Gwyn Ashton - Two-Man Blues
Army - Fab Tone Records 2009
The new 2009 release by blues rocker Gwyn Ashton is entitled "
Two-Man Blues Army ". It is his fifth album filled with lots of
power play by this rough (slide) guitarist accompanied by just a
drummer (Dave Small). This is for listeners who like e.g. Rory
Gallagher, Jimi Hendrix, ( listen to the track Ain' t Nobody's Fool)
or Led Zeppelin ( 2nd track: Break) , Cream ( they too did versions
of Cross Road Blues (R.Johnson) and Outside Woman Blues ( A.Blind/
Reynolds ) and everything in between. At least Gwyn Ashton proves
again on this album that he's able to sing, to blend songs in many
directions, to play guitar & harmonica creatively and as a producer
to deliver the right sound for this type of music..
This album is less commercial and heavier than his acclaimed 2007
album " Prohibition " - in fact it is rock enriched and improved by
blues influences. Looking the other way round - does it bring any
advancements to the blues ? - not really, I think - but sure it
rocks. ( Compare e.g. the rough blues track Mad Dog ( = Rollin' and
Tumblin' adapted with a nice riff ) with the almost hardrock track
All Over Now or the bluesrock track False Accusations). After this,
there's really no need to take the obligatory acoustic track on a
blues rock album seriously.
Several tracks on this album have an explosive live feel -
comparable to the good old Rory Gallagher albums. So the album as a
whole is convincing enough that Gwyn Ashton will deliver a hot,
steamy and attractive show as soon as he's appearing in or near your
town with another drummer ' Killer ' Kev Hickman. No surprise Gwyn
Ashton is so popular in Europe - they will miss him down under !
( review: M F )
review Sept 28th 2009 / copyright Blue Ears magazine
Howlin' Bill
(Belgium) - Live At Ancienne Belgique - Naked Productions 017 - 2009
Belgium is known for a number of blues bands
- really knowing their rhythm & roots. Naked Productions
is the local record label where you can find some of the best. After a decade of
performing and several studio albums and singles it was about time to release a live CD of
Howlin' Bill
( vocals & harmonica ) and his band ( His Blues Circus) - being the fine musicians
Little Jimmy (replacement of Little Chris) on guitars, Magic Frank on drums and Walkin'
Winne on bass.
Those who saw the Howlin' Bill band perform live at festivals or venues know how much
drive and energy is
being thrown in by the men. The band is really able to play the ceiling down. Nobody will
say that Howlin' Bill
is the best singer on earth, but this singing in combination with his blowing the harp is
so characteristic - it's
giving the band a real identity. This identity is captured very well on the recordings
made in the Ancienne Belgique Club in Brussels. Play it as loud as possible to experience
the feeling and play all 16 tracks in one run: enjoy catchy songs, funny lyrics and a
musical travel in time.
The album contains three covers recorded for the first time: ' Next time ' (The Radio
kings), ' Devil And The Deep Blue Sea ' ( Holland K Smith) and ' Don't You Know ' (Omar
Kent Dykes). Also a new composition ' Six Feet Five ' co-written by the new guitarist
Little Jimmy. The other tracks are originals composed by
Howlin' Bill or Little Chris with influences of Blues, Rock & Roll, Boogie Jive,
Rockabilly, Surf, Rhythm, Bluesrock. Not so strange if you look at their influences:
Fabulous Thunderbirds, Straycats, Paladins, SRV, etc.
The studio recordings of five originals can be found on the CD Strike (2006) and another
four on Cool It! (2004) If I compare between the studio version of the well known
song ' Gone To Soon ' (from Cool It !) and the new live version, the latter is musically
far superior. And there are more examples of this progress to be found. At the same time I
realised that the live recordings are made in a larger venue, they are a bit spatial,
while the studio recordings have a direct and more smokey sound. Can't have it all, can we
? .... Oh yes, you can - by visiting a live performance of Howlin' Bill - like I did
myself some time ago !
( review: PdR )
review May 4th 2009 / copyright Blue
Ears magazine
Matt Schofield (UK)
- Heads, Tails & Aces - Nugene Records 901 - 2009
Beyond doubt Matt Schofield is an excellent bluesrock fusion guitarist with a
sophisticated touch, able to
play bluesy, jazzy and funky. And on this new album Heads, Tails & Aces that is what
he
does: from sensitive and rather quiet to rough and on full power. So, it looks like his
real blues playing is
confined to guest appearances in other (blues) bands.
I' ve been following Matt Schofield since his first release in 2004. He started with a
trio including
Jonny Henderson on keyboards. In the new line up drummer Alain Baundry and bassplayer
Jeff Walker (upright and electric bass) are included for the first time.
