Issue 17-31 August 3, 2023

Cover photo © 2023 Peter M. Hurley


 In This Issue 

Peter Hurley has our feature interview with Jamiah Rogers. We have ten Blues reviews for you this week including new music from Shaun Murphy, Fiona Boyes, Mad Dog Blues, Guitar Nick, Blue Al & Groovy Rus, Paul Boddy & the SlideWinder Blues Band, D. Scott Riggs, Demetria Taylor, Manlio Milazzi & JJ Appleton, The LH Express and Justine Blue. Scroll down and check it out!



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 Featured Interview – Jamiah Rogers 

imageThe embers of the bonfire that Jimi Hendrix ignited 50+ years ago have been rekindled by the Blues flames of Jamiah Rogers and an exceptional few other guitar slingers of his generation. For them, the blues is not just a feeling, it’s a siren song howling with black heat. The Blues is booster fuel, the electric six-string a sonic rocket. Their time is now and they’re going star traveling.

At the ripe old age of 28, Jamiah Rogers is no longer the brash young up-and-comer that we knew and loved in the last decade. He is now a full-fledged kick-ass performer with national recognition, Canadian connections and European gigs with Annika Chambers, John Primer and Billy Branch on his résumé. This prodigy has blossomed into a Chicago Blues Ambassador in the international spotlight and has proven himself worthy of his aspirational mantle “Blues Superman, the hero that keeps the blues alive.” With a new moniker, “The Dirty Deacon Denzel,” fronting a newly coined trio name “The Dirty Church Band,” Rogers is an ever-evolving musical phenom. Increased bookings and a new CD in-progress fill his schedule.

Timing is everything. As a young drummer imbued with the importance of “the pocket” by his musician dad Tony, Rogers has mastered it. And with mastery comes artistic choices. In the hands of Jamiah Rogers, timing is a feel to be flexed, stretched and pulled beyond limits only  to be snapped back at a moment’s notice with verbal cues, a glance or shrug of the shoulder to synchronize changes with his bandmates. The Dirty Deacon Denzel takes brilliantly improvised flights of guitar-fancy through the sonic stratosphere, while his solid rhythm section keeps it sure-footed and earthbound, providing him a place to land.

“That’s the only way it makes sense; that’s the only way that life makes sense; it gots to come back on the 1,” jests Rogers.

Angular, long-limbed and sharp dressed, Rogers cuts a striking figure on stage. Some nights masked in round blue-tinted shades, other nights without, his sly eyes communicate layered meanings intrinsic in many lyrics of the blues. The Fender guitar in the man’s hands can express ancient and space-age secrets, and create soaring displays of sorcery with chunkified beat patterns, scratches, scritches, harmonic sustains and wails. To hear Jamiah Rogers live is to ride a wave of rhythmic funk and audio dynamism orchestrated by a top-o-the-line trickster front-man. Loose and tight, and with as much room to roam as outside jazz, he and his 3-man unit combine as a finely tuned engine of coordinated rhythm and muscle, sinewy in the lane and monstrous at the rim. He’ll take a blues standard, invert it, convert it, turn it upside down, skitter it sideways, go down low and turn it on a dime.

imageThe Dirty Church Band‘s opening number of their second set at Chicago’s venerable blues watering hole, Rosa’s Lounge on July 14 was a magnificent mash-up that illustrates his elasticity. Jamiah & company featured a 28 minute tour de force that began with an original delicate ballad “Promise Me You’ll Never Leave” from his “Blues Superman 2021” project, cascaded into a soulful treatment of Albert King’s “I’ll Play My Blues For You,” morphed into a rocking version of the Temptations “Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone,” and ended with a deconstructed Johnnie Taylor’s “Last Two Dollars” where a relentlessly repeated truncated vocal line, “Just fuh my…” became a mesmerizing mantra. The man’s got range. 

We meet for a chat at chief engineer/producer Rick Barnes’ state-of-the art Rax Trax Recording studio on the far north side which, for over 30 years, has captured the sounds of blues, rock, funk, alt, jazz, classical, chorale music and jazz. Jamiah is in the throes of a new fertile period of writing and is bound and determined to capture it on record with the sonic verve he feels at this stage.

The studio atmosphere is charged with anticipation of capturing a new sound, and the presence of a camera crew helmed by well-known music videographer John “Nunu” Zomot has added a buzz. Barnes and Rogers go back to 2002 when dad Tony recorded “In The Pocket” at Rax Trax with six year old Jamiah on drums. This triple-threat started on drums at three, moved to bass, then to guitar by eight or nine when “My Pops gave me a real Fender,” Jamiah adds. These current sessions provide an opportunity for the two old collaborators to catch up with each other’s creative directions taken in the ensuing years.

“This is my first recording project since my 2021 EP Born Again Blues. I recorded all the instruments on that one. On this new one I’m laying down ten originals, eight new ones and two from the prior EP. I work well with Rick,” he continues. “He’s opened up the studio for me to take full advantage of the sounds I want to create. He’s there with me listening to the same things that I’m hearing and making contributions. It’s been real heavy.”

