Just For Today reviewed by Rick Davis

Just For Today

Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters

Stony Plain Records

13 Tracks

With every new album, Ronnie Earl continues to set the bar higher and higher, meeting and exceeding fan expectations with his soulful, emotional blues guitar style. On all of his albums, Ronnie’s instrumentals capture that intense style like no other blues artist that has performed both live and in the studio. His latest release Just for Today is no exception, showcasing his guitar style with almost a total concentration of instrumental tunes. Listening to his masterful guitar phrasing, it takes his listeners to another world, almost placing an audience in a hypnotic trans. His unique guitar style is an influence from so many blues artists that he has worked with over the years before he established his own band Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters in 1988.

This intense and deeply soulful instrumental guitar style was inspired by the blues legends like Muddy Waters, T-Bone Walker, Big Walter Horton, Freddie King, B.B. King, Otis Rush, and The Fabulous Thunderbirds. Along the way, he worked with such greats as Carlos Santana, Eric Clapton, Earl King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Allman Brothers, Sunnyland Slim, Koko Taylor, Jerry Portnoy, Earl King, Jimmy Rogers, Kim Wilson, Darrell Nulisch, Sugar Ray Norcia, and Jimmy Witherspoon as well as several of the musicians that inspired him early on. Early in his career, he performed with groups like Johnny Nicholas and the Rhythm Rockers, Sugar Ray and the Blue Tones, and the all-star line-ups that followed with Roomful Of Blues from 1979-1988. Ronnie continues to carry that torch from his influences in his music today.

Just for Today, is the seventh album for Ronnie Earl on the Stony Plain label and a follow up to widely acclaimed 2010 release, Spread the Love. The new CD is recorded live from The Regent Theatre in Arlington, The Natick Center for the Arts in Natick, and The Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River, venues all located in his home state of Massachusetts. Celebrating Ronnie's 25th year as Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters are long-time Broadcasters’ members Lorne Entress on drums, Dave Limina on piano and Hammond B3, and Jim Mouradian on bass. Joining this veteran cast is singer Diane Blue as a special guest vocalist on the Bill Foster, Ellington Jordan tune "I'd Rather Go Blind" first recorded by Etta James in 1967. Also joining the band is Nicholas Tabarias on guitar, accompanying Ronnie on the tribute song to Otis Rush "Rush Hour" and the original tune "Jukein'." Ronnie pays tribute to other artists and mentors by honoring Hubert Sumlin with the original tune "Blues For Hubert Sumlin," Robert Nighthawk with another original "Robert Nighthawk Stomp," as well as the cover song "Equinox" as a tribute to John Coltrane. They open the show by rockin' the house with the original instrumental "The Big Train." Ronnie is so painfully soulful on the second instrumental "Blues For Celie," that he will pierce your heart with his passionate guitar solos. The band will rival any Carlos Santana instrumental with the tune "Miracle." "Heart Of Glass" is as smooth as glass and note for note one of the best he has performed. Dave Limina takes center stage with his opening piano solos on the original boogie woogie classic "Vernice's Boogie" and the Porter Grainger, Everett Robbins tune "Ain't Nobody's Business. Just for Today concludes with a stellar performance by the entire band on the Ronnie Earl tune "Pastorale."

This is as nearly perfect a soundboard recording as you will hear on any live or studio album. The soundboard team creates a center stage, front row seat for this series of live performances. Ronnie Earl seems to be at the height of his career with this collection of live recordings. It is my only hope there will be many more albums to follow. Just for Today will be hard to match.

Independently Blue reviewed by Rick Davis

Independently Blue

The Duke Robillard Band

Stony Plain Records

12 Tracks

For over four decades, Duke Robillard has earned titles like teacher, guitarist, bandleader, songwriter, singer, producer, session musician, and blues advocate. His musical journey began in 1967 when he and Al Copley formed Roomful of Blues in Westerly, Rhode Island. The band was able to accompany their musical paragons Big Joe Turner and Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson on record and in live shows.

