There a lot of great guitarists and songwriters out there, but you’ll search high and low for anyone more focused and forthright than Gabe Stillman who’s still in his mid-20s but already a proven talent with few peers.

Born in 1995 and a native of Williamsport, Pa. – a community of 28,000 or so folks who rejoice each year when the Little League World Series comes to town, he established himself as a rising star at the 2019 International Blues Challenge, where he captured the Gibson Guitar Award, which goes to the best fret master in the competition.

It’s no wonder that he’s worked with true blues royalty on the two albums he’s released since – sharing credits with Mark Wenner and the Nighthawks on one and then following it up with another that was produced by Anson Funderburgh and featuring appearances from several stars on the Texas music scene.

But talk to Gabe, as we did recently, and you’ll discover that he’s one of the most grounded, focused folks in an artform that usually requires toiling in the shadows for decades before achieving stardom.

“My story is atypical,” Stillman admits. “I’m not from Louisiana, Mississippi, Chicago…not from any of these places where one would find the blues in an organic sorta way. I don’t come from New Orleans or the Mississippi Delta, where just being from there can give an artist a ‘right’ to play the blues. I come from a place where classic rock and country music is just about all you hear on the radio.

“We’re not an area that’s known for having deep roots in the blues. It speaks to the power of the blues — and makes me unique in a way. It draws us in no matter where we come from. And that’s what draws the rest of the world into it, too.”

Gabe was eight years old when he picked up the six-string for the first time. A saxophone player in elementary school, he lost interest in the instrument after falling in love with the music of AC/DC, KISS and other guitar-led bands that dominated the local airwaves. His mom bought him lessons but playing well was as difficult for him as it would have been to attempt to climb Mount Everest.

“I didn’t get beyond doing ‘Yankee Doodle Dandy’ and ‘Jingle Bells,’” he confesses. “Even at that age, I was wanting to learn rock-‘n’-roll songs…‘Smoke on the Water’ and all of that typical guitar stuff. And all I had was a cheap hand-me-down Yamaha acoustic from my older brother.”

At the time, his hands were so small, there was no way to advance on the instrument. After eight frustrating months, he laid down the guitar and turned to sports and other activities, finally picking it up again at age 11 when he got excited about it in an altogether different way.

“Things like YouTube were first happening,” Gabe remembers, “and I was getting exposed to live video of musicians doing what they do and the way they looked on stage…what was happening between the musicians and the audience. It really sucked me in.

“I remember going to my parents and saying: ‘I wanna give guitar a shot again.’”

Fortunately for Stillman, the timing was right. Six years earlier, a group of forward-thinking Williamsport residents launched the Uptown Music Collective, a 503c non-profit that was showing a high success rate in teaching youngsters how to sing and play multiple instruments. Open to people of all ages, the organization’s main focus is getting students to play together in group situations – something that enables them to advance at a faster pace than they would if they were simply practicing at home alone.

After determining the student’s favorite music and, hopefully, his goals, instructors draw up individual lesson plans that include simple exercises that build confidence and eventually enable the youngster to learn full songs easier and quicker down the road.

Now one of the group’s foremost graduates, Stillman is still deeply involved with the organization, both as an instructor and member of its planning board, using the same Q&A routine to initiate new talents, altering the lesson plan to accommodate their different musical interests. And dozens of graduates have used their training to achieve future success in music and other careers.

“My mom got me an electric guitar and got me enrolled, and I ran with it,” Gabe says. “I wanted to play like (AC/DC founder/lead guitarist) Angus Young, Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton.

“But my teachers had such a great knowledge of music that they told me that Angus’ favorite guitarists were B.B. King, Chuck Berry and John Lee Hooker — and that Page and Clapton were both really deep blues guys as well.

“‘We’ve got to start you with the blues,’ they said, ‘and that’s gonna get you to playing like you wanna play. They’re all playing blues…just faster!’”

It didn’t take long, Stillman says, before he “fell down the rabbit hole. It spoke to me in such a deeper way than the rock music I was listening to. It wasn’t ‘oh, that’s music that sounds good.’ I identified it on an emotional level.

