Cover photo © 2023 Laura Carbone

 In This Issue 

Jack Austin has our feature interview with The Blackburn Brothers. We have ten Blues reviews for you this week including a blues Christmas album from Raphael Wressnig & Alex Schultz plus new music from Zeno Jones, The Count Basie Orchestra, Liza Ohlback, Mathias Lattin, Dave Keller, Sandy Carroll, Andre Bisson, The Hitman Blues Band and Aretta Woodruff
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Since 2006, the Blackburn Brothers have become staples of the Toronto blues scene, crafting a sound that incorporates funk, jazz, and soul, with a strong blues foundation. The family’s ancestors originally came to Canada as escaped slaves through the Underground Railroad and the family boasts a decorated musical legacy. Their most recent album SoulFunkn’BLUES received 9 nominations for the Maples Blues awards and the group hopes to break out into greater popularity in the United States and beyond.

I spoke with the band about their most recent album, brotherhood, the evolution of the blues, and Canadian blues as a genre.

Jack Austin: What prompted you to record this most recent LP?

Cory Blackburn (drums, vocals): It has been a lot of time in between albums. So our previous album Brothers in This World was released in 2015. We were definitely getting a lot of pressure from our agents as well as our record label. Also, it was time for us to kind of get back on the radar.

Jack: As I was listening to the album, I heard a solid base of blues but also strong soul influences. How would you describe your sound– is the title of the album supposed to be a reflection of an eclectic playing style?

Brooke Blackburn (guitar): Yes. We’ve always played soul, funk, and blues in our gigs since the beginning, since the genesis of the band. We are in the blues market but we’ve always brought soul and r&b into that vibe with a funky, kind of thing. Blues has always been the foundation. We all grew up in different eras. So we all have our genres. Cory grew up with more hip hop. I grew up with more soul and funk.

And then with the blues, we all listened to the blues, all listened to BB King, we all listened to Champion Jack Dupree, we all listened to Ray Charles. We also listened to the Meters, Eddie Harris, and Les McCann and Herbie Hancock. So we have that jazz influence in our music, too. And I think that’s all sort of put into perspective, more in this record. It’s called SoulFunkn’BLUES because that’s who we are, take us or leave us. And people seem to dig it.

Everybody likes to dance. We bring a lot of energy in our live shows, and we bring a little bit of everything. We’ll do a funky tune and we’ll break it right down to a slow blues. We might even throw in something singer-songwriter-ish in the blues vein and then go on to something else. It all kind of works, it all flows. I find that a lot of bands these days are more eclectic than just straight ahead blues bands. They seem to be veering on the funk and the soul part of the blues. But it’s all blues.

Jack: How do you think your eclectic sound affects your audience?

Brooke: I think they get it. As Canadians, we are different (than American blues musicians). Toronto specifically is one of the most multicultural areas in the world. So we grew up with that multicultural background. Our family background comes from the US into Canada through the Underground Railroad. We put that background into our music.

Jack: How does this family history impact your identity? Do you try to incorporate it into your music?

Brooke: It is definitely our identity. My father’s mother’s family came in through the Underground Railroad and we’ve kind of grown up with that identity of my grandmother. We grew up as Black Canadians. We were told your heritage comes from the Underground Railroad. You were enslaved at one point and you came up North to freedom. So that’s a big part of who we are. We celebrate our emancipation every year on August 1, because Canadians were emancipated in 1834, whereas Americans were emancipated on Juneteenth, 1865. So we celebrate the August 1 weekend and play tunes like “Soul Brother” which talks about the 70’s feel.

Jack: So the blues, as you know, emerged in the Delta, emerged in the US and it has deep roots there. Do you feel you offer a different perspective being Canadian, being in Toronto? Would you consider Canadian blues a distinctive genre?

Robert Blackburn: I don’t know if it’s a distinct thing. We have a lot of different types of blues players in Canada. Blues is our foundation but we mix a lot of different types of music in, and you get that with a lot with other groups as well. I find a lot of groups to sort of try to mimic what previous blues players have done in the past. We’re not really about that. You can hear in our playing the influences but we’re more about who we are, and, and who we are at this time. We write a lot about the social conditions right now. And we do it in a storytelling fashion like the traditional blues. And the feel is blues, but as far as the Canadian sound, maybe Blackburn can define that— if they listen to us and say, “hey, that’s Canadian blues.” That’s up for the people to decide.

Brooke: There’s so many aspects of the Canadian blues sound because of the multicultural side of it, but also because of the Canadian focus. There is a singer songwriter aspect. Sometimes you don’t just tell the story in one, four, five progressions, sometimes you need a two, sometimes you need a flat three to a flat seven, back to one. And we have the Gaelic side of Canada. My mother is from Newfoundland. So you know, you have all these different aspects coming into the music, but the story that needs to be told is going to be old in a blues fashion. This is the evolution of the blues. And like Robert said, there’s a lot of bands here in Canada that are stretching the genre, but keeping the blues as their foundation. They add where they come from because it’s such a multicultural country.

Robert: I think that if the blues is gonna evolve or be around in 20 years, you’re gonna have to bring in other elements, other feelings, and just build on what you know and where you come from. If you’re adding a little bit of folk, if you’re adding a little bit of reggae, as long as that foundation is the blues, I think it’s all cool.

Jack: One of my favorite tracks was “Sister Rosa”, an anthem for the civil rights icon. What was the inspiration for that track?

Duane (organ, piano): It’s one of those songs originally done by the Neville Brothers. A few years back, we were doing shows with James Brown type groups, up tempo groups and we would perform this track. We have the same sort of background as the Neville Brothers. We wanted to give homage to the Neville Brothers because it’s such a great family band.

Jack: On a similar note, what does brotherhood mean to you, both as people and musicians working together?

Cory: Being siblings, it’s a deep rooted family connection. We’re very fortunate to have grown up in a household where our father was a musician. He had instruments available and we were allowed to t be free to experiment with music. It created a bond with us as siblings– it’s a special type. We all have our other interests outside of music but music is definitely a huge common ground. It’s a real deep brotherhood. It’s something we don’t take for granted. It’s like we are on a professional sports team together. It’s a kind of a team type of connection, but it goes a little bit further because we are brothers.

