Air Fan 1994 06 (187)

Widespread Panic's fourth album features tighter, more song-oriented writing. The searing guitar of the opening tune, "Little Kin," introduces a grittier album than the previous year's Everyday. After touring with the first two H.O.R.D.E. tours in 1992 and 1993, the band's popularity was growing. Their rousing version of Bloodkin's heartbreak tune "Can't Get High" earned them radio play…

Recorded live in October 16, 1993 by Max Federhofer at Donaueschinger Musiktage, Germany. Virtuoso saxophonist with his band moving effortlessly between jazz, improvisation, contemporary music and the avante-garde.

Here on this CD we re treated to an excellent example of a "live" Bobby "Blue" Bland concert recorded at Long Beach, California in 1983. Along with Mel Jackson, Bobby's Bandleader/Arranger/trumpet player, one gets to hear some truly amazing guitar work by the legendary guitarist, Wayne Bennett. Mel Jackson and the Orchestra - kick off the show with a funky soulful instrumental "Mels Groove" to warm up the audience and loosen up the musicians before the Dynamic Bobby "Blue" Bland takes to the stage and runs through his 1962 "Ain't That Loving You", and his 1959 "I'll Take Care Of You", (two Duke classics)…

When Jimmie Vaughan left the Fabulous Thunderbirds in 1990, the band's old pal Duke Robillard filled the guitar slot. The experience seems to have transformed Robillard, a charter member of Roomful of Blues, from a swinging jump-blues man into a thumping blues rocker. You could hear the early indications on his 1991 solo album, Turn It Around, and his 1992 album with the T-Birds, Walk That Walk, Talk That Talk, but the transformation is complete on Temptation. The singer/guitarist has concentrated his grooves around big, fat snare-drum beats and has given his guitar riffs a thick, dirty sound. He wrote or cowrote 9 of the 11 songs, but none of these originals is likely to join the standard blues repertoire.

As the title implies, this is very much a swing set. Pianist Dick Hyman (a master of all pre-bop styles) has little difficulty emulating Teddy Wilson, Art Tatum and Count Basie (among others) plus his own style in an octet also featuring trumpeter Joe Wilder, trombonist Urbie Green, altoist-clarinetist Phil Bodner, baritonist Joe Temperley, rhythm guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli, bassist Milt Hinton, drummer Butch Miles and (on three tunes) altoist Frank Wess. The opening and closing numbers are ad-lib blues both titled "From the Age of Swing"; sandwiched in between are ten swing-era standards plus a couple of obscure Duke Ellington items. Among the highlights are "Topsy," "Them There Eyes," "Rose Room" and "Mean to Me." No real surprises occur, but mainstream fans should like this swinging set.

Powerful, subtle, beautiful tone, musical intelligence and a few individual tricks that leave other harp players shaking their heads in wonderment. Carey Bell is perhaps most famous for his many stints with Muddy Waters but has also been developing his own career since the 1960s. He may never have had a big label ‘push’ but he's still very much the uncrowned king of Chicago Blues harmonica playing. The material here was recorded under a variety of circumstances and Blues musical settings. Some with his sons, still a band too tough (in every sense) for U.S. labels to mess with and some with truly sympathetic British musicians. Listen out too for Lurrie Bell, Carey's son and an awesomely talented Bluesman in his own right…

Sometimes conviction, charm and humor can be as important as performing proficiency. While there's little in the playing or singing of guitarist Dave Specter or vocalist/harmonica player Tad Robinson that you haven't heard before, they so obviously enjoy what they're doing and communicate it so well that you eventually overlook their familiar material and become engrossed in their performances. This disc has a gritty, rough-edged sound often missing from modern blues dates. The menu ranges from jazzy tunes to lowdown wailers, soul-tinged pieces, and uptempo instrumentals.

When Jimmie Vaughan left the Fabulous Thunderbirds in 1990, the band's old pal Duke Robillard filled the guitar slot. The experience seems to have transformed Robillard, a charter member of Roomful of Blues, from a swinging jump-blues man into a thumping blues rocker. You could hear the early indications on his 1991 solo album, Turn It Around, and his 1992 album with the T-Birds, Walk That Walk, Talk That Talk, but the transformation is complete on Temptation. The singer/guitarist has concentrated his grooves around big, fat snare-drum beats and has given his guitar riffs a thick, dirty sound. He wrote or cowrote 9 of the 11 songs, but none of these originals is likely to join the standard blues repertoire.

This is a well produced disc with a sharp rhythm section accented by horns on almost every track and sweet backup vocals from the ladies that contrast nicely with Blues Boy's gravelly voice. His vocals are one of the highlights of the album, he often sounds remarkably like B.B. King. The lyrics are on the humorous side, and the opening track "I'm gonna marry my mother-in-law" is quite racy.