Jerry Portnoy and Paul Oscher Bud Light Crossroads Stage 11:15am-12:15 - Chick Rodgers 12:45-2pm - Holle Thee Maxwell 2:30-3:45pm - Blues Shaking the Fields 4:15-5:30pm - John Németh Jackson Mississippi Rhythm & Blues Stage 11:30am-12:30 - Panel Discussion – Muddy Water & Willie Dixon 1-2pm - Tawanna Shaunte 2:30-3:30pm - Tonya Boyd-Cannon 4-5pm - Patrice Moncell 5:30-7:45pm - Blues Jam Session with Dexter Allen Pepsi Front Porch Stage 12 Noon-1pm - Celebrating Centennial of 1915–2015 - Round Robin with Bill Sims Jr. (Tribute to Brownie McGhee), Paul Kaye (Tribute to David "Honeyboy" Ed-wards) and Donna Herula (Tribute to Johnny Shines & Rosette Tharpe) 1:30-2:30pm - Paul Kaye Trio 3-4pm - M.S.G. Acoustic Blues Trio 4:30-5:30pm - Heritage Blues Orchestra Quartet

The next weekend affords blues fans two opportunities. The Madison Blues Picnic is on Saturday, June 20 with: Birddog Blues Band Blues Kids The Jimmys Jim Liban with the Joel Patterson Trio Daddy Mack Blues Band Dee Miller Band Blues on the Fox is both Friday and Satur-day June 19 and 20: FRIDAY JUNE 19 7 PM Royal Southern Brotherhood 9 PM North Mississippi Allstars SATURDAY JUNE 20 3 PM Moreland and Arbuckle 5 PM Otis Taylor 7 PM Mavis Staples 9 PM Trombone Shorty

The Blues, Brews and BBQ Festival in Champaign IL on June 26 and 27 and

features the best female artists in the blues world: FRIDAY JUNE 26 4:30-5:30 - Kayla Brown 5:50-7:20 - Upshot 7:45-8:15 - Adrianna Marie 8:40-10:10 - Sena Ehrhardt 10:30-Midnight - Carolyn Wonderland SATURDAY JULY 27 12:50-2:20 - US 105.9 Country Showdown 2:40-4:10 - Laura Rain 4:30-5:00 - Motorcycle Awards Show 5:00-6:30 - Joanna Conner 6:50-8:20 - Janiva Magness 8:40-10:10 - Shawn Murphy 10:30-Midnight - Ana Popovic The bucolic Prairie Dog Blues Festival up in Prairie DuChien is July 31 and August 1 with a great lineup: FRIDAY JULY 31 5 PM Girls with Guitars 7 PM Larry McCray 9 PM Davina and the Vagabonds 11 PM Devon Allman SATURDAY AUGUST 1 12:30 PM Renee Austin 2:300 PM Danielle Nicole Band 4:30 PM The 44’s 6:30 PM Sugar Ray Rayford 8:30 PM Moreland and Arbuckle 10:30 PM Davy Knowles

Over in McHenry, the Rotary Club’s Blues and BBQ Festival is July 31 and August 1 and 2: FRIDAY JULY 31 5 PM John Todd 730 PM Howard and the White Boys SATURDAY AUGUST 1 4 PM Joe Moss Band 630 PM Rollover with Louie Zagoras 9 PM Kevin Purcell and the Nightburners SUNDAY AUGUST 2 1230 PM Mississippi Stanglers 3 PM Melvin Taylor 530 PM Jimmy Nick

The Waukesha Blues Festival on August 7 and 8 has some great acts: FRIDAY AUGUST 7 1:00 PM Matt Tyner 2:00 PM Ralph Jr. and The Blackjack Blues Band 3:00 PM Zach Pietrini and The Broken Bones 4:30 PM Cadillac Pete and The Heat 6:00 PM Chris King Robinson 7:30 PM Greg Koch & The Tone Controls 9:00 PM Rick Derringer SATURDAY AUGUST 15 1:00 PM Les Paul Launchpad Award Fi-nalist 2:00 PM Mojo Radio 3:00 PM Billy Flynn Blues Band 4:30 PM Josh Hoyer and The Shadow

Page 4 The Groove- Crossroads Blues Society Newsletter

#100 – Big Maybelle – The Complete

OKeh Sessions (1952-1955) – 1994 -

Compilation

(1924-1972) Big Maybelle brought us

“Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On” before

Jerry Lee Lewis. She was quite the R&B

belter, and her entire OKeh output is on

this 25 song disc. If you like this, pick up

Blues, Candy & Big Maybelle (1958)

which holds her work on the Savoy label.

Our reviews are of recently issued blues music, new and compilations. Many re-cords/cds/downloads have come before them. But what is the best of the older stuff? Best of Lists are always interesting and never accurate to all our tastes. Re-cently I came across a 132 Best Blues Albums of All Time. The compiler, John M. Becker, looked at 10 “Best Of” lists and combined them into one overall list. He compiles lists of a variety of things using inputs from various sources. Those with more mentions are higher on the list. The list goes alphabetical for those releases with the same amount of hits on the lists. I will share with you this list with my thoughts on each album. I hope we all look back into our collections or add to them to revisit these classics.

Mark Nelson On two of ten lists...

#132 – Johnny Winter – Third Degree – 1986 (1944-2014) Johnny Winter will always be in the upper echelon of blues/rock gui-tarists. This is his 3rd release on Alligator Records he is joined by Tommy Shannon and Red Turner, with a guest spot by Dr. John. “Tin Pan Alley” and “Third Degree” are enjoyable. Need more, try his first Alligator release Guitar Slinger.

#132 – Johnny Winter – The Progres-sive Blues Experiment – 1969 (1944-2014) This is an early LP for Johnny, originally released before the Columbia early releases. The power of “Rollin and Tunblin’” and “Black Cat Bone” show he is the real deal. This is a good place to start with Johnny. For more, try out 1973’s Still Alive And Well.

#131 – Sonny Boy Williamson – His

Best – 1997 - Compilation

(1899-1965) This is Sonny Boy II with his remarkable Chess output on a single CD with 20 cuts. “One Way Out”, “Checkin' Up On My Baby” and “Don't Start Me Talk-ing” are essential cuts. To go back further try 1990’s Sonny Boy's Rhythm (1953-54).

Top All Time Blues Albums by Mark Nelson, courtesy of John M. Becker

Page 5 May-June 2015

career spanning 20 cut CD of great music. “Have You Ever Loved a Woman”, “Hide Away”, “You've Got to Love Her With a Feeling” are all included. We get vocals that were missing in #95. A great one stop shopping spot for this King of the blues. If you want more, try 1995’s King Of The Blues 2 disc set on Capital Re-cords

. #93 – B. B. King – Indianola Missis-sippi Seeds – 1970 (1925) B. B. is in full swing of popularity

and respect. This is not as much straight blues, there is some rock here. Carole King, Joe Walsh, Leon Russell and Russ Kunkel all help out. With the success of “The Thrill Is Gone” producer Bill Szymczk assem-ble this cast to push King towards a wider poplarity. The album package won a grammy. Best cuts are “Nobody Loves Me But My Mother”, “Hummingbird”, and “Ain't Gonna Worry My Life Anymore”. Enjoy this one, and you just might just like 1969’s Completely Well with “The Thrill Is Gone”.

#92 – B. B. King – Blues Is King – 1967 (1925) This is live B. B. King from the International Club in Chicago in 1966. We have seen many live King releases over the years. This one shows him in his stride before the even greater popularity hits. He is in control and a fine enter-tainer. “I Know What Your’re Puttin’ Down” and “Buzz Me” are favorite tracks. For more, go get 1969’s Live And Well.

#99 – Little Walter – The Essential Little Walter – 1993 – Compilation (1930-1968) Little Walter brought the harmonica to a new urban level with his work with Chess records. This double CD is the best songs of that era, including “Juke”, “Boom Boom”, & “Dead Presi-dents”. At 46 cuts, you get a great cross section of his work. Enjoy it! If you need more, pick up 2009’s The Complete Chess Masters: 1950-1967 5 CD set.

#98 – Lightnin’ Slim – Rooster Blues - 1960 (1913-1974) Swamp blues at it’s best. These Excello recordings are top notch. Lazy Lester is on harmonica joining Light-nin’ Slim on guitar. “Rooster Blues”, “Bed Bug Blues”, and “It’s Mighty Crazy” are top notch tracks. If you need more, pick up 1965’s Bell Ringer for more blues including “Love Me Mama”.

#97 – J. B. Lenoir – His J.O.B. Re-cordings – 1951-1954 – 1989 - Compila-tion (1929-1967) This collection has 21 of Lenoir’s earliest cuts. Lenoir handles gui-tar and vocals with Sunnyland Slim joins on piano on many cuts. I enjoyed “Let It Roll”, “Mojo Boogie”, and “Louise”. There is a nice use of sax on some tracks. His offering have a bit of jazz and certainly some boogie woogie. For more, try Viet Nam Blues:The Complete L&R Ses-sions (65-66) from 1995.

#96 – Leadbelly – King Of The 12 String – 1991 - Compilation (1888-1949) Folk blues starts with Lead-belly (Huddie Leadbetter)and his great story of playing in prison and the recrdong by the Alan Lomax. “T.B. Blues”, “Yellowjacket”, and “Packin’ Truck Blues” are stars here. Everyone should listen to this. Also enjoy Absolutely The Best from 1990 containing the original “House Of The Rising Sun” and “Goodnight Irene”.

#95 – Freddie King – Just Pickin’ – 1989 – Compilation (1934-1976) Freddie King’s work influ-enced both blues players and rockers. His instrumental touch is top notch. This CD is all instrumentals from his first two LPs on the King label (Let’s Hide Away & Bonanza). Hideaway and San-Ho-Zay are included in the 24 tracks. For a live feel, grab 1996’s Live At The Electric Ball-room CD.

#94 – Freddie King – Hideaway: The Best OF Freddy King – 1989 – Compila-tion (1934-1976) It is curious that they used his original spelling on this one. A classic

Page 6 May-June 2015

Blues in the Schools is alive and well in Rockford for the 2014 and 2015 school year. We knocked out four programs in May with Dave Fields doing a pair on May 1 and Mark Dvorak and David Causey doing another pair on May 8. Dave’s high energy program was captivating for the kids and they loved his discussion and performances. Mark and David did the “Life and Times of Leadbelly” program which kept the students spellbound. This school year we have done nine school programs, three of which are at first time schools for us. Jefferson HS, Froberg ES, Haskell ES, Spring Creek ES (2 programs), Brookview ES, Lewis Lemon ES, Whitehead ES, and Martin Luther King ES all were visited with Jeffer-son, Froberg and Brookview being new to BITS. This was our fourth and fifth pro-gram at Spring Creek,it was our third visits to Lewis Lemon and Martin Luther King and our second visits to Haskell and Whitehead. 2,665 students attended the programs, making for 138 in total for over 42,000 students since May 2002. Our thanks go out to the schools and to members Rick Davis, Bob Haendler and Dennis Barker for escorting the artists on both of those days. Rick Davis, along with Steve Jones, also set up and coordinated programming with the schools. Photos by Rick Davis

#91 – B. B. King – His Definitive Great-est Hits (1964-1993) – 1999 - Compila-tion (1925) Packed into 2 CDs are 34 of

King’s best. Live and studio cuts are included. This is a great place to start if you have none in your collec-tion. If this is not enough go for 1992’s 4 CD set King Of The Blues.

#90 – Albert King – Live Wire/Blues Power - 1968 (1923-1992) Albert is one of the 3 great King’s. His powerful left handed guitar playing makes him one of the most influ-ential performers. His work on Stax Re-cords is great. This is a live set from the Fillmore. He tackles “Watermelon Man”, “Blues Power”, and “Blues At Sunrise”. For more live Albert, go to 1977’s Live in Montreux.

#89 – Albert King – The Ultimate Col-lection – 1993 – Compilation (1923-1992) This is a superb 2 disc, 39 cut collection of great Albert King music. “Crosscut Saw”, “Phone Booth”, “Blues

Power” and “Born Under A Bad Sign” are included. This should be owned by all of us.

#88 – Junior Kimbrough – Sad Days, And Lonely Nights - 1993 (1930-1998) This is the second release for Kimbrough on Fat Possum. It takes us back to bare bones juke joint blues. It grinds you with it raw energy. “Lord, Have Mercy on Me” and “Leaving in the Morn-ing” are my favorites. It’s not a big discog-raphy, but also give Most Things Haven’t Worked Out a listen.

#88 – Junior Kimbrough – All Night Long - 1992 (1930-1998) “All Night Long” was the second disc issued on Fat Possum Re-cords. It brought a new life to these Mis-sissippi blues from his appearance in Deep Blues movie and soundtrack gar-nered lots of attention. The music was the show with “All Night Long” and “Slow Lightning” leading the way. For more try 1997’s Do The Rump.

Continued in our July-August

2015 issue! Thanks to Mark Nel-

son for putting this together– we

are looking forward to the next

installment and hope that you are,

too! And thanks to John M.

Becker who is an obsessive and

wonderful compiler of lists of all

sorts of wonderful things!

