Joanne Broh Band featuring Garry Meziere – Head Full of Trouble
Double Y Records
10 songs – 45 minutes
An energetic and sultry alto who blends blues, soul and jazz into a seamless package, Joanne Broh’s a fixture on the Eugene, Ore., music scene who’s released other live sets before, but it’ll be hard to top this effort, which was three years in the making and features contributions from several world-class talents from the Pacific Northwest.
Joanne’s a performer with a sassy-yet-silky-smooth delivery that’s never overpowering but speaks directly to her audience while her band, which is led by guitarist Garry Meziere – who wrote seven of the eight originals on this one, provides fluid support throughout. She’s been honored as the female vocalist of the year by Eugene’s Rainy Day Blues Society and as a finalist in the Cascade Blues Association’s always challenging Journey to Memphis competition, a feeder to the annual International Blues Challenge.
Engineered, mixed and mastered by Don Ross, Broh and Meziere backed by Jon Brand and Ed Pierce on bass and drums throughout with appearances from Gus Russell and Pat McDougall on keys, Dave Bender, Tony Johnson, Linda Kanter and Joe McCarthy on horns and Jerry Zybach on rhythm guitar.
The uptempo shuffle, “Shakin’ It,” kicks off the action with the suggestion that “you gotta get up if you’re gonna get down.” Meziere’s single-note six-string attack drives the tune forward accompanied by the horn sections and Russell on the 88s. Joanne’s delivery flies strongly but lightly above the mix. The soulful “Damn Fool Baby” describes frustration about a wayward lover disappears frequently. The mid-tune break gives space for McDougall to shine. A star in his own right who fronts his own unit, he’s been the longtime bandleader for B.B. King drummer Tony Coleman and the Rae Gordon Band, too.
A Latin beat driven by Garry fuels the title cut, “Head Full of Trouble,” which finds Broh staring out the window on a dark, rainy morning and unable to shake the pain of having a heart and head full of misery after her man’s vanished once again. The tempo picks up for “I Believe,” a strong, bright statement about the future of mankind despite the turmoil that wracks us all today. It gives way to the quiet burner, “Lock and Key,” which was penned by Zybach and uses the imagery to describe a much sweeter relationship without the need for much more detail. Once again, Meziere dazzles mid-tune.
“I’m in a Mood,” a medium-tempo shuffle featuring Russell, shifts the action similar to the opener with Broh ready to have a good time while having a little fun while dropping all the hate and spreading the love before the jazzy “Down the Line” — composed by Joanne – suggests that living in yesterday doesn’t help you live today. If you want to improve your situation, you’ll have to leave it all behind.
“Late December,” another strong shuffle that features McDougall, follows with the memory of a lover leaving for good and dovetails into “My Heart’s Been Broke,” which warns another man to listen closely as Joanne tells him where it’s at: that it can’t be broken anymore. The set closes with Paul Richell’s “Blues on a Holiday.” It’s a sweet request to a love lost to try to mend the fences one more time.
Highly polished and stylish blues at it’s best, and strongly recommended.