Jack: If you’ve played with, you know, non-family members, how does the vibe change? Is there a tangible difference?

Brooke: When you have a Blackburn on stage, people kind of know our groove. Even if they’re not part of the family, they play to our groove. They play their own groove, but they know our groove and adapt their playing to the way we play. Because we’re confident in what we do musically.

We also play with other musicians outside the family, like our bass player, Andrew Stewart, who tours with us. He comes from a gospel background, like the church gospel, the funky church. Whether it be funk or soul. So that brings another element to us. And our horn section with Neil Brathwaite and Ted Peters has a unique sound. Ted came from a marching band background on trombone, and Neil came from a jazz background. So we have all these different influences that come into our sound as the Blackburn Brothers, but the groove that we have is our signature style. It’s just the way we play.

We can groove like The Meters doing “Cissy Strut”. We can groove for 10 minutes or 15 minutes, man. We are that type of groove band- like Jimmy Smith, you know.

Robert: If there’s two Blackburn’s on the stage, out of you know, five guys, there definitely will be an influence there. I don’t know if it’s taking over the stage or anything like that, but it just tends to be that if there’s two Blackburn’s, three Blackburn’s it will sound like Blackburn Real quick.

Duane: The players that we are, we are soloists. We’ve all come from that school of jazz, blues, funk, and reggae–solo music. When we play live and we do ska and reggae people say “what is this?”, but they really dig it. We’re in a blues atmosphere or r&b atmosphere. We throw that in there. But it’s all about the group. The group is still there.

Jack: What are you most proud of achieving as a band?

Cory: Well, we just got nine nominations for the Maple blues awards. But I’m most proud of playing with my brothers. I don’t really care where we play or what we do. I’m proud when people dig what my younger brothers are doing. But also playing in the states man. We’re very proud to be a band from Toronto, a band from Canada.

Robert: I think what I’m most proud of actually is the longevity of the Blackburn Brothers and how we keep moving forward, never stale, never sticking in the past when it comes to writing. Always trying to innovate. Always trying to move forward and staying relevant.

Jack: What are the band’s plans for the future?

Cory: We’re very focused on touring. That’s the next big step. We put the work in to record together and release the album in September. We’re getting a lot of positive feedback and we’ve always said we really would like to see this music get out to the world, beyond Canada. We’re starting to get pretty well known across Canada,which is a beautiful thing. Canada is a big country and there’s still so much for us to see.

But we really are looking forward to playing in completely different countries. Europe is 100% on the radar. We have played a lot of clubs in Toronto over the years including a lot of the touristy areas of Toronto, (where) we get people coming in from all over the world. And we always seem to get a very strong engagement with folks that come in from Europe. Now it’s just a matter of time.

Jack: Have you faced any challenges as a band?

Brooke: There’s always a challenge. When you’re Canadian, it’s expensive to fly. It’s a very expensive venture and it’s even more expensive when you’re dealing with six people. You can go and play for free or play and then make enough money to cover your expenses. But we’re all adults. We all have families, and we all need to bring home money. And so it’s the music business. So I’d say logistics have been our biggest struggle. I think we’re gonna play music regardless of if we get paid for it. But we have families and we want to get stateside, we want to get to Europe.

Jack: What did the Maple Blues Award nominations mean for the band? What did it mean to get that recognition?

Robert: For me, it was a huge shocker. Because our last release Brothers in This World, I don’t believe we got any nominations on the record for that one. This record, it struck a chord with the nominating panel and there’s been quite a bit of traction in terms of reviews.We got nominated in a lot of different categories. We did the Montreal Jazz Festival and the reviews came back. It was just really positive. We really hope that it will be a stepping stone to the Junos. Eventually down the road we’d like to see ourselves Grammy nominated.

Jack: How did growing up in a musical family influence your development?

Brooke: I think we all kind of started playing with my dad (Bobby Dean Blackburn). My dad’s a piano player and organ player that has been playing in Toronto since around 1955. So I started playing with him when I was about 13 or 14. I started learning guitar around 13 and started playing with him when I was 14. Robert played sax with him before me. And then Cory started playing with him. Cory was young, probably,13 or 14 when he started playing at a club downtown called New Orleans Jazz Bar. Cory played with my dad every Sunday and then we played another bar, a place called Allison’s Restaurant.

Robert: I think growing up in a music family– my dad really brought us along and we got to meet a lot of great musicians through him who taught us a lot. Some of our greatest influences are big stars. Our dad would bring musicians home and they’d be playing piano and we’d just be glued, watching them. They would say, “Hey, you want to learn this?” We learned a lot, including guitar and keyboards from a lot of great great musicians that may be lesser known. I think by growing up in a family like that, you get a lot of opportunities. A lot of people want you to do well, and the musicians will help bring you up, get on their gigs. I used to have guys, my dad’s friends, who would call me for a gig. I would say “really?”. They would say “come on”, eager to help out.

Brooke: Our house was an open house to a lot of Americans that came into Canada that were basically getting away from the Vietnam War. So we housed them, learned from them, and took care of them. We had people from the South or from Virginia, from Chicago. I learned guitar from a guy from Chicago. So that probably influenced my blues. I’d say my dad, Bobby Dean Blackburn introduced us to a lot of players.

Jack: Why did you change your name from Blackburn to The Blackburn Brothers?

Brooke: People always called us “The Brothers” anyways. On this record we felt we might as well go as the Blackburn brothers. People would always say “the brothers are playing tonight” or “when are the brothers playing?”

Jack: How, how does this most recent album compare to your previous releases?

Brooke: Compared to previous albums, I believe the writing is a little more crossover. I find it has a little more of a rock feel to it. And that’s Robert’s influence obviously. And my cousin Nathan plays bass on it. His influence on bass gives it a different feel. He’s more of a group player, but he has a lot of melodic stuff he does. And I think that because it was over the pandemic we had a different atmosphere where we were isolated.

