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| Upon hearing the first few seconds of the title (and opening) track, I was amazed at the similarity to another favourite slide guitar player of mine - Paul Fenton, from Ottawa. This comparison is reinforced on "Ain't Gonna Quit You", although, unlike Mr. Coombs, Paul Fenton is (surprisingly) rarely accompanied on harmonica, forcefully provided here by Les Smith. Both men have obviously been schooled by the late Delta blues masters Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters (with Little Walter on harmonica), Elmore James, Mississippi Fred McDowell and John Lee Hooker, to whom this CD is dedicated) and their blues-rock successors, Rory Gallagher, Duane Allman, George Thorogood, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Johnny Winters. Paul Coombs, along with fellow ace lead/rhythm guitarist Andrew Hill, does not restrict himself to blistering blues-rock ("Can't Change You", "Nobody But You") or the quintessential slow-blues ("Blues in G Minor"). In testimony to this is the West Coast shuffle of "Have a Drink" (exempified in Canada by the Powder Blues Band), the guitar-funky "I Wanna Make You Mine" or the gospel-tinged "Leave You Be" (admittedly, a little too mushy for me), nicely backed up vocally by Tamica Herod & Donna Panchezak (Trickbag). Other Trickbag bandmates appearing on Feeling Better are keyboardist Bob Malaryk and Paul Panchezak (alternating with Russ Watson on drums, as well as congas and percussion). Solidly filling out the bottom end is John Simon on bass (Billy Berman is his live gig bass player). I was also delighted to see (and hear) that Paul Coombs gave my favourite Elmore James song ("Shake Your Money Maker") the same manic slide guitar treatment as punk-blues pioneer Paul Fenton did way back in the '70s. Bob Malaryk and Andrew Hill build a terrific wall of sound on "Crazy About You" and the entire band's showcase track is "Boom Boom", just one of many classic blues songs by John Lee Hooker, who died the day after I moved to Hamilton from Toronto. Paul Coombs has played numerous venues in the Greater Hamilton area, and I recently made his acquaintance at the July 27 Sunday outdoor blues jam, with Ancaster "drummer with attitude" Giulio Di Berardo. The jam is sponsored by the upscale Flamborough Patio Furniture (www.flamboroughpatio.com) outlet in Ancaster, which markets some rather unusual lawn ornaments. It is operated by Glen Hautamaki, an associate of Hamilton musician Ray Lyell and inventor of a multi-layered guitar pick, which seems to have received mixed reviews from the musicians I've spoken with about it. The CD was produced at Escarpment Sound Studios, home to other great musicians like David Gillis, The Goodfellas, Kim Stockwood, Laura Bird, Michael Pickett, Michael Branton, Mark Laforme, etc. This studio also produces a band called Kick-Ass Knights that sounds very intruiging... Paul Coombs will be making a return appearance at the 4th Annual Locke Street Festival in Hamilton this year, on September 13/03. Prepare to get your Madison Blues shoes knocked right off your feet! |
| FEELING BETTER - PAUL COOMBS |
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