On this day, Jamiah will be adding some guitar on previous tracks with himself on drums and band member Aidan Epstein on bass.

“We’ve laid down a tight groove to soar on top of. My training as a drummer has held me in good stead. I’ve come to find out there are many instrumentalists, and even vocalists, who started as drummers. Legend has it that Albert King was a drummer as a young man. Prince played drums. Lenny Kravitz played drums. There’s no better training.” He suggests that he might bring in horns and keyboards to spread the sound out on a future session.

image“Since Rick and I are in experimental mode, we’ll flesh it out as the sound is built. Unlike the early days of my recording when I brought everything in already worked out, I’ve learned to use the studio as an additional instrument for building sound.”

With further probing, this musical artist reflects on a certain degree of perfectionism that drives him.

“It can be frustrating to some extent. Once it’s done and ‘put in the atmosphere’, so to speak, it can’t be changed. To me, sound is always evolving and I want to explore it to its fullest possibility. I’m learning, though, to get there when I’m there,” he states. “The thing is, I might hear a little differently when recording than some other musicians because I play so many instruments and I can imagine the direction that each could take if I was playing,” he muses.

“Not to be egotistical, but there are times when I think that having a whole bunch of Jamiah’s would be sick,” he laughs. “I love it, though. To have the freedom to do what I want to do, say what I want to say and play what I want to play.”

Speaking of recordings, the conduit through which so many of today’s musicians came to music, Rogers plugged into music as a youngster directly and more immediately through his father’s bands, musician friends and live performance rather than vinyl or CD.

“Me, being a home-grown musician, it all came from Pops. We’d play as a three-piece, Pops on guitar and whatever bass player was available, and me on drums when I was three years old.  That was my first-hand, hands-on experience. Later, even before I picked up guitar, there was a place called La Rosa’s Bar & Grill in Hammond, IN where my Pops would take me on Sunday nights after a whole day of church services. We’d be wore out! But we’d see a cat there named Stan Skibby who looked, performed and played so much like Hendrix—I find out later ‘cause I didn’t know who Hendrix was at the time—that I might as well have been watching Jimi himself. I was just a kid, but that’s a lasting memory and I couldn’t wait to return there every Sunday night. That was my first star-struck moment.”

“I also came to Albert (King) through another musician there, Jimmie J and The HardDrive Band. Man, that cat had the Flying V, played lefty, had Albert’s moves, sound and everything. He used to be on the Bears and had a bum ankle so he played sitting down just like Albert. But when he felt deep into it, he’d stand up and hoot! My appreciation for that style of blues was formed there and then. Live music, it was always live music, my Pops’ generation and even older. ”

image“Of course, later, I explored the histories of other great Blues artists. I love Muddy Waters, of course, ‘cause I do “Hoochie Coochie Man,” Robert Johnson, Howlin’ Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, BB, Albert and Freddie King through their recording output. And I love slide guitar when I first heard what Derek Trucks could do with that. I listen to it all, man. But I’d have to say, it was through our local guitar men and others who I watched up-close-and-personal that had the biggest influence on me. Guys like Myron ‘Dr. Love’ Robinson, ‘Skibby’ and Jimmie J, ‘Biscuit’ Miller who I came up with [he’s my friend]—these were all my guys.”

Jamiah Rogers’ early bands, Next Generation Music Machine and Jamiah On Fire and the Red Machine were powerful forces when he first burst on the scene. And with Jamiah Rogers Band, he bestowed the title ’Blues Superman’ upon himself, the title of his last full CD. His current iteration Dirty Deacon Denzel and The Dirty Church Band is another step forward, a bounding leap.

“Yeah, that’s what I’ll call my new CD too: The Dirty Deacon.’”

The man is fluid, evolving, and not one to be pigeonholed. When asked who he’s been listening to, old or young, vintage or contemporary, Jamiah’s appreciation for Robert Glasper comes to the fore.

“He incorporates so many forms into his music, but it all makes sense. He’s a keyboardist and not much of a singer so he features guest vocalists. The main one I really love is Lalah Hathaway. He’s got songs that are smooth and low that I can lay back and close my eyes to, then he’s got songs where I say ’Turn-this thing-UP!’ I also like MonoNeon. His understanding of funk is just—incomparable.”

In the realm of business, Jamiah is a one-man, one-stop shop.

“I do all my bookings, I pay the band, I own my own masters. I keep it all close to home,” he insists. I’ve put myself in position to be ready to take what comes along with my success. I’ve been at this a long, long time. I might not be old, but in musical years I am a seasoned veteran. My number one thing is to spread my gift. I’m a young black kid from Chicago who really didn’t have too much but had enough; who had a gift when he was young with good parenting and basically preserving that gift that you see your child has and do with it what they can do.”

Projecting ahead, Rogers expands, “I could even see myself having my record label for artists who don’t quite know where to go. There are talented people out here who have books of songs who don’t put them out because they don’t have the platform or encouragement to do so. I’d like to be that person in the industry who could do that for them; something positive.”

