Bloodest Saxophone featuring Crystal Thomas – Extreme Heat
12 tracks/47 minutes
Bloodest Saxophone is one of the hottest jump blues bands out there. Led by Koda “Young Corn” Shintaro and his top notch Tokyo ensemble, these guys continue to produce outstanding music. Crystal Thomas was one of the guest vocalists who recorded with them in 2017 on the Texas Queens 5 Dialtone album that was part of their US visit when they performed at the Eastside Kings Festival. They hit it off and Shintaro had her tour with them in Japan and Hong Kong in 2018 and the next year at several events including the Fuji Arts Festival. 2022 saw them again work together in assembling this fine album. They have a superb musical bond as they wind their way through a super mix of covers and original music designed to highlight Crystal’s voice and their exceptional musicianship.
Bloodest Saxophone features Shintaro on the tenor sax and backing vocals, Aoki Keita on baritone sax, flute and backing vocals, Shuji on guitar and backing vocals, Masa on bass, strings and backing vocals, and Kiminori on drums and backing vocals. Crystal Thomas leads the band with her excellent vocal work. Anthony Farrell is on the keys, Mike Sailors plays trumpet and Tanaka Michiaki adds percussion.
The album begins with “Mailman’s Sack,” the 1952 Tiny Bradshaw hit, with some torrid horn by Young Corn that is as hot as the jump blues from the days of Louis Prima and Louis Jordan. Thomas sins with gusto and she and band manage to navigate this red-hot cut. Another cover follows, Curtis Mayfield’s “I Don’t Need You No More” from 1961 that Maxine Brown recorded. The boys set a hot pace and Crystal sings with authority. More excellent sax here that just gets you up and moving! The Stones song “Undercover of the Night” gets redone in a jumping and swinging format by the band and Thomas. Shintaro goes wild on the sax as he and the ensemble make this their own.
“Dinah” follows, an old 1920’s song that was originally features at New York’s Plantation Club and was recorded by many an artist. Thomas has fun with it as the band counts down the cut before she takes us home. Swinging good stuff! “Good Morning” is next, a song Shintaro wrote. A ballad of sorts, Masa adds some violin which helps set the mood. It’s a classy and jazzy number with a few guitar licks, some cool upright bass and, of course, horns. Thomas penned the next song, “Somebody Else’s Man.” One can almost see the cigarette smoke clouds swirling as if she sings in an old club with band playing this memorable and emotional piece. An nice little guitar solo is featured here, too.
Shintaro and Thomas coauthored “Oh Baby” which is a bouncing and slick cut that jumps and jives sweetly. Thomas skats and the band lays done a great groove. More guitar licks to savor and lots of pretty and gritty horn playing get the blood moving. Thomas wrote “Country Girl,” a nice mid-tempo piece that flows and makes you want to shake your hips. More fine music to enjoy here! Then it’s time for a trio of cuts together, a “Johnnie Taylor Medley.” It starts with “Just a Happy Song,” moves into “I Love To Make Love When It’s Raining” and concludes with “Hello Sundown.” A smooth and luscious opener transitions into the sexy second song where it’s hard to tell if the vocals or the tenor sax exude the most hormones. Then it’s delightful slow soul blues that Thomas and the band deliver with more feeling. Some greasy guitar, sax and vocals take us home to conclude this delightful set of tunes.
Willie Dixon wrote “Sit Down Baby,” but credited it to Howard Bednoe, also one of the Cobra Records artists. Here we get a sultry and jazzy rendition with cool flute and great vocals. The old school Baby Washington song “Let’s Love In The Moonlight” (written by J.B, Hooks), is next and it’s a slow and pretty number that is true to the feel of this 1960 hit. More superb vocals and saxophone to enjoy on this one. They conclude with the original song “Thank You (Thank You Granddad)” written by Shintaro and Thomas. The song opens with some nearly explosive horns that go on for well over a minute. Then Thomas tells us a bit of a story before Young Corn blows some more killer sax. Thomas gives more thanks to her granddad and once again the horns follow her testimonial with more big horns. She concludes with a final thank you to her gramps, and you can hear the love as she tells us of her relationship with her grandfather.
What is not to like here? Amazing horns and musicianship, superb vocals, a great selection of old cuts and some really outstanding new numbers make for a wonderful album. I was really impressed with Bloodest Saxophones prior work and this is even better. If you want to hear fresh and well-done jump blues and more, they go get this album; you will not regret it. It’s a winner!
