#428 : Thorbjørn Risager - Come On In

2020 – Ruf Records 

By Phillip Smith; Jan.18, 2020

I’ve been a big fan of Thorbjørn Risager since reviewing his Too Many Roads album in 2014.  This eight-piece band from Denmark has been playing together for seventeen years, and continually raise the mark with every release.  Rooted in blues, and infused with elements of jazz, swing, gospel, and rock, Risager’s music is some of the best recorded today.  Their new album Come On In is absolutely stunning.  Backing Risager while he takes lead on guitar and vocals, is Emil Balsgaard on piano/keys, Joachim Svensmark on guitar, Kasper Wagner on assorted saxophones, Hans Nybo on tenor sax, Peter W. Kehl on trumpet/flugelhorn/trombone/sousaphone, Søren Bøjgaard on bass/moog/synthesizer, and Martin Seidelin on drums/percussion. 

Title track “Come on In” rolls out with a fetching pulse from Seidelin while Risager lures me in with his cool-as-hell voice and etheric guitar licks.  I love the slide on “Last Train”.  This fabulous, hard-driving blues tune is marvelously infectious.  “Two Lovers” is beautifully written and performed.  Risager constructs a dreamy and hypnotic atmosphere in “On and On”.   There’s a deep soulful energy about this one, that draws me right in.  With the dials set at eleven, they tackle “Love So Fine” with searing guitar, pounding keys, and a backline of brass.  This powerful jam is a great one to rock out to. 

Thørbjorn Risager and the Black Tornado have unquestionably won me over yet again with Come On In.  It is such a splendid album to usher in the new year.           

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For more information about the artist, visit this website https://risager.info     

#400 : Ruf Records - 25 Years Anniversary

2019 - Ruf Records  

by Phillip Smith; July 12, 2019

To commemorate the 400^th PhillyCheeze’s Rock & Blues Review, I want to shine some light on the special 25 Years Anniversary disc from Ruf Records.  This is one hell of a collection.  This edition contains both a 14 track CD, and a 12 video, 62-minute DVD .  The CD features a ton of music from Ruf’s most recent releases, while the DVD delightfully spans their entire era, going back to the Luther Allison days.  

After seeing Ruf’s Blues Caravan last year in 2018, I was happy to see the disc containing songs by Ally Venerable, Mike Zito, and Bernard Allison who all shared the stage at the 2^nd annual Czech Village Blues festival, here in Cedar Rapids, Iowa last August.  Ally rips it up on guitar and belts out the title track to her latest album, “Texas Honey”.  Zito’s song is also the title track for his latest, “First Class Life”.  I love the slide guitar on this one.  The swampy, funky goodness of Bernard’s “Backdoor Man” is so enjoyable.  Vanja Sky, who played on the European legs of the caravan, gives us the smokin’ blues in “Hard Working Woman”.   

Ruf also includes the sultry “Chills and Fever” from the wonderful Samantha Fish, and  Ina Forsman’s exquisitely danceable ’ “Get Mine”.  For the classic blues-head, there is “Low Down“ from The B.B. King Blues Band, and hardcore soul music fans will surely dig “Deep in my Soul” from Big Daddy Wilson.  Also nice to hear, is my favorite Savoy Brown song from the past few years, “Why Did You Hoodoo Me”.  It definitely cuts to the bone.    

The DVD begins with a spectacular performance of Denmark’s Thorbjørn Risager & The Black Tornado fabulously performing “If You Wanna Leave”.  It’s so cool to see Mike Zito, Devon Allman and Cyril Neville jam together on “Moonlight Over the Mississippi”.  Oli Brown’s driving blues-rock anthem “Here I Am” is captivating.  From the 2019 Blues Caravan, there’s a terrific video of Katarina Pejak, Ina Forsman and Ally Venable covering the classic Stevie Ray Vaughan song “If the House is Rocking”, and they sound great.  For a wonderful song to close with, Luther Allison soulfully sings “Living in The House of Blues”.

Ruf Records 25 Years Anniversary should be in the collection of every blues fan.  It is a powerhouse of a retrospective.      

Associated PhillyCheeze Reviews include:

https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/2017/06/thorbjrn-risager-black-tornado-change.html

https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/2014/06/thorbjrn-risager-black-tornado-too-many.html

https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/2018/08/347-czech-village-blues-aug-11-2018.html

https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/2018/07/344-vanja-sky-bad-penny.html

https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/2019/06/395-big-daddy-wilson-deep-in-my-soul.html

https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/2019/03/384-bb-king-blues-band-soul-of-king.html

https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/2018/03/322-victor-wainwright-and-train-self.html

https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/2018/01/313-bernard-allison-let-it-go.html

https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/2017/09/savoy-brown-witchy-feelin.html

https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/2017/04/samantha-fish-chills-fever.html

https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/2016/02/ina-forsman-ina-forsman.html

Thorbjørn Risager & The Black Tornado - Too Many Roads

2014 – Ruf Records

By Phillip Smith; June 21, 2014

Thorbjørn Risager was an unfamiliar name to me prior to hearing his spectacular new album, Too Many Roads, recorded with his band, the Black Tornado.   But I can tell you this much, I will remember his name from now on.  This eighth release from Risager, is a sheer delight and is sure to be a reckoning force on the blues scene this year.  In a nutshell, it’s twelve well-crafted songs delivered via a tight group of musicians operating together like a well-oiled machine.

Risager grabs the listener and pulls them in on the first few bars of the lead song, ‘If You Wanna Leave”, with gritty guitar riffs, reminiscent of George Thorogood , Eric Clapton-like vocals and soulful horn accompaniment. Title track, “Too Many Roads”, follow.  I feel like I’ve been dropped on the corner of the Crossroads in Mississippi when I hear this song about making the right choices.  The way it oozes that endearing swampy sound… it doesn’t get much better than this.

I love the way Risager’s strong gravelly vocals rides atop the killer guitar riffs in “High Rollers”, all with the attitude and energy of the Rolling Stones.  This track, about taking a chance in the game of love, makes me wants to break out the air guitar and play along.   

The beautifully remade “China Gate”, from the 1957 film, takes the listener to a quieter and more solitude spade.  Pouring emotion into every note sung and played, Risager and the Black Tornado make this exceptional song stand-out.   

With a touring schedule that consists of 80 – 100 shows a year, all that’s left to do is cross our fingers and wait for a U.S. leg of the tour.