“Even today, as someone who plays blues for a living, I still think that element is what pulled me in. It’s never something that you can clearly define. But for me, as I’ve matured and my musical vocabulary has expanded, I believe that blues is folk music…music for people to enjoy, not just for musicians.”

No matter what your musical taste, Gabe insists, if it speaks to you, it’s vital. But there’s something unique about the blues, noting: “I’m not a jazz musician. To appreciate some aspects of it, for example, you have to be hyper intellectual. To appreciate blues, you have to be hyper emotional…separate the brain from the heart. Jazz doesn’t always have that emotional connection.”

To his ear, blues, country and ethnic music are especially appealing despite their seeming technical simplicity because they speak to the soul and bare deep feelings about every aspect of human existence – everything from falling in or out of love, struggling to make ends meet to celebrating joy and everything in between – something that can be related through a simple three-chord progression and even without the necessity of lyrics.

“Magic Sam, Otis Rush, Ronnie Earl, Jimmie Vaughan and all of these people I’ve grown up studying and listening to…there’s subject matter in the notes that they’re playing,” Stillman says. “I get the same thing from harmonica, sax and piano players, too. They’re all saying something – and baring their souls – without words and you’re understanding it.

“And the people who are greatest at it are the ones who can strip away all of themselves to do it.”

Even in his teens, Gabe knew instinctively that his future would be in the blues. When he told his friends, however, he was met by comments that included: “Are you sure, man? You’re not gonna make a lot of money doin’ that.”

“It’s not about that,” he responded. “I have to do it. It’s magic!”

When he finally started playing out at age 13, he was overwhelmed by audience reaction – something that solidified his mindset. The emotional connection he made while performing Buddy Guy’s slow burner, “The First Time I Met the Blues,” at an Uptown Collective Showcase, and the feelings instilled that day still bring delight today. “That just pulled me in further,” he says. “It felt really good – and I kept goin’ after it. And I’m very, very grateful.”

By the time he was 14, Stillman was gigging almost every weekend, learning the ropes in Uptown’s Youngblood Blues Band and jams sponsored by the Billtown Blues Association. The first time he performed in Memphis came when Billtown sent Youngblood as its representative at the IBC Youth Showcase.

“It was a great way to cut my teeth,” Gabe insists. “I’d been studying B.B. King and all of the Stax music, and I had expectations of what it would be like. But I felt the ghosts of Beale Street right away. With all the musicians in town for the IBCs, there was really a heaviness to it because of all that’s come from there.”

By his own admission, Stillman says he’s never enjoyed school. And, fortunately, his parents were understanding. After a sit-down one day, they agreed that he enroll in advanced classes – something that enabled him to graduate high school after what would have been his junior year and subsequently was accepted into the prestigious Berklee College of Music.

As a small-town boy in a big-city world, the relocation to Boston proved difficult because for the 17 year old. Even so, it proved exhilarating, too, Gabe says, because it exposed him to the full spectrum of world music.

One of his most interesting challenges involved teaming with students from other disciplines to play music outside his comfort zone. Often, the other artist was playing an instrument foreign to the blues, and both students were always required to play tunes from each other’s area of interest. As difficult as it might seem, the exchange frequently proved magical because of the players’ innate ability to communicate when trading notes.

Stillman only spent two and a half years in Beantown, earning his degree at age 19 in 2015 and immediately moving back home, where his professional career launched when he was invited to join the house band at The Finish Line Café for its Tuesday-night jam sessions.

“It reintroduced me to playing in bars,” he remembers, “and out of that, I formed my band and started to play around and learn the ropes. Berklee taught me a lot of things, but they don’t teach you how to book a gig, how much money you’re supposed to be making or anything like that.

“I went to ‘med school,’ now it’s time to be a ‘surgeon!’”

Steadily building a local following, the Gabe Stillman Band captured top honors in the local IBC competition in March 2016 and served as Billtown’s representative in Memphis the following January. But for them, the event ended almost as quickly as it had begun.

Undeterred, however, Stillman started breaking down every aspect of that performance and dedicated himself even more to his craft. After capturing top honors at his home club in 2018, he recorded his first CD, The Grind, in a lineup that included bassist Colin Beatty, drummer Jesse Roedts and harp player Shane Sager along with a special guest appearance from another rising star, guitarist McKinley James, the son of drummer Jason Smay, who played for decades with JD McPherson and The Straitjackets.

