Al Basile - Quiet Money (2017)
WEB FLAC (tracks) ~ 371.21 Mb | 54:25 | Cover
Blues, Electric Blues | Country: Rhode Island, USA | Label: Sweetspot Records
These new blues songs build on the impact of a range of classic blues and R&B styles, with masterful lyrics on contemporary blues themes. It’s been 44 years since Al Basile joined Rhode Island’s legendary jump blues band Roomful of Blues as its first trumpet player, and while his last few solo releases have moved closer musically to the styles Roomful played in: jump blues, urban and Texas blues, swing, and classic R&B, Quiet Money draws directly from that template. Its songs were inspired musically by Buddy Johnson, Lowell Fulson, Jimmy McCracklin, Saunders King, Charlie Rich, and even the Coasters and the Pilgrim Travelers, but as always Al marries the music to his own personal storytelling lyrics, creating songs that are musically familiar to orginal Roomful fans but range in theme from the current state of blues in the music business (“Blues Got Blues”) to classic double-entendre blues (“Put Some Salt on It”) to several songs on taking stock near the end of life (“Not Today”, “Who’s Gonna Close My Eyes?”), and in the title song, wondering why money seems to leave the many and hang out with the few.