Cory: We also were doing a lot of playing between this release and the previous release. We had horns in mind and definitely wanted to capture that live sound on this record, the energy that we bring live.

Jack: Who were some of your greatest influences?

Duane: Well, for me, it was Bob Marley, Bobby Blue Band, James Brown, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Stevie Ray Vaughan. Jimmy Smith, Oscar Peterson. All types of different funk, blues, r&b, jazz, and reggae all influenced my playing, my music. Like I said our foundation was the blues but you know, everything expanded from there.

Cory: Yeah, I’ll double up on James Brown. That’s always been a huge huge influence for me, Ray Charles, absolutely. As a drummer, I obviously love the Wailers and the deep pocket of reggae music. Oscar Peterson, I’ll throw him out there. A lot of people forget when it comes to blues music, the instrumental music. We grew up on a lot of instrumental blues music and for me, it’s a huge influence. Organ music like Jimmy Smith, is a huge influence for me.

Robert: All those guys. In the early days, Otis Redding. Al Green. Sam Cooke. That kind of stuff was what my early influences were. And then later on in life, James Brown, John Coltrane. Miles Davis, of course, all the funk bands from the 70s and 80s.

Brooke: I’d say the number one influence is my dad because I played with my dad– he was the first person I ever played with. All his friends used to come over and rehearse in our basement and left an impression.

As far as recorded music, Robert will attest to, when I was a kid we used to get these Atlantic recordings, compilations of Motown recordings. Robert and I would go down on Boxing Day and get these records– whether it be Bob Marley records or early Headhunters stuff, or Jimmy Smith or Les McCann. George Benson was huge in my growth as a guitar player, as was West Montgomery and Larry Carlton and BB King. Later on in life I got into Stevie Ray Vaughan. I didn’t really know much about Hendrix, but when I opened a clothing store, I got into the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Then later on the Kings –Albert King, Freddy King.

The multitude of musical influences is apparent in the Blackburn Brothers’ sound, both in the studio and live. The sound emanates energy and the connection between the band members is palpable. Blackburn are able to fuse a unique style while shifting like a musical chameleon at times, dipping into jazz and funk and soul, while resting on a solid core of blues.

The band almost exclusively toured in Canada in 2023 and hope to land gigs throughout the United States as 2024 approaches. You can read more about the band and purchase their music by visiting their website at http://www.blackburnbrothersmusic.com.

Writer Jack Austin, also known by his radio DJ name, Electric Chicken (y Pollo Electrico en Espanol), is a vinyl collector, music journalist, and musician originally from Pittsburgh.

Raphael Wressnig & Alex Schultz – Soulful Christmas (with a Funky Twist)

Zyx Music

www.raphaelwressnig.com

9 tracks

Raphael Wressnig is a self-described “organ-heavy soul & funk” musician. His B-3 and other organ work. His catalog of about 20 albums of New Orleans-style funk, soul and R&B feature his nig organ sound.  He was hanging out in New Orleans for a “Crawfish Fiesta” away from his native Germany and teamed up with New York City born and L.A. based guitarist Alex Schultz to deliver a super instrumental holiday album to welcome in the Christmas season for 2023.

Wressnig and Schultz have teamed up before, on album like Soul Gumbo and Chicken Burrito.  Wressnig plays Hammond B-3 organ along with Wurlitzer piano, and Hohner D-6 clavinet. Schultz is on the guitars. Hans-Jürgen Bart is on drums except for the final track where Eric Cisbani is featured. Gisele Jackson is a special guest on vocals for the lone non-instrumental cut.

They open with the traditional “O Tannenbaum” with some nice, heavy organ and solid guitar work. The second track is an old German children’s carol “Leise rieselt der Schnee” which the pair duly and suitably funk up.

“Winter Wonderland” is the next traditional carol that they give their soulful and funky makeover to and follow that with Jackson giving a powerful performance on the modern Christmas favorite “This Christmas.” Baltimore-born and now residing in Brooklyn Giselle is a spectacular singer.

Up next is “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” and then it’s “The Little Drummer Boy” that Wressnig and Schultz funkify and make cool. They do a great job with both secular and sacred carols.

“Merry Christmas Baby” may lack the typical crooning or sexy vocals but make up for that with some really slick work by Wressnig and Schultz. Following that is “Jingle Bells” for a very funky sleigh ride, and then they conclude with “Stille Nacht (Silent Night),” a delightful finale for a fine album!

There is no schmaltz here. All the songs are done with funky and swampy soul, blues and grease.  They give the listener a new and cool and powerful perspective on Christmas classics that will delight those who pick up this album. I enjoyed the set of tunes and if you are looking for a heavy set of Xmas music with lots of cool organ and guitar then look no further!

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.

Zeno Jones – Disillusion Blues

White Diamond Records

http://www.zenojones.com

12 Tracks – 43 Minutes

Louisville, Kentucky native Zeno Jones was a solo/duo semi-finalist at the 2022 and 2023 International Blues Challenge. He received a guitar as a youth but did not play it with any serious intentions until he was about 17. Music was never a major part of his house growing up. He listened to whatever was playing on the radio or in his friends’ cars, but really never had any clue who the artists were or even song titles. His musical journey did not start until a friend introduced him to Bob Dylan. A cover of Bukka White’s “Fixin’ to Die Blues” on Dylan’s first album grabbed his attention. Dylan’s respect for the past and his covers of old blues tunes, led Zeno to reach out in all directions to learn about the blues.