When he left Roomful of Blues after 12 years, he worked with rockabilly king Robert Gordon, the Legendary Blues Band, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Ronnie Earl, Jimmy Witherspoon, Tom Waits, Kansas City piano king Jay McShann, Billy Boy Arnold and Rosco Gordon, the Canadian band The Rockin’ Highliners, Dr. John, Maria Muldaur, and the jazz legend Herb Ellis. He also did studio work with Bob Dylan, Ruth Brown, Johnny Adams, John Hammond, Pinetop Perkins, and most recently with Sunny Crownover.

Joining Duke on his newest release are Monster Mike Welch on acoustic and electric guitars, Bruce Bears on piano, Brad Hallen on acoustic and electric bass, and Max Teixeira on drums and percussion, and the horns of Doug Woolverton and Billy Novick.

Independently Blue opens with two tunes "I Wouldn't-a Done That" and "Below Zero" that take advantage of the songwriting abilities of former Roomful of Blues band mate Al Basile. Duke delivers more a Jimmy Vaughan/Texas style guitar performance on "I Wouldn't-a Done That" and "Below Zero" that he co wrote with Basile. Mike Welch and Duke team up for a dynamic guitar duo heard throughout the CD especially on "Stapled to the Chicken’s Back," an instrumental written by Monster Mike Welch. To add a little variety, the band takes you down to the streets of New Orleans with the dixieland tune "Patrol Wagon Blues" recorded originally by Red Allen. The album takes yet another turn with the rock "n" roll fueled "Laurene."  The haunting, spiritual tune "Moongate," is another Robillard original inspired by a visit to a mysterious 19th century mansion in the Berkshire Mountains. Al Basile contributed yet another tune to the mix titled "I'm Still Laughing."  On the second instrumental "Strollin With Lowell and BB," Duke dazzles listeners with guitar styles similar to both blues guitar legends. Another original tune "You Won't Ever" features the superb trumpet solos of Doug Woolverton, reminiscent of the jazz fusion trumpet player Bill Chase. The sleepy, midnight jazz tune "This Man, This Monster," written by Mike Welch, features the rich sounds of both Mike and Duke on guitar. "Groovin' Slow" delivers once again, dueling guitar styles from Mike and Duke.  On the final tune "If this is Love," Duke regenerates that West Coast guitar sound created by Hollywood Fats and his Gibson guitar. Muddy Waters once told Duke Robillard "If I had you and Fats (Hollywood Fats) in my band I'd rule the world."

Few blues performers have had the good fortune to enjoy the career and work with the number of legendary performers that Duke Robillard has experienced. He seems to currently be at the pinnacle of his professional career. Independently Blue is a testament to that statement.

Reviewed by Rick Davis

Six Pack of Cool reviewed by Steve Jones

Six Pack of Cool

Big Papa and the TCB

Inland Blue Records

www.bptcb.com

13 tracks

I first heard this band at the now closed restaurant and seafood Shop in Redlands, California.  This was my regular stop every trip to Redlands, which was a frequent event in my life for over four years. I had heard a couple of piano players there, but one day this band starts setting and they began to swing and bop and make some great sounds.  I picked up their homemade CD and I have been on their mailing list since that first day I saw them.   I saw them one more time, but being a Socal, Inland Empire fixture with my business there now complete I figured I probably would not run into them again soon.

Well, the CD came in the mail for review and I immediately knew who these guys were.  Think a slightly stripped down version of Roomful of Blues with a little West Coast flair and you have Big Papa and the TCB,  Chris Thayer fronts the band, plays guitar and wrote all or part of all but one track.  He’s got a great presence and his vocals really sell each cut.  Steve Brown on bass, Ray Wilson on drums, John Mila De La Roca on piano, Maurice Oliva on sax, and Marques Crew in trumpet really deliver a tight and solid sound; I love these guys!

