Bluesman Mike and the Blues Review Band – We Do the Blues | Album Review

Bluesman Mike and the Blues Review Band – We Do the Blues

Self-Produced

www.reverbnation.com/bluesmanmikethebluesreviewband

CD: 13 Songs, 57:51 Minutes

Styles: Jazz Covers, Blues Covers

If blues releases contained nutritional information on the backsides of their covers, the lowdown on We Do the Blues, from Bluesman Mike and the Blues Review Band, would read as follows: Serving Size, 1 Album; Servings Per CD, 13; Pure Blues, 5 Songs; Mostly Jazz, 8 Songs. Don’t get me wrong. It’s good jazz of the Delbert McClinton sort, not the Count Basie variety. Mike’s vocals are mellow and fluid, as any crooner’s should be, and his style is just as smooth. It’s a shame there isn’t more original material here, as “You Treat My Love Like it’s Roadkill” (yes, that’s the actual title) and “Am I Wrong” are above-average tunes in their own right. The rest are covers from some of the most popular blues artists of our time, such as Buddy Guy, Koko Taylor, Otis Redding and Coco Montoya. Whether or not one counts Jimi Hendrix (“Red House”) as a blues artist is a matter of one’s personal definition of the genre.

According to our leading man and his posse’s profile on Reverbnation, “The Blues Review Band was formed out of Bluesman Mike’s passion for the blues. In the year 2007, he decided to go back to his roots by spending his birthday gift on a bass guitar and soon started jamming with co-founder Doug Hill and performing all over the Phoenix area.” The ensemble has since been re-formed, and their first release, Blues for the Road, featured a hit song called “I Love Money.”

Along with Bluesman Mike (bass, vocals and harmonica) are Sugar Bear on lead guitar and vocals; Bobby Nealy on keyboards, and Steve Loecher on drums. The inside of the CD cover also displays photos of Julissa Ruth, Tony Mockridge, Sandra Bassett, Perry Seen, T.J. Henry, Tim Robinson, Sam Speed, and Jijjy (that’s J-I-J-J-Y) Van.

The following number is a blues treat that’ll move your feet and a title that just can’t be beat.

Track 11: “You Treat My Love Like It’s Roadkill” – Ta-da, the moment you’ve been waiting for! A Chicago-style swinger with a resonating intro that kicks some serious possum tail, track eleven is Bluesman Mike’s ace in the hole. “You treat my love like it’s roadkill, steamroll over me like I never gave you a thrill…” At the tail end of a romance, truer words were never spoken. If you want to play along on your dobro or slide at home, but fear you’re no Sonny Landreth, take heart: Even the freshest of guitar freshmen will be able to keep up with this one.

Bluesman Mike and the Blues Review Band want one and all to know: We Do the Blues, but a whole lot of jazz and soul along with it!

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