Zeno’s focus is on the old style of the blues and its intersection with other styles of Americana like gospel, country, and bluegrass. He states, “the modern blues landscape is a little bit too saturated with classic blues-rock, soul and funk blues as well as a jazz/easy listening style of blues. So, I try to focus on home styles, whether it is front-porch stomping music by myself or a garage-punk blues style with a group. I believe the guitar should be an extension of the voice, and the voice is the most important instrument in blues. Once I read that Muddy Waters admitted that the new age rockers might be better than him at guitar, but they’d never be as good as him at singing the blues and he was right. I want to focus more on my singing, more on using my voice as a wailing, bending, otherworldly instrument like the old masters and less like an aspiring lounge singer. “

Zeno lists his vocal influences as Charley Patton, Son House and B.B. King and his guitar influences as Bukka White, Freddy King, R.L. Burnside and a modern influence of Jack White. Today Zeno is a one-man show playing his guitar while keeping a rhythm on his suitcase drum and tambourine. He said the influence to play using that set-up occurred when he saw a lesser- known artist, Reverend Deadeye, who presented himself as a former traveling revivalist preacher who performed gospel with a touch of the blues. Zeno now describes his style as “blues with a touch of gospel”.

The album features twelve original songs all recorded live in the studio beginning with “Upton Blues” featuring a burning guitar as he howls ” I’m not doing anybody no harm, out here selling my Kentucky Moonshine”. Upton is a small Kentucky town. Next, he says he has “Gone Away” heading down to North Carolina. I’ll be in jail before the dawn”.  “On Cold Beverage (Stonewater Blues)”, the percussion action from his foot drives a powerful rhythm behind a blazing slide guitar and he asks her “to come lie on my bed and listen to some Charley Patton, just bring me a cold beverage”.

He says, “White Lightning” “killed me, put me on the run”.  next he tells her “If You Wanna to Leave” “there’s the door”. “This time tomorrow, I ‘m going to be on the way.” He slows things down with the melodic “Bury Me” as he says that “I can’t believe you killed me”.

“Nobody’s Knockin” on my door, but “somebody’s breakin’ down my door” as he says “my mother is crying, picking out my gravestone” in a tale of murder driven by Zeno’s haunting guitar work. “Colleen” is a bouncy, upbeat instrumental presumably dedicated to his wife. “Muddy” kicks things up again with his guitar flying at full speed again.

“She don’t want him “No More” and “Pretty soon, she don’t want me no more”. “She’s walking long and walking strong and baby, she don’t want to come home”. On “Arkansas BBQ”, he proclaims, “God is gonna set this world on fire someday” in a fit of gospel-fringed warning. The title song “Disillusion Blues”, he begs “Help me, Lord, the river is risin’ up to my chin” as he runs through the gamut of issues weighing down on him.

The liner notes “Best enjoyed with a high-proof bourbon on a hot, southern summer night”. Words of wisdom as he definitely will leave you sweating after the intense workout. His dedication to the delta styled blues will permeate your skin.

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.

The Count Basie Orchestra – Basie Swings the Blues

Candid Records

www.candidrecords.com

12 songs – 48 minutes

From the time he formed his orchestra in the 1930s until his death about 40 years ago, William James “Count” Basie was a colossus in the world of American music, delivering an upscale version of the blues to the masses, and his band – under the direction of Scotty Barnett – continues to work its magic. And they’ve outdone themselves with this CD, which features a pantheon of top talent and delivers the same infectious rhythms delivered by the master in his heyday.

As far as the blues world is concerned, the roster couldn’t have been much deeper with a lineup that includes Shemekia Copeland, Bettye LaVette, Bobby Rush, Buddy Guy, Charlie Musselwhite, Robert Cray, Keb’ Mo’ and Castro “Mr. Sipp” Coleman, too. Add Lauren Mitchell, Carmen Bradford, Jamie Davis, Charlton Johnson and Ledisi to the mix and…well…the sum total of this propulsive mix is an album that’s already been nominated for – and probably will win — a Grammy.

Barnett struck upon the idea when seated next to Rush at festivities when Basie was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame four years ago last summer. Fronting an ensemble that had a unique ability to produce azure sounds at different tempos, he decided on the spot to explore the sounds of the Delta, something the unit had never done before.

It started taking shape at a wedding two years later. Half of the band bowed out of the engagement because COVID was sweeping the globe. The roster was full of subs, the groom, R.J. Kirk, asked to sit in on guitar, and they immediately – and successfully – broke into a blues.

Produced by Barnett, John Burk and Steve Jordan, the music was recorded at Eastwest Studios in California with a lineup that includes Barnett on trumpet; David Glasser and Markus Howell on saxes, sax players Doug Lawrence, Doug Miller and Josh Lee, trombonists Isrea Butler, Clarence Banks, Mark Williams and Alvin Walker, trumpet players Frank Green, Shawn Edmonds, Endre Rice and Bandon Lee, bassist Trevor Ware, pianist Glen Pearson, acoustic guitarist Will Matthews and percussionist Robert Boone.

A Basie-style call-and-response between the keys and horns kicks off “Let’s Have a Good Time” – which  features Mr. Sipp on guitar and vocals for a song he composed – before becoming a rock-solid shuffle, urging the audience to climb on board. It’s chock-full of Basie class and Sipp sass. He continues on six-string – and makes other appearances throughout — as Rush opens a swinging version of his own “Boogie in the Dark” on harp and laying his familiar juke-joint vocals atop a silky-smooth arrangement.

Shemekia takes the mic for a powerful, downhome take on “I’m a Woman,” which includes both Guy and Musselwhite lending their formidable instrumental talents as she delivers the familiar lyrics with a bite. Keb’ Mo’ and Mitchell double-team vocals on “Down Home Blues.” It’s a version that retains all of the feel of the Z.Z. Hill original while taking it to a level it’s never reached before. LaVette follows and makes “Stormy Monday” her own, giving way for the Basies to swing from the hip in style mid-tune.

If you’ve ever wondered what Cray would sound like fronting a big band, his slow-and-steady version of “The Midnight Hour” will have you gasping for more before Sipp is featured again for “Dirty Mississippi Blues,” another of his own creations. It’s full of cotton field grit amplified by the unwavering, percolating rhythm of the orchestra behind him. “The Patton Basie Shuffle” follows, featuring the guitar stylings of Charlton Johnson. The instrumental gives space for the entire band to shine.

