Albums reviews

to that found in the theme tune of The Odd Couple; to the current paucity of shops in many a high street with High Street Lament, a piano led blues backed by a sombre saxophone and melancholy, fateful trumpet, underpinned by slow brushwork and bass .The current government’s health guidelines Five Portions A Day. Is a more optimistic calypso flavoured swaying trumpet and saxophone outing. A very nice little mover and groover is found on Messin’ Around With The Blues, the upbeat drum work is matched with a lively piano and trilling trumpet which is joined by swaying saxophones. The current line-up includes Kit Packham: lead vocals, alto and tenor saxophones, Perry White: keyboards, Olly Blanchflower: double bass, Kenrick Rowe: drums, Steve Knight: guitar, Simon Da Silva: trumpet and last but least Tracy Mendham: tenor and baritone saxophones. Ordinary subjects and classic rhythms are happily combined to achieve an enjoyably relevant and contemporary sound as in the witty and saucy Not That Kind Of Swinger, Kit amusingly recounts the confusion a musician encounters when he answers the wrong kind of advert. The rolling rumba of This Old Dog, re-affirms that you are never too old to learn, the album finishes with a fine rendition of Ain’t Nobody Here Except Us Chickens brian harMan

Joost De Lange

crazY TiMes independent

This is the third album that Joost de Lange and his band Rock/Blues Experience have released. Joost is well known in the Benelux area though, as before putting this combo together he was part of well-known Dutch band Yes You Did and was involved in recording five albums with them. The other members here also played in that band at various times. Calling the band Rock/Blues Experience clearly tells you what to expect here, a mix of blues and classic rock over ten tracks played with pride. steve yOurglivCh

This is none more evident than on album opener Leave This Town, decent vocals and good guitar breaks setting down a marker for the album as a whole. It’s clear that despite being quite a young band there is some experience at work here. A lot of the excesses and clichés of the genre are avoided and there is variation and some good song writing on display. Reach Your Goal opens with some nice crunchy bass lines and is a slower paced tempo that I personally found the band sounded better in. This is followed by the ballad, Memories and then Crazy Thing that includes a lovely bit of blues guitar mid-song. An instrumental, Sitting By The Lake slows things down nicely again. The penultimate track, Turn Me On is a bit generic but really hit’s a groove and is fun before we get an out and out rock’n’roller in Divine bringing the album to a close. This isn’t going to catapult the band into international recognition but it’s a carefully constructed collection of songs that I can imagine are super live. The two guitars never obstruct each other but it would be nice to know what leads were Joost and which were Dennis Van de Bor. The band is completed by Robbin Van de Bor (Bass) and Roland Baak (drums). I haven’t heard the previous albums but look forward to the next one as I get the feeling this is a band that is still trying to develop its own sound.

PETE cORNELIUS

grOundswell only blues music

Tasmanian Cornelius recorded this album almost entirely live in a neighbour’s house in Elephant Pass. And it shows in that the emotional force between artist’s heart and listener’s ear ie you get what he’s trying to say, a smart decision in my opinion. Cornelius made his name fronting a hard rockin’ Texas blues unit, The DeVilles a la guitar slinger. But on this and the predecessor Tumbleweed, he has settled into a more mellow style away from guitar solos and Texas raunch. Not to say there are no moments of real guitar fire. The Hendrix style solo on Repo Man, shows where he’s coming from. The New Orleans inspired opener Drinking The Blues, or the cute Goodnight My Love (a lullaby to his new young daughter), show what a warm song-writer he is. Like his contempories, Cornelius’s voice is a perfect foil for his guitar playing, like on closer, the acoustic Strong Suit, wouldn’t surprise me to see that covered. His slight country lilt comes across on the Meters-like Talkin’ ‘Bout New Orleans or the sinewy lope of Cold Water. His playing, and that of the band, is nicely balanced against the song writing and vocals across the album. Showing great imagination and great fretwork, I have no hesitation in recommending you visit www.petercornelius. com and purchase a copy.