Blues in the Schools Update

Page 7 May-June 2015

their all. Bobby’s vocal range remains strato-spheric as he winds his way sweetly through this classic blues rock cut. Even with this Winwood song the tact Messano takes with the songs remains one with darker lyrical intent.

As a stark contrast to the rest of the tunes, Bobby also gives us the instrumental “Boddentown,” a Latin-infused samba with some spectacular guitar work. Messano has layered on the guitars here to great effect; the sound of Messano’s guitar is more of the style of Carlos Montoya or Al Di Meola than rock-ers like Carlos Santana or Eric Clap-ton. “Rollin’ On” is a mid tempo blues rocker. One hears the influences of Bobby’s early rock career blended with the bluesy approach of his latter career from these past two decades. “My Failed Career” contrasts the “success” of limos and Gucci bags with the starker realities of Messano’s life and what makes his blues real and authentic. A deep, bluesy cut with a little funk from Bobby’s guitar and Freddy’s organ make this a very enjoyable slow tempo tune. “Hard World 2015” is a big, rolling blues rocker that completes the album and leaves us with a little hope despite the frustrations of life in 2015.

The album is dedicated to Messano’s fa-ther. A WWII veteran, he served as a para-trooper in Europe and saw and experienced things few of us could even begin to imag-ine. His impression on his son has always been a spark of joy for me to hear about in talking with Bobby. His Dad was a great man who supported Bobby and lived somewhat vicariously through his music. Bobby loves and misses him deeply. The album release date of April 15th celebrates the date his Fa-ther passed from this world. I never met Al-bert Francis Messano but I feel that I knew him hearing Bobby speak of him. This album is a fitting tribute.

After 40 years in the industry Messano has enjoyed success at the top and mucked around in the dregs of it all. Yet he remains hopeful and positive. This CD is a catharsis of sorts. Bobby is purging himself f of the demons that have perplexed him throughout the years while masterfully putting together what has to be his showcase album. His fans will love this piece of work. Those new to Bobby will appreciate this album and perhaps then feel some regret having missed out on the decades long ride that Bobby’s been on. It’s blues infused with rock from the likes of Hendricks and Winwood and all those Eng-lish boys who restored faith in all that is good by bringing the blues back to us in the 1960’s and 1970’s. I loved this album and strongly recommend you listen to it and feel the emo-tions bared in this great music.

Reviewed by Steve Jones

Love and Money Bobby Messano Self-Released www.bobbymessano.com 10 tracks

Bobby Messano men-tioned to me last summer that he was working to get a new and different album together for release in the spring of 2015. I noted that I would happily do the liner notes or help in some way if he would like. He agreed and we went off talking about food, wine, music and whatever else. It was around Thanksgiving-time last year that Bobby contacted me and said he had roughs of his new songs. I sheepishly asked if he still wanted someone to write liner notes for the forthcoming release and he said he was ex-pecting me to do so. I was hoping I’d like these songs because now I was commit-ted. It turns out I had nothing to worry about.

I initially wrote the draft of the liner notes for Love and Money when I heard the rough roughs that Bobby had sent me. I really felt compelled to write about this music because of how it affected me. I was moved by the darkness of the lyrics and melodies behind them. Not despair, and not really anger; it was a mixture of frustration and soul clean-sing that I sensed. The roughs were fantastic and I could not wait to hear more.

In a manner of speaking, some people wear their hearts on their sleeves. They run around and live life like Chicken Little, pro-claiming “Woe is me!” at every opportu-nity. Bobby is not like that. Bobby is a bub-bly, effervescent sort of guy. He works his ass off travelling, touring, working and playing his brand of blues and rock. But he likes to do that. His music is his life and he is totally enamored with being immersed in making great music. How else can one fend off the arrows and slings of life on the road singing and playing the blues? These songs were dark and moving, an expression of the things he’d gone through recently and over the years.

As the tracks were fleshed out in Nashville this past winter, Bobby had some vocal prob-lems and could not sing. So I next heard the tracks as instrumentals. I compared them back and forth with the roughs and was im-pressed by the layers of music that Messano had envisioned and had now put in place to envelope these songs. His guitars, the key-boards, the backline and some other accom-paniments really sounded good and really complemented the lyrics that he would be adding when his voice recovered. Now all the tracks are whole. The final mixes are emerging from the studio. As I listen and hear the finished product it is something that I

seem to understand based on knowing what the vision was and watching the pieces fall in place. What we have here is Bobby’s most interesting and best album ever. Ever. Pe-riod.

Before anyone gets their panties in a snit, I’m not getting paid by Bobby or his production team for the liner notes, reviews, articles or whatever. Bobby is my friend and I really like what he has done. If I didn’t, there would be silence instead of praise. This is some really good and emotionally intense music. Ten great tracks, a solid set of tunes. It is new stuff and a cover that is fitting to the theme of the album.

In the opening song Bobby laments, “April Showers don’t bring no flowers when the rain is mixed with snow.” In “April Showers” we hear of his trials and tribulations where Bobby tells us he cannot make everyone happy all the time. For a big, blues rocker, this is mini-malistic sound with acoustic guitar in the fore-front while the rest of the band is more sub-dued in support. But then Messano then switches things up with some stinging electric guitar after a nice piano solo by Gasparini and we wind our way for a big finish. He builds up this memorable performance and leaves us wanting more. The title track follows. The love Bobby talks about here is not the lasting sort but one that is used for gains and mate-rial things. A sad commentary perhaps is being played out while he and the band really nail this song. It’s got a mean, boogie sort of groove and it is driven by Messano on his guitar and Freddie Gasparini on the or-gan. The groove is laid down by the backline of Suavek Zaniesienko on bass and Dave Hollingsworth on drums, perhaps the tightest and coolest backline he’s toured and played with. “Seasons” also builds from a simpler acoustic guitar to a big, momentous sound. Messano is masterful in his approach to tunes like these.

Bobby and the band completely funk things up for us in “What I Got.” The theme remains dark, lamenting over no money, no car, no house, no girl, etc., etc., but stating that it’s his love that keeps him going we find hope in the song. Some fine organ and guitar work here make for a really sweet sound, and Dave and Suavek also give us a deep groove to swing to. Bobby tells us of the demands place on him in “Everything is Alright.” It also speaks to us of the hope of success that helps us cope when we suffer with adver-sity. The song verges on country music with its’ opening fiddle work, but Messano remains grounded in blues and rock in this tasteful ballad. Messano takes us back to Steve Win-wood and Blind Faith with “Had To Cry To-day.” Guitar and organ blend well for Mes-sano and Gasparini (as they did for Clapton and Winwood) and they and the band give it

Music Reviews

Page 8 The Groove- Crossroads Blues Society Newsletter

Prado and the rest of the band handle eve-rything thrown at them, repeatedly display-ing a deep understanding of the music. Combining them with a bevy of outstanding vocalists brings out the best in everyone, placing this recording in the “Can’t Miss” category! Reviewed by Mark Thompson Loretta

Shaun Murphy Self-released www.reverbnation.com/theshaunmurphyband 12 tracks Shaun Murphy’s latest, Loretta, offers a master class on how to rock the blues. The arrangements are pow-ered by the stellar fret board work of Rob McNelley, Jim Fiano, and the slashing slide of Allman Brothers band alumni Jack Pear-son. But the guitars take a backseat to Murphy’s magnificent voice. On hard-driving tunes or late-night confessions, her superb phrasing and vibrant soulfulness make you feel every heartache, every tear. Originals like “Don’t Lie to Me” and the title track have surging rhythms compliments of the tight backline of Randy Coleman on bass and George Lilly on drums. Pearson’s slide is featured on the latter song, answer-ing every line Murphy sings. She displays the power and range of her voice on “Go Away” and “Should Be Hard To Love You,” both hard-driving boogie cuts. “Kiss Me Like Whiskey” is an intimate por-trayal of a woman hopelessly in love that leaves listeners hanging on every gripping vocal inflection. Murphy is equally compel-ling on “Strange Life,” another close look at the hurting side of love. The organ-drenched arrangement of “I Pity The Fool” elicits a biting response from Murphy, who then makes her displeasure known as she wants more good lovin’ from her “Hard Working Man”. She tears through the hard-driving “Big Train Stops At Mem-phis,” matching the rowdy band every step of the way. To finish things off, she offers a solid dose of Memphis funk on Bettye Crutcher’s “How Strong Is A Woman”. Since leaving Little Feat, Shaun Murphy has released a string of richly detailed re-cordings focused on her immaculate phras-ing and songwriting skills. It is a puzzling as to why she does not get the acclaim accorded to other artists. One listen to this soul-shaking release will have you singing her praises! Reviewed by Mark Thompson

Holding Court

The Cash Box Kings Blind Pig Records www.cashbox-kings.com www.blindpig-records.com 13 tracks/ On their third release on the Blind Pig label– and seventh release in the last twelve years – the Cash Box Kings continue to offer material steeped in the classic blues traditions while spicing things up with lyrics exploring contemporary issues. Once again the line-up features a rotating cast of out-standing musicians who are all well-versed in the program, enabling the band to main-tain its high standards throughout the disc. The disc opens with a sprightly tempo on “I Ain’t Gonna Be No Monkey Man” as singer Oscar Wilson makes sure his woman knows what he expects, with stellar accom-paniment from the twin guitars of Billy Flynn and Joel Paterson. “Download Blues” finds Wilson bemoaning the decline of CD sales and lack of financial compensation for the band’s music despite repeated plays across the Internet. Joe Nosek takes the lead on “Cash Box Boogie,” one of eight songs he wrote. The driving shuffle comes complete with a fiery solo from Paterson plus Barrelhouse Chuck’s joyous piano fills. On “Quarter to Blue,” Nosek pays homage to Little Walter, his wailing harp seemingly possessed with the spirit of that legendary musician. The stark, haunting performance of John Lee Hooker’s “Hobo Blues” features Pater-son and Mark Haines on drums. Wilson’s spell-binding vocal paints a forlorn portrait of life on the rails. The singer expresses a different form of anguish on “Gotta Move Out To The Suburbs,” which he co-wrote with Nosek. He relates the details of the gentrification of his neighborhood to the point that he can’t afford to live where he grew up, commenting, “They even got mil-lion dollar condos in Cabrini Green!” The track benefits from the signature sound Barrelhouse Chuck on his Farfisa organ. “Juju” settles into a rhumba-flavored rhythm as Nosek describes a captivating woman, calling out to her with some full-bodied harp tones. “Everybody’s Fishin’ “ finds Wilson in better spirits on a jump blues powered by the amazing Beau Sample on upright bass and Mark Haines on drums with Paterson add-ing some red-hot licks. “Out On The Road” is a slower lament with the band’s other rhythm section, comprised of Kenny “Beedy Eyes” Smith on drums and Brad Ber on upright bass. Nosek is in fine form on “Baby Without You,” singing and playing

with an energy level that matches Pater-son’s mesmerizing guitar solo. “I’m A Real Lover” veers into Jimmy Reed territory with Wilson singing with a downhome feel be-fore Paterson and Nosek have their say. As good as their last two Blind Pig releases were, this could be the Cash Box Kings effort yet. The veteran line-up infuses Nosek’s sharp originals with classic sounds accented by concise instrumental excur-sions. And their secret weapon – Oscar Wison – is a natural-born blues singer who takes his time with a song. This one comes highly recommended! Reviewed by Mark Thompson Way Down South

Igor Prado Band Delta Groove Re-cords http://www.deltagroove-productions.com/ 13 tracks The title for this release looks well beyond the Mississippi delta region all the way to Brazil, home of guitarist Igor Prado and his exceptional band featuring brother Yuri on drums, the brilliant Rodrigo Mantovani on acoustic & electric bass plus Denilson Mar-tins on saxophone. They are joined by a host of Delta Groove All-stars who help out on vocals, harp, guitar & keyboards. Sugaray Rayford gets the party started with a powerful vocal on “Matchbox” as Prado lays down some incendiary guitar licks. “baby Won’t You Jump With Me” is a swinging affair with the late Lynwood Slim handling the vocal while Ari Borger rocks the 88’s and Junior Watson makes his lone appearance on guitar. The band shows off their understanding of the Chicago style backing Mud Morganfield on “She’s Got It,” with Ivan Marcio on harp. Other highlights include Kim Wilson’s sing-ing and fine harp playing on the swamp blues tune, “If You Ever Need Me,” while Rod Piazza rocks the house with some hearty blowing on “Talk To Me Baby”. The band does a spirited cover of Junior Walker’s hit, “Shake & Fingerpop,” with Prado starring on vocal and guitar. “What Have I Done” features Mitch Kashmar’s fat harp tones and Rayford returns for a dark rendering of “Big Mama Blues,” with Mon-ster Mike Welch joining Prado on guitar. The closing number, “Trying To Do Right,” is done acoustically with Omar Coleman’s bent harp notes echoing his expressive voice.

