2020 – Self-Released
By Phillip Smith; Oct. 24, 2020
One listen is all it took for
Whiskey, Women & Trouble, the new album from Kansas City-based blues-rocker
Kurt Allen, to quickly garner my attention. Produced by Allen and Larry Gann,
the record features ten solid all-original tunes with Allen on guitar
and lead vocals, Lester Estelle Jr. on drums, Craig Kew on bass, Beaux
Lux on keys and sax, Pete Carroll on trumpet, and Trevor Turla
on trombone.
I love the dirty groove running through “Graveyard Blues”. It’s infectious as hell and sounds so good with Allen’s gravelly vocals and wonderfully swampy slide. It’s such a wonderful tune to start things off with. “Watch Yo Step” is terrific too. This Texas-style blues tune about infidelity is nicely topped with horns, and delivered via Estelle’s unescapable beat. The tempo is lowered for a dreamy heart-felt performance on “How Long”. It’s quite a remarkable track, and beautifully showcases Allen’s vocal range as well as his guitar mastery. Title-track “Whiskey, Women & Trouble” certainly lightens the mood with a dance-friendly track dedicated to vice. It’s just so fun to hear Allen play with the brass accompaniment. For a very unexpected treat, Allen breaks some George Clinton style funk with an homage to soul food in “Funkalicious”. I absolutely love this track. It’s pure Seventies-style funk with extra gravy.
Delving into rock, blues, soul, and funk but never losing direction, Allen’s Whiskey, Woman & Trouble is as solid as an album can get. I’m already looking forward to hearing his follow up record.
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For more information about the artist, visit this website : www.kurtallenmusic.com
