2020 – Continental Blue Heaven
By Phillip Smith; May 30, 2020
Shawn Pittman has toured with Susan
Tedeschi, recorded with Double Trouble, been in a band with
former members of the Fabulous Thunderbirds, and played with Hubert
Sumlin, James Cotton, and Pinetop Perkins. That’s
quite the amazing resume, and it’s no surprise his thirteenth release Make
it Right!, hooked me from the git-go. Pittman’s guitar
performances are amazing, and he sounds so damn good as he maneuvers from crisp
and twangy, to dirty and swampy. This is the kind of guitar-centric
blues I enjoy most. Pittman, on guitar and vocals, is joined
by bassist Erkan Özdemir and drummer Levent Özdemir for
the making of this splendid twelve track album.
The delectable slow droning riff on “Done Tole You So” called out to me like a R.L. Burnside song. It embraces that North Mississippi Hill country sound, and I love every bit of it. A spectacularly funky cover of Albert King’s “Finger on the Trigger” follows. Its groove, surrounded in a Hendrix-inspired cloak of psychedelia, is warm and inviting. A pulsing breakneck beat courtesy of Levent is the only source for rhythm on title track, “Make it Right”. Pittman’s guitar performance is scorching. His rendition of Junior Kimbrough’s “I Feel Good” puts me in my happy place, as the juke joint experience is wonderfully recreated. The blues is played nice and slow on Pittman’s original “How Long”, as each note seems to hover in the air. I embrace their instrumental take of James Brown’s “Cold Sweat”. It’s one my top favorites.
Make it Right is one killer record. This is definitely one album you want to pick up.
