Mark
Wenner's Blues Warriors
Mark Wenner's Blues Warriors
EllerSoul Records
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Mark Wenner’s Blues Warriors (EllerSoul Records)
is the latest side project for the front man of
one of the most formidable, and longest-lasting
(since 1972), blues and rock groups, the
Nighthawks. The Blues Warriors include
Mark Wenner
(harp, vocals) and D.C. area musicians Clarence
“The Bluesman” Turner (guitar/vocals), Zack
Sweeney (guitar), Steve Wolf (bass), and
Wenner’s fellow Nighthawk Mark Stutso
(drums/vocals) and they tear through this superb
set of blues classics.
Turner rolls through an energetic version of
Muddy Waters’ “Diamonds At Your Feet,” handling
vocals and teaming with Sweeney for some
excellent guitar work, while Wenner blows
chromatic. “(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear” may not
seem like the best choice on an album of blues
covers, but Wenner and company give it a really
cool blues restructuring though the vocals
still retain a bit of the King’s flair. Big Joe
Turner’s “Rock A While” gets a funky swinging
read, and “Checkin’ On My Baby” keeps the funk
going, leaning more toward the Junior Wells’
rendition than Rice Miller’s.
“Just To Be With You,” another Waters side, gets
a slow blues treatment, powered by a strong
vocal from Turner and Wenner’s harmonica, and
Slim Harpo’s “I’m A King Bee” is transformed
from Louisiana swamp blues to Windy City
shuffle. Stutso provides powerful lead vocals on
B.B. King’s “It’s My Own Fault,” which includes
a crisp solo from Turner that would make the
King of the Blues smile. There’s also a quick,
driving cover of Fats Domino’s “Hello Josephine”
that gets a lot done in a short time, followed
by a slow burning take of Miller’s “Trust My
Baby.”
The disc wraps up with a pair of instrumentals –
a swinging “The Hucklebuck,” and “Just Like
Jimmy,” a Wenner original that pays tribute to
Jimmy Reed – before closing with Elmore James’s
“Dust My Broom,” driven by Wenner’s harmonica
instead of the usual slide guitar.
Mark Wenner’s Blues Warriors is an excellent
side project for Wenner, but it wouldn’t bother
blues fans one bit if he decided to produce a
sequel sometime in the near future.
--- Graham Clarke