Page 9 May-June 2015

The opening song is a public domain tune called “Tough Times”. It is straight up 12 bars blues. This one is powerful. “I Best Choose To Pick The Blues” is a Big Dave original. It picks up the pace of the record with some fine slide guitar (Colin Linden) and harmonica work. Tampa Red wrote “Dead Cat On The Line”. It is done in a picking bluegrass style. Colin James sup-ports with mandolin. The CD gets its first electric cut with Big Dave original “The Fallen”. The steel guitar work by Steve Dawson is great. The song reminds me of Spencer Bohren from New Orleans. “Sittin’ On A Fence” is a country blues mid tempo tune. It is written by Vince Andrushko, a solo country artist. I like “Don’t Get Mad, Get Even”. The pace picks up with it, and a more urban feel. Ray LaMontagne wrote “Devil’s In The Jukebox”. It features strong slide work by Dawson, and some good lyrics. The 8th cut is “One More Day” written by Oliver Wood (The Wood Brothers). It has a country/gospel feel to it, and fits in well with the entire CD. Tom Waits provides the next tune “Mr. Siegal”. This song slides all the way to the end of the Mississippi with its New Orleans feel. Steve Dawson provides some fine banjo. The McCrary Sisters add vocals to “Shades Of Grace”. This original has fine gospel influences in it, though it borrows from “Amazing Grace”. The McCrary Sisters remain on the old gospel type tune “Oh-Mr. Charlie – Oh”. This song has a great old gospel/work song feel to it. Steve Dawson again sup-plies some haunting guitar work. The final cut is the Skip James classic “Devil Got My Woman”. Big Dave goes solo here on acoustic steel guitar. I normally like a more up tempo tune for the finale, but it certainly goes with the flow of the CD. This CD is a find set of delta and country blues. It goes back to the past, and brings in some younger new songs too. If you like this type of blues, run and grab this CD. It is very well done. Reviewed by Mark Nelson

Day Into Night Tad Robinson Severn Records www.tadrobinson.com www.severn-records.com 12 tracks Guys like John Nemeth, Curtis Salgado and Tad Robinson have invaded the soul side of the blues scene and deliver per-formances with such feeling and emotion that continually impress me. Tad Robin-son’s latest release on Severn Records is one of those iconic performances that showcase his talents and make him a viable, award-considerable soul man. I last saw Tad in Davenport last summer at the Mississippi Valley Blues Fest. He delivered one of the best performances, if not the best performance, of the day. Assembled with him is a fine band : Johnny Moeller on guitar, Robb Stupka on drums, Steve Gomes on bass, and Kevin Anker on keys. Severn uses these guys to their and artists’ advantage. Also ap-pearing are other stalwarts of Severn or the industry in general, including Anson Funderburgh on one track, Alex Schultz on four tracks, Benje Porecki on organ on one track, and a great four piece horn section. These are incredible artists who work together incredibly well. “Soul Lover” opens up the album. Written by bassist Steve Gomes, this is a slick and sexy cut where lyrics and melody blend with the groove extremely well . Robinson’s exceptional approach with guitar, organ and horn backing him ex-plode emotionally in this excellent tune. “Call Me” has two versions; the first fol-lows “Soul Lover” and the second closes the CD. Penned by Tad and two other band members, this funky piece is a de-lightful love song. Robinson asks for his woman to show him some sort of sign and give him a holler every once in a while. He growls softly as he calls on his woman to contact him. “Lonely Talking” has Tad apologizing for what transpired between he and another lonely soul who physically took advantage of their loneliness. “It’s not love talkin’…” A short but stinging set of guitar solos by Anson Funderburgh adds some nice punctuation mark to Tad’s vocals. Next we have ”He’s Moved On” where Tad sings a tender and soulful bal-lad with a strident backing vocal line that builds with Tad’s vocals before fading out. “Lead Me On” features Tad doing a Bobby Bland cut written by Don Robey. Picking up the pace a bit, Robinson hangs it out vocally a little for us here. “Mellow in

Love” has Robinson doing a little falsetto as Kevin Anker supports well on the keys. The original “Love is a Winner” has a little swing to it as Robinson gives another fine performance. “Blue Yesterday” slows down to let Robinson emote for us as he tells of his love lost. The band all gives us some tasty stuff to savor as Robinson bemoans the past. Tad gets the harp out for “While You Were Gone.” He sings of a stranger who became his lover while his woman left him. The harp is greasy and the groove is deep as Tad wails on and on. “Nightwatch” opens with the horns who are great in support and Moeller does a great job on guitar. “Need Some Better” is next and opens with the organ setting the tone. Robinson testifies as Anker waxes eloquently on the keys. Robinson and company close with“ Call Me” set with bigger instrumentals and a slightly slower beat than before. He also gives us a soul-ful spoken bridge where he talks to his woman about sitting down and talking some more. A beautiful close to an award-worthy record! This is soul music done up fine. Robinson is a master bluesman who can sing with the best. I love his approach; his vocals are never overdone and in showing re-straint he is able to really get his emotions expressed so effectively. This album will be garnering award nominations for the superlative vocalwork by Tad and the great band backing him up. Most highly recommended!!! Reviewed by Steve Jones Faded But Not Gone Big Dave McLean Black Hen Music www.blackhenmusic .com/artist/big-dave-mclean 12 Tracks Big Dave McLean comes to us from Win-nipeg. He has been playing blues for many decades, and supporting the blues scene in Canada. He made several re-cordings for Stony Plain over the last few decades. Overall he has had seven re-cords. This is his first recording for Black Hen Music, and was recorded in Nash-ville. Half of the songs are originals. Big Dave plays guitar and harmonica on the recording. Steve Dawson produced and played on the CD. Colin James and Colin Linden provide support on the disc also.

Page 10 The Groove- Crossroads Blues Society Newsletter

that dates back to the Bessie Smith days. Burgin does this Chicago style, with greasy harp, minimalistic guitar and an organ taking us a little bit to church. It’s another well-crafted reconstruction of a classic blues tune. Burgin’s “Tribute To Big John Wrencher” has Kumar out front to start on his harp and then Burgin comes in on vocals. An homage to this Maxwell Street harp master (also known as One-Arm John), this slow blues is classy and slick yet guttural at the same time. Johnny has the feel for Maxwell Street and the great sound that grew out of th ghetto and open air market of year’s passed. Kumar shines though out. “Havana Rock” is a Chicago-goes-Caribbean instrumental tune that Johnny wrote. Kumar’s harp is out front again and he does a spectacular job. Burgin comes in for a big, fat solo that impressed me. A sweet and driven beat takes this from start to a long, fade out finish. “Homework” is an Otis Rush composition and one that Peter Green also recorded at Chess Records with all-star Chicago Blues Men) that Johnny brings back to us. The organ is cool and very retro here and Burgin’s vocals are smooth and well done as he croons this one out. The record concludes with Jimmy’s Reed’s “Tell The World I Do,” and the band goes off into the sunset with Johnny with these slow and luscious blues. Johnny smooths out the vocals from the original. Kumar gives us some sultry harp here and Johnny lays out more great solo stuff on the guitar. What can I say but that I was very im-pressed with this album. The Windy City took residence in the Bay Area on Decem-ber 8th 2014 and left an great musical mark that was recorded for posterity in this CD. Well produced and even better played, the guys did a fantastic job with this album. It would serve as a great intro for new fans and those familiar with Johnny will appreciate the excellent songs and performances here. The artists on the set do a great job in support; they are the best of the best in nouveaux bluesmen in California and serve as great foils to Burgin. Johnny keeps getting better and better in his music. I got to see him in April with Taildragger and he was fantastic there, too. His part of the program was like this CD, featuring one on the hottest young artists doing the blues right! Highly recommended! Reviewed by Steve Jones

Chronicles Jeff Chaz JCP Records www.jeffchazblues.com 10 tracks

Jeff Chaz is a veteran of the New Orleans music scene. He has regular gigs in the French Quarter and Frenchmen’s Street clubs. He has played up and down the Missis-sippi River from Memphis to New Orleans. Little Milton was his mentor, and it shows in his funky/soulful blues playing. He re-corded 4 previous discs on his JCP label. He also recorded on Select-O-Hits and Icehouse in prior years. This new release is a best of from these recordings that are long out of print. Jeff wrote all these tunes.

The opening cut is “Tired Of Being Lonely”. The song is an R&B treasure. His singing and guitar work is top notch. On the next tune “Instrument Of Pleasure” Chaz digs deep in the slow horn driven blues, reminding me of many Luther Kent songs. The funk arrives with “I Smell Somethin' Funky”. I’m not sure who the bass player is, but he is really popping on this one. The 4th cut is “Morning Coffee”. This high octane funk song will perk you up as the New Orleans chicory coffee will.

Things slow down with “Dreams Don’t Lie”. This slower jazzy tune is really at home in New Orleans, and fits into the CD well. Things rev up quickly on “Don't Go Monkeyin' Around”. Tomato accompanies Jeff on this one. He provides some screaming guitar here. “Seafood Dept. Blues” is a more straight forward blues number. He describes the emotions of working at Kroger preparing seafood all day long.

I think radio would enjoy “The Scent of a Woman”. The playing is sound, and the singing has a polished appeal to it. “Hello Blues” is the 9th song. Jeff sings well although the guitar at times is a bit to choppy for me. It’s certainly not the strongest track on the CD. Closing out the CD is “I've Got to Be Clean”. It jumps out of the speakers with a good horn sec-tion in support. I like this one a lot.

So there we have it, a good look back to the music of Jeff Chaz. I am very partial to New Orleans, so I enjoy the influences it has on the music here. I wish the insert told us more about the who, where and when of these tunes. It stands up well, and gives us a taste of what Jeff is all about. Check him out when in the Cres-cent City. Until then, you can groove to this CD.

Reviewed by Mark Nelson

Greetings from Greaseland Rockin’ Johnny Burgin West Tone Records www.rockinjohnny-band.com 11 tracks Rockin’ Johnny has become somewhat of a fixture on the Chicago blues scene with his unique guitar sound, great original songs and impassioned vocals. His re-cordings on Delmark have been out-standing and his work with Taildragger and other blues legends have given him the street credibility with musicians and blues fans alike. Johnny ventured out from the Windy City to the West Coast and Greaselaad Stu-dios in San Jose, California. Recorded in one day last December with Kid Andersen at the boards and also helping out on gui-tar, this is a very tight and cool session which highlights Burgin’s skills as a musi-cian and band leader. Helping out are Aki Kumar on harp, a stalwart west Coast Mississippi Saxophone master, Vance ehlers on bass and June Core on drums. Jhnny adds his own harp on a couple of tracks, too. The Bay Area blues scene must suit Johnny because this is some powerfully good stuff. “Love Me Like I Want It” is a nice original cut; a shuffle with the two guitars playing off each other and Kumar’s harp answer-ing Burgin’s vocal calls. Traditional Chi Town blues here with a big backline beat in support- lovely stuff! Hip Linkchain’s “Cold Chills” is up next; Burgin’s ethereal voice grabs you from the outset and the band gives this a very cool makeover. T-Bone Walker’s “She’s A Hit follows with a great and almost introspective harp intro. Johnny get’s into the vocals ina suave and smooth manner, keeping the tempo low and subdued. Nicely done! Robert Jr. Lockwood’s “The Western Horizon” con-tinues this Chicago blues assault on the West Cost. A strident beat and great gui-tar and harp work are featured here, too. Little Junior Parker’s “Telephone Angel” is deep blues done right. Another great cover, Johnny continues in his breathless approach to vocals that just grab the lis-tener. He adds dirty riffs to the mix and makes this slow blues work oh so fine. The standard “House of the Rising Sun” gets an instrumental update from the ver-sion the Animals gave us. It’s almost a surf tune in ways, with that hollow, almost spooky guitar sound. Burgin nails this. “Empty Bed Blues” comes next, a song

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land. He has attended the IBC. He has performed and been into the studio with many performers going to Australia. He is supported by Richard Bird (bass), Mark Whitaker (drums) and Mike Hood (piano/organ). “She’s So Fine” opens the CD. It’s a slow driving blues number with a slippery feel. Brunt plays some tasty slide guitar on this one. The fun continues with a slower shuffle called “Let Your Heart Know”. He plays well but without wasting any notes. The delta is visited with “The River Runs High”. Great harmonica is added by Kenny Claiborne on this slow burner blues song. This is a fine song. The pace picks up with the piano support by Mike Hood on “My Precious Stone”. It has a bluesy New Orleans feel to it. Mike Hood brings his piano licks to the slow ballad “With A Kiss”. This cut is well played on by all the performers, and is really enjoyable. “Lovers’ Blues” is the 6th cut on the CD. It continues the slower blues trend on the CD, though the solo is stretched out a bit more than the prior cuts. The title track “Just The Way It Goes” is next. The song builds as it goes on, and is the longest cut at 6:42. I hear a bit of Alejandro Escovedo story telling song style here. This is my favorite track on the CD. “Never Give Up” brings the slide gui-tar back to the forefront. Overall this one fits in with the CD though may be a bit more to the slower rock side of music. The CD closes out with “Which Way To Go”, featuring David stocker on mellotron. We don’t often get this instrument on a blues song, mostly progressive rock type songs. This tune does get that progres-sive rock feel from the guitar work, vocal style and the mellotron. You got to give Brunt credit for trying new things. I was not familiar with Brunt before this review. I give him credit for going in some new directions and taking a chance on his music. To go to New Orleans to record was another step outside the box. There is no wild slashing guitar work here. He keeps his playing in the song’s framework. The songs tell a story which is also a posi-tive. I don’t know if he will use a band to play this set of work continually live, so this may be our chance to hear this music. If you come across this CD give it a listen. I am going to give it a future listen and enjoy it. Reviewed by Mark Nelson