Schofield has moved away from long instrumental tracks to an all song-based album.
Probably to
to reach a larger audience. Most of the songs are self- or co-written, and sung by Matt,
giving his
guitar playing maximum exposure. Perhaps most of the compositions would become stronger
with one
or two minutes less of guitar playing, but Matt Schofield fans will be very happy with
this album as it
shows much musical development.
A few tracks e.g. the opener ' What I Wanna Hear ' resemble Ian Siegal Band's playing,
another popular
band on the Nugene label. Some tracks e.g. ' Can't Put You down ' are straight bluesrock.
' War We Wage '
and ' Not Raining Now ' are bluesy ballads. The cover ' Woman Across The River '
(Crutcher/Jones) is getting
a bluesrock funk treat with strong changes in tempo, while the other cover ' Stranger
Blues '
(James/Lewis/Robinson) is anything but blues. ' Lay It Down ' and ' I Told Ya ' come
closest to blues, but
soon the bluesrock riffs take over. As a whole and considering the genre, it's an
attractive and tasteful album.
While listening to this Matt Schofield album - it reminded me several times of an album
entitled
Tete A Tete, made by Lucky Peterson and Andy Aledort, released in 2007 on JSP (UK); so
that one
could be interesting as well.
( review: AdK )
review May 2nd 2009 / copyright Blue Ears
magazine
Gordon Smith (UK) -
The Essential - Note records - GSCD 2001 2 - 2009
Gordon Smith is perhaps best known as the
guitarist of the blues oriented Kevin Coyne Band,
but before, during and after that period he made a number of (partly acoustic) blues
albums.
As a young man he was discovered as a true talent during the British blues boom of the
1960's.
While the British blues bands attracted more attention, he also was a recording artist for
the
famous Blue Horizon label, accompanied by e.g. Peter Green on those recordings.
On this excellent new album - called The Essential Gordon Smith - we can hear him with new
interpretations of five songs that he earlier recorded during his career: One Dime Blues
(Blind
Lemon Jefferson) in 1968, Take A Walk With Me ( Robert Lockwood jr) in 1979, Talkin' Woman
Blues (Lowell Fulson) in 2002, Hey Renee (Gordon Smith) in 1980 and Walkin' Blues (Robert
Johnson) in 1968.
This certainly isn't an album recorded in just a few days. It took four sessions, two
studio's and
two producers to finalise it. So, another ten takes are completely new to Gordon Smith's
repertoire.
Apart from two tracks featuring Bernie Pallo on accordion, the remaining songs show Gordon
Smith
backed by the Barcodes ( THEIR latest release: Live in Session for The BBC ), with a
prominent
Alan Glen ( ex-Yardbirds) on harmonica.
You might question another version of Walkin' Blues ? - Well, then you're wrong. This
knock-out
version is already recorded in 1997 with West Weston on Harmonica. He's also playing the
piano on
She Moves Me (Muddy Waters) and Take A Little Walk With Me. That particular session is
rounded
off by Gordon Smith solo on Slow Drag (Reverend Gary Davis). For me just this session
would be
worth the price of buying the album. But there's so much more to enjoy.
e.g. Compare Gordon Smith's version of
Tomorrow Night (Coslow/Grosz) with Bob Dylan's.
Really, after listening to the first two tracks: Kidman Blues (Sleepy John Estes) and One
Dime Blues,
one can already be sure - this is pure gold. For me, this is one of the finest UK blues
releases ever !
So, I love every minute of it.
( review: HvA )
review April 18th 2009 / copyright Blue Ears
magazine
Eric Bibb - Live A Fip - Dixie Frog
8665 - to be released in April 2009
Perhaps Eric Bibb can be best called a
singer-songwriter with one foot in the blues and the other
one in the gospel. Last year a double CD with the title ' Spirit I Am' was already
released by Dixie
Frog, especially for the European market. On that CD you can hear acoustic studio
recordings of
blues & folk traditionals, spirituals and songs by Eric Bibb.
On this next new Double CD ( with bonus video program) "Live a Fip" on Dixie
Frog we can hear
Eric Bibb and band playing on 2 different occasions for Radio France, in front of an
enthusiastic
audience. The live registrations were made on December 2nd 2008 and on March 13th 2008. In
December Eric Bibb ( vocals and guitars) was accompanied by Larry Crockett (drums), Trevor
Hutchinson (upright bass) and Staffan Astner (electric & acoustic guitar) as a
quartet. In March it's
a Trio without an upright bass player and another electric guitarist: Amar Sundy.
