PhillyCheeze's Rock & Blues Reviews: Search results for sean chambers

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Saturday, April 5, 2025

#739- > Sean Chambers - Live From Daryl's House Club (PhillyCheezeBlues.Blogspot.com)

2025 – Quarto Valley Records
Release Date : Feb. 28, 2025

By Phillip Smith; April 5, 2025

Original source : phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com

The Blues is most definitely part of Sean Chambers’ DNA. For five years between 1998 and 2003, he was Hubert Sumlin’s guitarist and bandleader. Recording at Daryl Hall’s place in Pawling, New York, undoubtedly injects a very positive energy to the final sound. With that in mind, Live From Daryl’s House Club, the seventh and most recent release from Chambers is an extraordinary example of live blues-rock at its mightiest. With Chambers backed by the Savoy Brown Rhythm Section, bassist Pat DeSalvo and drummer Garnet Grimm, this album pays a great honor to the late, great Kim Simmonds who sadly passed away in December of 2022. Being that Chambers and Simmons are label-mates on Quarto Valley Records set the stage for this exciting partnership.

The record opens in a with an amazing instrumental called “Cobra”. It totally ignites the stage with a brute force. I love the driving locomotive rhythm of “Red Hot Mama”. Chambers’ fiery guitar riffs and whiskey-soaked vocals absolutely shine on this Texas blues song. Hearing them play “Louise” brought a smile to my face. Passed down through the ranks from Howlin’ Wolf to Sumlin to Chambers, the song surely stands the test of time and this performance is fabulous. Dedicated to Simmonds and all the Savoy Brown fans in the house, “Street Corner Talking” quickly targets the soul with its hypnotic groove and digs right in for nearly eight minutes of musical bliss. In a tip of the hat to Rory Gallagher, Chambers lets loose on “Bullfrog Blues”. Grimm fills the song with his own thunder and lightning, making this a stellar performance. Chambers then rolls into “Sweeter Than a Honey Bee” and “Trouble & Whiskey” to wrap up a very nice three-fer of tracks from his 2017 album Trouble & Whiskey. I love the deep bass groove and crashing drum fills that pour over Chambers’ searing guitar on Muddy Waters’ “Louisiana Blues”. This one is a sure favorite as well.

Don’t let this record sneak past you. Sean Chambers’ Live From Daryl’s House Club is an album one will want to listen to loud and listen to often.

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Photo by Arnie Goodman

Photo by Alain Broeckx

WEBSITE & SOCIALS.

Sean Chambers

https://www.seanchambers.com/

Daryl’s House Club

https://darylshouseclub.com/

Past articles on PhillyCheeze Rock & Blues Reviews featuring Sean Chambers

https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/search?q=sean+chambers

Past articles on PhillyCheeze Rock & Blues Reviews featuring Savoy Brown

https://phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com/search?q=savoy+brown

Saturday, December 28, 2024

#722 > PhillyCheeze's Favorite 25 of 2024 (PhillyCheezeBlues.Blogspot.com)

By Phillip Smith; Dec.24, 2024

PhillyCheeze's Favorite 25 of 2024

(in alphabetical order)

Alastair Greene - Standing Out Loud

Alastair Greene is one of those artists I am always excited to hear new music from. He really does elevate blues-rock to a whole new level. In the past, Greene has worked with other favorites of mine such as Alan Parsons, and Sugaray Rayford. For his latest and eleventh solo record Standing Out Loud, Greene has enlisted the extraordinary J.D. Simo to co-produce and engineer this off-the-chain listening experience,

#717 > Carly Harvey - Kamama (PhillyCheezeBlues.Blogspot.com)

2024 – Do Good Records

By Phillip Smith; Nov. 30, 2024

Original source : phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com

Kamama, the debut album from Washington, D.C.-based blues artist Carly Harvey is quite special. I love how her Indigenous roots shine through a carefully-curated mix of soul, blues, and jazz. Each of the eleven tracks are written by Harvey and performed with beauty and grace. Appearing with her on this recording is Jonathan Sloane, and WALKING EAGLE on guitar, Mike Tony Echols, Patrick Thornton, and Sean Hurley on bass, Deren Blessman and Leland Nakamura on drums, Coleman Williams and WALKING EAGLE on percussion, Wes Lanich and Daniel Clarke on keys, Danny Davis, Mario D’ Ambrosio, Kevin Cerovich, Ben Ford on horns, and Dana Nearing and WALKING EAGLE on backing vocals. Special guests appearing on the album include Joe Louis Walker, Doug Woolverton, Sean Hurley, Annika Chambers, Dave Keller, and WALKING EAGLE.

The album begins with “Native Scat” a short introductory track in which Harvey delivers an amazing performance of Native vocables delivered in a fusion of delta blues and Indigenous percussion. WALKING EAGLE’s slide guitar performance is deliciously swampy. “Mean Old Woman” slides in next on a riveting wave of funky, horn-accompanied blues with Joe Louis Walker on guitar. It’s a terrific song, and Walker makes me smile as he pours his blues-filled magic on top. I absolutely love the Sixties-soul sound on “Misery”. Harvey’s vocals shine with pure delight and remind me very much of singing-legend Etta James. With special accompaniment from Doug Woolverton on trumpet, Harvey marvelously sings her all-original torch song “Please Do That To Me”. The song hits me with absolute bliss.

After looking up “Kamama”, the name of the title-track, I found the word to have dual meanings. One, a Cherokee name for girls which means “butterfly” which can represent hope, joy, and transformation. This gives a deeper meaning to the album art, which features a butterfly on both the front and back cover. The other meaning is of Kenyan origin, and is a plant known as Portulaca oleracea. It is used for food and medicine. With WALKING EAGLE on hand drum, and backing vocals, this short-in-length song is a lovely, glory-filled tribute to a girl named Kamama.

Alongside Harvey for the stirring and poignant track “Human Too”, is Dave Keller and Annika Chambers. Both guests share lead vocals, and Keller also takes on lead guitar. Kamama comes to a close with “Native Scat Reprise. With Harvey on vocals and hand drum, she is backed by WALKING EAGLE on flute. This short song dives deep into my core.

Carly Harvey’s Kamama earns my highest recommendation. It’s beautiful from beginning to end.

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For more information about Carly Harvey, visit her website @ https://www.carlyharvey.com/

Available on Bandcamp

Monday, May 29, 2023

#616 : Blues Music Awards Showcase - May 10, 2023 (PhillyCheezeBlues.Blogspot.com)

Blues Music Awards Showcase

Presented by BratGirlmedia

Rum Boogie Cafe

Memphis, Tennessee

May 10, 2023

Original source : phillycheezeblues.blogspot.com

For many years, I've been wanting to visit Memphis for the Blues Music Awards. I finally made it down for that this year on May 11. It was an amazing experience.

On May 10th, the evening before the BMA's, I attended a music showcase presented by BratgirlMedia at Rum Boogie Cafe on Beale Street. The event featured a prestigious lineup of blues musicians. It served as a fund-raiser to benefit John Nemeth who underwent surgery last year to have a tumor removed from his lower jaw. It was an extraordinary event to say the least. If heaven has a juke-joint, I imagine it would be a lot like this.

Without camera in tow, I still captured a few photos of this fabulous event on my iPhone.

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* all photos by Phillip Smith