Stepping Into Time Georgie Bonds 8th Train Records BGB Music, Inc. www.georgiebonds.com 12 tracks Georgie Bonds did not get his start in life as a more traditional bluesman. Born in Philadelphia’s Germantown area, he played guitar and sang to amuse himself as he acquired an interest in horses. At 21, he bought his first horse and became a blacksmith. A Robert Johnson tape got him interested in the blues and after an open night mike at a blues jam in the early 1990’s with him singing one song he caught the interest of Sonny Rhodes. Sonny mentored him and taught him how to be a performer and Georgie started on his path in the blues. Hosting a monthly jam at Philly’s Warmdaddy’s as the house band, Georgie got to play with many of the greats. His first CD was released in 2001 and 12 years later he released this. He also performed the the Broadway hit show It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues which was nominated for 4 Tony Awards. The CD opens with the sparse unaccom-panied vocal solo of “St. James Infirmary.” Simple, yet effective; I enjoyed Bonds approach to it, just laying it out for all to hear on the first track. Ten originals follow this and he concludes with John Lee Hooker’s “Dimples”: before a 13th bonus track of an acoustic take on “The Black-smith.” “Dimples” is sweetly done with grit on vocals and a huge guitar solo by Neil Taylor who works with Harry Jacobson to handle the guitar duties. Others in sup-port are Andy Haley and Russ Joel are on drums, Kenny Githens and James White are on bass, Walter Runge adds organ, Joe Stout plays piano and Buddy Cleve-land is on harp. “The Blacksmith” is the first original. Starting with an RL Burnside sort of groove, Bonds and the organ get into it as the guitar groove is the vehicle they ride on. A tasty harp solo also sparkles here. Bonds growls and impresses the listener with his skills and the band is tight in sup-port. He uses his smithy craft as some creative blues sexual innuendos. The bonus track is a repeat of this song on acoustic guitar, very thoughtful and low keyed in comparison with only acoustic guitar and harp in accompaniment. Nicely done again! “What More?” is a swinging cut where Bonds bemoans his life of 50 years asking what more a poor man needs other than 3 rooms and a good woman. Dave Renz adds his tenor sax

with great effect, the lone appearance on the CD. “Lord, Oh Lord” features Taylor on slide and some honky-tonk piano ac-companying Bonds who shouts out an-other good tune. “Daily News” is takes us down into the minor keys for so low down slow blues. Bonds tells us about the trou-bles of the world that we can read all about in the Daily News. In “Dyin’ Is the Easy Way” the band goes a little funky and the organ leads us into a neat little cut. Bond sings that the maker won’t give him rest, sending him back because punching out on his own is a cop out. A big, stinging guitar solo is included here. A ballad “Calling Your Name” is next. Great, soulful stuff that evokes the old Philly soul sounds of yore with thoughtful pacing and backing musicians along with poignant vocals. Then things pick up with “Going Shopping,” a fast pace funk and blues where Bonds can’t spend enough money to fix his broken heart. Nice organ work here. “Out of the Fryin’ Pan” is a beautiful slow blues that tells us about the materialism of the world. “I Need Some-body” is a story where Bonds tells us he is wanting to go down south and find a woman to tell his woes and give his love. Taylor has a big guitar solo and a nice harp solo also punctuates things well. ”Hurricane Blues” has bonds and the gui-tar sparring; I’d imagine this was inspired by Super Storm Sandy or our recent bouts with horrid weather, and Bonds emulates it with feeling A great singer and songwriter, Georgie is setting himself up to get really noticed in the blues world. Powerful and emotionally charged vocals on top of great material, Bonds is a talent that needs to get no-ticed. I enjoyed this CD and would like to see and hear Bonds live- I think he and his band are a great act! Reviewed by Steve Jones Just The Way It Goes Isaiah B. Brunt Independent http://isaiahbbrunt.com/ 9 Tracks Coming to us from Syd-ney, Australia is Isaiah B. Brunt. He went all the way to New Orleans to record this CD. I believe this is his 3rd CD, and this one has electric music versus his prior acoustic forays into the blues. Brunt was the Sydney Blues Society Performer of the Year in 2010. His schedule seems full playing around Australia and New Zea-

Page 12 The Groove- Crossroads Blues Society Newsletter

He was known for his work with the tele-caster, developing different guitar tech-niques. Being an innovator of slide guitar, at the age of 21 he wrote his first published book "Slide Guitar." As an art student at the Philadelphia College of Art from 1969 to 1971, he would find time to play in Wood-stock, NY on weekends with his band Steel where he received recognition. Shortly after 1970, when Steel started the first "Woodstock Reunion" concert at Yasgur's Farm to commemorate the one year anni-versary of the Woodstock festival in Bethel, NY, he began his career as a professional guitarist. His first solo album won the Montreux Critics' Award for Best Instrumen-tal Album of the Year in 1978. He was a

regular columnist for Guitar Player maga-zine from 1982 to 1992. His recent project, Slide Guitar Summit, took several years of planning. "This Slide Guitar Summit album was a longtime dream come true for me," remarks Arlen Roth about the recording sessions. "It's like a group of old friends getting together for a great time that is rooted in our serious and mutual love for what we do." Labeled "The Master of the Telecaster," a title held by the late great Albert Collins, Arlen Roth celebrated the release of the CD with a special show at the City Winery in Nashville, where he was joined onstage by guests on the album Rick Vito, former guitarist for Fleetwood Mac, guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer, and session-musician Jack Pearson, American country music and blues artist, singer, song-writer, and guitarist Lee Roy Parnell, and Greg Martin, Kentucky Headhunters lead guitarist for an incredible night of music. Fans enjoyed an advance screening of the one-hour film, Glass, Brass and Steel: The Making of Arlen Roth's Slide Guitar Summit Album. Being a blues slide guitar enthusiast, this CD captured my attention immediately. It has been a pleasure listening and reviewing this fabulous collection, hand picked by master slide guitarist Arlen Roth, with input from his guests. In addition to guests pre-sent at the private screening the other guests include Texas native and American blues guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and producer, the late great Johnny Winter, Cindy Cashdollar, a nonpedal steel guitar and Dobro artist formally with Asleep At The Wheel, Louisiana slide blues guitar player Sonny Landreth, California native and multi-instrumentalist David Lindley, formally with Jackson Browne and Warren Zevon, and American guitarist, keyboard player, singer, producer, and music director Jimmy Vivino. Each of the 14 tunes is supported by differ-ent musicians including the producer and drummer Tom Hambridge on drums and backing vocals.

Let It Rain Deb Ryder Bejeb Music www.debryder.com 11 tracks/47 minutes Deb Ryder was born in Chicago and grew up in California where her step-father ran a night club at which Deb got her first expo-sure to great blues, opening for the likes of Etta James and Taj Mahal. Her second album is a fine effort with a stellar cast of musicians convened by producer Tony Branaugel who plays drums alongside fel-low Phantom Blues Band members Mike Finnegan (who plays keys throughout) and Johnny Lee Schell who plays guitar on three tracks and recorded the sessions at his studio in California. The main guitarist is Kirk Fletcher with Albert Lee guesting on one track. Deb’s husband Ric plays bass throughout with James Hutchinson playing double bass on one cut. A two man horn section of Lee Thornburg on trumpet and trombone and Lon Price on sax contribute to five tracks and accordion is played on one track by David Fraser. To top it all Kim Wil-son adds his distinctive harp playing to three tracks, so this really is an all-star cast! The music here covers a wide range of clas-sic blues styles and the songs could have been written ‘back in the day’ but are in fact all Deb’s originals. Deb sings clearly with just a touch of grit in her voice which is well suited to the material. The CD opens with the barnstorming shuffle “That’s Just How It Is”, the core band swinging impressively with Mike’s B3 to the fore and Kirk’s fills a perfect fit round Deb’s vocal. The next two tracks feature the horns and Johnny playing guitar alongside Kirk: “Can’t Go Back Again” has a a rhumba rhythm and a West Coast feel from the horns including a great ‘growling’ trombone solo from Lee; “You Won’t Be True” also swings mightily with Deb’s vocal being particularly effective on a classic tale of the unfaithful guy: “Now you want to cuddle up next to me in bed, time to wrap something around your crazy head. Baby, what am I going to do, I’ve given you everything and you still won’t be true”. A beautifully poised guitar solo tops this one off perfectly. Kim Wilson’s harp delicately snakes round Deb’s voice on “Guilty As Sin”, another tale of infidelity. Kirk’s solo is a model of taste and economy which makes you sit up and listen as he gets to the heart of the emotions in his solo. Changing styles again Deb in-vites us to “Cry Another Tear”, plenty of backing vocals, Mike’s wild organ and Tony’s prominent tambourine adding to the gospel feel, with another great solo from Kirk who must be one of the best guitarists on the scene at present. The horns return

on “Hold Your Lamp High”, a soulful plea for peace and healing: “Hold your lamp high so the light of the world can reach the dark-ness, can touch the broken, can heal the wounded”. Lee’s cool trumpet solo is some-thing of a surprise in the middle section but works well on another winning cut. More swinging rhythm and blues follows with the horn-driven “Money Monsoon” before Deb tackles a classic ballad: “Kiss And Dream” is like listening to one of those albums from the great era of female vocalists and Lon’s sultry sax solo is just great, perfectly match-ing the late-night romantic mood of the song which is accentuated with acoustic bass and piano though Deb’s voice is perhaps less suited to this kind of song. Sad to say it is the last of the horn contributions, all of which are excellent. The final trio of songs starts with the title track “Let It Rain”, a slow soulful number which follows the sultry feel of the previous track with Kim’s harp working in tandem with Kirk’s guitar and the rhythm section. An-other change of style brings David Fraser’s accordion and Albert Lee’s ‘twangy’ guitar into play on a Cajun style piece “La Misère” which Deb sings partly in French. The acoustic “Round And Around” closes the album on a back porch feel with Kim’s harp alongside both acoustic and electric guitars from Kirk and Johnny. This is an album well worth investigating, not only for the outstanding musicianship of all the players but also for the combination of songwriting and vocals that Deb offers us here. Reviewed by John Mitchell Slide Guitar Summit Arlen Roth Aquinnah Records http://arlenroth.com/ 14 Tracks New York guitarist, recording artist, per-former, tutor, and author Arlan Roth has been playing guitar since the age of 14. He has performed and recorded with artists such as Bob Dylan, Danny Gatton, John Entwistle, John Prine, Kate Taylor, James Taylor, Livingston Taylor, Rick Wakeman, Paul Simon and Simon and Garfunkel, Ry Cooder, David Lindley, Sonny Landreth, Levon Helm, Bill Kirchen, Duane Eddy, Steve Morse, Albert Lee, Phoebe Snow, Happy and Artie Traum, Eric Andersen, John Herald, Pete Seeger, Loudon Wain-wright III, Tony Bird, Paul Butterfield, Helen Schneider, Don McLean, the Bee Gees, and Huey Lewis and the News. He was influ-enced by Clarence White, an American bluegrass and country guitarist and singer.

Page 13 May-June 2015

guest list of artists including Billy Payne from Little Feat, Hazel Miller from Big Head Todd's band, Carl Carwell from Earth Wind & Fire, Christian Teele from E Town, and Freddi Gowdy from Freddi/Henchi and the Soulsetters along with guest musicians Darren Kramer on trom-bone, Bob Rebholz on tenor sax, Carlos Chavez on baritone sax and additional vocal guests Coco Brown, and Chris Kimmel. This entire cast offers support for Chris Daniels and The Kings with Chris Daniels on rhythm guitar and vocals, Colin "Bones" Jones on lead guitar, Randy Amen on drums and vocals, Kevin "Bro" Lege on bass and vocals, Darryl "Doody" Abrahamson on trumpet and vocals, and Jim Waddell on alto and tenor sax, flute, and vocals. With Freddi and Chris sharing the vocals and the raw power of The Kings & guest artists, you are in for one wild studio re-lease, as they open with the title track "Funky To The Bone," originally from Freddi/Henchi and the Soulsetters written by Gowdy/Wilkins. The band makes this cover song their own, recording one the hottest numbers on the CD. They follow up with the New Orleans style tune "Something You Got" written by New Or-leans R&B singer and songwriter Chris Kenner. Another tune they included by Freddi/Henchi and the Soulsetters, written by Gowdy/Wilkins is "Don’t Let Your Mouth Write No Checks, Your Booty Can't Cash In" which is "Funkier Than A Mos-quito's Tweeter," a tune by Ike and Tina Turner. They add a couple gospel tunes by the Detroit gospel singer Rance Allen, with "Joy" and "What A Day" that will daz-zle you with the fabulous horn arrange-ments. Daniels offers some hip hop and funk on his own tune "Cool Breeze." They also use the Freddi/Henchi and the Soulsetters tune "Dance" written by guitar player Larry Wilkins, that is reminiscent of the music of 60's group Sly and The Fam-ily Stone. The next track was a tune writ-ten by the Freddi-Henchi Band guitarist Bob Yeazel titled "Nobody Knows." Work-ing together, the two long time friends Freddi Gowdy and Chris Daniels collabo-rate on the next song "Survivors" which is inspiration for anyone struggling to make their way in the world. They complete Funky to The Bone with a typical Chris Daniels and The Kings song "Birthday Suit' written by Daniels himself. Get your dancin' shoes on for this one. It could be Chris Daniels and The King's finest project yet! It is truly funky to the bone! Reviewed by Rick Davis

