Tony O Blues – Free Life
Self-release
14 songs – 56 minutes
Guitarist/singer/harmonica player Tony O was born and raised in New York City, and has been mentored by and toured and recorded with a large number of blues legends, including Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, Victoria Spivey, The Legendary Blues Band and Hubert Sumlin. Indeed, it was Hubert and Howlin’ Wolf who bestowed the “Tony O” moniker on him back in the early 1970s. Free Life was recorded in memory of the great James Cotton, with whom Tony O played, toured and recorded in the 1980s and 1990s, and is a wonderful recording of classic Chicago-style blues.
With nailed-on support from a core band of Mike Severino (drums), Mitch Marcus (piano and organ), Angelo Olivieri (bass) and Bob Stander (rhythm guitar) together with contributions from Craig “Holiday” Hayes (drums) and Steven DeMieri (organ and piano), the musicians cruise through a range of definitive Chicago blues tracks together with four tracks written by Tony O himself. The album was recorded and mixed by Bob Stander at Parcheesi Studio with mastering by Gene Paul at G&J Audio, and the result is a superb sound and a series of great performances.
Free Life kicks off as it means to go on, with two Muddy Waters tunes, “Hard Day Blues” and “Rich Man’s Woman”, before the self-written title track, a swinging upbeat number with some nice BB King-inspired guitar lines. The cover versions are well-chosen, with one or two very well-known titles (Jimmy Reed’s “Honest I Do” and Robert Petway’s “Catfish Blues”) together with a number of lesser-known gems (Eddie Arnold and Cindy Walker’s “You Don’t Know Me”, perhaps most well-known from Ray Charles’ cover version, or Luther Johnson’s “Lonesome In My Bedroom”). Brook Benton’s “Ooh” is stripped back without the horns of the original and reinterpreted as a classic uptown shuffle. And even the perhaps over-played covers are given a fresh lick of paint. “Honest I Do” benefits from some superb piano from Marcus while “Catfish Blues” has a grinding, irresistible shuffle groove that inexorably builds the tension inherent in a one-chord song.
“Lonesome In My Bedroom” features some excellent interplay between harmonica and guitar, the instruments intertwining without ever getting in the way of each other. Earl Hooker’s “Blues In D Natural” eschews Hooker’s slide to play the entire song finger-style but is a lovely reminder of the beautiful melody that is key to the entire piece and Tony O’s guitar solo after the harmonica solo is a total gem. Indeed, his guitar playing throughout the album is absolutely outstanding. It is a joy to hear a player focussing on melody and tone and feeling rather than how many notes they can cram into a solo. He is also a fine harmonica player, as you have to be to give Little Walter’s “Off The Wall” a serious run-through.
The album ends with two upbeat instrumental originals, “Tony O Guitar Boogie” and “I’m Queens Bound”, both of which enable the maestro to stretch out on guitar.
Free Life is a highly enjoyable release from Tony O. If you love guitar-driven classic Chicago blues (and let’s face it, who doesn’t?), you will definitely want to check this album out.