Competing in Tennessee against 101 other full bands in 2019, Gabe drew rave reviews for his attack on a cover of Otis Rush’s “Double Troubles” and his group made it all the way to the finals. St. Louis’ Ms. Hy-C & Fresh Start took top honors that year, but Stillman’s fretwork was so impressive that he took home the Gibson Guitar Award as top axe man, following in the footsteps of an impressive list of former honorees that includes Michael Burks, Jonn Del Toro Richardson, Sean Carney, Nick Schnebelen, JP Soars and Mr. Sipp, among others.

“I was the lucky one,” he says. “I grew up being taught always to be confident but humble. And it was a very humbling experience as a guitar player. It still blows me away. I’m not sure how I achieved it, but it’s a thing – and I’m very grateful for it.

“I always use ‘air quotes’ with my fingers when I say ‘best guitar player,’ too,” he says modestly, “because I don’t think there is such a thing. There are a lot of really, really great guitar players out there who I love.

“And none of us in the band expected to go all the way to the finals.”

As any IBCs competitor will tell you, the ability to network with industry people, club owners and artists from around the world is one of the biggest benefits of the competition, often outweighing the event itself. And for Gabe, “it was a whole other education unto itself.”

Rubbing shoulders with top blues talent paid off in many ways, too.

“It always feels good to get a pat on the back from guys I’ve grown up listening to,” he insists. “There’s a great sense of mentorship. One of the first seasoned musicians I met professionally was Mark Wenner from The Nighthawks. The first time I went to a Nighthawks show, I was invited on stage. The way that he welcomed me and the friendship that he put forth was amazing. And Anson Funderburgh and Ronnie Earl are others.

“I’ve learned so-o-o much because of their friendship – and it’s not even necessarily a verbal thing. People haven’t necessarily sat me down and said: ‘Here’s what you gotta do.’

“Just watching them perform and the way they conduct themselves…it’s just an amazing part of the lineage of blues music and the aural tradition of passing this music down from one generation to the next. And I don’t take that for granted because all of them have devoted themselves to a hard life of living on the road and all of the stuff that comes with it.

“The fact that they see the same hunger in me is inspiring!”

Thanks to his success in Memphis, tours and a festival appearances kept him busy through the winter, and 2020 was shaping up to be a banner year. “I actually quit my job at Uptown Music Collective because I was going to be on the road so much,” Stillman says. “But all those plans went away because of COVID. And the school closed, too, meaning I couldn’t get my job back.”

With plenty of time on his hands to plan for a better future, Gabe went to work laying the groundwork for his next album. A self-admitted poor multi-tasker who works best when focusing on only one aspect of his career, he had few options other than to put performing and rehearsing aside to concentrate on songwriting.

It’s as difficult, he says, for him to name his favorite tunesmith as it is to name his favorite guitarist, but he draws inspiration from Willie Dixon, Charles Brown, Doc Pomus and Doyle Bramhall in the blues because of their ability to compose lyrics that add luster to even the most mundane aspects of everyday life, pointing out the metaphor-rich opening of Willie’s “Spoonful” as an example: “It could be a spoonful of diamonds./It could be a spoonful of gold./But just a spoon of your precious love can satisfy my soul.”

Away from the blues, Tom Waits, Bruce Springsteen, Jason Isbell, Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Smokey Robinson and some hip-hop artists all are appealing, too, he says, because they instill a sense of their own humanity into songs that use plain language to describe complex day-to-day struggles.

“Lyrics aren’t everything, but they’re incredibly important,” Stillman says. “I think that’s something that sometimes gets lost in modern pop music. If you look at the poetry in Motown of the ‘60s, it’s as beautiful as Shakespeare. Listen to the music on the radio today and…don’t even get me started on that…there’s just not a lot of poetry there!”

Unfortunately, he believes, current blues songwriting can be problematic, too.

“If I hear one more song about big women or bad whiskey or how I was born to play the blues…c’mon!” he says. “It’s all been said a lot of times before by people who’ve said it a whole lot better!