It opens with one of the hottest numbers in the collection, "Do What's Right," a Jack Pearson song with Pearson joining Roth on slide guitar. Lee Roy Parnell and Arlen tear it up on Robert Johnson's "Dust My Broom." Smoother than silk, Cindy Cash-dollar and Arlen continue with the classic Bilk/Mellin tune "Stranger On The Shore." Next on the list is one of the best slide guitarists, Sonny Landreth joining Roth on his very own tune "Sonny Skies." Unfortu-nately his last studio recording, the late great Johnny Winter joins Arlen Roth on a rousing version the famous Jackie Bren-ston song "Rocket 88." Roth brings back Lee Roy Parnell on the Lowell George/Fred Martin tune "Dixie Chicken," hitting the charts with the band Little Feat. Jimmy Vivino takes charge with Roth on slide with the next two songs, a traditional slow blues tune "Poor Boy Blues" and the Laura Nyro tune "And When I Die (One Child Born), a big hit for Blood Sweat And Tears. Greg Martin is Arlen's next guest on guitar, playing the Jimmy Rogers song "Peach Pickin' Time In Georgia," featuring piano solos from Kevin McKendree. Rick Vito makes an appearance joining Arlen on slide and rhythm guitar on the steamy Arlen Roth song "Paradise Blues" and Smokey Robinson's "You Really Got A Hold On Me." Cindy Cashdollar returns to join Arlen on lap steel guitar for the Leon McAuliffe song "Steel Guitar Rag." David Lindley also plays lap steel guitar with Arlen and handles the vocals equally well on Roy Bird song "Her Mind Is Gone." Arlen calls Greg Martin back to complete the album with one of the most famous traditional songs "Amazing Grace," a per-fect selection to end the Slide Summit. "Getting to work with the legendary Johnny Winter was such an incredible feeling, and it got the album totally off on the right foot," states Roth. "It was hard to believe that I was sitting there playing "Rocket 88" with him, when I could re-member being 16 years old and watching Johnny from the very front at Woodstock in 1969....this album is of course, dedi-cated to this slide and blues guitar master who always served to inspire us all." After reflecting on all the tracking ses-sions, Arlen Roth sums it up by saying "Each player brought something unique to this project and the interaction between me and them is what I was looking for in making each track truly unique. And Tom Hambridge and I go way back together as musicians and as friends, so I was really happy to be able to see this great pro-ducer lend his magic touch to this project. I also loved how so many of the artists

came in with some very strong choices for the songs for us to do, and how we got to pay tribute to many of the great slide play-ers before us such as Lowell George, Elmore James, and Duane Allman. I sup-pose the thing about this album that in-trigues me the most is how with the com-mon thread of slide guitar we were all able to touch upon so many styles, emotions, traditions and also break new ground at the same time!" Review by Rick Davis Funky To The Bone Chris Daniels & The Kings Moon Voyage Re-cords www.chris-daniels.com/ 10 Tracks Chris Daniels and The Kings are no strangers to the Denver area or for that matter the entire world. The band has toured over two continents and has been asked to appear in such locations as South America, Curacao, Japan, all over Europe, and the United States. Chris Daniels has quite a resume in the music world, including band leader, song writer for the Kings as well as TV, singer, guitar-ist, college professor, record producer, and executive director. Starting in 1981, Daniels has released 16 albums including the latest Funky To The Bone. Throughout the years, "roots" blues has taken many different directions and evolved into many different genres, one of which is funk music. During that time, many artists, too numerous to mention, have made their contribution to this slow evolution of music we call funk. Funk mu-sic is an amalgam of soul music, soul jazz, R&B, and Afro-Cuban rhythms ab-sorbed and reconstituted in New Orleans. Funky to The Bone is as tasty as a sim-mering cauldron of New Orleans gumbo. Chris Daniels and The Kings albums in-clude a wide variety of genres like blues, rock, funk, and swing. With over 30 years experience and a high powered horn sec-tion, their new release is a perfect collec-tion for funk music fans. To be more specific, the album is a combi-nation of sweet soul and as Chris states "horn-band funk n roll." The project was inspired from tunes by early groups like Earth, Wind & Fire, Chicago 67, Freddi/Henchi and the Soulsetters, Sam and Dave, Sly and the Family Stone, and Blood Sweat and Tears. Chris Daniels and The Kings are joined by an all-star

Page 14 The Groove- Crossroads Blues Society Newsletter

lor, Albert King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Johnny Winter. He taught himself to play guitar at the age of 12, but his father did not allow him on stage until he finished school at 18. It was then he joined his dad on stage at the 1983 Chicago Blues Festival. He then started his own band, Bernard Allison and Back Talk, while playing with Koko Taylor's band. He worked closely with Luther over the next few years with Bernard co-writing and arranging material on his father's final three albums. Bernard re-leased three more albums in Europe, Hang On, No Mercy, and Funkifino. A year following his father's death, he released his fifth album, his critically acclaimed U.S. debut, Keepin' the Blues Alive. He has since released 12 more albums with his latest release on March 17, 2015 on Jazzhaus records titled In The Mix. With the support of his band, featuring George Moye on bass, Mario Dawson on drums, Bruce McCabe on piano, Mark Leach on Hammond B-3 and piano, and Jose Ned James on saxo-phone, In The Mix opens with "Five Long Years," a rock tune on the 1988 Colin James release Colin James. It is stronger on guitar and keyboards and less dominate on saxo-phone, making it Bernard's own. The keyboards and sax make the R&B tune "Call Me Momma," special as it flows as smoothly as a Luther Ingram classic. Bernard adds some slide guitar to the mix on Luther's "Move From The Hood," a tight blues tune with a little jazz flavor. This tune is taken right from the Luther Allison's songbook both vocally and instrumentally. "Tell Me Who" brings a soulful touch to the album with this ballad, showing the versatility of Ber-nard's vocals. Bruce McCabe steps up to the plate on piano with the steady 12 bar blues tune "Something's Wrong," complimenting Alli-son on slide guitar and Leach on the Hammond B-3. Leach sets the pace on the Hammond B-3 over Moye's solid bass line with the soulful jazz tune "Lust For You." The band "turns back the hands of time" with the Tyrone Davis tune "I Had It All The Time," adding some B.B. King style guitar licks, combining the soul of Davis with the blues of Allison. It once again shows us another side to Bernard Allison's vocals. The band starts with a slower rhythm on the Freddy King song "I'd Rather Be Blind," with stinging guitar solos, a funky bass line, and dynamic B-3 to set the mood. Allison returns to the down home blues with "Set Me Free" bringing Leach center stage on the Hammond B-3. The disc is concluded with a tribute to Bernard's late great father, bluesman Luther Allison, on Luther's tune "Moving On Up," hearing the band keeping pace with the original throughout the song. Bernard expands his vocal potentiality with "In The Mix," making the CD unique. He nails it on every song, showing us the real capabilities if his musical prowess. With his latest release, it is evident that he has carried the Allison family blues tradition into the 21st century success-fully. As blues fans, we can only hope it will continue. Review by Rick Davis

Electric Field Holler

Anthony Gomes Up 2 Zero Entertainment www.anthonygomes.com/ 12 Tracks Canadian singer, song-writer, and guitarist An-thony Gomes has taken the blues world by storm with his electrifying concerts since the 1990's. In the late 1990's, Toronto born Gomes relocated to Chicago to work as a sideman for Magic Slim and the Teardrops before starting his own band, winning the first annual Buddy Guy’s Legends "Best Unsigned Blues Band" competition in 1998. Anthony was inspired at an early age by the blues sound of B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix as well as the blues-rock emerging in the 60s. Reminiscent in many ways of the early blues/rockers, he pushes blues to the limits on guitar, confident with the statement "If you don't like it, there's the door." Blues has certainly got to grow if it is going to survive. Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, and the old crew are long gone and will not be coming back...that is a fact that has to be faced and dealt with. A lot of tradi-tionalists will likely pan this album but, if you liked bands like Free, Alvin Lee and the like, there might well be something here for you." It is true that the traditional blues artists are leav-ing us but have supported the new artists and continue to do that. The traditional blues styles may be gone but not forgotten. This genre has evolved since 1903, when a traveling musician named William Christopher Handy, who was in Tutwiler, Mississippi, first heard that itinerant musician playing a guitar at the train station. That whole blues history is still an important part of changes that have occurred and the changes to come. In reference to traditionalists panning his new album, Gomes is referring to his latest release Electric Field Holler. The album explodes with rockin' electric blues fueled with a dozen high powered tunes either written or co-written by Gomes. Together with band members Theo Harden on bass, Chad Cromwell on drums, David Smith on keyboards, and R. Scott Bryan and Glen Caruba on percussion, An-thony has released this new no holes barred blues-rock album. He pays tribute to the blues legends B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Albert King, and Buddy Guy with the opening thunderous tune "Turn It Up" proclaiming his dedication to the blues until the day he dies. It leads into the Gomes/Nicholson rocker "Back Door Scratchin,'" as volatile as the Aerosmith classic "Walk This Way." With inspiration taken from blues guitarists Billy Gibbons and Otis Rush, Gomes describes the path taken by so many artists with "Whiskey Train," by vocalizing that "It’s gonna take a whole lot of whiskey to drink away the pain. I gotta get half-way down the label, or go insane." With guitar in hand and a passion to play the blues, he rips into his fret board with his smokin' guitar style on the Go-mes/Latz tune "Blueschild." His rhythm section is the driving force for "Nowhere Is Home," a modern day ballad about the plight of the many

homeless kids in the United States. Smoke and fire rages from Gome's guitar like a Paul Rogers classic, as he finds out he's been played for a fool, but warns against playing this "Losing Game." Gomes takes us to the cross-roads (a bygone era) with his National Steel guitar, making reference back to traditional blues artists leaving, never to return, on his tune "The Blues Ain’t The Blues No More." Anthony paints us a very descriptive picture of a hip shakin,' dance hall mamma with his fiery guitar and raspy vocals stating "she’s the bomb and it’s World War III" on his original rocker "She's Got The Junk In The Trunk." The rhythm section sets a pulsating pace once again warn-ing of the addiction of love in the Gomes/Peterik tune "Love Crazy." "Red Handed Blues" tells the tale of a "wild" night on the town with a surprise ending. "Delta Raga" is actually a short instrumental intro leading into the final song "Listen To The Universe." Deep, dark, and heavy in delivery, with a message about life, death, the journey to the end of the line, it is reminiscent of Walter Trout's blues material. After seeing a recent Anthony Gomes live show, paired with his new studio album Electric Field Holler, I have seen extensive growth in his career. He has stayed true to his word about dedicating his life to playing the blues. He has become a significant player in the contempo-rary blues world and has become a firm be-liever in the Albert King quote "If you don't dig the blues you got a hole in your soul." Review by Rick Davis In The Mix Bernard Allison Group Jazzhaus Records www.bernardallison.com/flash.html 10 Tracks Like many blues artists, both Bernard and his dad Luther Allison were greatly appreciated in Europe. Luther's musical genius was so greatly embraced in Europe, that he spent most of his career in Paris. Later in his career Luther's popularity was regenerated in the United States after signing with the Chicago based recording company Alligator Records. It was then he became known in his own country for the extremely gifted musician, singer, and song writer that he was. From 1994-97 he pro-duced the critically acclaimed albums, Soul Fixin’ Man, Blue Streak, and Reckless. After being recognized for his contribution to the blues world with multiple W.C. Handy Awards, his all to short, successful career was ended at age of 58. Bernard Allison followed in Luther's footsteps after getting his start with Koko Taylor's band just out of high school, prior to touring with his dad. Like Luther, Bernard spends much of his time in Europe. While touring with his dad in Europe, Bernard was provided studio time in 1989 to record his first solo album, Next Gen-eration, in Paris. At an early age, Bernard was introduced to Muddy Waters, Hound Dog Tay-

Page 15 May-June 2015

Shaken Tree Blues Willie May Booman Music www.williemay-music.com/ 10 Tracks Willie May hails from the Buffalo, NY area. He wrote and produced all the tracks on the CD. The Willie May Band is a 5 time Buffalo Area Music Award win-ner. Since 1986 there have been 15 al-bum releases by him. He has played with many national and international acts over the years. Like other releases by Willie, he plays many instruments on the release, including guitar, bass, dobra, kalimba and jaw harp. He is supported by a long list of musicians on various tracks, including Mark Hummel on harp for one track. The first track jumps out with as a latin styled jazzy instrumental called “Dos Teresa”. The horns really set the catchy number off. Up next is the blues rocker “Talk Is Cheap”. It has a retro feel to it. Mark Hummel provides some fine harp in the mid tempo blues song “Everybody But Me”. I like this number, it’s all good. “Don’t Quit Me” is the following track. It sounds like a great blues song name, it’s a slow, almost reggae styled number. “She’s Leaving” is a sad slower blues number. Kevin Espinosa adds some well done harp work on this mostly acoustic song. Greta has a Louisiana bayou feel to it. It’s a story about love lost, and well played. I like the country tinged song “My Story”. It has a bit of “Ghost Riders In The Sky” feel to it. Willie breaks out his ukulele out for the title song “Shaken Tree Blues”. It has a fast pace to it. “Heartbreak” is a ballad, maybe a rock ballad, telling the sad tale of a love lost to a serial killer. Willie tells a great story on this song. The CD closes with a ballad “I’m Going Home”. Willie’s singing uses a falsetto touch. This is a diverse disc. Willie sings wells, and provides the listener with lots of differ-ent and entertaining songs. He has imagi-nation and is a good story teller. I hope he comes our way one day. I’d like to check out his live show. Enjoy this disc if you get the chance. Reviewed by Mark Nelson

