Mick Kolassa – Wooden Music
Endless Blues Records
11 tracks
Mick Kolassa has released another album whose proceeds are split between the HART Fund and Generation Blues, two very important programs run respectively to help musicians with medical costs and to fund projects to get youths involved with music. While this is an acoustic album, it does not lack energy, vitality and a big sound. Produced by Jeff Jensen, who also principally plays guitar and adds his slide and some percussion, Kolassa has brought in some great musicians as his band and guests.
Kolassa plays the guitar, fronts the band, does percussion and plays kazoo, Carl Casperson is on upright bass and Tom Lonardo is on drums. On piano and accordion is Rick Steff. There are also eight guests who are noted below in the review. One song is a Guy Clark tune and the rest were penned by Kolassa.
In “Educated By The Blues” Kolassa tells us a story of how he traded off college for the blues to get an education. A steady diet of blues replaced college classes to make Mick what he is today. Muddy, Wolf and all the rest of the blues stars gave him the education he needed. Eric Hughes adds harp on this cut to good effect and Doug MacLeod plays some nice slide here and on the next cut. Next is “You Gotta Pay The Price,” a blues about the strife of working men and women compared to the rich. “Sugar In Your Grits” is a story about how tradition matters. You don’t need all the modern tricks of the trade to be a good bluesman, you need to play it like the masters did and not make believe what you are playing is the blues; keep the sugar out of your grits. Bob Corritore delights the listener with his harmonica prowess.
Guy Clark’s “Baby Took A Limo To Memphis” features Libby Rae Watson sharing the vocals with Kolassa as they sing about how his woman travelled to Memphis in style. Hughes again gives us some good harp to enjoy; to note, he is the only musician other than Mick to have appeared on all his albums. “If I Told You” follows, a cut about how Kolassa can’t tell his woman that he loves her because he can’t find the right words. Beale Street’s Vince Johnson adds some tasty harp here. “Hurt People” features Reba Russell and Susan Marshall backing Mick. Emotive piano and the vocals help make this one special.
We get some cool accordion here on ‘Memphis Wood,” a song about lost love and the consolation one can get in the music made with Memphis Wood. Tas Cru adds his guitar to the mix and does a great job in support. “If Life Was Fair” is a bouncy tune with some well-done piano and guitar to drive the cut along smoothly and tastefully. The story here is that while life might not be fair one has to stay on the path and good things will come to those who work hard.
“Over My Shoulder” gives us the recommendation not to look back and live for the future in this upbeat tune. Even the finger picking is happy sounding. Up next is “One Hit Wonder,” a story about how he partied back in the day but can’t handle the stuff he did smoking all day. Now he’s an old, light weight in his quest for a buzz and partying. As the title says, he’s just a “One Hit Wonder.” The sqwueeze box makes another slick appearance here. Kolassa concludes with “Gas Station Sushi” and compares his girl to sushi from a gas station. It sounds like a good idea but isn’t close to being as good as it first appears. The kazoo gets a solo in this short, light and fun cut.
Kolassa is prolific in his song writing and recording. I love the stuff he writes, especially those songs where he adds humor or a little tongue in cheekiness. He’s assembled a great cast of characters, has a nice selection of music he presents and the musicianship abounds throughout. Jensen’s guitar work is solid as a rock and the guests on harp add great depth to the cuts. The piano and accordion are well done and the songs are filled with emotion. If you hanker for some nicely done acoustic blues, then look no further.
