|
The Love
Light Orchestra
Leave The Light On
Nola Blue Records |
I first heard The Love Light Orchestra
about five years ago on the Beale Street Caravan podcast, which
captured them in performance in Memphis. I was not familiar with
them prior to hearing that performance, but I was blown away by
their sound, which revives the classic blues made popular by
Bobby “Blue” Bland, B.B. King, and Junior Parker in the ’50s and
’60s.
The nine-piece band includes guitarist Joe
Restivo, trumpeter/arranger Marc Franklin, saxophonist Kirk
Smothers, and a host of other Memphis-area musicians, and they
are fronted by one of the premier soul-blues vocalists currently
practicing in John Németh. Leave The Light On (Nola Blue
Records) is the band’s dynamite second recording and their first
in the studio, with ten selections, nine originals and one
cover.
The opening track, Restivo’s “Time Is Fading
Fast,” puts the full orchestra on glorious display. It’s a track
that would have been a smooth fit on juke boxes back in the day.
Németh’s “Come On Moon” is a smoldering slow burner which is
right in the singer’s wheelhouse and features some crisp
fretwork from Restivo, and Franklin’s “Give Me A Break” is an
old school rhumba, while the uptempo “I Must Confess” (written
by Restivo) should get folks on the dance floor.
The album’s lone cover is “3 O’Clock Blues,” B.B.
King’s first hit (written by Lowell Fulson), which gets a fresh
musical arrangement with a bit of a Latin flair that works
really well. Németh penned the next two tracks. “After All” is a
blues ballad showcase for his powerful vocal, and “Tricklin’
Down” is an irresistible blues shuffle.
Franklin’s “Open Book” has a vintage rock/soul
feel and the title track is a sparkling boogie woogie shuffle
that grooves along at a brisk pace. The closer, “Follow The
Queen,” is a brassy swinger that closes this fine album on a
definite high note.
The Love Light Orchestra does Memphis music
proud with this stellar release. Based on Leave The Light On
and their excellent 2017 debut (recorded live at Memphis’s Bar
DKDC), the spirits of Bland and King are alive and well in the
Bluff City.
--- Graham Clarke