St. Amant Sessions Peter Novelli Chalet Music www.peternovelli.com 11 tracks/49 minutes Based in the Crescent City, this is guitarist Peter Novelli’s third album and takes its title from the studio where it was recorded, a facility owned and operated by drummer Brian Brignac. Also on board is bassist Chris Senac with Kevin McKendree’s keyboard contribu-tions being recorded in Tennessee and added to the album. There are a number of guests who add to the Louisiana feel of the album: Chubby Carrier, triple row accordion and frottoir on two tracks, Sammy Naquin, single row accordion on two other tracks, Sonny Lan-dreth, slide guitar on one track, Bobby Henderson, tenor sax on one track and Elaine Foster, backing vocals where heard. Peter wrote most of the music with Brian Brignac credited on two tracks with Peter, Brian and Chubby getting co-writing credit on one. Songwriter Billy Henderson also gets credit on one cut with Peter. The overall feel of the album is definitely Louisiana, including several fine instru-mentals. “Boudin” is a funky little number by the core trio with the drums featured and is dedicated to the spicy sausage snack enjoyed at the recording sessions; “Shreveport Stomp” is a fast-paced romp with some fine Texas style guitar from Peter, a tune dedicated to one of Peter’s early influences, a Telecaster player known as ‘JB’; the closing “I-10 Boogie” is a great rocker with Kevin’s piano following every twist of Peter’s playing as he takes us on a tour of the music found along that highway and Chubby Carrier joining in on accordion; the separately credited “Zydeco Ride” is essentially Brian and Chubby carrying on as a duo at the end of the tune, hence it being credited just to the two of them. Sonny Landreth delivers one of his typical performances on slide on the opening track “Louisiana Sunrise” as Peter plays both acoustic and electric guitars here. His vocals work well on this tune which recounts a problem well known to every band – a van breakdown between gigs! Things get very Cajun on “Je Ne Sais Quoi” with Sammy Naquin’s accordion and Brian’s drumming underpinning Pe-ter’s tale of ‘a cool and unusual chick who lived for many years in the French Quar-ter’. “Spirit Passing By” finds Peter play-ing some slide on a slowed down boogie

beat, a song about the ghosts of some former residents, apparently including Peter’s great-great grandfather who ‘died under unfortunate circumstances’. The centrepiece of the album is Peter’s tribute to the many musicians who have played Bourbon Street in NO, some with success, some without. “Bourbon Street Blue” opens with Peter solo on acoustic before he adds some gentle slide and the band joins in on a mid-paced rocker. Lyri-cally this is a widescreen view of the fa-mous area: “Tourist armies, plastic drinks in their hands, most don’t even get it, but they got cards and cash and that’s the only reason we getting’ paid. Southern rock anthems, what’s that got to do with Louis or Fats?” The tale continues through images of hookers, transvestites and other aspects of the underlife of the city but Peter concludes that “the road always takes you back to the street again”. Musicians away on the road can cause difficulties for those left behind and Peter’s “Write A Story (In Your Mind)” tells of how the loved one at home can imagine all sorts of mishaps while the musician is away; Peter’s solo is full of feeling and angst about what his lover may be imagin-ing! Both these songs paint an impres-sive, if rather depressing tale of the aver-age musician’s life. More cheerful is the pleasantly rocking “Woman In My Dreams” which Peter dedicates to JJ Cale but it could equally be Dire Straits, as Pe-ter’s excellent solo shows. Also cheerful is the amazing but apparently true story told in “Thinkin’ Or Drinkin’” in which Peter ended up trying to drive between two gigs during Mardi Gras with a cell phone in one hand and a drink in the other – only to meet a cop! This one has an appropri-ately party atmosphere with background vocal interjections, more accordion from Sammy and some breathy sax from Bobby Henderson, a catchy piece with amusing lyrics (assisted by Billy Hender-son). This was this reviewer’s first acquaintance with Peter Novelli and I was suitably im-pressed with an enjoyable and varied CD with plenty of Louisiana feel, some solid songs and good playing. Reviewed by John Mitchell

Page 16 The Groove- Crossroads Blues Society Newsletter

I like this CD, and would enjoy seeing them live. They touched on many types of blues and executed the music well. I hope we hear more from them soon. Reviewed by Mark Nelson Save My Soul Ray Goren RJ Ray Entertainment www.raygoren.com/ 5 Tracks By all accounts music is in the DNA of this teen-ager. He had played music since being a young child. This is his 2nd EP. He wrote/co-wrote all the songs. This music is well produced. His last outing was pro-duced by Eddie Kramer of Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, & Kiss background. He played at the Chicago Blues Festival a couple years back. I think he sings well. The guitar work on this EP is not over the top. He is writing material too. The band in-cludes Jon Sosin (guitar, synthesizer, synth bass, keyboards, background vo-cals), Justin Glasco (bass, keyboards, percussion, background vocals) Rob Humphreys & Chaun Horten (drums). “Stop” is the opening cut on the EP. This is a hard rock number, with a bit of funky bass in it. I hear some Tom Scholz from Boston fame in the vocals. The powerful ballad and title track “Save My Soul” is next. It is well produced with some haunt-ing background vocals. The middle song “Can’t Live Like This” has a bit of U2 feel. It is a strong ballad. “I Need You Here To Stay” has a catchy chorus, and is a fine rock song. The EP closes out with “Rise Together”. This is a radio friendly rocker. I like the lyrics and it’s feel. This is rock record, with a fringe of blues influence. This kid maybe the future, but it will be on rock radio and shooting for the big arenas. He might just make. Yet to be heard is how his voice matures. It’s worth a listen if you are a rock person, will be a pass for straight line blues fans. Reviewed by Mark Nelson

Reason To Bleed My Own Holiday Electro Groove Music www.reverbnation-.com/myownholiday www.electro-groove.com 13 Tracks My Own Holiday is a guitar/drum duo from Lake Arrowhead, CA. They follow a path that has been popular keeping the band to a minimum, but still rock out. Maybe the key word on this one is rock out. I semi like the vocals, and the playing is not bad. It just does not resonate the blues like a Lightnin' Malcom & Cedric Burnside does. The band has had a few sell of the stage CDs, but this is their first bigger CD push. Joey Chrisman wrote all the songs, plays guitar and sings. Nick Bartulo is the drummer. They do keep the songs short and sweet, without major jam sessions. “Hold On Me” opens the CD, and is a solid blues rocker meets a tinge of country tossed in. Certainly we hear some Black Keys in the second cut “Razorblades”. There is a modern psychedelic little jam in the song. On the third cut “Two Coins”, the band gets into a bit more of a rock mode. It feels good, with a bitter mix of the vocals out front in the mix. I like “Memphis” a bit. The vocals and lyrics have a bit more of a delta folk feel. The delta feel crossed with a bit of Rolling Stones are identified with “Devil In Me”. This song gets more blues in it. Up next is the title cut “Reason To Bleed”. It touches a more traditional delta sound. Things really slow down for ”Whiskey I The Well” It is a well performed ballad, and changes the pattern of the CD. The song “On The Floor Blues” is a grinding blues song, with some older sound to it. It may be my favorite song on the CD. On “Smile” the band get back to the boogie. I’m not sure why the opening vocals are so muffled. There is a bit of Ten Years After in this one. I expected “Stone Free” might rock out like a Hendrix number. It rocks, but not in a Jimi direction. This could be radio friendly in the rock world. Things slow back down with “Stranded”. It is a slow ballad. The vocals could have been a bit more up front on this one. I hear some Tony Joe White R&B riff in the opening of “Don’t Shine On Me”. The CD closes with a country charged ballad “Right Back Where I Started”. It is clean and does a nice job.

I like that the band played their own mate-rial. They did cover many styles. Maybe this is where modern blues is going…give it a listen to see if you like it. This may come across better live, where we can witness the band interaction. Not a bad CD, but overall a bit rockier than I might want, though may be your cup of tea. It’s worth hearing it for your ears. Reviewed by Mark Nelson Old Soul Jon Spear Band Self Produced www.jonspearband.com 10 Tracks Jon Spear Band hails from Virginia. The members are Jon Spear and Dara James on guitar, Andy Burdetsky on bass, and John Stubblefield on drums. There are 9 originals on this CD. Spear has been a long time guitarist. Dara James is a young guitar talent. Their list of upcoming gigs, are all in the Virginia area. This re-lease is their first, and is is self released. Opening up the disc is “I Can’t Help My-self”. This funky blues number is a love song, and pretty good. I like the crispness and clarity on the smooth “Devil’s High-way”. Good lyrics and a fine guitar solo bring life to the track. The 3rd track is a lively R&B number called “The Second Mouse Gets The Cheese” It has fun lyrics and some fin guitar and harp. The title track “Old Soul” is next. This song flows well and has a cool bit of sax supporting it by Ron Halloway. It is a pretty cool tune. The next track gets a country with some western riffs treatment. “The Skin I’m In” It certainly widens the range of the CD. Country blues is featured on “Forever Home”. Some tasty harp and slide guitar are featured. Next we slide in the latin feel song “Mean Mean Woman” Early there is some Santana note bending gui-tar work. Strong harmonies and a fine guitar solo are featured. I bet blues radio likes “Paid In Full”. This ballad has lots of appeal with classy guitar and good vocals. “Live Music Is Better” is a great old time blues number with a hint of swing. We all love live music and the band pitches their case for it with clever lyrics. Nice bass solo on it! Closing out the CD is the tradi-tional “Tin Pan Alley”. The band stretches out on this one (Over 8 Min-utes). The intro solo by James if really nice. This is a nice choice for the band.

Page 17 May-June 2015

rock/funk piece with a repetitive chorus line. “All Because Of You” is a far stronger song in a soul-blues vein with some very nice guitar work from Slam. The gentle “In September” further mines the soul seam before “The Blues Is Back” ups the tempo with some guitar playing that picks up on all three Kings and Albert Collins, Slam telling us all that the blues is never far away as we all get them. It’s a solid piece of guitar playing that demon-strates Slam’s abilities rather well. “Baby Please Don’t You Go” has a funky core riff that propels the song along well with John’s organ to the fore. “35 Miles Out-side Of Memphis” has a classic Memphis hook and lyric that recalls Edwin Starr’s “25 Miles”. Slam gives us a slow blues with some torrid guitar on “World Don’t Stop Turning” where John’s organ accompaniment is also an integral part of the performance. “Can’t Break Away From That Girl” returns to the soul –blues vein with some choppy rhythm work from Slam in Steve Cropper/Stax mode. This solid piece of soul music works well but would have really taken off with the addition of some horn charts. More choppy rhythm work brings in “When The Blues Come Around” which also finds Slam using the wah-wah pedal in his solo. Some of the PR notices describe Slam as “Otis Redding with a blazing blues guitar” and “That’s Where You Are” fits that de-scription well. The rhythm work is again very Stax-like, Slam’s vocal certainly has touches of Otis and the emotional chorus works very well: “I’m gonna follow the sun, I’m gonna follow the stars. I’m gonna follow my soul ‘cos I know that’s where you are”. “You’re Wrong” is a slow shuffle with another good vocal from Slam before he closes the album with an extended reading of Prince’s “Purple Rain”, a song that seems to be becoming something of a go-to cover – this reviewer recently saw Vasti Jackson perform it at a festival and it is a favourite show closer for English blues-rocker Aynsley Lister. The song provides a very good vehicle for the band members to show their abilities and for Slam to demonstrate both his vocal and guitar chops. There is nothing startlingly new here but several very good soul-blues tunes struck a chord with this reviewer and will proba-bly do so with others – definitely worth a listen. Reviewed by John Mitchell

