#677 : Deb Ryder - Live and Havin' Fun (PhillyCheezeBlues.Blogspot.com)

Deb Ryder

Live and Havin’ Fun

2024 – Vizztone Label Group

By Phillip Smith; April 27, 2024

Original source : phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com

 

Live and Havin’ Fun, Deb Ryder’s first live album and sixth overall, embraces the Blues and captivates me with her unbridled vocal performances. Written and produced by Deb Ryder and her husband and bass guitarist Ric W. Ryder, this fourteen-track album was recorded at The Mint in Los Angeles. It features all original material with two brand new songs which have not been previously recorded. Backing Ryder is Johnny Lee Schell, Tony Braunagel, Jim Pugh, Ric W. Ryder, Tex Nakamura, Alan Maggini, Lon Price and Paul Litteral. Special guests include Albert Lee, Joe Sublett, Joey Delgado, Artur Menezes and Big Liou Johnson.

Once the horns hit that driving R&B rhythm full-blast on “Fun Never Hurt No One”, I am totally onboard for the listen. The track certainly harkens back to that Sixties soul sound. Following up with “Enjoy the Ride”, Ryder keeps the timeline moving on to the later Sixties, when psychedelia and music melded together. It’s fabulous the way the harp dances with the keys and guitar licks on that pulsing beat and bassline. Her vocals are smooth as silk on the sultry and timeless “You Might Just Get Lucky”. I dig the funky “Get Ready” with its revolutionary message of love. I very much enjoy when Ryder slows it down for “Guilty as Sin”. The song is topped with a smokin’ platter of harp and is definitely baptized in the blues. The sound of horns adds a nice degree of brightness to “Coming Home”. They surely add to the sense of happiness and positive energy which freely flows off it. Blues and drinking songs have gone hand in hand for many years. Ryder has is all summed up in “Any Bottle on the Shelf”. As a bonus, Albert Lee steps in on guitar along with Johnny Lee,

Listening to Deb Ryder’s Live and Havin’ Fun is like having a mini blues party wherever you are.  It’s recorded live and it sure is fun.

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 For more information about Deb Ryder, visit her website at https://www.debryder.com/ 

#359 : Artur Menezes - Keep Pushing

2018 –Artur Menezes

By Phillip Smith; Oct. 27, 2018

Keep Pushing, the fourth and latest album from Brazilian blues artist Artur Menezes scores high on my list of blues-guitar albums released this year.  Currently based out of Los Angeles, Menezes was recently named winner of the Gibson/Albert King Award for Best Guitarist and picked up third place winner in the Band Category at the 2018 International Blues Challenge.  Keep Pushing, produced by another current favorite of mine, Josh Smith, also features Daniel Aged on bass guitar, Gary Novak on drums, Carey Frank on Hammond/keys, Jamelle Adisa on Trumpet/Flugelhorn, Dan Boisey on Tenor/Baritone Sax, and Smith on rhythm guitar for four tracks.

I love the mix of horns and keys as they build off the slow-cooked opening riff of “Now’s the Time”.  This feel-good song sets the mood and fills me with joy with its message, ‘listen to your heart’.  Title-track, “Keep Pushing” quickly draws my attention with Menezes’ power vocals and impressive picking as it thumbs a ride atop Smith’s deep-seated rhythm.  An ominous, bone-crushing riff surges through “Come With Me” as Menezes spackles the song with gobs of scorching hot guitar.  I positively love this track.  “Pull it Through” oozes with a soulful, funky goodness.  “Can’t Get You Out of My Mind” is a mammoth head-turner.  A suave vocal performance in a puree of jazz and buttery soul lulls me into a state of absolute peace. The George Benson vibe on this treasure elevates Menezes to a whole new level.   

Terrific songs, a tight band, and a mastery of sound insure Keep Pushing maintains its status of heavy rotation.  It’s a keeper.  

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