James Harman – The Blues Moose Session
New Shot Records
10 tracks/56 minutes
Recorded live at the Blues Moose Café in the Netherlands on October 31, 2018, we get to hear the sublime sounds of James Harmon featuring Shakedown Tim & The Rhythm Revue. We lost Harman not even three years after this, yet his prowess as a musician and songwriter will live forever.
On this summer and fall tour of Europe, the dollar prevented Harman from touring with his regular ensemble. His fame preceded him everywhere he went, and musicians lined up to fill his needs. The cats here do a superb job with Harman, laying our some great grooves and providing more than ample support to this musical giant.
Shakedown Tim Ielegans plays guitar, add backing vocals and fronts the band on the fourth track. Ilias Scatch is on piano and Bart Stone is on sax. Dan “Toothpick” Blackwolf plays upright bass and Dennis Tubbs is on drums. The crowd is obviously into what they are hearing. Harman is a showman par excellence and he and the band are on fire for this show. All the songs ae Harman originals except for Shakedown Tim’s cut.
The album opens with “She Could Rock Awhile,” a super shuffle with great piano, guitar and sax backing James and his harp and vocal work. They lay out some fine licks in support as Harman does what he could do best– entertain a crowd. The harp was greasy and sublime, and his vocals were filled with his Southern charm that baked and grew in the California sun. “Crapshoot” follows, a jump blues with vibrant harp and solid piano and guitar. A long intro sets up the listener for Harman to enter the mix on vocals with his signature harmonious drawl. He guts out the vocal lead and the band aptly provides the necessary support. His harp is beautiful, Tim’s guitar rings out nicely, the piano is excellent and the sax offers nice punctuation to the mix.
Next is “Got To Call My Baby,” a beautiful, slow blues with James growling with empathy as he testifies his need to get in touch with his baby. It’s somber and passionate stuff. Restrained support on piano and guitar adds to the feeling as the brushes stroke the snare with equal restraint. The guitar solo is beautifully done and the crowd responds to it appropriately. Harman has the audience firmly in his grasp as they sit in silence listening to his soulful delivery before going wild at the conclusion. Shakedown Slim wrote and sings “This Ship,” a cool slow blues that is well done all around. Harman’s harp is sublime, the piano gives us something to truly savor and Tim plays and sings with passion.
Up next we have “Leavin’ For Memphis,” a rollicking song that bounces and grooves along nicely. This is classic Harman having fun and delivering another winning performance. He commands the stage as he sings; his harp is equal to his vocals, the piano and guitar add so much to mix and kept the crowd enthralled as did Harman. “Double Hoofback Growler” had more Harman doing his thang, giving space for Tim to play some mean guitar and we have James playing some wicked licks on his harp.
I guess the next one is a testimonial to some tight pants as Harman gives us “Squat and Bust Your Breeches.” As both an adult and child of ample girth, I can testify what it feels like to bust my breeches, and this vibrant instrumental pays homage to that. Harman and company all play their hearts out here and delight the crowd at the club. Harman tells the crowd to get up and drink as the band and he continue their driving musical session. Harman asks his woman “Whatcha Gonna Do “Bout Me” when she leaves him. Her momma and sister let him know in advance, and he’s confronting her and tell her she’s not going to find anything better than him. Cool stuff- great piano, beautiful vocals, vibrant guitar, resonant sax and delightful harp make this another winner.
Despite the advanced warning his woman’s family gave him in the last cut, apparently his woman’s family in this song ain’t on his side. He opens with some lonely, un-cupped harp backed by pretty guitar. The slow blues is oh-so-nice and pretty to listen to. Harman testifies and hold court and then delivers some equally pretty licks on his Mississippi saxophone. We get a little piano before Harman begins to testify again and then takes us home on his harp. The crowd is again quite appreciative. The set closes with a driving number entitled ‘Get Away Boogie.” The guitar is amped up, the piano lays out some barrelhouse stuff and Harman’s harp is driving and excellent in this great instrumental. Harp and guitar offer prolonged solos, and then about four minutes into it Harman begins to howl and moan out a truly slick lead vocal and finishes it off with some outstaning harp licks before the crowd erupts in delight.
Harman was beloved by his fans and contemporaries in the music world. We get to hear a superb showman at the top of his game live and doing what he does best. If you are a Harman fan, go get this. If you are a newbie to him and his music, it offers a great primer to get introduced to what this blues master was all about. I most highly recommend this album– it is a fantastic piece of West Coast blues history!