Clive rawlings

kAT & cO

i KaT The blues tonetrade

KAT & Co’s debut album is an album of contrasts, of light and shade. At times, there is intensity, a brood menace. At others, sheer joy. New Spleen Blues starts the album in a dark vein, with a slow, sinister, funky groove, but, first contrast, one punctuated by light, cool guitar. Not My Fault is a romantic lament for the widowed elderly, but manages to be surprisingly upbeat. Payin’ My Dues is an inspired verbal duel between Kat and her no-good wastrel musician partner in the distinguished shape of Mud Morganfield. Kat in looks and (at times) vocals has similarities to Eartha Kitt and this comes through on songs like Iron Rose, which is a cheerful, good old-fashioned R ‘n’ B romp. Make It Rain has keys very reminiscent of a slower take on Tom Jones’ Mama Told Me Not To Come, and in its own way is as memorable a song. Tired Of Tryin’ sparkles, and The Scene, with Lil’ Jimmy Reed and Chad Strentz is another excellent collaboration, with really impactful vocals and sweet guitar. In conclusion? KAT & Co and their contrasts are worth catching.

Darren weale

LES LUckY freTs & haMMers

red Kat gareth hayes

This is New York City-based Les Lucky’s debut CD and it is in parts cheerful and easy, and in others poignant and personal. A one-man show suggests an album of sparse numbers but it’s actually quite full and buoyant. Lucky wrote all the songs, does all the singing and plays all the instruments. Delighting in misery one minute, Everything’s Gone Wrong, and being enthusiastically optimistic the next, Goin’ To See My Baby, suggests a rollercoaster of euphoria and depression but it never gets to those excesses and simply rolls from happy to sad, and back. The are many derivative colours on offer with J.J. Cale evident in When The Deal Goes Down, a bit of B.B. King on Stop Talkin’ Around It, and a bit of Eric Clapton in Wonderful Tonight mode with You Win Again, Jen. Undeniably hard-working it is a shame that the strangely titled album, and his own moniker may end up being his major drawback.

Phillip Henry And Hannah Martin

MYnd

Dragonfly records

If I tell you this couple were discovered busking in Devon by Show of Hands’ Steve Knightley and that they are the current incumbents of the Best Folk Title in the South West

Music Awards, you’ll guess where they’re coming from. Henry and Martin are one of the most sought after roots acts around at the moment. Multi- instrumentalists, Henry is widely known in those circles for his prowess on slide guitar. So, onto the album, which contains songs that will stay long in the memory, which is convenient, as Mynd is old English for memory. What we have is a subtle collection of songs from a bygone age, given an atmospheric, beautiful interpretation by this talented couple. In praising Henry, I should add that Hannah is no slouch when it comes to contributing. Besides singing, she plays fiddle, guitar and banjo. Along with anti-war songs Whitsun Dance and Banks Of The Nile (the references, as Phillip points out, could be changed from Egypt to Afghanistan or Iraq), there is a heartfelt tribute to journalist Marie Colvin, Last Broadcast. Along with the traditional material and original compositions, the CD closes with their take on James Taylor’s Close Your Eyes. Have to admit to being sceptical when this arrived, but for sheer originality, musicianship and class, thoroughly recommended to folk/roots purists.

Clive rawlings

TONY McLOUGHLIN

The cOnTender

Wild eye records

Tony has produced a CD of style and substance, with thirteen self-penned tracks making this an album that shines out in the overcrowded market place of singer/songwriter Americana genre; but this is a CD with a bit of grit making this a pearl among the pack in the oyster-bed. This is Tony’s fifth album and really delivers great rock infused music with a twist of Tom Petty and more than tipping his hat to Springsteen due to the telecaster impregnated tones that are firmly based in the contemporary roots sound. Despite the obvious

CONTINUES OVER...

Samantha Fish

blacK wind hOwlin’ ruf records liz aiken

From the first guitar chord Samantha and her guitar takes you on a bluesy rockin’ journey that is going to be fun. Samantha Fish achieves this with a compelling blend of strong guitar licks, melodic vocals and lyrics that blend and strengthen the package.

The stormy title track Black Wind Howlin’ certainly sets the tone and you are in for a stormy ride throughout the 12 tracks that are all classic guitar-slinger driven blues. The CD works so well due to Samantha’s clear vocals with every word articulated with a clarity that matches the skill of the guitar. Miles To Go the opener, is one that I am sure we can all relate to when there is still miles to go and the clock is against you.

This is not a one style fits all; she has produced an album with the collaboration of Mike Zito that covers all the bases with the balladry of Over To You and the clear country strum in Last September.

The powerful duet on Go To Hell, with Mike Zito joining the party with guitars and voice doing battle adds another layer of textures and tones this is my favourite track, or is it. In fact it could be any one of the twelve depending on my mood. This is Southern Rock Blues, a little bit mean, a little bit country and definitely a huge dollop of rock blues creating a weather vane of sound as the wind changes direction and the tonal range shifts. This is an up-beat, up-tempo CD that brightens the mood and makes you want to party.