Got Blues For Ya Michael Falzarano & Extended Family Woodstock Records www.michael-falzarano.com 12 tracks/62 minutes Michael Falzarano is a veteran musician who has played with Hot Tuna, Jorma Kaukonen and still plays with The New Riders Of The Purple Sage. This project, however, is centered upon New York where all the material was recorded, across three studio sessions and one live performance. Michael wrote all the mate-rial apart from two covers and his gruff vocal is the common thread across all these tracks. The studio sessions were recorded in Brooklyn and Woodstock and feature Mi-chael on guitar and vocals with a wide range of supporting musicians: Kane Daily, Josh Colow or Kerry Kearney on guitar, Chris Matheos, Klyph Black, Frank Campbell, Peter Bennett or Frank Celenza on bass, Ray Grappone, Chris-tian Cassan, Gary Burke or Eileen Murphy on drums, Professor Louie, Jon Marshall Smith, Pete Sears or Harley Fine on key-boards, Vassar Clements on fiddle, Jimmie Fleming on mandolin, Charlie Wolfe on harp, Lisa Bouchelle, Alexis P Suter and Miss Marie on backing vocals. The live track was also recorded in Brook-lyn and finds Michael on acoustic guitar and vocals with Jam Stampede: Mike Miz and Tom Circosta, guitar; Freeman White, keys; Klyph Black, bass; Dave Diamond and Johnny Markowski, drums; Barry Mit-terhof, mandolin; Jason Crosby, fiddle. That live track is an extended acoustic version of Rev Gary Davis’ “Death Don’t Have No Mercy” with fiddle and mandolin to the fore. “Crossroads Avenue (Crossroads Revisited)” is remastered from an earlier CD “The King James Ses-sions” and it’s a good blues with plenty going on: Alexis P Suter’s background vocals brings gospel tones, the piano and mandolin bring some honky tonk feel and the harp and slide combination bring us back to Delta blues. The three tracks re-corded in Woodstock offer three very dif-ferent approaches with the raucous “Snake Box Boogie” being sufficiently ex-tended to allow plenty of dazzling piano work from Professor Louie and flashing leads from Josh Colow. The sardonic lyrics of “I Never Think About You” provide the ultimate putdown: “I know you think I still love you, babe, but nothing could be further from the truth, the truth is I never

think about you”. Michael’s voice fits this one like a glove and Josh’s lead guitar is right on the money on one of the highlight tracks here. “We Got A Party Going On” delivers on its title with a very ‘live’ feel though the keyboard sounding like a thin-toned harp did not work well. The main sessions make up the remaining eight tracks. Opener “The Night King Cur-tis Died” is a churning blues with Michael’s booming vocal and Kane’s slide work par-ticularly strong. The title track has a Bo Diddley beat and “Big Fish” some jaunty slide work from Kerry which, along with Vassar’s fiddle, gives the tune a country blues feel. Lyrically Michael takes another swipe at someone who has an inflated sense of importance: “Baby, you think you’re such a big fish. I got news for you, honey, you don’t mean that much to me”. “Good Good Lovin’” is a strong cut, a rocker with plenty of slide from Kane and a catchy chorus and “Trouble” follows a similar path, Michael’s vocal reminding us of Dylan in his country blues period. “The Devil’s Gone Fishin’” is a slower blues with Kerry’s lead guitar well supported by Professor Louie’s piano and organ work and the album closes with a decent stab at Wilbert Harrison’s “Let’s Work Together” with more excellent guitar playing from Kane. Solid playing from a wide range of musi-cians on some good songs makes this a set worth checking out. Reviewed by John Mitchell Feel These Blues Slam Allen American Showplace Music www.slamallen.com 12 tracks/50 minutes Harrison ‘Slam’ Allen spent nine years as guitarist and vocalist with legendary harp player James Cotton and played on Cotton’s Grammy nomi-nated comeback album “Giant” in 2011. Since then Slam has gone out on his own with the moniker of ‘The Soulworking Man’. This is his third solo release and features his guitar and vocals together with John Ginty on keys, Jeff Anderson on bass and Dan Fadel on drums. Slam wrote all the material apart from one cover; the album was recorded in NYC and produced by Ben Elliott. The title track is an odd choice to open proceedings as it is a pretty generic blues-

Page 18 The Groove- Crossroads Blues Society Newsletter

stars in the sleevenotes. The CD is well produced (by Tim) and the guitar is par-ticularly well played, Tim demonstrating tasteful tone throughout. Bridget’s voice lacks a wide sonic range but is clear and the lyrics are easily understood; she also avoids the trap that many female vocalists fall into of resorting to shouting.

Opener “I’ll Be Missin’ You” sets out the stall with some searing guitar licks over a steady rhythm section. “Blues In The Kitchen” follows a similar approach but has more interesting lyrics, the usual cli-chés of kitchens (dirty dishes in sink, floor needing sweeping) being related to the absence of a good man, Tim contributing a fine, chopped solo. “Texas Toast” opens with some more fluid and expres-sive guitar before taking the food/love analogy further on an extended slow blues: “I was your bread and butter, I treated you like gold; you’ve burned me for the last time, baby I ain’t no Texas toast”.

To ensure that we all get where the band is coming from no fewer than six tracks contain the word blues in the title. In fact “I’ll Take The Blues” has something of a latin lilt to it, especially in Tim’s great gui-tar on the track, and it’s one of several standout cuts here. If a rocking blues is more what you fancy, try “Take Me Home Blues” for size. Title track “Forever In Blues” is a slower tune, the rather down-beat lyrics being well matched by the mu-sic as Tim wrings out some very ‘blue’ notes from his guitar. The jump style tune “He Lied To Me” makes a good change of pace, not that far removed from Tampa Red’s “Don’t You Lie To Me” and the chugging rhythm of “Goin’ To Memphis” sets the toes tapping. “Tall Man” changes the lyrical focus with tales of making deals with the tall stranger “at the crossroads in Mississippi where you hear that black cat moan” – “that’s where you find him, the keeper of lost souls”, Tim taking an ex-tended solo which ranges across the frets impressively. The longest track here is “Everyday Without You” brings Tim to the vocal mike as well as contributing some more excellent guitar on a grinding slow number. Tim also shares vocal duties with Bridget on “When The Blues Come Around” to provide a good, upbeat close to the album.

Overall a solid CD with plenty of good guitar which should appeal to many blues fans out there. All credit to the band for going for all original material rather than slipping in a few of the old warhorses – good to hear.

Reviewed by John Mitchell

Hard Road To Hoe Ghost Town Blues Band Self-Release 2015 www.ghosttownblues-band.com 12 tracks/40 minutes

Memphis-based Ghost Town Blues Band came second at the 2014 IBCs and were also finalists in 2013. This is their third release and it’s a very strong disc with catchy tunes and horn arrangements. The band is led by Matt Isbell on guitar and lead vocals with Preston McEwen, drums and vocals, Alex Piazza, bass and vocals, Jeremy Powell, keys and vocals, Suavo Jones, trombone and Richie Hale, tenor sax. Memphis harp player Brandon Santini guests on two tracks and Vicki Loveland adds backing vocals. Matt wrote most of the material, two songs with old friend and collaborator Taylor Orr who also contributes one song by himself, with one song coming from Paula Smithart.

One of the strengths of this band is their ability to move from their Memphis roots (elements of soul and Mississippi Hill Country) to encompass a healthy dose of New Orleans swing. The best example of the latter is the pairing of “Mr Handy Man”, a short piece of NOLA horns dedicated to WC Handy and arranged by Alex Piazza which segues into “Hate To See Her Go”. “Mr Handy Man” is deliberately engi-neered to sound retro with crackly back-ground at the start and some classic NO second line horns and drums; “Hate To See Her Go” is a rollicking piece of NO music that recalls Roomful Of Blues with features for both horn players and Matt’s guitar, as well the chorus about hating “to see her go but love it when she walks away”. The Memphis soul roots are most evident in “Seventeen” with its gorgeous horn arrangement and Matt’s gentle guitar accompaniment, a song about not grow-ing up too fast.

Brandon Santini guests on harp and vo-cals on “Tip Of My Hat”, another NO in-spired tune with great drumming from Preston, Brandon’s harp sounding almost like a horn chorus here and there are some amusingly risqué lyrics. “My Doggy” finds Brandon playing harp to accompany the howling of Matt’s dog: “He likes it when I play a little harp in D; I can hear him howlin’ now and he’s in the right key”. The horns provide a warmth and depth to the tune too, another winner.

Matt’s cigar box guitar (made from his grandmother’s silverware chest) features on the opening title track which starts with the sound of sweeping and digging before

Matt sings about some of his family his-tory and the tough road he has had to travel to get where he is. As the song develops the horns arrive to add their sig-nature sounds to the track. The short “Dime In The Well” is a Mississippi Hill Country stomp with the cigar box again to the fore. “Dead Sea” is a slower tune with some fine horns and reflective lyrics: “I never broke your promise or kept a prom-ise to myself”; here the cigar box provides the solo but in a completely different style to the other two tunes just mentioned. The slow blues “Nothin’ But Time” is yet another style explored with the full sound-ing Hammond underpinning Matt’s vocal and guitar.

The three remaining tracks further demon-strate the versatility of the band. The closer “Road Still Drives The Same With-out You” is a slow country ballad which gives us the opportunity to consider Matt’s voice in an almost unaccompanied piece, gentle organ, bass and drums only on this track. Matt has a gruff voice but it works particularly well on such a sad tale of loss and regret as this one. Probably the clos-est the band gets to blues-rock is “Tied My Worries To A Stone” with its insistent electric guitar riff and heavy rhythm sec-tion: the horns add some good accents to the song and Matt takes the featured solo in fine fashion: Matt tells us that he “tied my worries to a stone, threw them in the Mississippi”. Proof that the band can boogie with the best of them is provided by the excellent “Big Shirley” with its rock and roll piano, blaring horns and entertain-ing lyrics about the central character: “She’s six feet tall, four feet wide, take a wrecking ball to keep her satisfied”!

This is an excellent and varied album which deserves a wide audience. With several stand-out tracks this one comes highly recommended.

Reviewed by John Mitchell

Forever In Blues Bridget Kelly Band Alpha Sun Records www.bridgetkelly-band.com 15 tracks/71 minutes

North Florida’s Bridget Kelly Band consists of Bridget on vocals, Tim Fik on guitar and occasional vocals, Michael Barady on drums and Mike Hamm on bass. All the material on this generously filled CD is original, written by Bridget and Tim. The band has shared the stage with the likes of Albert Castiglia, Victor Wainwright, Brandon Santini and Jeff Jensen and pay tribute to that ‘next generation’ of blues

Page 19 May-June 2015

World” closes the album with another touch of gospel-inspired music. This is a thoroughly enjoyable album which provides a variety of settings, all of which demonstrate what a fine singer Toots is. Definitely an album to check out, it comes with a strong recommendation from this reviewer. Reviewed by John Mitchell

Make It Easy Toots Lorraine Greaseland Records Self Released 12 tracks/57 minutes Toots Lorraine and her band The Traffic come from the Jackson-ville, Florida area where they specialise in vintage blues and rhythm and blues, cer-tainly making a positive impression on this reviewer at the Springing The Blues festi-val in April 2014. However, this CD is credited to Toots alone and only she and her husband/guitarist Chad Dant appear, the other musicians being all first call play-ers on the West coast where the CD was co-produced by Chad and Kid Andersen at his Greaseland studios. We have Mike Phillips on bass, June Core on drums, Lorenzo Farrell (Kid’s fellow Nightcat) on keys, Aki Kumar on harp, Chad on guitar under the tag ‘Chad Mo’, with Kid filling in occasional parts on guitar, bass and pi-ano. Toots and Chad wrote seven of the songs with the five covers coming from Willie Dixon, Don Robey, Big Joe Turner, Jimmy Vaughan/Dr John and the tradi-tional “Wade In The Water”. The album opens with a brace of originals which show off Toots’ fine voice in two different styles: first the title track opens in shuffle mode with harp and cool jazzy guitar, Toot’s vocals relaxed and crystal clear; the second cut is “When Did You Stop Tryin’”, a slow blues with fine harp, piano and guitar. The first cover is Don Robey’s “Let Your Tears Fall Baby”, a rocking cut with excellent, stinging guitar and some exciting piano. Toots shows her uptempo vocal abilities on this one before she demonstrates her softer side on “Get Back To Lovin’”, a gentle love song accentuated by Chad’s fine guitar support. Kid Andersen is the featured guitarist on “Satisfied”, an uptempo origi-nal in which Toots extols the virtues of her man who keeps her fully satisfied. After that clear message of human comforts “Wade In The Water” makes an interesting contrast, Lorenzo’s organ underpinning another fine vocal from Toots in a relaxed take on the gospel tune. We return to more earthly concerns with “Built For Comfort”, a somewhat ironic choice for the slender Toots! Aki’s harp and Lorenzo’s piano embellish the familiar rhythm as Toots demonstrates that she can belt out a song of this kind just as well as the gen-tler material. “Wrong Side Of Love” is another late night ballad, June using brushes, the bass, gui-tar and piano all playing quietly behind

