Peter Veteska & Blues Train Grass Ain't Greener On the Other Side

Peter Veteska & Blues Train
Grass Ain't Greener On the Other Side
Self-Produced

A native New Yorker, guitarist Peter Veteska was initially inspired by Derek & the Dominoes and the Allman Brothers' blues-influenced rock. As his tastes grew towards jazz and funk, he has delved more into the blues with some rock tinges in the past few years. "Grass Ain't Greener …" is his most recent recording (the 5th with the Blues Train). The Blues Train consists of bassist Coo Moe Jhee and drummer Alex D'Agnese. Jeff Levine appears on keyboards with guest appearances from Mikey Jr. on harmonica, Jen Barnes on vocals, and Roger Girke on guitar. Veteska wrote 6 of the ten songs.

This recording is a well-recorded, solidly played blues recording. Things open up with Mikey Jr. adding some powerful harp behind Veteska on "Am I Wrong Pretty Baby." Veteska shows himself to be a capable, gritty and appealing singer who invests plenty of fervor into his vocals. His fretwork is also noteworthy with a touch of his swing set against the hard groove the rhythm set while Levine adds some Chicken Fried grease with his organ solo here and elsewhere. Against a blues-rock shuffle group, Veteska and Jen Barnes revive the Brooks Benton-Dinah Washington classic, "Baby You've Got What It Takes." Barnes has quite an attractive singing style that meshes with Veteska while the band lays down a chugging groove.

Against the tough band performances, "I've Been Missing You" is a change of pace as Veteska unplugs and pours his heart into missing his love. "Learning the Blues" has a jazzy lounge feel, although Veteska is less convincing as a crooner than his singing elsewhere. "Thinking and Drinking" is a relaxed rocking blues with inspired guitar playing, while Roger Girke adds his guitar to the spicy revival of Ray Charles' "Heartbreaker."

Veleska imaginatively covers Willie Cobbs' "You Don't Love Me," with a touch of funk added to the groove. The title track is blues-rock with some Hendrix-styled wah-wah's guitar. If not to this writer's taste, it may be to your liking. In any event, this writer was impressed by Peter Veteska's imaginative and inventive guitar playing, passionate singing, and top-notch backing musicians.

I received my review copy from a publicist. Here is a video of Peter Veteska & Blues Train performing.