Mathias Lattin – Up Next
VizzTone Label Group VT-ML-01
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. It’s that good.