“To move the blues forward, one of the things that’s important to me is not recycling the same old things. And we have to be relevant as songwriters to do so. We live in a different world than the ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s. And we can’t lose the ability to write poetry and be eloquent.”

The pandemic proved to be a font of inspiration for new material, Stillman insists, because of everything every human was going through…being forced to be closer to one another on one extreme and pushed farther and farther away from each other, too, while also building new relationships out of necessity that didn’t exist before.

His next foray into the studio produced Flying High, an album on which he took top billing despite joining forces with Wenner the Nighthawks – a partnership came about far easier than you might think. “I’d done a favor for a friend who has a studio in 2019,” Gabe says, “and he gave me some studio time.

“I was like: ‘Well, wouldn’t it be cool to see if The Nighthawks would want to do something together’ – that’s really it!

“Mark was all about it. We cut ten songs in a day-and-a-half – some of mine, a couple of Nighthawks’ tunes and a couple of old blues, too. I can’t express enough how grateful I am for his friendship and mentor-ship – and his musicianship, too. I’m so in awe of all of them! They just put out a record, Established 1972, to celebrate their 50th anniversary, and I’m inspired to be doing this in 50 years, too.”

As great a partnership as that effort proved to be, however, Stillman soars higher with his most recent disc, Just Say the Word, on the VizzTone imprint late last year.

A 15-tune set that includes 13 originals, it debuted in the No. 10 slot on Billboard’s blues chart, No. 5 spot on Roots Music Report’s radio chart and three of the songs have charted, too. Gabe was tabbed with a Blues Music Award nomination in the best emerging artist category early this year and followed it up with two more nominations in the Blues Blast Music Awards for the Sean Costello Rising Star honors and slide guitarist of the year, too.

The Costello honor was especially gratifying, Stillman says, both for the great love he has for Sean’s music and because his current band includes Ray Hangen, Sean’s longtime drummer.

Captured at Wire Recording in Austin, Just Say the Word was produced by Anson who brought out big guns to the studio. “That was a crazy thing, man!” Gabe exclaims. He’d already invited Taylor Streiff, Nick Moss’s former keyboard player, for the session, and Anson, who sat in on six-string, had already arranged for the Texas Horns — Kaz Kazanoff, Al Gomez and John Mills – to join them.

But the hits kept coming.

“I’d already been a big fan of (longtime Austin fixture) Greg Izor,” Stillman says. “His harmonica playing is so unique, and I also dig his vocal style and songwriting. He was doing harp lessons online during the pandemic, and I reached out to him to see if he’d be willing to do vocal lessons and some songwriting consulting, too.

“We got together once a week over Skype the whole summer. And then I go down to make this record and who happens to be in town from Spain, where he’s now living, but Greg Izor! He hadn’t seen Anson in quite a while, stopped by the studio and offered to play on something. It was so-o-o cool, man! He really laid down a wicked chromatic-harp track on the instrumental, ‘Susquehanna 66.’”

And Sue Foley – who captured traditional female artist and traditional album awards at the ’22 BMAs – also dropped by and sat in.

“I’ve been a Sue Foley fan forever,” Gabe says, “and I was wearing one of her T-shirts to the studio one day. I guess that Anson just texted her. The next thing I know, who shows up…!

“We were sitting next to each other at the console and listening to some songs, and she spun around in the chair, slapped me on the knee and told me that I sounded great. I thought to myself: ‘Okay, I can die now! Sue Foley just told me I sounded great!’”

2022 has been the busiest year yet for Stillman who’s pretty much booked solid through the end of the year, including a tour through New England in late November and another December run through Florida – which he toured recently as the opening act for ZZ Top. And then he and Anson are reuniting for a new album that probably will reach fans next spring.

Between now and then, however, Gabe’s eager to touch base with his fans. “I can’t wait to see you and play some new music for you and be together again,” he insists. “I hope I can give you an old, sweaty hug after the show!

“Keep an eye on the website – www.gabestillman.com.”