A superstar in R&B circles, Ledisi delivers a sophisticated version of “Evil Gal Blues,” trading her vocals with Lawrence’s flowing tenor sax response, picking up intensity as the tune progresses. A two-time Grammy nominee as the Basie Orchestra’s vocalist, baritone powerhouse Jamie Davis takes command on “Look What You’ve Done” then gives way to “Just for a Thrill,” which features Carmen Bradford, who fronted the band in the ‘90s before going on to an award-winning career of her own. The disc comes to a majesty close with dazzling fret work of George Benson on the rapid-fire instrumental, “Rock Candy.”

Run, don’t walk, to buy this one. You’ll have a hard time getting it out of your CD player. It’s simply that good!

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.

Liza Ohlback – Unravelling

Self-Release – 2023

www.lizaohlback.com

10 tracks; 41 minutes

Australian Liza Ohlback has made previous albums, but this is the first time I have heard her. She has a good voice with strong gospel overtones and it was no surprise to read that she has appeared in a stage production of Pearl – The Janis Joplin Story. For this album Liza wrote seven songs, three on her own and four with band members, and there are three covers. Liza is backed by her regular band, The Mercy Train Boys: Eric Rasmussen on guitar, Rick Melick on keys, Mick Malouf on bass and Greg Ohlback on drums; in addition Jeff Lenham and Matt Ross add guitar to a track each, Clayton Doley plays keys on two cuts, Victor Rounds bass on two and Daniel ‘Ducky’ Moore plays all the horn parts where heard. Backing vocals feature on several tracks, performed by “The Mercy Train Singers”, Liza, Eric, Rick and Greg, plus Stephanie Ohlback and Dan Markovina.

Opening track “Gets Hard Sometimes” features the horns and bounds along in impressive style, immediately demonstrating Liza’s vocal power. Liza then tries to discover what is going on with her child in a powerful, emotional performance, enhanced by Clayton Doley’s swirling keys: “If you can’t tell me what is weighing on your mind it’ll eat you up inside, come Talk To Me Child”. The band hits a jazzy stride on “Watch My Smoke”, Liza having no qualms about getting out of a bad relationship, before the title track “Unravelling” in which Liza is clearly in a bad way, “finding excuses just to stay in bed”. The final three originals are all solo compositions by Liza: “What A Fool Will Do” is a blues ballad which describes how you can be head over heels in love, despite the fact that the target of your affections is not really a worthy choice; “Because Of You” is a funkier tune with the horns and choppy rhythms, Liza barely recognising herself, so much is she under the guy’s influence. “Leave Before The Dam Breaks” is a slow-burner of an album closer, its gospel feel enhanced by the choir in full voice.

The three covers are all interesting. Mississippi Fred McDowell’s “You Gotta Move” will be familiar to everyone, not least from the Stones’ version, but here it is returned to its gospel origins in spectacular form as Liza testifies over the choir and some fine piano accompaniment. Pete Seeger’s “If I Had A Hammer” is given a late night treatment, slowed down over moody, jazzy music before building in intensity with horns and Liza’s impassioned vocals. The third cover is “Great Gosh Almighty”, written by J Edwards, another gospel-influenced piece with excellent vocals from Liza and the backing vocalists, as well as some fine trumpet playing.

This is an enjoyable album with excellent vocals throughout, well worth checking out.

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.

Mathias Lattin – Up Next

VizzTone Label Group VT-ML-01

www.mathiaslattin.com

10 songs – 35 minutes

A fixture in the Texas music scene since age 12, it didn’t take Mathias Lattin more than a hot minute to establish himself at the top of blues world as an adult when he won the 2023 International Blues Challenge a few weeks before his 21st birthday and took home top honors as the best guitarist in the field, too. And one listen to this stunning, no nonsense debut CD will show you why.

A Houston native who’s the grandson of David “Big Daddy D” Lattin — the former Harlem Globetrotter who anchored Texas Western College (now the University of Texas at El Paso) to the NCAA championship in 1966 and became a basketball hall-of-famer, Mathias started attending weekly jams at The Big Easy nightclub at the insistence of Jonn Del Toro Richardson when he was still a pre-teen.

Mentored by Shawn Allen and Annika Chambers-DesLauriers and influenced by Roy Hawkins, Marvin Gaye, Bobby Womack and Lucky Peterson, he graduated from the prestigious Kinder High School of the Performing Arts in 2020 and quickly started gaining attention when he joined Allen in IBC winner Keeshea Pratt’s band and before making his first appearance at the IBCs as a sideman for Brazilian-born, Houston-based guitarist Cris Crochemore.

Lattin possesses a stinging, shred-free attack on the strings and a pleasant, mature tenor voice. Already a polished songwriter, he composed and produced all ten songs in this set, which was recorded by Sinclair Ridley at TSU Recording Studios and mixed and mastered by David Donaldson.

Mathias handles lead guitar and vocals on all cuts and bass on three with backing from rhythm guitarist Ross Fields, bassist Jesse Gomez and drummers Nick Andres and Chris Whitaker. Allen and Darrell Lavigne guest on keys along with James Murphy, Kyle Turner and Stuart Adams on horns.

A six-string intro with bite opens the slow, minor-key burner “Who’s Been Loving on You” before Mathias queries a girlfriend about why she’s been “actin’ kinda funny and talkin’ kinda strange.” But, truthfully, she doesn’t have to answer because he quickly demands: “What’s his name?” Lattin’s voice and the guitar solo that follows bare his pain. Fortunately, the song that follows, “Lose Some Weight,” is a funked-up, driving blues and the subject isn’t what you might think. In this case, it’s a break-up song. The “weight” is Mathias’ love for a lady and the need for change from all of her “candy.”

The tension continues in “Can’t Stop Feeling,” a medium-tempo number in which Lattin implores another ex-lover to return to his side because…now…“all of the days feel like nights” despite all of his attempts to let the woman go. The tempo picks up and the music brightens somewhat but the emotional turmoil continues in the stop-time “You Know This Won’t Do,” which gives space for Turner to shine on tenor sax. This time, Lattin warns that he’ll be taking a plane or train to get away from a lady who’s playing house with the plumber and other characters at night.

