2019 - Shuttle Music
By Phillip Smith; Dec. 14, 2019
I was first introduced to Jay Gordon’s Blue Venom when I reviewed the No
Cure album for Blues Review Magazine
in 2011. It appeared on their online web-zine
BluesWax. That was one of my favorite discs that
year. Slide Rules!, Gordon’s latest release is even more spectacular, as
his heels dig deep into the Mississippi delta mud for thirteen ferociously outstanding
electric slide blues. Gordon, one of the best guitarists/vocalists around fronts
the band with bassist Sharon Butcher and
drummer Tom Parham making up the
rhythm section.
Gordon
opens up with one of his originals “Dripping Blues” which definitely lives up
to its name. The slide-work on this is
covered in grease and cooked to perfection. He follows with another astonishing track “Pain”. It is packed with more tantalizing guitar,
and topped with his trademark fearless, gravelly vocals. I positively dig it. “Dockery’s Plantation” is an absolutely
fabulous seven-and-a-half minute experience. It’s ambrosia for the blues lover’s soul.
The cover songs they choose for this record are
brilliant. First we get Elmore James’ “Stranger Blues” with its unavoidable
driving rhythm. They do this one just
right. Hearing Robert Johnson’s “Travelin Riverside Blues” puts a big smile
on my face. But their version of “Train
Train”, that badass song released by Blackfoot in
1979, is a killer indeed.
So, like the first album from Jay Gorden I reviewed, Slide Rules! is definitely
among my favorites from the year. I
highly recommend it.
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