Tracks like “A Lil Bit O’ Somethin’” showcase each artist as they jump and swing.  The solos are great, their “togetherness” is impressive and they just make you want to dance.  “Papa’s in the House” opens the album and serves as a great intro to these guys; the call and response, vocals and solos showcase the great talents here.  Very T-Bone Walker-like stuff, yet fresh and cool. “Drink Drank Drunk” bemoans a bad night on the town that ends in the slammer, but it’s a fun ride; the sax on this cut is really sweet. “Big Bad Blues” adds a trombone to the horns and they just blow a big and groovy sound, more great solos all over the place! “My Way Back Home” closes; very scaled down with just vocals, piano and cupped trumpet.  Quite moving. “Showtime” has the boys in an all-out instrumental, no holds barred– superb!  The one cover is Honey Piazza’s “Murder in the First Degree” and they take the Mighty Flyers song and make it their own– great cover!

If you like jump blues then go buy this CD.  The horns are great, the piano is outstanding, the guitar is spectacular and the vocals are superb.  You won’t regret “discovering” this band!

Reviewed by Steve Jones

Little Big Man reviewed by Rick Davis

Little Big Man

Geoff Achison

Jupiter Records

17 Tracks

Geoff Achison is a native of South East Australia where he has practiced and performed guitar from an early age. His first gig was playing lead guitar with one of Melbourne's top blues bands Dutch Tilders & The Blues Club. In 1995, he was the representative for the Melbourne Blues Society at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis and won the Albert King Award for his outstanding guitar skills. After touring five years in his native country of Australia, he decided to take his music a different direction with his own band The Souldiggers in 1998. To date, he has been touring Australia, Europe, and the U.S. delivering his own brand of electric blues guitar. Geoff has also been working as a guitar instructor at the Fur Peace Ranch in Ohio with the support of the owner Jorma Kaukonen, former member of The Jefferson Airplane band and Hot Tuna.

His latest release is Little Big Man, features Geoff on vocals and guitar, Mal Logan on keyboards, Roger McLachlan on bass, Gerry Pantazis on drums, James Mack on percussion, and Nikki Nichols handling the backing vocals. Bonus tracks "Kerry Lou" and "Chance" feature the horn section of Paul Williamson on saxophone, Tibo Gyapjas on trumpet, and David Palmer on Trombone.  The album is like an expensive cocktail, blended with blues, jazz, funk, world, Latin, and soul and served as an addictive musical extravaganza to be enjoyed over and over again. This is some of the most eclectic music that I have had the pleasure to review. You will never hear the same guitar style on any two songs making him one of the most distinctive and creative guitar players in the business.  From the funky tune "Happening" to the burning blues number "Feel Like A King," this all-star band will take you on a journey that you can only hope will never end. "Never Give It Up" is a standout on the album with all the elements of Reggae, jazz, and funk.

Geoff Achison and the Souldiggers certainly are not afraid to break new ground, search for new avenues, and create original music all their own. Each song on Little Big Man flows flawlessly to the other with common treads weaving them all together into a musical masterpiece. This is a surprising good band that is definitely worth checking out.

Reviewed by Rick Davis

Rolling Soul reviewed by Steve Jones

Rolling Soul

Hadden Sayers

Blue Corn Music

haddensayers.com

12 tracks

Hadden Sayers return to the limelight with 2011’s Hard Dollar put him squarely in position to relaunch his career.  On the album was the cut "Back to the Blues;" it was nominated for the Song of the Year Award at the 33rd Annual Blues Music Awards and, in fact, was my favorite new song in 2011.  I was excited to get Hadden’s new CD in the mail to review and I was not disappointed when I listened to it– it is another big hit!

Ruthie Foster returns to guest on a track.  “Lay Down You Worries” was written while Sayers was in Cancun.  The song reflects that the people in one’s life is what is most important to us.  Foster and Sayers were made to sing together.  They compliment each other so well and get into a groove together that is so natural and easy to listen to.