“Party,” a driving Texas blues with a heavy beat and Lavigne’s piano high in the mix, truly changes the mood with Mathias grabbing his gators and a favorite blazer and heading out for a good time. But the feeling doesn’t last long because soon it’s time for “You Don’t Love Me No More,” a loping announcement of the end of a relationship, and the sweeping “I Tried So Hard,” which wonders what more a lady wants after giving her whatever she wanted to keep her happy.

The rocker “2nd Degree” brings all of the heartbreak to a conclusion with the realization that the woman never wanted the relationship to succeed before the disc ends with “After Party” and a live version of “Lose Some Weight.”

Don’t miss this one!

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.

Dave Keller – It’s Time To Shine

Tastee Tone Records

http://www.davekeller.com

12 Tracks – 53 minutes

Vermont soul singer and guitarist, Dave Keller, returns for his tenth album with twelve original songs. This album marks 30 years since he released his first album in 1993. While he seems to fly under the radar of most blues enthusiasts, his 2012 album won the Best Self-Produced Album at the International Blues Challenge and three of his albums (2014, 2019, and 2021) were nominated for the Best Soul Blues Album at the Blues Music Awards.

Early on he gained great insight to performing his chosen genre as he was befriended by Mighty Sam McClain and later Robert Ward. Ronnie Earl invited Dave to sing and co-write some songs with him.  More recently he has performed regularly with Johnny Rawls.

For this album, he decided he wanted to forgo the studio experience as it is expensive, causing bands to rush and accept some songs that are not really the way they want them to turn out. So, Dave decided to rent a remote mountain cabin and had his friend and engineer, Huck Bennert, bring a Subaru full of equipment to set up at the cabin. He then brought his band consisting of Ira Friedman on keyboards, Jay Gleason on drums and percussion, Alex Budney on bass, Mark Earley on tenor and baritone sax, Tom Palance on trumpet to the cabin to enjoy a more leisurely recording session and some enjoyable down time for fellowship. Annika Chambers -DesLauriers added some backing vocals to the new songs and the album was ready to go.

Keller quickly shows his vocal prowess on the opening track “Waiting for The Sunrise” as he notes he “missed the signals, I missed the signs…as you were making plans with another man”. His guitar rings out with a great organ backing through the song. The second song addresses the rise of racial violence in America as he questions “Are you just part of the crowd?” “What part of kindness don’t you understand? All this blindness is the “Truth of the Blues”.  Again, Ira’s organ drives the offered message and Dave adds another excellent solo.  He offers the telephone number “789-0133” to his lady to just call him if she needs him. The song leads off with Mark’s baritone sax and trumpet in a soulful turn and Annika providing backing vocals. Dave Keller pulls out the reverb on his guitar on “It’s Time to Shine”. He wonders about the condition of the world and suggests that is “Time for all of us to come out into the light and shine.”  He offers the song as a rallying call for all people to stand up before it is too late.

On “I Wanna Go Back to Memphis”, he remembers the good times he had there with his woman. Annika again provides backing vocals. This song kicks off a run of songs related to love and relationships. Dave sings that “The First Time with You” “makes up for the last time with her” as he begins a new relationship and a remembrance of a now failed relationship. “Nothing Like Your Love” is a jubilant declaration to his lover with the horns and Ira’s organ again driving Dave’s joyous vocals.

Jay’s drums kick off a heavy beat on “Paint A New Life Together” as Dave asks her to “pull out the paint brush” and announces what colors they should use to change things to start their new life. On “Full Measure of Pleasure” Dave brags “other men have tried to keep you satisfied, but they failed. I have the cure for what ails you”. “Mayor of Memory” starts with a military sounding drum and a haunting guitar as he remembers “the good times that glittered in the past”.  Ira’s organ again offers an interlude in the song.

” Something ‘Bout a Sad Song” offers a slow soulful cry with Dave stating, “all that sad hurt is taking a sad toll”. The album closes with a bouncy rhythm and surprise that it was “Hard to Believe” that “you were in love with me, the one for me, I was too blind to see”, thus closing his run of relationship stories.

Dave and the whole band deliver an upbeat and soulful performance throughout the album, which certainly would seem to be on track for consideration of a fourth Blues Music Award, if not finally winning the category. He also seems worthy of a nomination for his vocal performance.

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.

Sandy Carroll – Love On it

Blue Heart Records

www.sandycarroll.com

12 songs – 52 minutes

In the bio on her website, Memphis singer-songwriter-pianist Sandy Carroll wryly notes the difficulties people (and particularly record companies) have had in categorizing her music, and on the evidence of Love On It, it’s not hard to see why. There are liberal doses of soul, pop, country, gospel, rock and even some highly enjoyable 80s-influences. Underpinning everything however is a soul and a voice soaked in the blues. Carroll and her producer/engineer (and husband), Jim Gaines, call it “Smooth Blues”, which is as good a description as any. What is safe to say is that the music on Love On It should appeal to a wide audience, not just blues fans.

Carroll assembled a top notch band to record Love On It, including Mark Narmore on piano and guitar, Steve Potts on drums, Will McFarlane on guitar and bass, Dave Smith on bass and Kimberlie Helton on backing vocals. Carroll added some piano herself and guest musicians included Buddy Leach on saxophone, and Ernest Williamson and Rick Steff on organ. And these musicians expertly turn their hands to a variety of musical styles, providing unobtrusive but powerful support throughout.

The upbeat opening title track has an irresistible gospel-rock bounce to it, with unusual but highly effective key changes regularly surprising the listener. The pop-rock of the double-entendre laden “Heart Full Of Honey” leads nicely into the swamp groove of “Don’t Rattle Them Bones”, on which Mark Narmore layers some seriously minimalist guitar and keyboard lines.

Carroll’s sultry, warm voice is a consistent highlight of the album, whether restrained and contained (as in the 80s pop of “Hurt So Hard” or the Journeyman-era Clapton-esque “Baby Blue”) or raw and openly emotional, as on the soul ballad “Soul Of The Heart” (which features a fine sax solo from Buddy Leach).