At this rate, Dirty Deacon Denzel, Jamiah Rogers, is destined to be continuously morphing, an artist to keep an ear open for many, many years to come. This genuine Chicago child prodigy was born to evolve, incorporate new sounds and new forms, spread good will and excite his audience whenever he performs. He can go star-traveling as far and wide as he wants, while knowing he can always come back to earth on the 1.

Journalist Peter Hurley is a noted Chicago Blues writer and photographer. Mr. Hurley’s passion for Blues music and its accompanying photography was first inspired by the 1960s albums Chicago Blues Today Vol. 1, Jr. Wells’ It’s My Life, Baby and the Chess Records Little Walter compilation Hate To See You Go.




 Featured Blues Review – 1 of 10 

imageShaun Murphy – I’m Coming Home

Vision Wall Records

https://shaunmurphyband.com

12 tracks

Shaun Murphy is the consummate singer and performer. Her solo career us exceptional, producing many a great album and touring the world to sing here songs. A career built on wonderful experiences singing with Meatloaf, Eric Clapton, Little Feat and Bob Seger gives her the presence and moxie to captivate audiences with her music.  She delivers her stuff with authority and knows how to make the crowds beg for more. She’s a three-time Grammy nominee and two-time Blues Blast award winner.

Mixing blues, rock, soul and Americana, Murphy gives us a dozen tracks of new stuff and some super covers. This is her eleventh album and her music is as fresh and cool as ever. She sings with passion and complete control. She is an amazing performer and her band is up to the task of supporting her. They are all outstanding musicians in their own right.

Joining Shaun here are here band mates Tommy Stillwell and Kenne Cramer on guitars and vocals, Kevin McKendree on keys, Tom DelRossi on drums and vocals, and John Marcus on bass. Murphy of course handles the lead vocals and the tambourine.

“One More Last Time” opens the album. Stinging guitar and smoking hot vocals get your heart started and Shaun and the band give us their all. The sultry, slow blues of “Linger A Little Longer” follows. Murphy and McKendree set the mood vocally and on organ in this beautiful ballad. Some pretty sax is added by Dana Robbins.

“The title track is next. It’s another slick ballad with McKendree on piano and Murphy on vocals who get the tune rolling. Austin Hoke is on cello which adds a beautiful feel to the cut. The trio of musicians deliver a memorable performance on this stripped down but intense song. “If I Knew Then” is slow, bluesy number that builds nicely with vocals, guitar, piano and organ.

“Keep Your Head Above Water” is next, a song with a cool spiritual feel as the backing vocals provide haunting stuff behind Shaun. There’s some slick guitar to savor here, too. Next is “Lover Take All” with a honky-tonk sound, ringing guitar and hot organ and piano. Murphy sings with emotion and the boys add their vocal touches.

“High Price To Pay” features some big, ringing guitar licks as Shaun sings with resolve about the price that must be paid in the relationship she sings about. Lots of great guitar soling here to enjoy and the backing organ work is also intense. “If You Still Love Me” is more laid back with some cool guitar and breathy vocals. The intensity slowly builds up as Murphy and the band deliver another fine performance.

”I’m Not Made That Way” is an up tempo and rollicking song with a gutsy performance by Murphy. Hot vocals and guitars make this one a lot of rocking good fun. Up next is “Evil Memory,” a slow and thoughtful piece about bad memories from a soured relationship. Things build to a big finish as the guitar ring and Murphy howls.

“Too Many Lovers” has a bit of a funky beat as Murphy bemoans about to many problems in the world today. Too many lovers doesn’t sound like a bad problem, but she notes that there is not enough love to go with them.  It’s a cool Denise Lasalle cut. Things conclude with “When Is The Rain Gonna End.” Another slower track, Murphy sings with passion and the band helps keep the mood. Murphy sings about the desire for the weight to be removed from her shoulders and end the figurative rainstorm of emotions.

This is another great album by Shaun Murphy. Her band is stellar, the songs are engaging and done well, and she sings with the grit and passion of a woman who knows exactly how to deliver a song. She and her band do a superb job here; any lover of great contemporary blues will eat this up – it’s a fantastic album that I most highly recommend!

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.


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 Featured Blues Review – 2 of 10 

imageFiona Boyes – Ramblified

Blue Empress Records

www.fionaboyes.com

12 songs time – 44:15

Spare and deeply heartfelt blues from the Australian blues artist Fiona Boyes. It is mainly her on guitar with drums, percussion, harmonica and tuba. Her earthy vocals get great support from her rambling guitaring. Mark Grunden provides drums and percussion. The inimitable Watermelon Slim plays his harmonica on one track. Phill “Phillbilly” Jenkins plays tuba on one track. Fiona wrote all songs as well as handling production chores.