Sayers write a love letter to his wife in “The Man I Am Supposed to Be.”  Parts of it remind almost me of “Back to the Blues” wit it’s homey and loving charm.  Sayers can really emote in his work, something that impressed me so much in Hard Dollar and again in this CD. The opening track “Don’t Take Your Love Out on Me” has Sayer’s growling out a tune focusing on the other side of a relationship and has a blistering guitar lead and solo that was passionate.

“Tippin’ In” is a swinging tune, with Hadden bopping and bouncing as he flips over his gal as is "Crazy enough;" Sayers can make you want to dance or cry oh so effectively.  The closing tune “Can’t Get You Off of My Mind” blends some sweet sounding slide into the mix and Sayers gives us another solid performance.  “Insomniac Blues” takes it slow and Sayers strips it down effectively.  He groans out the tune as he yearns for his women.  In “Alone With the Blues” I wanted to male sure he had no sharp objects near by as he bares some very dark emotions.  Very edgy and cool!!

All the cuts here are great. Sayers has another solid effort and once again has delivered a killer CD for us to enjoy.  I really recommend this one!'

Reviewed by Steve Jones

Get It! reviewed by Steve Jones

Get It!

Tinsley Ellis

Heart Fixer Music

www.tinsleyellis.com

10 tracks

Tinsley Ellis is known for his fiery guitar and soulful vocals, but the Atlanta native has decided to forsake the vocals and go with a straight up instrumental album.  He gives us eight new songs and a couple of interesting covers; we can still hear his “voice” in the superb guitar play throughout.  After eleven disks and a long solo career, he returns to his roots with the Heartfixers and he showcases a variety of guitars and styles that he has loved and absorbed over the years.  I was impressed and sat their listening intently to each track as they came up; this is perhaps the best he’s ever done on record, at least in my humble opinion.  Thoughtful and touching at times, evocative and wild at others, Ellis shows us the full range of emotions through the voice of his guitar and with some assistance from his great band here.

Ellis opens in Albert Collins style with “Front Street Freeze;” he gets funky on his Strat and Leslie, with the charm and flavors of Albert’s tone and style.  It is a well done tribute with an authentic sound done in an original and tasteful manner.  He sets the stage well for the listener and then gets with “Sassy Strat” he gets really into the funk and struts back and forth in this cool little number.

The “Milky Way” gives us the round, rich sound of, say, a Duane Eddy, but in a slow and thoughtful format.  The strings vibrate and are almost chilling as Ellis emotes and he describes the solemn loneliness of space as described by his guitar and Kevin McKendree’s organ work.  What a wonderful track!  He stays old school and follows that with Bob Diddley’s “Detour;” it’s a 12 bar romp where he does Bo at times and adds his own flair to give us a fun, hip shakin’ ride.  The echo and tone of his guitars (a 1967 ES-345 and a Leslie) is beautifully displayed.

“Anthem for a Fallen Hero” pays tribute to Roy Buchanan and he uses his Les Paul and Echoplex to deliver a solemn eulogy for Buchanan.  It’s is a stunningly impressive guitar attack as Ellis winds his way through the ballad and building on emotions with his guitar (along with the rest of the band).  It is a truly emotional piece.  He then shuffles into the title track Texas-style, a cool piece of work one would had expected from SRV or other Lone Star greats. He steps up the game even further with the blues rocking “Fuzzbuster” as his wah wah pedal gets a work out so he can give us one, too.

The album takes a turn as Ellis goes down a few notches in tempo with the wonderful cover “Freddy’s Midnight Dream.”  He adds some beautiful layers to this solemn piece with the organ and the keys and guitar give substance and meat to this song.  It goes almost church-like with the organ, and the rich guitar tones just sing out like a choir.  Magnificent!  “Berry Tossin’” pays homage to the great Chuck Berry.  Ellis throws Berry’s licks around effortlessly in a nice blues shuffle.  At times he seems to morph into Freddy King but then he’s back to Berry as the guitar rings out true.  Kudos to the piano work here, too.  The album concludes with “Catalunya” as Ellis takes a trip to Spain and gives us some nice electrified Spanish guitar influenced stuff.  This is something like Carlos Santana might write and play.  Evocative, stinging guitar notes climbing down the neck, the congas banging out a mellow thumping beat and Ellis just pulls up the covers for us and puts us and the album to bed as he completes our journey.

