Showing posts with label Taj Mahal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Taj Mahal. Show all posts

Friday, April 7, 2023

#607 : Eric Bibb - Ridin' (PhillyCheezeBlues.Blogspot.com)

 


2023 – Stony Plain Records

By Phillip Smith; April 7, 2023

Release Date : March 24, 2023


Original source : phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com


Ridin’ the follow-up album to Eric Bibb’s award-winning Dear America continues to captivate me on a myriad of levels.  His lyrical prowess and instrumental finesse are indeed a powerful combination.  Ridin’ contains fifteen tracks, and an impressive list of guest musicians consisting of Taj Mahal, Jontavious Willis, Russell Malone, Amar Sundy, Harrison Kennedy and Habib Koite.

I knew I was in for a treat as soon as “Family” kicked in.  The rootsy banjo-led track with funky organ licks and a gospel-infused backing chorus is a bodacious listen.  Bibb invites Taj Mahal and Jontavious to join in for “Blues Funky Like Dat”.  This ode to the overlap of blues and church is a fascinating listen.  The way Bibb sings about being a great distance away from home in “500 Miles” is beautiful and heartfelt.  Son House came to one of Bibb’s dream, and “I Got My Own” was written.  I love the hot electric guitar licks Sundy drops in this deep blues track.  Harrison Kennedy (Chairmen of the Board) delightfully joins in with guitar and vocals on the country-blues duet ‘”Call Me By My Name”.

A true poet and balladeer, Bibb scores high marks again with Ridin’.                  

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For more information about Eric Bibb visit his website at :  https://www.ericbibb.com

 

 

ERIC BIBB RIDIN’ TRACK LIST

 

01 Family

02 Ridin’

03 Blues Funky Like Dat (featuring Taj Mahal & Jontavious Willis)

04 The Ballad of John Howard Griffin (featuring Russell Malone)

05 500 Miles

06 Tulsa Town

07 Onwards (Interlude)

08 Hold the Line (featuring Russell Malone)

09 I Got My Own (featuring Amar Sundy)

10 Call Me By My Name (featuring Harrison Kennedy)

11 Joybells

12 Sinner Man with Eric Bibb String Band (Live at Wheatland Festival)

13 Free (featuring Habib Koité)

14 People You Love

15 Church Bells (Interlude)

 

 

Saturday, March 30, 2019

#384 : The BB King Blues Band - The Soul of the King




2019 – Ruf Records
Release Date: May 10, 2019

By Phillip Smith; March 30, 2019

Even though B.B. King has been gone for four years now, his spirit and legacy lives on.  His band of over 35 years The BB King Blues Band, with the support of several guest artists have created a wonderful blues album The Soul of the King.  The band is comprised of lead vocalist/bassist Russell Jackson, guitarist Wilbert Crosby, drummers Brandon Jackson and Herman Jackson, trumpeters James Boogaloo Bolden and Lamar Boulet, lead saxophonist Eric Demmer, saxophonist Walter King, keyboardist Darrell Lavigne, and trombonist Raymond Harris.

The energy of the big band is exquisitely captured on “Irene Irene”, an original tune featuring the great Kenny Wayne Shepherd on guitar.  This smoking blues track is heavily steeped in the B.B. King sound.  Hearing Mary Griffin and Taj Mahal pair up for a duet on “Paying the Cost to be the Boss” is indeed a special treat.  Joe Louis Walker makes an appearance to perform his song “Regal Blues (A Tribute to the King)”, making sure to throw in a sweet guitar solo.  For the grand finale, the band delivers B.B.’s signature song “The Thrill is Gone” with Michael Lee on lead vocals.  Lee, from Season 15 of The Voice, absolutely does this one right.  Other special guests on the album include, Kenny Neal, Diunna Greenleaf, and John Del Toro Richardson. 

Soul of the King is an absolute gem and I highly recommend it for all blues fans.  


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