CRISSCROSS David Vest & Terry Robb (Cordova Bay Records) *** ¾
Listening in on two master musicians just having fun, it doesn’t get much better than that. Crisscross sees six-time Maple Blues Award winning pianist David Vest join forces with Terry Robb, a finger picking acoustic guitar maestro, for an intimate, joyful and moving disc.
Both Vest and Robb have played with a list of blues legends as long as your arm, like Bo Diddley, Joe Turner, Maria Muldaur and Joe Cocker, and they bring that experience to bear on Crisscross. David’s thoughtful piano and Terry’s exquisite guitar work make for an irresistible blues-based blend of vocal and instrumental cuts. The way they play off each other is kind of reminiscent of Duke Robillard’s Conversations In Swing Guitar with Herb Ellis (1999)- not stylistically, but the empathy with which they play as they takes turns rising to the occasion. The album has a charming, down home elemental feel.
As the press info notes, “seeing Vest and Robb together is like having the history of the blues come alive before you.” Crisscross has an old-timey vibe that more traditional blues fans will embrace, but the clarity and fidelity are outstanding, so kudos to David and Terry for the production. This is just piano, acoustic guitar and, occasionally, voice. The album is what I consider ‘thinking music’; not the sort of thing you’d power drink to at a raging party, but music that somehow makes it easier to get in touch with your inner… stuff. A melancholy number like Wait A Minute Waltz found me looking back at the path I’ve chosen to get here, questioning choices made and wondering about the future- not bad for a 3 minute piano piece.
Crisscross is damn sweet company.
HOT TRACKS: Drive ‘Em on Down, All Hooked Up. Wait A Minute Waltz
SOUTHERN COMFORT Michelle Malone (SBS Records) ****
More than a dozen studio albums in, Michelle Malone keeps getting better. Southern Comfort feels like a culmination of everything she’s been through, whether she’s rocking out or breaking your heart with a whisper. She’s a proud southerner, hailing from Atlanta. Despite living nearly 3,000 miles away, this disc makes it feels like I’m welcome in her family.
“I’m very much a southerner” Michelle says. “This record was written, recorded and performed by southerners, and you can hear it. There’s rock, country and folk here- there’s swagger. Southern Comfort isn’t about booze; it’s about a feeling, a family, a familiarity… all the things that make you warm and fuzzy. For me, that’s Georgia.” Produced by Malone and Paul Warner the disc has a direct magic, plus she had help from Blackberry Smoke members Charlie Starr and Paul Jackson, The Georgia Satellites’ Rick Richards, guitarist Doug Keys and Americana icon Buddy Miller. “It’s not just me on this record, it’s a village” Michelle notes.
Who knows, maybe ‘southern folk’ can be the next big thing, starting with Southern Comfort. It’s a great sounding record to be sure, but without sharp songwriting this would be ‘just another album’. Here, she gives her songs a sense of place- the south- while still making them sound universal. As a singer Malone has a sort of Sheryl Crow vibe, something I’ve enjoyed since hearing her with her band Drag The River in the early 90’s, and in between the rock and the folk there’s some country twang that turns this feast into a barbeque. Her songs are praised for both there simplicity and depth, and nowhere is that more evident than on Southern Comfort.
You know that feeling you get when a record you wanted to enjoy turns out even better than you dared hope? That’s Southern Comfort. Look for it near or at the top of my ‘best of 2024’ list in a couple of months.
HOT TRACKS: Southern Comfort, I Choke On My Words, Barbed Wire Kisses
(PWI Entertainment) ****+
Blues that grabs you by the nuts and won’t let you go…that describes Blues People’s debut album The Skin I’m In. If THE SKIN I’M IN Blues Peopleyou enjoy a good groove and blues guitar that makes the hair on your arms stand up, this one is definitely for you.
Singer/ guitarist Kelton Cooper and bassist Mike Griot met as teenagers in rival bands in Orange, New Jersey. Many years later, having accumulated years of touring and recording credits, Mike and Kelton found themselves back together again with veteran drummer Gene Lake (David Sanborn, Boz Scaggs, Josh Smith), who suggested an original project. Griot agreed, saying “if we become a cover band, lose my number.” Add Ron Thompson on organ and piano and voila- you have Blues People.
The Skin I’m In is a dynamic and powerful sounding album, what has been called the band’s “NYC/ North Jersey blues sound”. These songs are more than just ‘ooo baby’ stuff, with a track like Knee Off My Neck no doubt inspired by George Floyd, while a number like Nuthin’ Really is more playful, using studio chatter instead of properly structured lyrics. It seems like these guys know when to have fun and when to knuckle down and get some serious shit done.
