#699 : Tab Benoit - I Hear Thunder (PhillyCheezeBlues.Blogspot.com)

 

2024 – Whiskey Bayou Records
Release Date : Aug 30, 2024

By Phillip Smith;

Original source : phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com

 

It’s been a long thirteen years since Tab Benoit has released a new studio album. I Hear Thunder, the latest, is well worth the wait.  Benoit delivers ten striking new Telecaster Thinline-fueled tracks he co-wrote with guitarist Anders Osborne. They glisten like rays of sunlight reflecting off a Louisiana bayou. With Tab on vocals and guitar, he is joined by drummer Terence Higgins, bassist Corey Duplechin, Osborne on guitar. And guest George Porter Jr. (The Meters) who plays bass on two tracks.

Title-track “I Hear Thunder” is powered by a quick-setting, lush, swampy groove adorned with thick bass, a heavy pulse, and riveting guitar licks. I absolutely love it.  “The Ghost of Gatemouth Brown” follows next with an infectious beat and a fabulous tribute to the Grammy-winning Louisiana bluesman Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown (April 18, 1924 – September 10, 2005).  Benoit is picturesque with his lyrics as he transports the listener into the swamps and marshes of the delta with “Watching the Gaters Roll In”.  It’s a favorite indeed. When Porter joins in on “Little Queenie”, it makes for a damn fine dance-inducing jam. I can’t help but move my feet when this flows through the speakers. The album comes to its glorious end with “Bayou Man”, a bodacious track oozing with searing guitar licks covered in gator grease.

Tab Benoit’s I Hear Thunder excites me at every turn with his delectable guitar performances and powerful vocals. It truly is a fantastic album.  

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For more information about Tab Benoit, visit his website at https://www.tabbenoit.com/

#406 : Charlie Wooton Project - Blue Basso

2019 – Wild Heart Records
By Phillip Smith; Sep. 1, 2019

Covering artists such as Deanna Bogart, and Billy Pierce the past few years have made me aware of Charlie Wooton’s work as a bassist.  Serving as his tribute to the great Jaco Pastorious, Blue Basso incorporates jazz, funk, R&B, and blues into a tasty concoction of music with a splash of New Orleans charm.  Here, his work stands gracefully in the spotlight getting the full attention it deserves.  The album is a surely a wonderful, musical treat.  With Wooton on bass, the band consists of Daniel Groover on guitar, Jermal Watson on drums, Keiko Komaki on keys, and features the lovely Arséne DeLay on vocals.  Adding to the ‘cool’ factor, appearances from Sonny Landreth, Anders Osborne, Doug Wimbish (Living Colour), Eric McFadden and Damon Fowler also grace this record. 

Wooton starts off with a groovy instrumental called “Jaceaux”.  Komaki is an absolute monster on keys.  Wimbish, whose work includes session work for Sugarhill Gang, Grandmaster Flash, The Rolling Stones, and Depeche Mode sits in on this track fortifying the song with an extra layer of funk.  “Come On Come Over”, a splendid cover from Jaco’s acclaimed 1976 self-titled album, is delightfully sung by DeLay.  “Dime Note” is fantastic.  I dig the beat Watson throws down on this one as the wonderfully calibrated lead guitar from Groover takes over.  Sonny Landreth breaks out a healthy helping of his signature slide guitar on back-to-back songs, “Tell Me a Story”, and “Front Porch”.  It’s always a pleasure to hear this man play.  The album closes out with a smooth funkified take on the Rolling Stones song, “Miss You”.  This fabulous cut has been a ‘go-to’ song for me this week. 

I appreciate and respect what Wooton is doing with his music.  The jams he builds are juicy and spectacular.  Blue Basso is definitely an album worth checking out.

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For more information about the artist, visit this website :  charliewooton.com  

Danielle Nicole live at Campbell Steele Gallery - Nov. 19, 2016

Marion, Iowa

By Phillip Smith; Nov. 20, 2016

Saturday, November 19, singer/bassist Danielle Nicole gave an exquisite performance to a sold out crowd at Campbell Steele Gallery in Marion, Iowa.  Singer/bassist Nicole, previously of the Kansas City band, Trampled Under Foot, is now in command of her own band, consisting of the very talented guitarist Brandon Miller, keyboardist extraordinaire Mike “Shinetop Jr.” Sedovic, and the outstanding Jon Faircloth on drums. This troop of musicians is one of the tightest groups I’ve heard, and hearing them play live is truly an electric experience.

Nicole beautifully performed the tremendous “Give Me Tonight” by Grammy Award winning songwriter and producer Anders Osborne, who also happened to produce Nicole’s 2015 Wolf Den album. Their performance of “Starvin’ For Love” was both joyous and riveting.  Miller tore into some lush slide guitar on their deliciously haunting cover of Son House’s “Death Letter Blues.”    

The first segment of the second set featured Nicole onstage alone, armed with acoustic guitar instead of her bass. She captivated the audience with John Prine’s “Angel From Montgomery”, and a poignant delivery of Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice”, before taking on Dolly Parton’s “Jolene”.

 

A moment of remembrance for the great soul singer Sharon Jones (May 4, 1956 – November 18, 2016) was taken, as Nicole shared her memories of opening up for Jones at a music festival overseas.  This ushered in a most fitting tribute as they broke out the funk in Jones’ “Nobody’s Baby”.  Another tribute to a recently fallen musical dignitary was taken later in the evening with a terrific performance of Prince’s “Purple Rain”.  Nicole sang this with intensity and heartfelt emotion as Miller payed a stellar guitar solo.

Although the band played for nearly three hours with just a smidge of a break, it was an evening which no one really wanted to end.  This is what the blues is all about.

* all photos by Phillip Smith

Danielle Nicole

Mike “Shinetop Jr.” Sedovic

Brandon Miller

Danielle Nicole & Jon Faircloth

Brandon Miller

Danielle Nicole

Jon Faircloth 

Danielle Nicole

Danielle Nicole, Jon Faircloth, Mike 'Shinetop Jr.' Sedovic