Cathi's CD Reviews 3-15-09
Fleetwood, Mick – “Blues Again” (529 Records) A-British blues – it was always electric and rockin’ and Fleetwood was in on the roots of that movement. In early Fleetwood Mac Peter Green electrified this sound for a whole new wave of contenders. After all the pop years, he now brings in old friend (and hot guitar slinger) Rick Vito to help the cream of that sound rise to the top once again. Nice on the ears after years of slammin’ bashers. He can rock it in the pocket without too many notes or too many instruments—another lesson in spare but efficient. And atop this – it’s live and nicely mixed. Cool.
Lindell, Eric – “Gulf Coast Highway” (Alligator) B+
Alligator’s new wonderkid, Eric Lindell sings a lot like Van Morrison and it’s nice to hear someone with some great vocal phrasing and soulful expression. He’s also a good songwriter who is getting heavily influenced by the New Orleans beat and sound (his new adopted home). Most of these tunes are heavily backed by horns and arrangements. I wonder how some of them would be even more soulful without all that instrumental “cover” competing for listener attention. But I’m hanging in there for the long haul—it’ll be interesting to see where this great singer takes his music. He’s be a knock out as a soul singer. None too shabby as it is.
Schmidt, Danny – “Instead the Forest Rose To Sing” (Red House) B+
Newly signed and touted by Red House Records, Schmidt is a fanciful writer with some great “furniture” in his story-songs…typical for Red House Artists. Easy songs to carry your fancy aloft to melodious and spare guitar work backed some fiddle and harmony. Very nice for most mixes – most tunes of medium and slow tempo.
Walker, Seth – “Leap of Faith” (Hyena Records) A
Walker has really inspired Delbert McClinton and Gary Nicholson (two VERY great Nashville songwriters and performers) with his singing and writing abilities. Most tunes on this disc are written by Seth in partnership with Gary Nicholson. His vocal delivery is really rich and with this professional backup band, he really kicks booty. He does particularly with the midtempo, catchy beats that allow him to nurse infectious beats, but his voice really lets go on some of the slower ones. He can do the Sinatra-esque stuff in front of an orchestra (I Got a Song), but then lay back on a good beat (Memory Pain), that are always Nicholson specials. He’s got a little Jimmy Vaughan on those blues vocals, but a wider range overall. He does a little something of every beat here and they all got groove. Cool future for this guy and our ears.
posted by Cathi N @ 6:05:00 PM
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