Most of this CD finds Fiona giving her guitars “What For”, making the listener pay attention. She surely knows her way around the strings, making it look effortless. “Devil Made Me Do It” finds her bopping around vocally as well in a gruff and hearty voice aided by a killer guitar tone ala John Lee Hooker. She takes the title of the title track from a quote by “Son House”. “Ramblified” appears in a vocal and instrumental version. The first is slow, contemplative and atmospheric. The closing “Ramblified Revisted” (instrumental) has a melody similar to “Baby Please Don’t Go”. It features live stereo swamp field recordings buried in the mix.

As on a few tunes, she plays her guitar in unison with her vocal on “One Day Late” accompanied by drums and various percussion. A breezy, Southern back porch feel is achieved on “About Time Business Took Care Of Me”, if you have a tuba player on your porch. Watermelon Slim’s harmonica increases the bluesy vibe as a compliment to Fiona’s acoustic picking. “Joy Is Back In Style” is just her finger-picking away. The other instrumental “The Revenant” (instrumental) finds her sliding all over a cigarbox guitar. She plays foot tambourine along with Mark Grunden’s bass drum and rimshots.

This woman can make blues magic on her Nation Resolectric guitar as seen on “Good Lord Made You So”. Hypocrosy is broached on “One Rule For You”. She thumps all over the strings on the authoritative “Love Changing Blues”. For the lack of a better adjective, “Turnip Patch” is snappy as all hell. Drums and shaker prop up the slithering slide cigarbox guitar. Um…I think some double entendre at work here. “Blues Ain’t Hard To Find” revisits the ramblin’ theme, a hearty blues attack.

Sometimes less is more, as seen here. Dang, she makes a lot of good music as she runs up and down the strings, slippin’, slidin’ and thumping. This record is refreshing in its’ spareness. Snatch this gem up. I made not one Aussie joke…Ain’t you proud of me? Nothing to joke about here.

Reviewer Greg “Bluesdog” Szalony hails from the New Jersey Delta.


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 Featured Blues Review – 3 of 10 

imageMad Dog Blues – River City Roots

Self-Release – 2023

www.ColoradoCountryBlues.com

11 tracks; 50 minutes

Mad Dog Blues is a duo of Mad Dog Friedman on harp/vocals and Sean Bennight on guitar/vocals; they are based in Colorado and this is their sixth album release, a tribute to the music of St Louis, particularly innovators Lonnie Johnson and Bennie Smith who inspired the music. The material is mainly original, seven by Mad Dog, three by Sean and one cover. Lionel Young adds violin and Kenneth Wilcox backing vocals to a track each, otherwise it is just the acoustic duo.

Mad Dog sings on his own “Harmonica Cadillac”, a quirky song about his youth when he was banned from playing in the house, so wandered the streets playing! The lengthy “Shining Through” is a love song that takes its time with leisurely picking and harp fills before Sean’s first song, “A Train Blues”, a love song with clever lyrics that reference trains: “I’m your box car, baby, climb in and we’ll get by. Let that old engineer move us on down the line. You just fall back in my arms, get where we’re getting in time.” Mad Dog leads on “Every Morning” that contains some slightly risqué lyrics about how his lover wakes him up in the mornings! Mind you, there are three songs later on the album that are classed as ‘explicit’, so listeners of a very sensitive disposition may need to step away! “Wet Dog” is a country blues with a call and response chorus on which the duo combine and some excellent picking by Sean, followed by the sole cover, Skip James’ “Hard Time Killing Floor Blues” which features Lionel Young’s violin to good effect, adding to the brooding feel of this version which is delivered by the lighter voice of Sean.

Mad Dog explains his attraction to women in “Sweet Daddy”, an attractive tune with more good work from both players before Sean tells us (in somewhat explicit language) about keeping going through adversity in a song he calls “Rock On”. Mad Dog’s “Too Many Women Blues” was inspired by Mama Yancey’s song about having a different man “Every Day Of The Week” while the slow “Holding The Bag Blues” runs to over seven minutes, giving plenty of space for both musicians to demonstrate their expertise. Sean returns to the mike for “Down So Long”, the jagged rhythm of which brings out some energetic harp work from Mad Dog to close the album.

This is an accomplished release which fans of acoustic blues can approach with confidence.

Blues Blast Magazine Senior writer John Mitchell is a blues enthusiast based in the UK who enjoys a wide variety of blues and roots music, especially anything in the ‘soul/blues’ category. Favorites include contemporary artists such as Curtis Salgado, Tad Robinson, Albert Castiglia and Doug Deming and classic artists including Bobby Bland, Howling Wolf and the three ‘Kings’. He gets over to the States as often as he can to see live blues.



 Featured Blues Review – 4 of 10 

imageGuitar Nick, Blue Al & Groovy Rus – Live In Sofia 2014

Springtime Boogie Music

http://www.nicolaitanev.com/

7 Tracks – 28 minutes

Very little information is available about the history of this band. They are noted as a long-time international band, who are apparently from Bulgaria.  In 2003, Nicolai “Guitar Nick” Tanev and Alexander “Uncle Al” Donchev released their first album, a tribute to Robert Johnson. As might be expected Guitar Nick plays the guitar and provides vocals. Uncle Al plays harmonica. Somewhere along the way, Rus “Groovy Rus” Kiskinov joined the duo adding keyboards and various string instruments. As noted from the title, this is an historical live album from a 2014 concert in Sofia, Bulgaria. Today, Nick lives in Atlanta, Georgia. He was a runner-up in the International Acoustic Music Awards for his composition “Sofia Blues”.

