John Primer and
Bob Corritore have teamed up once again
to record yet another fabulously legitimate record of blues.Primer instantly
connects with his vocals, and enthralls me with his guitar phrasing. He sounds so damn good as Corritore absolutely rips it up on harmonica. Produced by Corritore, Clarke Rigsby and Kid Andersen, The
Gypsy Woman Told Me also features Jimi “Primetime”
Smith (guitar), Billy Flynn
(guitar), Bob Welsh (piano), Kid Andersen (organ), Ben Levin
(piano), Kedar Roy (bass), Mike Hightower (bass), Troy Sandow
(bass), June Core (drums), and Brian Fahley (drums).This twelve-track album contains ten deep covers and a pair of splendid Primer originals.
Muddy Water’s “The
Gypsy Woman Told Me” makes for a captivating listen as the title track.With Welsh on
piano, Roy on bass, and Core on drums, this one is slowly steeped in old-fashioned
Chicago blues. Corritore wonderfully takes on the legendary Helena, Arkansas
harp player Sonny Boy Williamson II with
“My Imagination”.Primer’s guitar sizzles and Welsh holds nothing back on the ivories. Dripping with emotion, their cover of Jimmy Rogers’ “Left Me with a Broken Heart” is exquisite.With the driving rhythm of a rolling freight
train, “Little Bitty Woman”, is a smashing song.This Primer
original features spirited vocals, tremendous harp topped with Welsh’s attention-grabbing barrelhouse piano. Flynn, Hightower, and Fahey provide
the backing for the guys as they close with “Ain’t Gonna Be No Cuttin’ Loose”, a
James Cotton song from 1984.Primer
plays this with precision against Corritore’s textured
and nuanced performance.
The musical chemistry between Primer and Corritore is
incomparable as they continue to produce some of the best blues being produced
these days.An absolute must for the blues
fan, The Gypsy Woman Told Me is a sheer delight.
2020 – Emily Duff / Mr Mudshow
Music By Phillip Smith; April 18, 2020
I’m loving this new disc, Born on the Ground
from New York City troubadour Emily Duff.Her introspective lyrics on this nine-track
break-up album are wonderfully delivered with a heaping helping of soulful
country twang. With Duff on acoustic guitar and lead vocals, her band
consists of Scott Aldrich
on electric guitar, Skip Ward
on bass, Charlie Giordano
on piano/organ, Kenny Soule
on drums/percussion, Eric Amble
on electric guitar, and background vocalists Mary Lee
Kortes, Syd Straw,
and Tricia Scotti.
In title track “Born on the Ground”, Duff sings ‘When
you’re born on the ground, you’re dead inside.’.Her powerful and poignant lyrics go head to
head with masterful writers such as Bob Dylan and
Lucinda Williams, as she sings them
with a voice made for western music.I
instantly fall for “Easy Go”.From the
beginning of this up-tempo song, I’m pulled right in, lured by its strong pulse
and infectious riffs.There’s a deliciously
dark Tom Waits energy in the playfully sublime
“No Escape”.It’s bluesy and cool as
hell.Duff is
not one to be reckoned with as she belts out “Knuckle Sandwich”.She tackles the song with a fearless, punk
attitude, and tops it with driving guitar, crashing drums, and barrelhouse
piano.I can’t get enough of this
one.It’s definitely my favorite.
Born on the Ground is a superb album
of all original songs which have certainly grabbed my attention. This is a record I highly recommend.
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For more information about the artist, visit this
website – emilyduff.bandcamp.com
2020 – Disques Bros. By Phillip Smith; April 11, 2020
Montreal-based Justin
Saladino has a stellar new album, simply called Live.The recording took place over two nights at Piccolo Studios in Quebec for an audience of dedicated fans.
Hearing the live takes from A Fool’s Heart
and No Worries adds an extra layer of soul to the songs.With Saladino taking
lead of this six-piece band on guitar and vocals, he is joined by guitarist Antoine Loiselle, keyboardist David Osei-Afrifa,
drummer Denis Paquin,
bassist Gabriel Forget, and
percussionist Lucie Martel.
The album splendidly opens in a bluesy romantic
direction with “Take What You Want”.Saladino’s vocals are smooth and confident. I love how he fearlessly brings “Purple Girl” to
life with his guitar mastery.It rocks
in a fabulous way. While beautifully wearing
his heart on his sleeve, he lays down a slew of extraordinary licks on his
break-up ballad “Peace With You”. Saladino packs a gob of delicious blues slide into Tom Petty’s “You Don’t Know How it Feels”, making for one
hell of a cover.
JSB Live is one of the best live albums I’ve
heard in a while. Saladino absolutely cooks on guitar.
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For more information about the artist, visit this
website : justinsaladinoband.com
2019 – Third Street Cigar Records By Phillip Smith; April 4, 2020
A connection was forged nearly a decade ago at Buddy Guy’s Legends club in Chicago when Chris Shutters attended an open mic event hosted by Delmark Records recording artist Jimmy Burns. Shutters
signed up to perform, and ended up playing a couple of songs with Burns himself.They talked and traded phone numbers afterward.Ten years later, Shutters
contacted Burns about collaborating on an
album.One thing led to another, and the
result is this fantastic ten-track record of all original blues.Good Gone Bad features both Shutters and Burns on
guitar and vocals.
Burns takes
the mic, on “Stop the Train” and pulls me right onboard. Rick Warner,
former keyboardist for Rare Earth, adds
a nice and funky groove to this stellar blues track. “Miss Annie Lou” another track written by Burns, is an absolute delight.I love his guitar picking and weathered
voice. The saxophone licks from Art Bishop are fabulous.Burns’
attention-grabbing style once again takes top-billing on “No Consideration”.With a hint of Memphis soul, this track
cooks.
Shutters shines
as singer/songwriter/guitarist on “Can’t Play the Blues Like B.B.”.This infectious,
up-tempo gem is loaded with searing guitar licks and topped with a smoldering dose
of harp from Tony Shutters.“Unwind” is a masterpiece with a driving
rhythm which reels me into a fascinating world of jazz, rock, pop and blues.It makes me want to get up on my feet and
dance.
Good Gone Bad has definitely landed in
my stack of favorites this year.Coupling
their songwriting craftmanship with masterful performances, Shutters and Burns
make for one outstanding blues duo.I
certainly hope to hear more from them.