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Hans
Theessink is not an acquired taste. From bar
one, his music is immediately engaging, and the pleasure
only intensifies as the listener works his or her way
through his latest collection of 13 original songs, Crazy
Moon (Ruf Records). Like his other fine releases,
this one is chock full of mostly uptempo, mostly acoustic
blues with savory flavorings of Cajun, Caribbean, gospel,
Texas, and even European classical traditions. Indeed he
draws on musical friends from various cultures, countries
and styles, while blending them all into the finest of
blues presentations. Notwithstanding well known names
such as Marcia Ball, the most remarkable of his
collaborators is John Sass (who has joined him on other
releases as a member of "Blue Groove" ). Mr.
Sass's rocking tuba (that's right, tuba) bass lines
sustain some of the more propulsive rhythms, and he turns
in some amazing solo work in "Get down 'n play the
blues." As for Mr. Theessink, his throaty, soulful
vocals and superlative guitar/banjo/Jew's
harp/mandolin/manila work are the centerpiece of each
song. He has a special gift for rhythms of all types and
varieties, and always captures the rhythmic essence of
each number. Although he hails from across the water, he
has more than mastered American roots and blues
traditions; he has revitalized them with artistic
creativity, advancing them to new heights.
--- Bill Jacobs
Trouble is the first new Buckwheat
Zydeco release in almost three years, and it's a
first in a number of respects. For one, it's on a
relatively new label, Mesa/Bluemoon Records.
Second, Trouble consists almost entirely of
original tunes composed by bandleader Stanley
"Buckwheat" Dural, with the exception of a
sizzling, funkified version of Robert Johnson's classic
"Crossroads." What's more, it's the first album
he's done in a long time which didn't feature superstar
guest artists. This one relies entirely on the efforts of
his own band. If you've seen this group, you know already
that there's nothing wrong with that. The songs mine all
the different grooves, from blues to funk and back to
Cajun two-steps, necessary for a hot zydeco record. The
title track is certainly one of the best, and just might
become a classic itself. It's in the "my life ain't
nothin' but the blues" category, while avoiding the
cliches of that genre. In any event, you'll have no
trouble dancing to this one!
--- Lee Poole
Terry
Evans is best known for his work with Ry Cooder,
and his former boss has a major hand as producer and
guitarist in Evans' new release Come To The River
(Audioquest). This is a nice soulful, gospel-influenced
disc, although I feel it's not as strong as it could be.
I'd like to see more variety in the tempo and
arrangements. Still, there are some very good tunes, like
the version of "My Babe," in which a gospel
chorus is added to the Chicago blues standard.
"Tears Are Rolling" is normally a sad song, but
here Evans gives it almost a "feelgood" sound.
His voice is especially strong on the opening cut
"Get Up, Get Ready."
L.A. blues
cat Robert Lucas may take the award this
year for the strangest album cover with his new release Completely
Blue (Audioquest). The music inside is just as blue,
as the current Canned Heat guitarist tears through a
dozen Chicago-style numbers. I particularly liked
"Pain In Our Cities," an original which could
easily pass for a 90's-style Muddy Waters song. The title
cut, a strong slow blues, is also very good.
Mean Case of the Blues (Bullseye
Blues), the new CD from Eddy Clearwater,
is another good basic blues album, yet not quite as
strong as I expected. The Chicago blues veteran, as
usual, covers a lot of styles during the 10 songs here.
The opening title cut and the superb closing slow blues,
"Don't Take My Blues," are the best of the
disc.
Blues Before
Sunrise (Delmark) is a live recording made at a
Chicago benefit for DJ Steve Cushing's radio show of the
same name. Appearing on this show held last October at
B.L.U.E.S. was Chi-town blues vets Big Wheeler,
John Brim, Billy Boy Arnold
and Jimmy Burns. If you missed the live
show, you'll have to settle for this excellent CD. The
cuts by Brim, in particular, are wonderful, as he covers
some of his classics like "Tough Times" and
"Ice Cream Man." Arnold contributes a very good
medley of blues classics, featuring Johnny Burgin on
guitar. And the lesser-known Burns contributes a nice
version of "You're The One." Highly
recommended!
