CD Reviews -- Cathi 7-1-07
Benoit, Tab – “The Power of Lake Ponchartrain” (Telarc) BThis disc brings us Benoit’s adept guitar playing and a few punchy deliveries, but on the whole isn’t a standout example of his work. He does several tunes to bring visibility to the post-Katrina situation in New Orleans, and makes no missteps in his other tunes, but only a few are home runs. Not much new that is. Still definitely playable.
Halford, Jeffrey, and the Healers – “Broken Chord” (Shoeless Rec.) B
This record was surprisingly enjoyable, though not blues. The songwriting is tasty and different; the vocals a little rough, and the guitar very nice. San Francisco as a home base probably offers a lot of song ideas! Halford reminds me of Mellencamp in a way, varying some pop-rock offerings with acoustic tunes and one great rockabilly. Seems at homes with various “popular” styles. This is his sixth CD so I guess he knows what he’s doing. A couple of Katrina-inspired tunes. All very listenable.
Knight, Marie – “Let Us Get Together” (M.C. Records) A
Gospel singer Marie Knight is probably best known for her life-long backup singing with Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the wildly successful gospel rouser of the 1940’s, but she also had a career as a jazz and R & B singer. This, her first CD in 20 years, features the incredible musician, Larry Campbell (playing all the stringed instruments – breathtakingly), Kim Wilson (F-Birds, etc.) on harp, and Katherine Russell (Power singer for David Bowie, Jackson Brown, Madonna, Al Green, etc.) Knight’s voice is still surprisingly supple and she puts heavy soul into these acoustic tunes – all tributes to her fellow preacher, Rev. Gary Davis. Campbell’s guitar/banjo/etc. work is truly awe inspiring. In fact the whole CD will make you smile. All are good for morning mix.
Wood, Charlie – “…and the New Memphis Underground” (Daddy-) C+
Big horn backups with expressive vocals make this disc listenable – obviously a stab at picking up the blues-soul Stax records sound. While this seems like a nice bar band, and the vocals really do capture some attention, and keyboardist Wood tries to make the most of them doing covers of note, yet he might have done better picking lesser known covers as he doesn’t quite measure up to the originals. This record is really only average. Seems like this band would be very popular in a local setting, but not necessarily the world. Not really recommended.
posted by Cathi N @ 12:02:00 PM
0 comments
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home