2024 – Dixiefrog Records
By Phillip Smith; Mar. 30, 2024
Release Date : Mar. 1, 2024
Original source : phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com
Twelve years have passed since UK British Blues Award winner Bex
Marshall released her previous record The House of Mercy. Her latest
album Fortuna features nine all-original songs and one cover. Marshall’s
guitar mastery combined with her wonderful raspy vocals and brilliant
song-writing make for a captivating listen. The record is an absolute delight. With
Marshall on lead vocals and lead guitar, her band on this album is
comprised of drummer Richie Stevens (Tina Turner, Simply Red, George
Clinton), keyboardist Toby Baker (B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Alexander
O’Neal, Sinead O Connor), B.J Cole on dobro (Elton John, Coldplay,
Sting, Shania Twain, Robbie Williams), Robert Eugene Daniels and Aurora
Mannola on bass, with Queen Shola Adegoroye and Danny Bryan
(Taj Mahal) on percussion.
Riding atop a spirited funky groove, Marshall pulls me tightly in to the record with her cool-as-hell Tina Turner/Pink Floyd-ish cocktail “Preaching to the Choir”. A driving rhythm slathered with a delectable serving of swampy slide guitar and fearless vocals create a moment of pure listening perfection in “I Can’t Look You in the Eye”. Dining alone often draws a lot of wrong assumptions and unnecessary pity as Bex explains in her infectious tribute to the subject in “Table For One”. I love the jam-band appeal of the instrumental title-track “Fortuna”. Stevens keeps the song cooking on high-heat, as Marshall tears it up on guitar. In many ways, this track brings to mind a favorite band of mine Phish. Blues gushes out of every pore as she belts out “Lay Down and Die”. I love the closing track “When It’s Gone”. It brings the album to a freewheeling finish invoking the sounds of The Grateful Dead and Fleetwood Mac, creating a floaty atmosphere in a beautiful, lofty space.
Bex Marshall’s Fortuna is a top favorite of blues releases I have heard so far this year. I highly recommend this record.
For
more information about the artist, visit this website : https://www.bexmarshall.com/
