PhillyCheeze's Rock & Blues Reviews: Charlie Morgan

Friday, December 15, 2023

#650 : JM O'Malley's 25 Yrs of Live Music (PhillyCheezeBlues.Blogspot.com)

2023 – Independent

By Phillip Smith; Dec. 15, 2023

Release Date : Oct. 12, 2023

Original source : phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com

I want to make PhillyCheeze’s Rock & Blues Review #650 special and focus on my local blues scene in a very specific way. It’s a rare occasion to be able to brag about the abundant amount of blues Iowa has to offer and this is a perfect time to shine a light on it. If you find yourself in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on a Thursday night and feel the urge to hear some blues in an authentic juke joint environment, navigate yourself to JM O’Malley’s in the Irish District of town. For over twenty-five years, every Thursday evening, Iowa Blues Hall-of Famer Tom ‘T-Bone’ Giblin (Lonnie Brooks, Elvin Bishop, The Dynatones) has led a legendary jam at this Irish bar on keys and organ. The magic of these much-adored jams is fabulously captured on CD and features two tracks apiece from seven different acts who played O’Malley’s in 2023. Each track features Giblin at the helm of the keys. The lineup consists of Charlie Morgan and the Bone Crushers, Iowa Blues Hall-of-Famer and International Blues Challenge winner in three categories Kevin Burt, Matt Panek (The Electric Koolaid Trio), D’Dog and the B’Bits featuring Iowa Blues Hall-of-Famer and Iowa Rock n Roll Hall-of-Famer Dennis McMurrin, Iowa Blues Hall-of-Famer and Iowa Rock n Roll Hall-of-Famer Craig Erickson, Iowa Blues Hall-of-Famer and Iowa Rock n Roll Hall-of-Famer Bryce Janey, and Merrill Miller (Shakey Feet).

The album kicks off with a fabulous Chicago-style blues jam with Charlie Morgan and the Bone Crushers on “Two Trains Runnin’”. Giblin tears it up on keys and Dave Bader lays down a blues-soaked bassline for Morgan as he fearlessly belts out the vocals and rips it up on guitar. Local music legend Dennis McMurrin, who cut an album with The Tower of Power in 1986, leads D’Dog and the B’Bits through a funky cover of Jr. Walker’s “Cleo’s Back”. Performed with another Iowa Blues Hall-of-Famer bassist Dan Johnson, and drummer Butch O’Connell, the track is a downright terrific. I love that Kevin Burt was on this recording. I still remember the first time seeing him and The Blues Instigators, back in 1993 shortly after I moved to Iowa. His band was one I would often see over the years. Burt performs his iconic original “Real Love” as well as a soulful, funky cover of Bill Withers’ 1972 classic “Who is He (and What is He to You)?”. When Bryce Janey brings his guitar to the stage for a couple of his originals “Drinking Dirty Water” and “Practice What You Preach”, it makes for a high-voltage dose of guitar-centric blues. It’s always a pleasure to hear this man play. Matt Panek aka “Matty Koolaid” brings the Big Joe Turner classic “Honey Hush” to a sear, and it sounds great. Craig Erickson, a hands-down all-time favorite, appears with his band Sky Train featuring John Hall on bass and Rob Haskell on drums for an extraordinary performance of “Mojo in Memphis” from his 2015 album Sky Train Galaxy. Merrill Miller, who I first heard many years ago play as a duo with Bryce Janey, now fronts his own band Shakey Feet, comprised of Butch O’Connell on drums and Troy Harper on bass. Their cover of Muddy Waters’ “Got My Mojo Workin’” surely makes me smile. This is what the blues is all about.

JM O’Malley’s 25 Yrs of Live Music is a splendid recording which captures the immense musical talent we have in the I-380 Corridor. I highly recommend this one, so make a stop out at JM O'Malley's and buy a copy.

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For more information about this CD contact:

JM O’Malley’s

1502 H. Ave. NE

Cedar Rapids, Iowa 53402

Saturday, March 11, 2023

#600 : 'daBluesapalooza 2023 (PhillyCheezeBlues.Blogspot.com)

The Olympic Southside Theater

Cedar Rapids, Iowa

February 18, 2023

By Phillip Smith; Mar. 11, 2023

Original source : phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com

Last year, KCCK Jazz 88.3 celebrated thirty years of playing ‘da Blues over the airwaves, and marked the occasion by producing a well-oiled blues event in Cedar Rapids called ‘daBluesapalooza. This five-hour long live blues show honored radio show hosts Bob DeForest and John ‘Big Mo’ Heim and featured many local and regional artists. The event was such a success, another gathering of the blues tribe was warranted, and daBluesapalooza 2023 was held at Olympic Southside Theater in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on February 18.

Ship of Fools, a band from the Eastern Iowa Arts Academy in Cedar Rapids, kicked the evening off in a big way. These young musicians sounded like seasoned artists as they lit up the stage with a most impressive cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child”. The lineup for the rest of the evening included outstanding sets from Craig Erickson Band, Dennis “Daddy-O” McMurrin, Homebrewed, Charlie Morgan, Tanya English Band, Johnny Kilowatt, Kevin Burt, Saul Lubaroff, Matt Panek, Wonderful Smiths, and Evan Stock Band. With the blues gushing out of every performance, the evening flew by way too fast. Seeing the artists sit in with each other for musical collaborations was extra special and made for a unique experience. I really hope this event keeps going. I absolutely love it.