| CD REVIEW |
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| This Seattle band is comprised of five well-seasoned male musicians (Richard Stockton, Joel Sanders, Craig Brown, Ray Hartman, and Tom Jones) and Tom�s 21-year-old daughter, Stacy, making her d�but recording appearance on piano, harmonica and vocals. Admitting to a strong obsession with vocals, I feel obliged to �tell it like it is�, at least to my own ears. Although just about everyone except Tom (who produced the CD, with saxman Raven Humphres engineering it) takes a turn on lead vocals, Richard Stockton is really the only one who�s got the �stuff� to carry it off. His rich baritone is absolutely spine-tingling, especially on Gaye Adegbalolo�s �The Blues Is in the House�, with Stacy alternating on lead vocals. On this particular track, she is actually reminiscent of two of Janis Joplin�s finer recordings - �Turtle Blues� and �Little Girl Blue�- but, unlike Janis, Stacy�s vocals just aren�t coming from the right place within. She�s definitely got that raw feel for the blues when playing harmonica, though. She opens the CD with Marcia Ball�s �Louella� impressively enough, but her keyboard noodling is what stands out as her forte here. Ray Hartman takes a vocal turn on �Leavin� Here� (unknown composer), a snappy psychedelic-pop guitar-organ interaction that gets you pumped up before the letdown of �It Hurts So Bad� (Tom Hartman). The composition itself is fine, but Stacy�s vocals on this one had me physically cringing. While I could not determine what would cause so many off-key notes (that aren�t heard elsewhere), a musician friend of mine suggested that Stacy might have been trying for a style of stretching the notes that she is not yet experienced enough to accomplish. Perhaps the decision not to do a retake on this one was a �reality� check on Dad�s part. Several of the blues and R&B masters are covered in their excellent repertoire - Taj Mahal�s �Good Morning, Miss Brown�, Percy Mayfield�s �Please Send Me Someone to Love�, Junior Wells� �Little By Little� and �Messin� with the Kid�. It�s pretty obvious that the backing band members are right into the R&B style of playing, though, as their tightness really showed on these two selections. Drummer Joel, accompanied by Stacy, takes the lead mic on the aforementioned �Tell It Like It Is� (Davis/Diamond), a classic pushed to the edge by Seattle�s Heart, and also recorded by Aaron Neville and Andy Williams. While Joel�s vocals are not as strong as his wrists, they are pleasant enough. Jimmy Reed is paid a fine tribute on �Baby, What You Want Me To Do� (a.k.a. �Peepin� and Hidin�), with splendid guitarists Craig and Richard trading licks and Stacy sailing (but not quite wailing) on harmonica and lead vocals. Ray plays some great bass lines here, but outdoes himself on the following instrumental track � �Pipeline� � a surf guitar classic, with Craig Brown doing the psychedelic wah-wah, full-on drumstick assault by Joel and Stacy adding an organ-ic layering. Excellent musicianship here! Richard gets down and dirty on vocals and guitar on the sensual �Lucinda� (which has made me a new fan of the highly under-rated Randy Newman), with Craig and Stacy no doubt inspiring him with some sleazy slide guitar, piano and harmonica. This one is my overall favourite track! John Prine, another admirable singer-songwriter-guitarist, is given a nod on �Angel from Montgomery�, again with Craig on appropriately mournful slide guitar. I�ve got to admire Stacy for even attempting vocals on this, after Bonnie Raitt appropriated it from John. While Bonnie�s one of my favourite vocalists, it always did irk me the way she delayed that �hard way to go� ending of the chorus line, unlike Stacy, who sticks to John�s version. Muddy Waters� harp-player Little Walter (Jacobs) is paid an instrumental tribute on �Juke�, which further endeared me to this group of players. Not to be left out on the microphone, Craig takes a vocal stab at R&B-master Sam Cooke�s �Bring It On Home To Me�, but, really, I think he should stick to what he excels at � playing guitar. With the exception of �It Hurts So Bad�, it�s actually not a bad recording project at all, and just because certain vocals didn�t appeal to me personally, that doesn�t mean they wouldn�t sound good to someone else. |
| THE STACY JONES BAND - THE STACY JONES BAND |
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