The album opens with Leadbelly’s “Good Morning Blues” with Rus’ honky-tonk piano and Al’s harmonica playing providing a catchy instrumental break in the song. Three songs from the Robert Johnson songbook comes next with “Sweet Home Chicago” leading off again with Rus’ keyboards taking a strong lead and Al’s harmonica plowing the way.  “Love In Vain” and “Walking Blues” follows in a similar manner.

“Springtime Boogie”, written by Nick is the only original song on the album and is tucked In between the second and third Johnson songs. The instrumental allows all three musicians to have an opportunity to shine on their instruments. Muddy Waters “I Can’t Be Satisfied” is here listed as “I Can’t Be Satisfied Blues Improvisation Live” and is presented as another all-instrumental song and spins off in several directions away from Waters’ original. The album ends with Willie Dixon’s “Little Red Rooster”.

All songs are given traditional flourishes. The three demonstrate that they are all masters of their instruments and Nick’s vocals, while certainly not flashy, do hold your attention.

Writer John Sacksteder is a retired civil engineer in Louisville, Kentucky who has a lifelong love of music, particularly the blues. He is currently the Editor of the Kentuckiana Blues Society’s monthly newsletter.



 Featured Blues Review – 5 of 10 

imagePaul Boddy & the SlideWinder Blues Band – Nosy Neighbors

Slide Records

www.slidewinderbluesband.com

12 songs – 42 minutes

A four-piece ensemble based out of Doylestown, Pa., Paul Boddy & the SlideWinder Blues Band struck a positive chord with their debut EP, Friends of Tuesday, two years ago and deliver a stellar follow-up with this full-length effort. It’s a steady-swinging set of contemporary Chicago- and Gulf Coast-based sounds that’ll have your toes tapping throughout.

The unit was founded seven years ago by Boddy, a British transplant whose family was deeply involved in the English music scene. The grandson of a female blues singer, Paul’s father was a businessman whose partners included rock promoter Don Kirschner and Mark Stevens, a member of The Dovells, the group that gave us “The Bristol Stomp.” A label owner and producer of note, he possesses a rich, emotive tenor voice and pleasant, light attack on slide guitar – a skill he developed during a 40-year career as a performer, producer and label owner.

Now based in a Philadelphia suburb, Boddy launched SlideWinder seven years ago. Their most recent prior release – a reworking of the single  “A Little Bit of Soap,” a 1961 hit by The Jarmels – peaked in the No. 3 spot on Roots Music Report’s blues music chart.

Despite their limited recording history, they’ve been featured artists at several major regional festivals, worked in support of Marcia Ball, Sonny Landreth and others and earned a spot in the Pennsylvania Blues Hall of Fame with a veteran roster of road dogs that includes Glenn “The Wizard” Hale on organ and piano and a rhythm section composed of bassist Chuck Hearne and drummer Dave Hollingsworth. They’re augmented by a horn section composed of Jay Davidson (sax), Steve Jankowski (trumpet) and Ian Grey (trombone) with backup vocals from Jeannie and Carol Brooks.

“Trouble Finds Me Everyday,” one of ten originals in the 12-track set, lopes out of the gate to open and features stellar work on the keys as Boddy wonders if other folks look at their pasts and feel the same way he does, starting our optimistic in the morning and then encountering roadblocks along his way. A modern reinvention of the Tampa Red standard, “Hurts Me Too,” precedes “Hanky Panky Blues,” a rock-steady complaint about sexual longing delivered by a man whose lady’s just split for good.

Boddy echoes Elmore James on slide and Hale shows his skill at barrelhouse for “Baby Let’s Try Again” before Paul delivers a shoutout to the folks who live next door for tipping him off about his cheating missus in the title tune, “Nosy Neighbors,” atop a Latin beat before yielding to the tasty “Milk & Cookies,” an uptempo memory of Paul rummaging through his lunchbox at school.

SlideWinder delivers a little jump in the form of “Right Way Up” before venturing into a little Johnny Winter-style rocker in “Blues Is Company.” A revisit to Joe Cocker’s “Delta Lady” takes on an azure feel before the horns join the action for the soulful “Bells & Whistles,” a description of a woman who comes with all of the above, and “Jam It In,” a complaint about working hard in an attempt to stay ahead before a six-minute, New Orleans-inspired romp, “Trash Can Head,” brings the action to a close.

An unexpected delight, this is a treasure of an album. The musicianship throughout is top-rate, and the tunes…give ‘em a listen. They’re clever and different, too!

Blues Blast Magazine Senior writer Marty Gunther has lived a blessed life. Now based out of Mason, Ohio, 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.