Toots, Chad and Lorenzo (on piano) tak-ing restrained but tasty solos in the middle chorus. “Chad Mo Shuffle” is, as the title suggests, an instrumental feature for Chad before Toots tackles Big Joe Turner’s “Low Down Dog” in early rock and roll style, making keeping still while typing a real challenge! The final original is “Hindsight”, a slow, brooding tune on which Toots excels on vocals before Jimmy Vaughan and Dr John’s “Love The

some restraint and gives a performance with a lot of feeling. “Cryin Won’t Help” (one of the two covers) begins sub-dued but the guitar and vocals build quickly. “Strange Feelin’” again shows more restraint and Lizzi builds to use her power to good effect and then lets the song finish out nicely. “Brother Will” starts in the ionosphere and returns there often, giving their fans a huge roller coaster ride. Nice harp work and the horns play a good role, but it is the harmonica that gets the big solo here. “Blues On My Mind” starts sultry and cool; Lizzi builds to a big level and sustains the emotion. Dave offers a Carlos Santana like solo before Lizzi re-turns to the stratosphere and goes wild near the end of the cut before a thoughtful and restrained close. “Muddy Water” is a popular blues topic; the song is well done and the lyrics are not contrived as many on this topic have been. It’s a very nice song with over the top vo-cals, Lizzi show she can be a blues shouter. “Movin On” starts off slower and ramps up fast; the guitar solo gets big and the Lizzi finishes even bigger. The T-Bone Walker classic “Stormy Monday” gets a little treatment by Dave a la the Allman Brothers. Lizzi starts thoughtfully and pen-sively but then the volume and passion get up there and stay there. Lots of slick gui-tar work, too, as husband and wife and competing for who can give a bigger per-formance here. “The Road” is a thoughtful piece and the restraint makes for a beauti-ful southern rock styled cut. The vocal highs are thoughtful and mostly are not overdone. “Midnight” offers a lot of the over the top vocal work and the harp player gives it his all here. The next to last track is a thank you to the band and sup-porters by Lizzi, and then she concludes the album with a nice fun swing tune “I Wanna Dance.” Lizzi is a great singer with a fantastic in-strument. She often performs in what I call the “American Idol style,” where the women push to sing over the top like some of the pop divas. I prefer more of the Billy Holiday and less of the Whitney Houston and Janis Joplin approach, but there are many who would say they like this style. For me, with a little more restraint this would be a really superb album. As it stands it’s very good, but sometimes less can be more. I think if Lizzi controls the excesses (using an occasional big flourish and note to build to for effect) I think she can go very far as she is an outstanding vocalist and has a great band supporting her! Reviewed by Steve Jones

Breaking And Entering Eliza Neals Self Released E-HRecords.com 12 Tracks Eliza Neals returns with Breaking and En-tering and the gritty soulful blues singer delivers more of her signature sound. Eliza had a hand in writing all 12 tracks on this album with the occasional contribution by fellow Detroit bluesman Howard Glazer who provides the guitars on much of the album along with a few guests. If you prefer rockin' raspy blues then Eliza delivers again. Arguably, her best work to date. Things start off with Eliza’s raw vocals over Howard’s dobro rhythm on “Detroit Drive.” This transitions into the slow blues title track “Breaking and Entering” where Eliza displays all sorts of vocal hijinks as she growls, and howls. “Goo Goo Glass” is a rocker with a catchy chorus that you will find yourself humming. Kenny Olson, who is probably best known for playing guitar with Kid Rock, guests on a couple of tracks including “You,” which starts out as a slow song where Kenny’s guitar provides some great fills behind Eliza’s vocals and eventually breakouts on its own with a rock n roll solo in the middle of the song. “Pretty Gritty” starts out with a boogie pi-ano rhythm and that lively feel continues throughout the song. Kenny Olson returns for the appropriate titled “Southern Dreams” where the laid-back groove evokes that ’70s southern rock sound. “Sugar Daddy” has a completely different set of musicians on it including Shane Vis-bal on guitar who supplies some excellent licks. The change provides a different vibe than the rest of the album. This track sounds like it could have marched straight out of early Chicago or Detroit R&B stu-dios. It gets a little repetitive with the vocal lyrics but the playing underneath that is excellent. “Spinning” is a heavy slow blues that features a Hendrix guitar feel and Eliza’s voice complimenting the 60's blues vibe track. Which then completes this al-bum with a radio edit version of the title song "Breaking and Entering". There’s plenty of pop radio ready tracks to choose from like “Windshield Wipers” and the catchy “I’m The Girl” and a radio edit for the title track to end the album. Hope-fully this album gets Eliza some noticed for not only her gritty, powerful voice but also her songwriting. The songs were recorded in 4 different studios, mixed in 2 others, and mastered at TemperMill, Ferndale, MI.

Overall, a complete contemporary blues CD. Give a listen. You won't be disap-pointed! Reviewed by Bill Graw So Long Heartache Lizzi Neal Band Self Released www.lizzineal-band.com 15 tracks The Lizzi Neal Band hails from Illinois and has been recognized many times for their efforts, winning the RAMI Award for top blues band in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Their album was selected by the RAMI members as top Rockford album in 2013. They have appeared around the Stateline area many times and have a good following everywhere they perform. Lizzi leads the band and sings all the vo-cals. Her husband Dave is the guitar player, Jason Freeman is on bass and John Brown is the drummer. They are a solid modern blues rock act and are tight in their arrangements and performances. The album features 13 original cuts and two covers. The band has produced some great new songs that really showcase the talents of the members. Neal shows the range of her voice, Dave lays out some great riffs on guitar and the backline keeps pace in support of the effort throughout. “Drownin” opens the album. The band really tries to impress the listener with vo-cal and guitar histrionics. They make it work and intrigue the listener with how they can push the limits. It’s a big hook to grab you and it works. “Haven’t I Been Good to You” features the horn section of Adam Neal and John Armstrong. They appear later on “Too Many Days” and in both cases provide a slick accompaniment to the songs. Lizzi growls out the lead on the former and on the latter song she does it Slim Harpo style as the vocal intro gets fuzzed up before she belts out the lead. Dave nails the guitar solo and Jan Brad-ford adds some nice harp as he does on a couple of other tracks. The distorted vocal effect returns for a verse and then the high level vocal attack begins. Great guitar work here as Dave lays it all out; the harp is a nice, a consistent accompaniment. Another return to the fuzzy vocals mid-song and then a huge vocal barrage to go out is offered up. “So Long Heartache” is a subdued cut in comparison to most cuts. Lizzi shows

Page 20 The Groove- Crossroads Blues Society Newsletter

Page 21 May-June 2015

Matthew Curry in Peoria

(Road Trip)

Jimmy Nick in Peoria (Road Trip)

Mike Zito and Samantha Fish

in Peoria (Road Trip)

Basement Blues Band

at the Lyran Club

Taildragger at Hope and Anchor Sena Ehrhardt at the Hope and

Anchor

Mark Dvorak and David Causey at

the Just Goods Listening Room

Happenings over the last couple of months...

Page 22 The Groove- Crossroads Blues Society Newsletter

Rockin’ Johnny at the Hope and

Anchor

Barstool Bob Levis with Rockin’

Johnny at the Hope and Anchor

Dave Fields at the Lyran Club

Dave Fields BITS

The New Savages

at the Lyran CLub

David Causey and Mark Dvorak

BITS

The Jimmys at the Hope and

Anchor

Top Blues Releases April 2015

Sunday Morning Blues WKGL-FM 96.7 The Eagle

Rockford, IL

Joe Bonamassa / Muddy Wolf at Red Rocks / J&R Adventures Debbie Davies / Love Spin / Little Dipper - Vizztone Pokey LaVarge / Something in the Wa-ter / Rounder RJ Mischo / Everything I Need / Self Produced Barbara Blue / Memphis Blue - Sweet, Strong & Tight / Big Blue Joe Bonamassa / Different Shades of Blue / J&R Adventures Robben Ford / Into the Sun / Provogue Tad Robinson / Day into Night / Severn Van Morrison / Duets / RCA Toots Lorraine / Make It Easy / Grease-land Rockin' Johnny Burgin / Greetings from Greaseland California / West Tone Bettye LaVette / Worthy / Cherry Red Brad Hatfield / For a Change / Self Pro-duced The Cash Box Kings / Holding Court / Blind Pig The Nighthawks / Back Porch Party / Eller Soul Jewel Brown featuring Bloodest Saxo-phone / Roller Coaster Boogie / Dyna-flow Voo Davis / Midnight Mist / Butter & Ba-con Dave Specter / Message in Blue / Del-mark

This list is submitted to Living Blues Magazine for inclusion in the April 2015 National Radio Chart. This list is com-piled from actual radio air play statistics. WKGL-FM broadcasts 2 hours of the blues per week.

Rich Gordon Sunday Morning Blues WKGL-FM 96.7 The Eagle 3901 Brendenwood Road Rockford, IL 61107

Page 23 The Groove- Crossroads Blues Society Newsletter

We continue to grow with new members

and renewals continuing to sign on!

Thank you for supporting live music and

tp keeping the blues alive to all our new

and returning members!

New members:

Neil Carlson

Dan Smelter

Renewing Members:

Dennis Barker

Don Collins (2 years)

Dixie Ferguson

Bonnie Fox

Rebecca and Andrew Heaslip

Rich and Monica Gordon (2 years)

New members get a CD upon joining;

family members get two CDs. Member-

ship has been $15 (individual) and $25

(family) for over 15 years. Mail newslet-

ter members have a $5 surcharge to

help with printing and postage costs; it’s

expensive to produce and distribute

newsletters. We produce six newsletters

a year with 25-30 reviews and all sorts of

other great information related to the

Society and our events. Again, we thank

our members for their support and help-

ing us to keep the blues alive!

Membership News

May-June 2015

Hope and Anchor Eng-

lish Pub Monthly Second Saturday Blues

The Hope and Anchor Saturday Blues

Schedule is set through April 2015.

From 8 PM to Midnight, $5 cover after 8

PM or free prior to that for dinner guests.

Featuring fine English pub fare, the

Hope and Anchor is a great spot for din-

ner, craft beers, liquors, and great live

music! At 5040 N 2nd Street, Loves Park

IL, USA, phone 815.633.2552 for info!

5/9/15 The Jimmy’s

6/13/15 Generation Blues with Justin

Gates, Macyn Taylor, Dan Phelps, Bob

Levis and Steve Ditzell

7/11/15 Altered Five

8/8/15 New Savages

Lyran Society Friday Blues

The Lyran Society has decided to add

blues to their Fish Fry and Steak Dinners

with performances on the first or second

Friday of each month at their club. Lo-

cated half a block east of 7th Street at

1115 4th Ave, Rockford, IL 61104, you

can call (815) 964-0511 for info. There is

no cover charge, it’s a free show. Open

to the public, all ages are welcome!

May 8: The Jimmys

June 13: Generation Blues

July 11: Altered Five

August 8: New Savages

www.bluesblastmagazine.com

The Groove is a bi-monthly publication of the Crossroads Blues Society. The PDF version (typically 14 to 24 pages) is emailed to members of Crossroads. Hard copies (12 pages) are sent out members without email ($5 membership surcharge). Editor in Chief: Steve Jones

Music Reviewers: Dennis Barker, Rick Davis, Bill Graw, Rick Hein, Steve Jones, John Mitchell, Mark Nelson, and Mark Thompson

All un-credited content by Steve Jones

We have a jam packed summer of blues

events scheduled and the festival season is

upon us. Check page 1 for a summer festival

review and other stuff going on this summer.

Here are all the Crossroads events for May,

June and July:

Friday May 1st: Dave Field at the Lyran Club on 4th Avenue Rockford 7 to 10 PM

Saturday May 9th: The Jimmys at the Hope and Anchor, 5040 N 2nd Street,

Loves Park IL 8 PM to midnight.

Friday June 5th: Kryptonite Jam Blues Band (Barstool Bob Levis, Ron Holm, and

Justin Gates) at the Lyran Club on 4th

Avenue Rockford 7 to 10 PM

Sunday June 7th: Dan Phelps at All Saints Lutheran Church, Byron, IL 4 to 6 PM

Saturday, June 13th: Blues Across the Ages

(Barstool Bob Levis,

Steve Ditzell, Dan

Phelps, Justin Gates,

Macyn Taylor and

more) at the Hope and

Anchor, 5040 N 2nd

Street, Loves Park IL 8

PM to midnight.

Sunday, June 14: Doug MacLeod with Dan

Phelps, Blackhawk

Meadows Park, 2920 E

Mill Rd, Byron, IL 3 to 6

PM.

Friday, July 3rd: Collins Grayless Band,

Lyran Club on 4th

Avenue Rockford 7 to

10 PM

Saturday, July 4th: Party at Lyran Park for

Crossoads and Lyran

with Bobby Messano,

time TBD

Sunday, July 5th: Macyn Taylor at All

Saints Lutheran

Church, Byron, IL 4 to

6 PM

News and Upcoming Events

Crossroads Blues Society P.O. Box 840 Byron, IL 61010

News Blog with our Latest Info: http://crossroadsbluessociety. blogspot.com

Music Reviews: http://crossroadsreviews.blogspot.com

Crossroads Blues Festival at Lyran Park: www.crossroadsbluesfestival.com

Email us at: sub_insignia@yahoo.com

Also on the web at: www.crossroadsbluessociety.com

Keeping the Blues Alive Since 1994 2014 Blues Foundation Keeping the Blues Alive Affiliate Award Recipient

2014 Chicago Blues Hall of Fame Inductee

Blues on Local Radio WNIJ - 89.5 FM

Friday evenings from 9 PM to midnight with Harold Brown

Saturday afternoons from 1 to 4 PM with Patrick Sheehan

Saturday evenings from 9 PM to midnight with David James

The Eagle - 96.7 FM

Sunday Morning Blues 6 AM to 8 AM with Rich Gordon

Membership Application

www.crossroadsbluesociety.com

Yes! I’d love to be a part of the Crossroads Blues Society!

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This will be a membership for an/a:

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via regular mail via regular mail

Please cut out or copy and mail this form and

payment to:

Crossroads Blues Society Bring this to

P.O. Box 840 our next meeting

Byron, IL 61010 and get a free CD!

The Crossroads Blues Society Newsletter

The GROOVE