Ping Rose – Conjure Man
Independent Release
9 Tracks – 40 minutes
Ping Rose is a singer and guitarist from Memphis. He started playing professionally after graduating from high school in 2006. He also started teaching music while attending college. Upon graduating college, he continued playing in Memphis, but also moved into Nashville with his band The Anti Heroes. He got gigs playing in the B.B. King Club room on three separate cruise ships. He cites a wide array of musical influences ranging from Jimi Hendrix, George Benson, B.B. King, Jerry Reed and Prince and from alternative rock groups like The Cure and Smashing Pumpkins. In concert, those influences surface as he can easily switch from blues, jazz, rock and R&B. This is his second album release.
The album opens with a rousing instrumental, “Cloverhill Stomp” featuring Ping’s slide guitar. “Don’t Drink Me Dry” kicks off with some excellent guitar runs, then Ping moves into a smooth groove as he tells her to “love me baby” and “scratch me baby, up and down my leg”. The title song is a slow blues song with some backing keyboards and some jazzy guitar as he declares “I’m the one who walks the earth, I’m the one who brings the whole world to its knees, I’m the one who wakes the wind with a wave of my hand”.
On “Should I”, he says “I want to look you in the eye, and tell you I love you”, another jazzy R&B styled song with horns (perhaps synthesized). “Salty” features an organ lead and some smooth guitar work, as he notes “that you got my blood pressure up, and my ears making a ringing sound” but further states “she is rotten to the core”. He warns to be “Careful What You Wish For” in a funky vocal and some carefully played jazz guitar.
On “Darkness”, he asks her to “release your grip on me and let me out from under what your darkness brings”. His woman trouble continues as he does not have “Much Left to Lose” and cites “I woke up early in the morning hoping the day was not my fuse and lost so much over that woman, don’t have much left to lose”. The song lets him demonstrate some excellent, finger-picking style on an acoustic guitar. He closes the album with another instrumental “The Tail End” with some very jazzy keyboard work over a deep bass run and driving hand claps.
Ping’s vocals are very smooth and frequently reminds me of Stevie Wonder. As described, much of the performance is in a jazz mode and R&B. If you are seeking old school blues, this is not your album. But his sound is modern and pleasant and certainly worth a listen.