Ofcourse this is not Eric's first live CD. Six out of the twenty songs on this new CD, can
also be
found on "An Evening with Eric Bibb" ( released in 2007). Those are
interpretations together with the
excellent Dave Bronze on bass. It's interesting to compare e.g. the song "For
You" on both CD's.
This is enough to realise that the new live CD is really different, even if - consistent
with " Spirit I Am "
and "An Evening with Eric Bibb " - there's enough laid back acoustic stuff on
"Live A Fip". But the
atmosphere and interaction between musicians and audience is so well that Eric Bibb and
his band
are bursting out the energy into a number of somewhat heavier live interpretations.
The live version of "Hold On" takes more than 8 minutes compared to the 3 minute
version on the CD
"Spirit I Am". I even assume that "Still Living On", "Got To Do
Better ", "In My Father's House",
"Destiny Blues " and " Don't Ever Let Nobody Drag Your Spirit Down "
will be considered
definite live versions. On this CD Eric Bibb is at his top.
(review: HvA )
review April 15th 2009 / copyright Blue Ears
magazine
The Snowy White Blues Project - In
Our Time Of Living - to be released in April 2009
Apart from his breakthrough solo-album with
the hit Bird Of Paradise, Snowy White is mainly
known as guitarist of Pink Floyd's The Wall, Thin Lizzy and Roger Waters Band. In his
playing he absorbed all those influences and more. As his pop rock band The White Flames
(which will continue) didn't satisfy those fans who wanted to hear more of Snowy playing
the
blues; now they have the chance with this new band: The Snowy White Blues Project.
There's clearly a lot of talent in this
band. Interestingly, the guitarists are bringing a twin guitar
sound - so much variety - reminding me at times of Wishbone Ash. Another great UK Band
of the past.
About the line up: Snowy White (UK) and the drummer Juan van Emmerloot (NL) are from The
White Flames. Completing this new British Dutch formation are the fine musicians Matt
Taylor
(UK) on guitar & Ruud Weber jr (NL) on bass. Mark started as a new school blues
musician but
had to play pop and rock for a living. Ruud Weber jr played e.g. a decade with Barry
McCabe's
Albatross. They are both good vocalists and able to write songs. Their influence is quite
dominant on this album.
Just about three songs can be called typically Snowy White, while the opening track
"Rolling
With My Baby" leans strongly on LSD ( Got a Million Dollars ) by T.McGuinness.
The title track and two other bluesy rock contributions are written by Matt Taylor in a
versatile
eclectic style, while another four written by Ruud Weber jr. are more sensitive or on the
blues side.
The two blues covers confirm the general impression of a very polished band with a sound
somewhere between Ian Parker Band, a quiet ( ! ) Aynsley Lister and Carl Verheijen Band,
but
with more blues influences and citations.
If this is where you go for, you won't be disappointed. ( gig dates elsewhere on this
website)
(review: HvA )
review April 9th 2009 / copyright Blue Ears magazine
Omar Kent Dykes & Jimmie Vaughan
- Big Town Playboy - Ruf 1142 - 2009
The 2007 release "On The Jimmy Reed
Highway "on which Omar Kent Dykes -
best known as the frontman of the rockin' Omar & The Howlers - worked
together with Jimmy Reed fan and star guitarist Jimmie Vaughan, came as a
big surprise. Back to R&B instead of bluesrock. Ruf Records got a bestseller
with it and the Reed-style shuffles which filled the album - once famous -
were back in the picture: A lesson of how effective simplicity in music can be
when it's played well.
And now here's the follow up. Again we hear a bunch of great Texan studio
musicians and guest appearances. With James Cotton and Lazy Lester blowing
the harp, Lou Ann Burton on vocals ( 2 tracks) and several guitarists
featured - I would buy this album blind. Also, guitar and harmonica is being played
by the promising young musician (and black actor) Gary Clark Jr. He has several
CD's out himself.
Jimmy Reed was very succesful with his band in the 50's and 60's, so other
artists started playing in similar style. That's why the focus of this album can be
on Jimmy Reed's work, on Eddie Taylor songs ( guitarist of the Jimmy Reed Band)
and other Reed soundalikes e.g. Big Smokey Smothers and George Crockett.
Mix it with some swamp blues and reworkings of some other good songs from
the golden era of R&B and the result is an excellent album.
Big Town Playboy, I can't Judge Nobody, Think, No More Doggin' , Dream Girl,
Man Down There, King Bee - just to mention some outstanding tracks.
It's instructive to hear the extent of reworkings on this album by comparing
with the original recordings of e.g. Think ( Jimmy McCracklin), Since I Met You Baby
( Ivory Joe Hunter) and No More doggin' (Rosco Gordon); no jazzy influences left
whatsoever.
(review: AdK )
review April 4th 2009 / copyright Blue Ears
magazine |