Blues Blast Magazine Senior writer Marty Gunther has lived a blessed life. Now based out of Charlotte, N.C., his first experience with live music came at the feet of the first generation of blues legends at the Newport Folk Festivals in the 1960s. A former member of the Chicago blues community, he’s a professional journalist and blues harmonica player who co-founded the Nucklebusters, one of the hardest working bands in South Florida.

Buddy Guy – The Blues Don’t Lie

RCA Records

https://www.buddyguy.net/

16 tracks/63 minutes

“And the winner of the 2023 Blues Blast Music Award for Best Traditional (or Contemporary or whatever category you’d like to put it in) Blues Album of the Year is…Buddy Guy– The Blues Don’t Lie!” Any year Buddy Guy releases a new album, the first thing I think of is,  “Well, he’s got another award wrapped up.” But I’m sorry; I’m getting ahead of myself.

Buddy returns to producing albums with Tom Hambridge.  Tom wrote eleven of the 16 tracks for this album. Buddy wrote two himself (perhaps the best two on the CD) and there are also three excellent covers included here.  Sixteen tracks– over an hour of music. At 86, Buddy is still going at it full force with lots and lots of new music and giving it his all.  Why would anyone expect less? And to add to the enjoyment, we get to also have a half dozen superb artists perform with him on this new album.

The players here, in addition to Buddy, are Tom Hambridge on drums and percussion, Michael Rhodes and Glenn Worf share the bass duties, Kevin McKendrie and Reese Wynans alternate on the various keyboard instruments, Rob McNelley adds his guitar,  Max Abrams and Steve Patrick are the horn section, and track 2 features Michael Saint-Leon on Low End Guitar and Mike Hicks on Background Vocals. Guest appearances by Mavis Staples, Elvis Costello, James Taylor, Bobby Rush, Jason Isbell and Wendy Moten round out this pretty much all star affair. What a set of players and singers!

The album begins with a rousing and driving “I Let My Guitar Do the Talking” and he certainly does.  The song includes a big production sound, horns and all the bells and whistles for a great and memorable song.  Buddy is as spry and slick performing here as he ever was in this song he wrote.

A very cool slow blues follows, “Blues Don’t Lie.” Guy sings with passion as he glides effortlessly through this song with some ethereal guitar and with backing vocals, organ and horns making it even better.  “The World Needs Love” follows, the second cut Guy wrote here and it’s a big, slow Chicago blues done only as Buddy can.  He emotes vocally, he emotes on his guitar, he brings it with a fierce and fiery performance.  Mavis appears in the soul blues “We Go Back.” The duet between her and Buddy is truly superb; intensely emotional, full of feeling; I loved it.

Elvis Costello appears on the next cut “Symptoms of Love.” Costello howls with the symptoms of love as Guy delivers another winner with Elvis’ assistance. “Follow The Money” features James Taylor who, like Costello, takes a backing vocal role to Buddy. Next is “Well Enough Alone,” which starts as a stripped down blues with guitar and Buddy delivering a down home intro. Then things pick up as Buddy and the band rip into what they should have left well enough alone.  The guitar stings and the organ blazes as Guy testifies to his errors. Bobby Rush assists on “What’s Wrong With That” and Buddy and Bobby tells us what makes them happy; crispy bacon, places to put your cigar, being lazy laying around with your woman or whatever it is. Both of these guys have been around and don’t have time to waste with things they don’t like and they won’t make excuses about liking them.

Jason Isbell appears in the social commentary about our gun problem killing our youth. Buddy and Jason rail about the injustice of people killing innocent people and we do nothing to stop them. The boogie with Wendy Moten is a fun cut; “House Party” describes having said party until dawn.  The card game is going on, the gumbo is on the stove, he’s getting to meet the local young lovelies and everyone is having a great time.  B.B. King’s “Sweet Thing” follows that, with Buddy and his guitar wailing and moaning as they play off each other; really good stuff! “Back Door Scratchin’” is next, a cut where Buddy is the old dog scratching at the back door until he gets in for a taste.

The John Lennon Beatle cut “I’ve Got a Felling” gets worked over into a beautiful mid-tempo blues by Guy and it’s damned good. “Rabbit Blood” is a slow blues about his girl wanting to do things like bunnies do; ‘nuff said there. “Last Call” is a not a bar song but an end of relationship tune as Guy tells his women he’s done with both his drink and her.  He concludes with a solo version of “King Bee” where he plays acoustic guitar and sings with somberness and feeling.  It’s pretty damn cool.

