OK, you know an album is gonna be hot when they open with the clarion call riffs to “Wooly Bully” and don’t let go until Jason Ricci’s harp and Malorie Leogrande’s vocals are done tearing it apart. The team of Jay Willie/g/voc, Bob Callahan/g, Ted Yakush/sax, Tod Willie/voc, Steve Clarke/b, Bobby torello/dr, Ricci and Leograde mix up some hot boogie originals and blueswailers here, making you think you’re at the ultimate biker bar. Leogrande delivers a hot under the collar take of Jimmy Reed’s “You Got Me Dizzy,” and Yakush’s tenor teams up for a foot stomping read of “Bare Footin’. Tod Willie does a wonderfully Impressionistic read of the gospel classic “People Get Ready” and the frets are flying off the axe on the boogie blueser “Succotash.” The album closes with an intimate and acoustic read of Robert Johnson’s “Me and the Devil” that takes you back to the crossroads of the south, while the whole album makes you think you need to order a two drink minimum.
Zoho Roots