 Featured Blues Review – 6 of 10 

imageD. Scott Riggs – These Hard Times Will Come To Pass

Pure Panhandle Music

www.spearmanbrewers.com

11 songs – 43 minutes

After a relatively barren period, there appears to have been a recent resurgence in interest in traditional acoustic blues, driven in large part by solo singer-guitarists, often armed with National or other resonator-type guitar. One such example is Gulf Coast-based songwriter/musician, D. Scott Riggs, who plays what he terms “panhandle blues”, meshing pre-war Delta blues, Piedmont blues and a chunk of Texas gospel-blues, with a dash of hokum.

Recorded at Slow Q Studio in Pensacola, Florida, These Hard Times Will Come To Pass features just Riggs, armed with resonator and acoustic guitars and a gravelly voice that could strip paint at 30 paces.  It is also an aural delight from start to finish. Unfortunately, the CD and accompanying press release do not record who engineered and mastered the project, but they captured a stunning sound that has one foot in the modern day and one foot in a period that passed about 100 years ago. The CD does not record who composed the songs, although if this reviewer had to guess, he’d say they sound self-written, albeit heavily influenced by the gospel blues of the likes of Blind Willie Johnson and the Reverend Edward W. Clayborn.

Lyrically, the songs mine the same religious, gospel blues vein in which Johnson and Clayborn specialized, albeit with significantly more instrumental virtuosity than Clayborn. Of course, nobody can touch Johnson when it comes to instrumental virtuosity (let’s face it, when one of your songs is chosen by Carl Sagan and his team to encapsulate essential sounds and images from planet Earth to send into outer space on Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, then you have recorded something genuinely other-worldly).

This is not to do Riggs down. He is a superb guitarist, and his touch with a slide on tracks such as the minor key “Here Comes The Conductor” is absolutely superlative, hinting at what Skip James might have accomplished if he had played slide guitar. He’s also a mighty fine finger-picker, as evidenced by the likes of “Stranger, Come On In.”

Riggs’ road-worn voice suits the material perfectly, sounding alternatively weary, worn-down, hopeful, full of despair, optimistic and full of faith. His vocal performance on the intricately finger-picked “Each Night I Say A Prayer” is especially impressive.

These Hard Times Will Come To Pass has something of a timeless feel to it, which is perhaps not surprising given that it features songs so rooted in the 1920s but benefits from 2020s recording techniques. It is also a very, very impressive, enjoyable release.

Some CDs make one want to dig out every other release an artist has made. These Hard Times Will Come To Pass is one such album.

Reviewer Rhys “Lightnin'” Williams plays guitar in a blues band based in Cambridge, England. He also has a day gig as a lawyer.



 Featured Blues Review – 7 of 10 

imageDemetria Taylor – Doin’ What I’m Supposed To Do

Delmark Records

www.delmark.com

12 tracks

Demetria Taylor is a woman destined to sing the blues. Daughter of Eddie and Vera Taylor, she aptly carries on her family’s legacy in mastering the blues. Her second Delmark album, featuring Mike Wheeler and Deitra Farr. Is a great addition to the catalogue and needs to be heard by blues fans!

Demetria Taylor’s new album features some great original tracks and some tasty covers of her family’s songs and one of Magic Sam’s. Mike Wheeler and his bassist Larry Williams co-wrote half the tracks and have created some great new songs in addition to the two Demetria wrote and added to the album.

Demetria handles the vocals through out and Deitra joins Demetria on the fourth track. Mike Wheeler is on guitar and is joined on guitar by Billy Flynn on two cuts and Carlos Showers on the remaining tracks. Larry Williams shines on bass, Brian James is on keyboards and Melvin “Pookie Styx” Carlisle is on the drums.

“83 Highway” kicks of the album, featuring a ringing guitar solo followed by Taylor delivering her first gutsy performance. She sings with passion and edge as the piano and Billy Flynn’s guitar back her on her father’s song. A funky groove makes “Baby Be Good” cool and interesting. Mike Wheeler’s guitar lays out a nice grove and the organ backing is slick; Wheeler and Williams wrote the song. Taylor sings with feeling on another cut penned by Wheeler and Williams as she takes us for a high powered ride. More stinging guar solos also add a great dimension. There is more funky fun in “Bad Girl Day” as Taylor shows her chops and gives another super performance.

“Blues Early This Morning” follows, a straight up, Chicago blues with more excellent guitar and vocals. Here Demetria does an outstanding duet with Dietra Farr. The two give us their all and make for another exceptional rendition of Taylor’s mom Vera’s song.  “Welfare Blues” was written by brother Eddie Jr. and features some great guitar and Brian Williams doing some organ magic.

Wheeler and Williams wrote the next three tracks. “Doin’ What I’m Supposed To Do” is another funky song with a great groove and Taylor singing with feeling. Wheeler blazes on guitar and the bass line is heavy and cool. “Done” is a slow blues with Taylor showing cool restraint and Wheeler laying out some tasteful licks. “I’m Gonna Tell It” is a more powerful slower to mid-tempo cut. The organ backing adds depth and the guitar is powerful. Taylor sings with firm resolve about a failed relationship and moving on in life.

