| CD REVIEW |
| BLUES ALLIANCE - BLUES ALLIANCE (2003) |
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| This is one of the most interesting CDs to surface on the scene in 2003. It's comprised mostly of tracks that were not only unfamiliar to me but were absolutely untraceable, where their composer or original recording artist was concerned. One thing, for sure, though, is that, individually, they encompass just about every style of blues and rhythm and blues imaginable, although I preferred the piano-dominated tracks. In particular, the two songs I was familiar with - "I Think I Love You Too Much" (written by Mark Knopfler and recorded by the Jeff Healey Band on the 1990 release of Hell to Pay) and Johnny "Guitar" Watson's "In the Middle of the Night" - give guitarist Steve Cavanaugh (now an official Blues Alliance band member) an opportunity to add an extraordinary dimension to this multi-faceted roster of talent. If the very first track, "Coming Down with the Blues" (Lucky Lopez & The Jazz Prophets), doesn't immediately grab you, with those ball-bustin' vocals of Laurie Johnson (a musical equivalent of wartime pin-up girl Rita Hayworth), then your psyche is in a very severe state of disrepair! This is her strongest performance on the CD, however, as her vocals gradually lose that extra "oomph" along the way. The snappy R&B of "Voodoo Man" (not the same song as that by pianist Henry Butler) is followed by the above-mentioned "I Think I Love You Too Much", with Doug Skoog on lead vocals that are not quite as strong as those of Healey's, but pleasant enough. This blues classic was also recorded by Bernard Allison, the son of one of my blues heroes, the late Luther Allison, on his 2000 Storms of Life CD. Doug Skoog, who is one of the best keys man I've heard in a while, was formerly with the Blue Tale Fly Band, a back-up band for James Cotton, and the opening act for Siegel Schwall Band, John Prime, Sam Lay, and Legendary Blues Band with Pine Top Perkins. (I've been trying unsuccessfully to locate a copy of "Say Seigel-Schwall", featuring "I'm a Kingbee", for a couple of decades now!) The legendary (also deceased) Johnny "Guitar" Watson is then given a brilliant, but overly-long, nod on "In the Middle of the Night", where Doug Skoog, alternating with Laurier on lead vocals, shines on B-3. Next up is a bit of a manic rumba with a very '60s guitar chord progression, called "Teardrops on My Pillow", which may or not be the same song recorded by '50s songstress Sunny Gale. Considering it is followed by an equally dorky "Satisfy Susy", with Billy Barner on lead vocals, I wouldn't doubt it. Somehow I can't even imagine Johnny Winter (the composer) performing it. Weirdly enough, though, it was one of the tracks that kept repeating itself in my head after the CD was finished playing. "The Feeling Music Brings", possibly a Susan Tedeschi cover, is a Freddie King/Albert Collins kind of gospel shuffle preceding the especially likeable "Little by Little", with its British Blues swaggering bass groove, tripleted piano noodling and heavy drum rolling. "Broken Motor Mount" is a delightfully upbeat jazz-piano/funk-guitar instrumental that seems strangely incongruous with its title, which brings to mind a rather blues-rendering situation. "Buh Bye Baby" is representative of the Cajun contingent of the blues spectrum and features some rather svelte slide guitar strains - very nice melody and rhythm. "Someday Baby" is a typical West Coast swing that should not be confused with the song of the same name recorded by Sleepy John Estes and John Hammond and later modified somewhat by Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead. Doug's lead vocals are complemented by Laurie, as well as Blues Alliance's topnotch rhythm section - bassist Doug Fulcher (musically associated with some fairly heavy bluesmen, as well as Swampfire, Cameo, The David Brewer Band, Rhythm Gypsies and Hammer) and award-winning drummer Billy Barner (The Sultans, The Centrx, Nicole Fournier, the Great Pretenders, Tanglefoot and Hometown Blues Band, etc.). There's no doubting that Blues Alliance is a "smooth" operation that provides a refreshing change for someone who has tired of listening to the "same old, same old". For more info, visit www.bluesalliance.net. |
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