I used the term magnificent in the last paragraph.  I must say I rarely use that word with regard to blues albums.  Sumptuous foods and wines, massive symphonic pieces and stunning art work I might label as that but this album also allows me honestly use that adjective.  Ellis delivers his best work yet here.  He provides all the guitars here and plays bass on half the tracks.  Kevin McKendree on all keyboards adds depth and color to the mix.  His backing work is super as are his solos; I was very impressed with his efforts.  Lynn Williams provides all forms of drums and percussive support and Ted Pecchio is on bass on the other tracks.  It’s a solid quartet of musicians and the sound and production work is also spotless; McKendree did the production work.

Tinsley Ellis has stepped back into his roots and offers us a great look into the masters whom he respects and influenced him in his formative years (and who still influence him today).  Get It is an exciting and expressive album and Ellis proves that he can make his six string axe sing as well as a person.  If you don’t own any of Tinsley’s other disks, in my mind this would be the one to buy if you had to only have one.  I don’t recommend that owing only one of his disks is the best thing for your music collection (since he has a number of other great ones already to his credit), but this is my new favorite.  I highly recommend this CD become part of any blues fans’ collection!

Reviewed by Steve Jones

Secretly Famous reviewed by Harmonica Joe Poluyanskis

Secretly Famous

The Rev Jimmie Bratcher

Ain't Skreet Tunes

www.therevjb.com

12 tracks/41:48

“Secretly Famous” is Rev Jimmy Bratcher's 7th recording to be released. Yes, he is a real preacher when not performing. He does his work by reaching out to those in need and also performs his music for prison inmates. It is always interesting to find out how a blues artist got started in the world of music. At the age of 12 Bratcher decided that he wanted a guitar. His father decided to place an ad in the paper to find him a guitar This ad stated, “will trade 1958 DeSoto for guitar and amp”.This is where it all started as Jimmie ended up with a white Gibson SG Jr and a Gibson amp. On this CD he used this same guitar on 2 tunes, “I Can't Shake That Thing” and “Starting All Over Again”. The Rev is a solid blues rocker who has honed his musical skills and lyric writing to a high level over the years.

The opening tune on “Secretly Famous” is “Jupiter & Mars” which was co-written by Jimmie and his son, Jason. This song is just enough off color to make one why a preacher is doing it. Lyrics such as “blinding light, flash of chrome, hot- head blonde in a tricked out Ford”conjures up visions of this is just not right for a man of the clothe. But, it is all good as he plays the blues. This track introduces the rest of Bratcher's power trio. Along with Jimmie's vocals and mastered guitar style we are treated to Lester Estelle’s drum skills as well as a strong bass line from Craig Kew. Both are very capable players on their own music endeavors. “Check Your Blues at the Door” shuffles along with Jimmie playing solid blues guitar riffs and solos. His lyrics tell a tale of not bringing your toils and troubles into your home but leave them at the door. This is good advice as well as creating a song for the blues.

The Rev performs a solid cover of John D. Loudermilk's “Tobacco Road”. Estelle drives this track along on drums played clear and strong as Jimmie tells the tale with his vocals and guitar. This is another very enjoyable tune for “Secretly Famous”. Taking a more humorous vein is the catching song, “Bologna Man”, which is a story about something that maybe should not be called meat. “I like that meat that rhymes with pony” and “ I ain't too high class to eat that mess” gives you the idea what this is all about. This is a fun song with great vocals.

The Rev Jimmie Bratcher presents a strong picture of the blues with “Secretly Famous whether he is doing a shuffle, slow blues, rock blues or something else. This CD showcases his vocals, guitar playing and lyrics as he is backed up by a strong band that makes it very enjoyable music to listen to. I agree that a preacher can perform the blues and Rev Bratcher has done it. It is two thumbs up for “Secretly Famous”.