Another good one from Chicago on Delmark
is 700 Blues by Lurrie Bell.
The son of harmonica legend Carey Bell is best at slow
blues, as heard on B.B. King's "All Over Again"
and "Million Miles From Nowhere." The former
contains great lyrics like " ... I got a mind to
give up living, and go shopping for a tombstone instead
..."
Perhaps if
Aaron "Little Sonny" Jones had
been around Chicago in the 1950s, he'd have become a
household name in the blues world. Certainly his
harmonica playing was first-rate. Instead, this Detroit
bluesman did most of his recordings for the soul-oriented
Stax label. Hard Goin' Up was originally
released in 1973 as Enterprise 1036. Little Sonny shows
his harp prowess on "My Woman Is Good To Me,"
as he trades riffs with the South Memphis Horns. He also
demonstrates his soulful vocals on "Do It Right
Now." An excellent collection of tunes!
From
independent label Ultrax Records comes two very fine
discs in the blues/soul genre. Bobby Patterson
is a Southern singer who had a few regional hits several
years back. Second Coming is a very nice album,
with excellent vocals by Patterson. One of the best tunes
is a typical cheatin' song, "Right Place, Wrong
Time." The other new Ultrax CD is I Wanna Rock
Ya, from Gregg Smith. Smith is a
good, gospel-influenced singer, and his roots show on
"Fell In Love." He also tackles the old Falcons
standard "Love Is Amazing," although this tune
just isn't the same without Robert Ward's quirky guitar
solos.
Memphis guitar hero Jimmy King
(with the King James Version Band) displays a certain
maturity on his third album, Soldier For The Blues,
for Bullseye Blues. This one is more restrained than his
previous efforts, although he's still a hot guitar
player. Check out his work on "I Don't Need Nobody
That Don't Need Me" and "It Takes A Whole Lot
Of Money."
Blues octogenarian Homesick James
sounds better than ever on his latest, Words of
Wisdom (Icehouse). While I've heard some less than
stellar recordings by James in the past, his playing is
crisp and fresh here. Be sure to check out James' uptempo
version of "You Don't Have To Go" and a nice
"Rock Me Baby."
If hard drivin', ass kickin' blues is
your thing, then check out Extreme Blues (King
Snake) by Mark Hodgson. This guy plays
good "over the top" harmonica, not unlike that
of Blues Traveler's John Popper, especially on the
opening cut "Xpress Train." Hodgson is not a
great singer, but certainly not annoying. Break open a
bottle of Wild Turkey, shout "yee haw," and be
prepared for a rowdy time with this band.
Roy
Roberts is a fine North Carolina blues artist
who deserves more recognition than he's gotten thus far
in his career. Every Shade of Blue (King Snake)
is a nice collection of straight Southern blues featuring
Roberts' vocals and guitar, and backed by some of the
regular King Snake studio players. Of course, the
requisite "back door" song is included, this
one called "Comin' Through The Back Door." My
only criticism is that I'd like to hear more expression
in Roberts' vocals --- perhaps a little more
sanctification in his singing would do the trick.
Billy Sheets is a Los
Angeles blues singer with a new independent release, Please
Tell Me Why, for Big Clock Records. He's trying real
hard to re-create the era of the blues shouters, although
he sometimes pushes his voice further than it actually
can go. But this is a fun album, with nice guitar by L.A.
veteran Joel Foy. Best is the strong slow blues of
"Please Tell Me Why," on which Foy sounds a lot
like vintage Johnny "Guitar" Watson. And you
can never go wrong with a good Roy Brown number, as on
the opening cut "Love Don't Love Nobody."
--- Bill Mitchell
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