The blues are brewin’…
Blues vet Joe Louis Walker is in vintage form on both voice and pickings with an all star cast of John Lindsay Bradvord/b, Phillip/key, Byron Cage-Joh nMedeiros Jr-Geno Blacknell Jr/dr and various guests including studio stud guitarist Waddy Wachtel. He mixes up his originals with some brilliant covers, such as a soulful R&B groove to Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London” (with co-composer Wachtel on guitar), a rocking read of Keith Richards’ “Make No Mistake” and best of all, a gritty pulsed “Hotel California”. He’s right at home on a rural back porch take of Muddy Waters’ “Two Trains Running” and his soulful voice works well on the cajun spiced “Wine”. He shuffles with the horns on the upbeat “Regal Blues” and gets into a swampfest on the funky “Bad Betty”, taking a relaxed ride to Chicago on “Uptown Girl Blues”. This guy keeps blue as a primary color.
Usually, a band has a piano or an organ, but Jeremy Monteiro and Albert Marisco bring them together, respectively, in this fun and bluesy jammer of an album with Shawn Letts/ts, Eugene Pao/g and Shawn Kelley for some well dug grooves. You even hear one of them shout out “ you know that’s right” during the album and better thoughts haven’t been said on the feel good shuffle of “Opening Act” with some tasty guitar work by Pao or the boogalooing “Mount Olive” with the keys and ivories swinging away. Marisco preaches it on the gospel’d “Jack-Pot” and the two go 8 to the bar with Letts during “Olympia”. Mi Dee Logwood steps in for some gritty vocals on the soulful “I’d Rather Drink Muddy Water” while cooing dark shadows during “I’d Rather Go Blind”. A big wide brush of the town painted deep blue.
Celebrating 40 years of delivering the blues, Landslide Records releases a 2 disc, 33 song anthology of toe tapping material from their illustrious catalogue. I forgot that Derek Trucks had once been on the label, and his band deftly delivers a hip take of John Coltrane’s “Mr. PC” with aplomb. Paul McCandless is never far away, joining up with David Samuels on a hard hitting “The Great Lawn” with Sean Costello chipping in for a couple pieces like “Motor Head Baby” and “She Changed My Mind”. Piano Red is full fisted on a concert treatment of “Rockin’ With Red” and David Earl Johnson teams with John Abercrombie for a jazzy “Route Two”. This is a set made for some serious foot stomping.