Cooper is a solid blues singer and his guitar playing is extremely tasty, while Griot and Lake do the roadwork for the band to drive on, and Thompson’s keyboards ad just the right flavor. Despite Griot’s aversion to being a cover band, a pleasant surprise on The Skin I’m In is Hey Joe (Revisited), first made famous by Jimi Hendrix. This is an adventurous, rockin’ disc with real teeth.
https://www.pwimedia.com/blues-people
HOT TRACKS: Amnesia, Nuthin’ Really, Hey Joe (Revisited)
PLAYING OUT THE STRING Arlen Roth (Aquinnah Records) *****+
Guitar legend Arlen Roth gets up close and personal on this, his 20th solo album. Playing Out The String is a walk through several genres, including the blues of course. Produced by Alex Salzman, who also contributes keyboards, this can only be described as an acoustic masterpiece.
If you’re wondering “who the hell is Arlen Roth”, let me fill you in; not only has he been at the forefront of guitar and music education with ten best-selling books, he’s played with John Prine, Levon Helm and Ry Cooder just to name a very few. He also created the guitar parts and was consultant and teacher to Ralph Macchio for my favorite blues flick Crossroads. Oh- he also made Vintage Guitar Magazine’s “Top 100 Most Influential guitarists Of All Time” list, and the Top 50 all-time acoustic guitarists by www.gibson.com
On Playing Out The String Roth paints with broad strokes across several genres, and if you’re anywhere around my age you’ll recognize many of these songs such as Walk Right In, Blue Bayou, Pancho & Lefty and Everybody’s Talkin’. It’s a bunch of fun hearing them, in some cases after many years, while Roth’s playing and approach renders them fresh to your ears once again. The sparse arrangements and Arlen’s relaxed fingerpicking and slide work make these numbers- some instrumental, some with vocals- an ultimately relaxed encounter.
Playing Out The String has been described as “an up-close at home concert in your living room”, and that’s exactly how it feels. Next to Tommy Emmanuel Arlen Roth is my favorite acoustic guitarist, and I could listen to Playing Out The String all day. Hey… I must just do that.
HOT TRACKS: Walk Right In, Blue Bayou, Gonna Move Across The River
BLUES IN MY DNA Ronnie Baker Brooks (Alligator) *****
The son of legendary Chicago blues guitarist Lonnie Brooks is back with his fifth album, first for Alligator. If ever there’s truth in advertising, the title Blues In My DNA says it all. Ronnie’s muscular guitar playing style takes no prisoners- this album bristles with energy front to back.
Brooks was in a unique situation to learn from the best starting with his dad Lonnie, who gave him a guitar at the age of 9. Ronnie learned his craft directly from some huge big blues legends like Albert Collins, BB King, Willie Dixon, and of course his famous father. “I’m blessed to have played with and learned from the best, I’m carrying them within me” he says.
Blues In My DNA proves that RBB is not a one trick pony… he starts with the funky rocker I’m Feeling You, there’s the old school blues of Robbing Peter To Pay Paul, and the future belly rubbin’ classic Accept My Love has a delicious Memphis soul groove, and would make a great wedding song too. The disc was produced by Jim Gaines (Santana, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Lonnie Brooks, Luther Allison) and he captures everything beautifully, especially Brooks’ spine-tingling guitar solos. Man, these songs really make you feeling something.
Blues In My DNA is 11 original tracks, all coming straight from the heart. “I love writing as much as performing” Ronnie notes. “I love watching an idea become a song, then a song become something people can relate to, then sing along with. I always keep it authentic to myself, everyone can feel it and be familiar with it. I’m here to build bridges, not walls.” He manhandles that guitar just like his dad did, like Toronzo Cannon does, and he carries the family legacy forward in a way that Lonnie would approve of. This is seriously rockin’ blues.
HOT TRACKS: I’m Feeling You, Robbing Peter To Pay Paul, Blues In My DNA
LIVE The Tas Cru Band (Subcat Records) **** ½
There’s nothing quite as fine as a road-tested band recording live, and that’s just what has happened here. As Tas himself says, Live was “all natural, rough and raw. It’s our top ten, fan-fed songs done cage-free performed for our live in-studio party goers. Gone are the frills of a studio album, (this) is loose and loud!”
Live isn’t as raucous as the Ronnie Baker Brooks disc just reviewed, but it’s energetic and nearly faultless in its pursuit of showing us a good time. The disc takes well-loved songs from several of Tas’ studio records (there are 9 or 10) and infuses them with the energy of a band kicking up their heels and having a grand old time. The amalgamation of two worlds- live performance and studio fidelity- isn’t something I’ve thought a lot about, but after spending some time with this baby, I think it’s an exercise that more bands should consider, blues or otherwise.
Tas Cru’s road band acquits themselves nicely on Live; singer Nia Casale, bassist Tom Terry (Jason Ricci, Paul Nelson), Phil Diiorio (drums) and keyboardist Scott Ebner play with a tightness that comes from their months of roadwork together, and it’s an immensely satisfying experience. This is only my 4th Tas Cru album so I’m not immediately familiar with some of the tunes, but that just makes spinning this a most excellent journey of discovery.
Live is the sound of The Tas Cru Band kicking back and having a good time, and the songs themselves are fun too. This is a well-played, energetic blues party you’ll want to attend.
HOT TRACKS: ‘Dat Maybe, Grizzle N’ Bone, Brown Liquor Woman