The rocky “Blindsided” benefits from Potts’ jagged drumming, which fits the 80s pop-rock instrumentation perfectly, while the loping gospel shuffle of “Gonna Come A Day” is perhaps the closest Carroll gets to straight ahead blues on Love On It, but even here the heavy gospel influence and unusual chord changes mark the song out as something different. McFarlane’s melodic guitar solo is beautiful, in interesting contrast to the grittier tone and approach he adopts on the social media commentary of “Preacher Man”.

One of the highlights of the album is the piano-driven closing track, “Gotta Hand It To You”, a heartfelt ballad of gratitude and appreciation.

Love On It may not contain any obvious blues songs, but the blues permeates everything Sandy Carroll does.  She is a superb singer and a fine songwriter (she wrote eight of the 12 songs on the album, Mark Narmore contributing the others). Expertly produced and engineered by Jim Gaines at Bessie Blues Studio in Stantonville, Tennessee, and Euphonics Mastering in Memphis, Tennessee, this is the kind of album one puts on late at night and enjoys with the beverage of one’s choice.

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

Andre Bisson – Latchford

Self-released

http://www.andrebisson.ca

11 Tracks – 44 minutes

This is the tenth album from Ontario, Canada native Andre Bisson. All of his albums have featured a varying number of band members from six to twenty. For this album, he is using an even dozen members with a guest performer on one song. Andre plays guitar, harmonica, tambourine and provides all lead vocals on the eleven all-originals songs. His band consists of Jesse O’Brien on piano and organ, Mike Rowell on bass, Keagan Early on drums, Pat Carey on tenor and baritone sax, Shawn Moody on trumpet, Loretta Hale on trumpet and cello, Rob Somerville on trombone, Paul Barna on violin and viola, and Quisha Wint and Selena Evangeline on backing vocals. Dan Rodrigues is the guest performing piano on the sixth track, “Smile Time”.

Andre grew up in a small town in northern Ontario. He first appeared on stage at age 15. His first album was released in 2009. He represented the Grand River Blues Society at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis and has won numerous nominations and awards in Canada. More recently, he won the 2022 Song of The Year Award from the International Song Contest for Blues and Roots and Radio for his song “Down the Line” which was on his ninth album.

As previously mentioned above, Andre grew up in a small town. As he traveled extensively, he started thinking about his roots and how his perspective on life was affected by his upbringing. The album’s title Latchford is the name of an actual small town in Ontario, which he says has a population of about 300. This is not his hometown, but rather was a random choice as he sought a town’s name that he felt fit the music. His liner notes state that “Perspective, along with observation and empathy can create the reality we choose to live in. We may not be able to control all the thigs in our lives, but we can control how we react to them.” Thus, the theme for the album is established.

He starts off with acapella vocals, which quickly leads into a brief horn blast followed by soulful vocals that establishes that his troubles might not be near as bad as others experience as he travels to “Latchford”. “The Reformed Deceiver” is a blast of 60’s styled Motown as he explores the things that hold us back in life and the possibilities that life can provide if we look forward. He sings “No, I’m a believer, a reformed deceiver. I’m through with walking away.” He breaks out his harmonica briefly in the middle of the song. “Echo Mountain” is a tale of a man who had lived in exile on top of a mountain for twenty years and observes how life and society has changed in the period of time, finding that the world has become a crueler and more hateful place. Jesse O’Brien’s organ offers the lead through the song.

“Shake” offers an upbeat jazzy dance beat exploring the need to protect our loved ones. Pat Carey’s sax plays off O’Brien’s piano as Andre states that he will “find the fire to sooth your soul”. “Dusty Albums” has a soulful country air expressing regrets with the cello carving the melancholic feel of the song. The lyrics carefully lay out the missed opportunities in his life with “…all that’s left behind are dusty albums and a stranger’s memory”. “Smile Time” is a high energy number with the horns driving the song as Andre tells you to “leave your worries behind”.

Andre gets a guitar lead backed by the horns in a rocking number as he sings that he has had “Enough”.  The music down in a gospel-tinged song as he establishes that the “Longest Way Around” “is sometimes the shortest way home”.  “Sticks and Stones” is an upbeat funk song led off by Carey’s baritone sax as Andre encourages us to rise above anger and find other solutions to violence.

“Tail That Wags the Dog” again features Andre’s guitar lead in a moody tale “as old as time, a story that has plagued all of history / and we all know how it ends” as “she is the one pulling the strings” which notes how he is manipulated by his woman. The album ends with another upbeat gospel-like number “The Bring Down”, which will get you up and perhaps ready to wave your arms and yell hallelujah as he sings “Thank you baby for bringing me down”.

Andre is certainly adept at writing strong, certainly carefully crafted, and sometimes complex song lyrics. He combines that with a solid notion of a big band sound led by a consistent horn section that fits the style of music he delivers. And finally, Andre’s tenor vocal delivery is always pleasing. I enjoyed the album but notice that not one time did I find a reason to mention “blues”. The album is certainly soulful, and some might consider it soul blues, but to me it is more of a pop album with some retro throwback to some earlier music styles. If this appeals to you, I think you will find it a pleasant listening experience. But if you are a hard-core blues lover, this is probably not an album you should seek.

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.

The Hitman Blues Band – Hey, Can You Guys Play…

NERUS Records – 2023

www.hitmanbluesband.com

10 tracks; 50 minutes

Russell ‘Hitman’ Alexander is a New York-based singer and guitarist whose albums are characterised by sharply observed originals. However, from time to time he has covered material from other artists, usually involving a distinctive makeover: “completely reworked, sometimes with new or additional lyrics, to make some old – and arguably overplayed – standards a completely new experience”, as Russell boldly declares. Nine of these tracks are taken from previous albums, from their 1999 debut to the present day. Russell handles guitar and vocals, his wife Joanna and Nancy Hampton add B/V’s, Kevin Bents, Kevin Rymer and Mike Katzman are on keys, Mike Porter bass, Guy LaFountaine drums (replaced on a track each by Ed ‘The Hat’ D’Alessio and Jay Sharkey); horns appear on half the tracks, Eric Altarac trumpet, Nick Clifford baritone sax, John Kelly tenor sax, Mikey Vitale alto sax.

