CD Reviews-Cathi 11-5-06
Canned Heat – “Instrumentals 1967-1996” (Ruf) C+Canned Heat made it big on the boogie groove. This is a live album which lots of crowd noise and some very uneven playing, marked by extra distortion, unbalanced sound, and bristling with old-time druggie guitar.
Ford Blues Band – The Butterfield/Bloomfield Concert” (Blue Rock It Rec.) A-
Big horns, three guitar players (Robben Ford, Chris Cain and Volker Strifler) rave it up, yet manage to respect each other’s space in a live performance/tribute to Michael Bloomfield and Paul Butterfield.” The latter two musicians were blues inspirations, and the Ford Bros. pay flattering tribute. Love that Robben’s guitar attack. Some songs are mighty, mighty long, but for a live recording, the sound is good. This band, AND Robben Ford will tear your socks off when they’re in the same room; it’s harder to get that excitement on record.
Guy, Buddy – “Can’t Quit The Blues” (Silvertone) A
I love it when Buddy records, because he does complete songs with no show-off grandstanding. And when Buddy decides to do his thing it is incredible. This is a radio sampler of his stuff, I hope of a forthcoming album but I don’t know. He does great work with Bonnie Raitt on a slow one, and an interesting thing with John Mayer. And I never thought I’d miss Nixon, OR “Mustang Sally,” but when Buddy sings so great over Jeff Beck’s BARELY CONTAINED, blistering guitar, I got my white go-go boots out again. Wow. All alone, Buddy comes through with a pure gold delivery on “Nobody Understands Me But My Guitar” (guitar players unite), and then delivers a very broken-sounding “Done Got Old” just to give you the shivers. Wow—can I get a witness.
Hummel, Mark – Ain’t Easy No More” (Electro-Fi) B+
Hummel and his “Survivors” have been cranking away at it for a long, long time, and the craftsmanship of this disc testifies. A surprising improvement in Hummels vocals hit me throughout. He’s also got interesting song change-ups for blues which keep any record from getting dull. Journeyman harmonica work. Nice effort!
Lynn, Trudy, w/ Calvin Owens Orch. – “I’m Still Here” (Sawdust Alley) B
Calvin Owens certainly has a good orchestra. Trudy Lynn is a sturdy blues singer who leans occasionally toward some soul belting. This disc is bluesier than the typical Owens disc in my view. Liked the vocals, and really liked guest vocalist Nelson Mills (#4 & 11) to break up the set. Nice for Big band blues lovers. GREAT female vocal backups.
Phantom Blues Band – “Out of the Shadows” (Delta Groove) A-
This is a great band, made up of session/side players with serious chops, who back Taj Mahal on the road, but these are weathered journeymen in a band of their own, and the change-up in styles, managed with ease, the incredibly tight musicianship, and the good-to-great vocals makes this one a disc to write home about. Denny Freeman on guitar is highly under-rated; Joe Sublett was a stable horn player on the Austin scene for years, and these other guys have covered the waterfront with a LOT of big names. The Delta Groove label strikes again – recording cats who know what they’re doing. Keep it comin’.
Turner, Ike – “Risin’ With the Blues” (Zoho Records) A-
Well, I think Ike’s about had it with his “bad boy” image a la Tina. He steps up here with some angry protest tunes (#6, 7 & 10) as if to say enough is enough. Meanwhile, the disc quivers with funk, tight-tight rhythm section (all veterans of the Ike Turner boot camp) and great stuff. Ike might be a bad actor, but he sure can play, write and lead a dang good band. His singing is starting to get quavery, but hey, I think he’s earned it.
posted by Cathi N @ 4:35:00 PM
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