While it’s almost a given that Buddy wins when he releases something, next year it will be because it’s truly well deserved. For me, this is his best album since 2001’s Sweet Tea and it is close to being one of his best; it is a flawless effort.  This is a superb album and it is well worth adding to any blues lover’s collection.

Blues Blast Magazine Senior writer Steve Jones is president of the Crossroads Blues Society and is a long standing blues lover. He is a retired Navy commander who served his entire career in nuclear submarines. In addition to working in his civilian career since 1996, he writes for and publishes the bi-monthly newsletter for Crossroads, chairs their music festival and works with their Blues In The Schools program. He resides in Byron, IL.

Jack’s Waterfall – American Roots Project

South Bay Arts

www.jackswaterfall.com

10 songs – 38 minutes

A skintight trio fronted by Jack Licitra on keys and vocals, Jack’s Waterfall has been putting their unique spin on various forms of music. But they focus put the focus on their love for New Orleans blues and piano with their latest CD, a rollicking, all-original effort that delivers plenty of fun.

A lifelong student of great piano players who’s influenced by Allen Toussaint, Henry Butler and Pinetop Perkins, Licitra possesses an energetic, rhythmic and percussive attack on the 88s. He previously led the Water Street Blues Band, a unit that was founded in update Oneonta, N.Y., before becoming a fixture at Manny’s Car Wash, the legendary blues club that was located a few blocks from Carnegie Hall on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. They released three albums, which included the song “Blame It on Jane,” which received heavy national airplay in 1997.

Based out of Long Island, Jack’s Waterfall debuted three years later with Calling All Angels, has four more previous CDs to their credit and has served as the opening actor for several major blues keyboard talents, including Perkins and Butler. As a solo artist, Licitra has also released two additional discs that use music as a healing tool.

This CD was recorded at Sky Studios in New York and co-produced by Brian Unger and Grammy nominee/M.C. Records founder Mark Carpentieri, who handles all the percussion along with bassist Trifon Dmitrov. They’re augmented by Rod Borrie on trombone and former Water Street bandmate Steve Demanchick on harmonica.

Each of the ten tracks here explore a different aspect of the blues piano tradition, beginning with “Louise,” which delivers a big tip of the fedora to Toussaint, includes steadily rolling riffs and yearns for a reunion with a lady who’s impossible to get out of the singer’s mind. Demanchick joins the action and the sound shifts to a more contemporary sound with the shuffle, “Them Blues,” which serves as a plea to be set free from an inner struggle because of past mistakes and is highlighted by a stellar mid-tune solo.

The funk kicks back in from the opening measures of “My Baby’s Gone a Long Time,” a lyrical workout in which Licitra yearns for a return of her “crazy ways.” Heavy timbre opens “Soul Rider” before immediately shifting into a swinging, mid-tempo shuffle that preaches a person’s time is always more valuable than money because you can’t take it with you when you’re gone.

The minor-key “Wise Man” follows with a Latin beat and Borrie on board as it describes a woman who just doesn’t seem to care before giving way to “Jack’s Rag,” a Tin Pan Alley-style instrumental with plenty of two-fisted appeal.

Licitra sings praise of the value of a large social network with the Big Easy-flavored “Community” before delivering “West Texas Ghost Story,” a steady-driving blues about breaking down during a downpour in the middle of nowhere and help arriving seemingly out of nowhere in the form of a man who appears like an apparition and then vanishing into thin air. Two more numbers – the ballad “I’ve Been Listening” and the uptempo “Like an Eagle” – bring the album to a pleasant close.

There’s a lot to like about this one, including clever tunes with fine musicianship to boot. Looking for something a little different? This one’s definitely for you.

Blues Blast Magazine Senior writer Marty Gunther has lived a blessed life. Now based out of Charlotte, N.C., his first experience with live music came at the feet of the first generation of blues legends at the Newport Folk Festivals in the 1960s. A former member of the Chicago blues community, he’s a professional journalist and blues harmonica player who co-founded the Nucklebusters, one of the hardest working bands in South Florida.