From the 1999 debut album Blooztown Russell gives us a solo resonator version of Robert Johnson’s “Come On In My Kitchen”. A full band version of Son House’s “Death Letter” with swirling keys and slashing guitar comes from 2008’s Pale Rider and works so well that it is still part of the band’s live shows. A live version of John Lee Hooker’s “Boom Boom” comes from 2008’s Live At The Stonybrook University and is preceded by a typical aside from the leader: “I think it’s time we had a little hooker – err, let me rephrase that – John Lee Hooker”. Even stronger is Willie Dixon’s “Hoochie Coochie Man”, often covered, but rarely better than the dramatic and rocking version on 2016’s The World Moves On which opens this collection, horns and keys sounding great over a driving beat, the extended length offering solo opportunities for Russell and the horns.

In 2017 Russell released a solo acoustic album Playing To The Crowd, from which two tracks are taken: “Good Morning Judge”, best known from Wynonie Harris’ 1950 version, and the wonderful title “Who Put The Benzedrine In Mrs. Murphy’s Ovaltine?” from the obscure Harry ‘The Hipster’ Gibson, two marvellously comic songs performed with a knowing wink.

Three cuts come from 2021’s Not My Circus, Not My Monkey, all with horns. Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’” is radically transformed from the original with a dramatic horn arrangement and a great chorus with the girls in harmony. The two other tracks are both adaptations of Blind Willie Johnson tunes: a cool version of “Nobody’s Fault But Mine” has some adapted lyrics but retains the sentiments of the original, as does “John The Revelator” in which Russell imagines what would happen if other Gods came by and gave their opinions on the end of days; played to a strong horn arrangement, this is another impressive reinterpretation. The final track is a new recording, a blues reinterpretation of “Sunday Morning Coming Down”, Kris Kristofferson’s first success when recorded by Johnny Cash in 1970. The lyrics certainly work as a blues song and Russell’s fine solo puts the seal on the deal.

If you are a committed fan of The Hitman Blues Band you will have all these tracks apart from the Kristofferson cover, but if you are not familiar with the band these covers form an excellent introduction to their diverse style.

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.

Aretta Woodruff – A Tribute to Denise LaSalle

Music Maker Foundation

https://musicmaker.org

10 Tracks – 32 minutes

Birmingham’s Aretta Woodruff got her start as many blues artists have by singing in the Hopewell Baptist Church Choir. Her vocal prowess was quickly identified, and she grew her musical fame in the area’s music scene. Aretta’s ties to Denise LaSalle started as she became an opening act for Denise for several years. Denise became her mentor as she recognized the younger woman’s talents. Denise frequently proclaimed to Aretta, “Girl, you sing my stuff better than I do.” In 2017, Aretta suffered a stroke from which he has subsequently recovered. Aretta was inducted into the Alabama Blues Hall of Fame in 2018 and was selected as Blues Female Artist of the Year at the 2020 Alabama Blues Awards.

Denise Lasalle (nee Ora Denise Allen) was the youngest of seven children born July 16, 1934, to a family of sharecroppers. Denise picked cotton starting at age 7 and did other labor to help support her family. At age 13, she moved to Chicago to live with her brother. She released her first record in 1971 and was quickly recognized for her songwriting ability. Numerous albums and songs followed with two hits, “Now Run and Tell That”, and “Man Sized Job”, falling into the Top Ten on Billboard’s R&B charts. Barbara Mandrell recorded one of LaSalle’s songs, “Married, But Not to Each Other” that is on Barbara’s best of album. Denise died on January 8, 2018. Her family honored Aretta by announcing that she should continue to carry on Denise’s legacy.

For this album, Aretta selected songs from LaSalle’s early catalog of perhaps lesser-known songs. She chose songs that brings back the sounds of 70’s style funk, blues & R&B. Her band for the album includes Norman Garner on guitar, Eric Rhoads on guitar and bass, Dan Hector on keyboards, Tony Grady on bass, Ardie Dean on percussion, Dan Bowyer on trombone, Ken Waters on trumpet, Steve Motz on baritone sax with backing vocals by Tracy Jackson, Yasmine LeBrun, Summer Baruda, Natrickle Louissaint, and Neeve Weinberger.

Aretta opens the album with “Blues Reputation”, a song she felt was appropriate for her tribute with some modification to directly honor Denise. Subsequent songs are noted to generally follow the original music delivered on LaSalle’s recordings only with Aretta’s vocals replacing that of Denise.  LaSalle’s “May the Funk Be with You” delivers the obvious dance vibe. “Love Is a Five Letter Word” is an R&B classic styled song with the horns and female chorus responding to Aretta’s calls. On “I’m Satisfied”, her voice croons softly as she indicates that “true love will never die”.

“There Ain’t Enough Hate Around” from 1973 was written in the spirit of the civil rights protests of the era and perhaps is now again pertinent with the rise of hate crimes in our modern era. Next, she urges her lover to “Keep It Coming”. “Hit and Run” is another example of 70’s styled R&B.

“Holding Hands with the Blues” does move into a horn-driven blues style. It determines that all you “middle- class people who think that blues is for those who live in poverty”, but “when your health care fails, your lover puts you down” you have the blues and “the blues will never let you down”. She advises the men in the audience of “What It Takes to Get a Good Woman” and what it takes to keep her. Aretta concludes the album with her version of Denise’s first single release from 1971, “Trapped by a Thing Called Love”. She says she is “sinking down when he does not call”.

I will openly admit that I am not familiar with the original songs cited here and thus cannot provide a true comparison between Aretta and Denise’s presentations. The songs certainly sound like they come from the 70’s as intended and perhaps bring back memories of the era of The Supremes and other familiar female groups. Here, while the songs are pleasant, they seem slightly lackluster to me. But those who were fans of the era and particularly LaSalle, may find joy in the reminiscence of the music.

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.