The Christopher Dean Band – Steppin’ Out Tonight
Lost World Music
14 Tracks – 60 minutes
New Jersey born Christopher Dean now lives in Havre De Grace, Maryland. He started playing guitar at age 15 and cites his guitar influences as Charlie Patton, B.B. King, and Magic Sam and vocal influences as David Ruffin, Al Green, and Sarah Vaughn. He first formed The Christopher Dean Band in 1995 but became a member of Big Jack Johnson’s touring band in 1997. He toured with Johnson for three years and recorded two albums with Big Jack during that time.
He re-started his own band in 2000. This album is the sixth release for the band. Chris performs all guitars and vocals with Carl Snyder on piano & organ; Arcellus Sykes, Rob Fraser, and Joshua Colon alternating on bass; Steve Lombardelli on horns, backing vocals, and keyboards; and Dave Hollingsworth on drums.
The album opens with Sam Collin’s 1931 blues song “My Road is Ruff and Rocky”. The song, seemingly autobiographical, is a tale of Collins being pursued by bloodhounds and shot at with “pistol balls zoomin’ by my head. I believe to my soul they gonna kill me dead”. Christopher gives it a slight country recital. He follows that with John Lee Hooker’s “It Serves Me Right to Suffer” based on a version by Jimmy Johnson from 1978 that featured Carl Snyder on piano, which he repeats here. This song moves deeply into the blues with Chris’ guitar work standing out. Chris’ original “Here with Me” deals with the emotional problem of having two women and weighs the pros and cons of both.
He shifts back to another cover with Robert Cray’s 1990 soulful “Walk Around Time” citing the need to have personal time away from her and to not being constantly tied down citing “love can be easy but the trust is hard to find”. He then shifts back to an original with him perhaps in a better state of mind declaring “You Are the Reason” in a soulful love song. T-Bone Walker’s 1949 “That Old Feeling Is Gone” captures T-Bones’ guitar sound perfectly in a song that moves him back in time as he cites I”I used to love you baby”. Carl’s piano and the mix of horns definitely takes the song back into its original presentation.
A slow R&B number with Melvin Waiters’ 2000 “Running Stop Lights” follows as he “cannot wait to see you”. He stays with more current R&B with T.K. Soul’s 2007 “Party Like Back in The Day” which invites everyone to get up and dance. He shifts back to 1962 but keeps the R&B going with the calypso-accented Curtis Mayfield penned ” I’m The One Who Loves You” originally recorded by Jerry Butler. He shifts his voice into a falsetto for much of this song. Another original “Save Us” is a quiet song continuing his falsetto approach with a love song about trying to keep his love together.
He then tells her “We Can Trust Each Other” and if we can’t “what’s the use of being together”. He shifts back into a slow dance mode with “Thank You for Letting Me Know”. He returns to the blues with a cover of Furry Lewis’ 1927 classic “Everybody’s Blues” with Carl’s piano and Dick Lourie guesting on cornet providing a ragtime feel before finishing with his guitar. He closes out with Hound Dog Taylor’s 1971 song “She’s Gone” shifting into a bit of boogie.
Christopher music is definitely focused on the soul and R&B mode. Even the bluesier old-time numbers still maintains that soul sound. His guitar work stands out on many tracks as does Carl’s organ and piano.