Corky Siegel’s Chamber Blues – More Different Voices

Dawnserly Records 4302

www.corkymusic.com

10 songs – 59 minutes

It’s safe to say that no one in the blues world has pushed the boundaries of the blues more in the modern era than Corky Siegel, the Chicago blues harmonica giant who’s been teaming with classical orchestras since the ‘60s and producing a hybrid sound derived from the intersections of the Delta, classical, folk, jazz and more. And he absolutely hits it out of the park with this disc, which teams him with a string quartet, blues artists and musicians who literally span the globe.

Corky’s seventh mixed-media release, he joins forces here with Alligator Records powerhouse Toronzo Cannon, country blues superstar Tracy Nelson and blues/jazz diva Lynne Jordan on this one. It’s a delightful, surprise-packed follow-up to his 2017 release, Different Voices, which featured tabla master Sandeep Das along with vocalists Marcella Detroit and Siegel’s longtime friend/bandmate Sam Lay and jazz saxophone great Ernie Watts.

A skilled composer who grew up playing sax and is a gifted keyboard player, too, Corky rose to prominence as co-founder of the Siegel-Schwall Band, which started as the house band at Pepper’s Lounge and quickly became one of the first white-led blues groups of the mid-‘60s. Siegel’s forays into classical music came after befriending San Francisco Symphony Orchestra conductor Seiji Ozawa during frequent visits to the city and Ozawa subsequently invited the group to the Bay Area in 1968 to record William Russo’s “Three Pieces For Blues Band And Symphony Orchestra.”

Shockingly revolutionary and well-reviewed, the performance was released on LP by the Deutsch Grammophon imprint as Street Music: A Blues Concerto in 1977, joining Seigel’s previous azure releases on Vanguard and Wooden Nickel and serving as a jumping-off point for the six more discs using the concept that he’s released prior to this one.

The musicians on his one includes Spanish violinist Jaime Gorgojo, Taiwanese violinist Chihsuan Yang and Americans Rose Armbrust on viola and Jocelyn Butler Shoulders on cello along with Indian tabla virtuoso Kalyan “Johnny Bongo” Pathak while the voices include Cannon, Detroit, Nelson, Watts, Hawaii-based Pio Dog Pondering front man Frank Orrall and Pavel Roytman, a Jewish-American cantor based out of Mykolaiv, Ukraine. Lisa Wurman and Katherine Hughes (violin), Richard Halajian (viola) and Felix Wurman (cello) provide the backbone as guests on the closing bonus track.

Originally charted in 1973, this is Siegel’s fourth arrangement of “No One’s Got Them Like I Do,” which opens. The strings serve as the classical/blues band in counterpoint to Corky’s harp riffs as Lynne deliver lyrics about a man so enamored by a woman, “she sends chills down his spine” and so downtrodden by her rejection that he’s now “cryin’ in his wine.” But Jordan – dead serious — isn’t impressed because “no one has troubles like I do” – something that Siegel drives home bittersweetly on the reeds mid-song.

Blues fans will recognize “Insurance” because it originally appeared on Toronzo’s The Preacher, the Politician or the Pimp CD but they’ve never heard it like he sings it here with the strings substituting for his powerhouse guitar aided by Corky’s fills and Johnny Bongo’s bottom. Up next, Marcella soars on mic and chips in a little harp, too, for a take on her original, “There Goes My Man.” From its operatic/symphonic open, it eventually settles into a funky shuffle as it describes a love exiting for the final time.

Orrall takes the spotlight next for a reimagining of his “Little Blossoms Falling Down,” a quiet but minor-key pleaser with percussive Latin rhythms that celebrates finding joy in all of the beauty in the world despite all of its troubles before Siegel gets to rip and run in his instrumental, “Joyful Jambalaya,” a romp that includes a few Sonny Terry-style whoops and gives space for Yang to shine on violins and electric viola.

The ensemble delivers music from the intersection of jazz and blues as Watts takes center stage to deliver the sweet, ten-minute instrumental “Oasis,” which includes sensational interplay between his horn, tabla, harp and the strings, before Corky’s at the mic for “Twisted,” a Siegel-Schwall original that’s now loaded with classical elements, and Nelson stars on voice and piano for her “Down So Low.”