Demetria continues with “Nursing My Kitty Cat,” a funky cut she wrote with some fun innuendo about taking care of her “pet” despite her cheating man. A slick groove, nice lyrics and some great piano by James make this one interesting. “Stay Gone” is the final cut penned by Wheeler and Williams; Taylor continues her vocal conquests of these great tunes an the guitar soloing continues to me solidly superb.

Magic Sam’s “You Belong To Me” gets an excellent cover as Taylor and company give it their all.  More staunch guitar and organ soloing and great vocal work sell this one. The album finishes up with a song Taylor and James co-authored entitled “Young Gun Taylor.” A biographical cut about Demetria continuing to carry the family torch, it’s a cool cut with great guitar to boot and a nice conclusion to this set of tunes.

This is a great new album and Taylor shows us what she can do. Demetria shines throughout. The band is superb and the songs are well crafted and chosen. Chicago blues and some funky R&B make this an album fans can thoroughly enjoy. This one is well worth many a listen!

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.



 Featured Blues Review – 8 of 10 

imageManlio Milazzi & JJ Appleton – North of the Sea

Independent Release

http://www.manliomilazzi.com

12 Tracks – 52 minutes

Manlio Milazzi was born in Trieste, Italy in 1977. As Manlio was growing up in the 1980’s, the city had a prolific blues & jazz scene. He listened to as many of the records of the blues greats that he could find. At age 16, he discovered the harmonica and began listening to some of the great harp players like Sonny Boy Williams II, Slim Harpo and Little Walter. He initially taught himself how to play and performed in some regional bands. But as he listened to more of the recorded harmonica players, he felt he had more to learn. A trip to America introduced him to other major harmonica players including Paul DeLay, Jason Ricci and Carlos del Junco. The latter became a close friend and mentor to the young man and influenced his approach to the instrument. In 2006, he formed Tillamook, a band he based off of the sound of The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. In 2008, Tillamook won the Italian Blues Challenge Competition and traveled to Memphis to compete in the International Blues Challenge. In 2013, he won the World Harmonica Championship. He currently fronts Manlio and The Free Kings, who play throughout Europe. He has also played with Bob Margolin.

Jon Jason “JJ” Appleton was born in Norwich, Vermont in 1967. His father was a co-inventor of the Synclavier digital music synthesizer and was professor of electro-acoustic at Dartmouth college. He attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston where he became friends with many other musicians. This led him to produce and write music for a diverse group of performers including Darius Rucker, The Back-Eyed Peas and Ashford & Simpson, among many others. He also wrote and performed songs for many tv shows, commercials, and movies including The Sopranos and The Wire. JJ continued to develop his love of the blues and strengthen his playing of the guitar. This led to him playing with Jason Ricci on two albums. Now in 2023, JJ is a nominee for Best Acoustic Guitar in the Blues Blast Magazine’s Awards.

The connector between the two musicians is Jason Ricci. At an industry show in 2015, Jason introduced the two and they became fast friends. JJ traveled to Europe many times and toured with Manlio which ultimately led to the recording of this album. The band is completed with the addition of Simone Serafini on upright bass. Serafini is a very experienced bass player who has performed with many major European musicians.

The album includes three originals written by Manlio, one by Appleton, and eight covers that were recorded as a live studio production during two sessions. The album kicks off in New Orleans with Professor Longhair’s “Tipitina”, which of course is also well-known from Dr. John’s catalog. JJ opens the song with some nice slide work and Manlio’s harmonica kicking alongside of JJ’s vocals which certainly brings remembrance of the good doctor.

“Crazy Head” is the first original from Manlio and offers a smooth acoustic touch. Jimmy Reed’s “Found True Love” comes next as JJ questions that he “cannot believe what condition the world is in” and he found “my true love is in love with somebody else”.  T-Bone Walker’s “Stormy Monday” takes the group into Texas swing. They return to New Orleans for a take on Dr. John’s “Careless Love” in another slow-burn song.

Another Milazzi original, “Heavy Heart Blues”, gets things rocking with Serafini’s bass carrying the line with Manlio’s harmonica and vocals and JJ playing some nice lead slide.  On JJ’s original song, he says he remembers what his momma told him “Stove Cold Ouch” “when am I gonna learn/ Every time I start loving you I get burned.”

James Oden’s “Going Down Slow”, which has been performed by Howlin’ Wolf, Ray Charles & Johnny Winters has the band put their own unique spin to the song. “One More Parade ” is Manlio’s final original on the album.

Taj Mahals’ “Going Up the Country and Paint My Mailbox Blue” lets Appleton move out in front in a superb interpretation of the song. On John Lee Hooker’s “Shake It Baby” JJ lets the slide take off with a boogie beat from Manlio. The album ends with a version of Los Lobos’ “I Got Loaded.”

The two performer’s vocals are interchangeable throughout and are both warm and comfortable. Acoustic blues is certainly in good hands with this trio. While some of the covers may be familiar to you, the trio adjusts the songs to fit their style and make them fresh.

Writer John Sacksteder is a retired civil engineer in Louisville, Kentucky who has a lifelong love of music, particularly the blues. He is currently the Editor of the Kentuckiana Blues Society’s monthly newsletter.



 Featured Blues Review – 9 of 10 

imageThe LH Express – Painting Stars

Self-produced CD

www.lhexpress.ca

10 songs – 51 minutes

A 2018 best-new-band nominee in the prestigious Maple Blues Awards, The LH Express went on to release a CD that topped radio charts in their native Canada. They return to the studio for the first time in four years with this expressive disc – a purposeful release that successfully aims to deliver hope and optimism in a world plagued with problems.

Formerly known as The Lucas Haneman Express, the band formed in the mid-2010s and reached the semi-finals at the 2016 International Blues Challenge shortly after releasing their debut CD, Welcome Aboard. This is their fourth album – and first under their new name, following Tearing Up the Rails (2016) and Catch the Westbound (2019).

A distinctive guitarist who’s toured the Great White North with several bands, Haneman fronts the group and shares vocals with the melismatic Megan Laurence.  They’re backed by longtime bassist Martin Newman and newcomer Valera Negovora on percussion in a set that was engineered and mastered by Dean Watson at Buckingham Palace Audio in Buckingham, Que., and Jason Jaknunas at Metropolitan Studios in Ottawa.

An all-original set of soulful blues and blues-rock with charts from the full band and lyrics from Haneman, Painting Stars features fat, sweet runs on six-string and tight arrangements throughout, beginning with “Getaway,” a love song that opens quietly with Lucas on guitar and mic and slowly picks up intensity before exploding atop a funky rhythm pattern. The feel continues in “Not Today” with Megan taking center stage. It serves up advice about the need to keep persevering no matter what troubles you face.

The rocker “Cabin Fever” finds Haneman addressing the feelings that all of us endured at the height of the coronavirus epidemic before the mood slows and Laurence delivers a heaping helping of sensual positivity and optimism with “Being Strong.” The action shifts gears again with the romantic “Snapshot.” The band swings from the hip as Lucas takes command on guitar while describing a photographic memory aided by Megan, who doubles vocals on the chorus and adds sweet backup throughout.

A driving rocker, “Hot Minute” expresses eternal affection after instantaneous attraction, a feeling that continues in the propulsive “When I’m with Her” before things quiet again for “These Walls,” a seven-minute please that features Laurence and reinforces the message once again. “Rising from the Dead” powers forcefully out of the gate and settles into a steady, driving beat before delivering encouragement to get back on your feet and move past any obstacles in your way before the cover tune, “Painting Stars,” adds more fuel to the fire to close.

Looking for a lift? The LH Express delivers one with this one. Pleasantly original throughout.

Blues Blast Magazine Senior writer Marty Gunther has lived a blessed life. Now based out of Mason, Ohio, 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.



 Featured Blues Review – 10 of 10 

imageJustine Blue – True

Self-Produced, 2022

https://justineblue.com

13 Tracks; 52 minutes

French singer, Justine Blue’s voice is clearly influenced by both blues and jazz standards.  She has a soulful voice with a subdued, emotional delivery that values emotion over powerful belting notes or vocal acrobatics.

Her self-produced, crowd-funded release, True, is an excellent example of that particular talent.  Blue, who also plays ukulele and some keyboards, is joined by many exceptional musicians, including Toussaint Guerre on both keyboards and saxophone, and Enzo Taguet on guitar.  The album contains 11 songs that are written or co-written by Blue, plus a unique, slower version of Johnny Otis’ “Willie & the Hand Jive” and a beautiful rendition of “Yellow Moon” by the Neville Brothers.

The first two songs on the album begin with just some restrained keyboards and the pure sound of Blue’s haunting voice.  Throughout the album the focus remains on her beautiful tone and controlled expression, with a few well-placed, tasteful solos, such as the saxophone solos on “It Makes Me Feel Alright” and “Yellow Moon”, and the funky guitar solo on “Rock Me Baby”.

Blue’s an excellent songwriter, whether it’s a song about relationships, such as when she notes, “It’s not about you, it’s about my past,” or her powerful song about homelessness:  “Walking down the street, all the poor people laying down on the ground.  Early in the morning, they are still awake while the city’s asleep…and I know it should be easy to feel the weight of a changing world.”  Her video of this song is especially well done and includes some brief footage of homeless people in France.

The only potentially weak areas on this album are that blues purists might hear much more of a jazz influence than a blues influence in most of the songs, and occasionally Blue’s French accent comes through strongly on certain words, leading to rather odd pronunciations.  However, overall, this is a solid and very enjoyable album by this relative newcomer.  Fans of outstanding vocal ability will be sure to look forward to future work by Justine Blue.

Writer Anita Schlank lives in Virginia, and is on the Board of Directors for the River City Blues Society. She has been a fan of the blues since the 1980s. She and Tab Benoit co-authored the book “Blues Therapy,” with all proceeds from sales going to the HART Fund.




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