Two more numbers — Roytman’s “Hine Ma Tov Blues,” a variation of a simple Jewish chant that sings for peace and was recorded long before war broke out in his homeland, and “Penguins in the Opera House,” which includes a poem Siegel penned for children and music by Austrian composer/Holocaust survivor Hans Wurman — bring the album to an interesting close.

Extremely interesting throughout, not as high-brow as you might imagine – and strongly recommended for anyone with an ear open to something different.

Blues Blast Magazine Senior writer Marty Gunther has lived a blessed life. Now based out of Charlotte, N.C., his first experience with live music came at the feet of the first generation of blues legends at the Newport Folk Festivals in the 1960s. A former member of the Chicago blues community, he’s a professional journalist and blues harmonica player who co-founded the Nucklebusters, one of the hardest working bands in South Florida.

Lyle Odjick and the Northern Steam – Through the Rain

Self-Produced

https://lyleodjick.ca/

CD: 10 Songs, 42 Minutes

Styles: Contemporary Electric Blues Rock, Harmonica Blues, Ensemble Blues

When an airline, blues band, car, medicine, restaurant, or vacation destination promotes a key feature right off the bat, they’d better deliver. On their homepage, Canada’s Lyle Odjick and the Northern Steam promise “High Energy Blues and Blues Rock” – especially on their new album Through the Rain. Unlike most of the advertising world, this ensemble’s not just blowing smoke. Let’s say you’re in a huge hurry to get to an appointment and only have two minutes to unwind in your vehicle of choice. Within the first ten seconds of “Misery Train,” Odjick and company will have you hooked. Punctuated by pounding stomps and grunts of exertion, this song proves that a trip on its titular freight is no smooth ride. (Why is it that the whistle of a ‘Downbound Train’ always sounds the most haunting and beautiful?) You’ll find yourself chugging along to the dentist’s or doctor’s office – prepared for whatever fresh hell awaits you.

Too heavy? I thought so. To get your mood back up, savor the traditional Chicago rhythm of “Cut Me Loose,” the SRV-style riffs of “Leaving Trunk” (a cover of a hit by Sleepy John Estes), and further on, you’ll pay the “Devil Man’s Dues.” If you love harmonica blues, this album is right up your alley. If you favor robust, seasoned vocals, be warned: Odjick is young and handsome, a bona-fide Millennial or perhaps Gen Z, and he sings like a college bro. The inviting instrumentation more than makes up for this slight flaw. Take the slow burner “I Wanna Hold You.” The intro belongs in a high-end nightclub, or even a Netflix movie about one. The CD’s best track is “Harpin’ and Blowin,’” a blink-and-you-miss-it instrumental that prompts you to grab a partner and start swing dancing. You’ll work off all the calories from cocktails that way!

Performing along with Lyle (lead vocals, harmonica, and rhythm guitar) are Ben Griggs on lead and rhythm guitar, Fred Sebastian on drums, Mike Turemne on bass, Sean McGee on keys and organ, guests lead guitarists Tony D and Jason Fryer, and Tanya Paulin on vox for track ten.

Originating from the Algonquin reservation of Kitigan Zibi, QC, now based in Ottawa, ON, Lyle Odjick went from living in a small town with very little exposure to blues or live music to teaching himself harmonica and starting his own blues band.

After playing one gig with a borrowed house band he knew he needed to scout out some local blues musicians on the Ottawa scene to form his own blues band. Less than a month later, The Northern Steam was born. With a burning desire to play onstage, Odjick went from strumming in a small town to opening for heavy hitting acts such as Colin James, Randy Bachman, Monkeyjunk, Paul Reddick and more.

A few recent festival appearances include RBC Ottawa Bluesfest (x2), Calabogie Blues & Ribfest (x2), Mont Tremblant International Bluesfest, Junofest and Ottawa’s Westfest.

In the mood for harmonica blues? Let this Canadian crew guide you Through the Rain!

Reviewer Rainey Wetnight is a 43 year old female Blues fan. A child of 1980s music, she was strongly influenced by her father’s blues music collection.