Jimmy Rogers With Ronnie Earl & The Broadcasters

Jimmy Rogers
Jimmy Rogers With Ronnie Earl & The Broadcasters
Bullseye Blues

In Spring 1978, this reviewer went to see J.B. Hutto at a New York club where he was accompanied by a Boston area band, Sugar Ray and the Bluetones which featured an excellent guitarist, Ronnie Earl Horvath. They did a splendid job of backing Hutto’s Chicago slide guitar blues, and Horvath even then showed his considerable guitar prowess. I bought an EP by the band which included a Horvath homage to Earl Hooker and several other blues done handsomely by Sugar Ray Norcia, Horvath and the band.

Over a decade later, Ronnie Earl, and Sugar Ray are caught live in Europe backing yet another Chicago blues legend, Jimmy Rogers, at a German concert. Joined by stellar pianist Dave Maxwell and a first rate rhythm section, Earl opens with hot tributes to Gatemouth Brown and Earl Hooker before letting Sugar Ray handle the vocal on The Same Old Blues. From then on, Jimmy Rogers, sounding remarkably youthful, reprises a number of his more celebrated songs including Rock This House, Gold Tailed Bird, Walking By Myself, and Left Me With a Broken Heart, with plenty of solo space for Earl, Sugar Ray and Maxwell, along with some nicely done breaks by Rogers himself.

There can be little fault with the playing, but compared with Rogers’ Chess singles, the focus of the songs becomes slightly diffused with the jamming. This is a matter of observation and taste, because this is what one will hear live if one sees Rogers with his own band. This might even have an edge over the fine Antone’s album by Rogers on which Kim Wilson’s harp dominates at certain places, and certainly an indication of how vital Rogers can still be.

I likely received my review copy from a publicist. This review originally appeared in the Septeember 1994 Jazz and Blues Report (Issue 194). Here is Jimmy Rogers performing in 1994.

Roomful Of Blues Dance All Night

Roomful Of Blues
Dance All Night
Bullseye Blues

I remember first hearing about Roomful of Blues from Big Joe Turner and Lloyd Glenn who had raved about them after being been backed by them. When their first album came out, I was impressed by their faithfulness to the originals, although they were derivative. In the decade and a half since, there have been some personnel changes, but they have maintained their commitment to the jump blues.

Today, the band exhibits more personality and individuality in its music. This is evident in the new album. Fronted by vocalist and harp player Sugar Ray Norcia, the album shows their incorporation of modern urban blues into their repertoire with nice versions of Little Milton’s That Will Never Do and Little Walter’s Up the Line. The Buddy and Ella Johnson classic I’m Just Your Fool and Lillie Mae, derived from a Smiley Lewis recording, are given first-rate readings.

Sugar Ray contributes some strong originals, and his relaxed delivery, reminiscent of Junior Parker, evinces his development as a fine blues vocalist. Chris Vachon ably handles the guitar, Matt McMabe pounds the 88s, and the horns of Bob Enos, Carl Querfurth, Greg Piccolo and Doug James rip through the ensemble parts and solos. This simply is superb jump blues.

I likely received my review copy from the record label. This is still available as a CD or download. This review originally appeared in the July-August 1994 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 193). Here is "Up The Line" from this album.

Michelle Wilson Evil Gal Blues

Michelle Wilson
Evil Gal Blues
Bullseye Blues

Michele Wilson and Evil Gal were the winners of The Memphis based Blues Foundation’s 1993 National Amateur Blues Talent Competition. Based on Evil Gal Blues, there can be little question that this woman can sing. A voice that generally is reminiscent of the Ruth Brown of the fifties, she also captures a bit of Dinah Washington on Cry Me a River, although without the nasal quality of Washington’s vocals. Listing to her handle Brown’s As Long As I’m Movin’, one might feel captured in a time warp. Her rendition of Dinah Washington’s Evil Gal Blues is refreshing, helped by superb, swinging arrangement that doesn’t clone Washington’s original with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra. The three saxophones of Evil Gal may lack the brass of Roomful of Blues, but they hit a groove just like their more celebrated New England jump blues revivalists. Evil Gal has a swinging rhythm section and adds its own personality to these performances. Whether updating Ella Johnson’s I’m Just Your Fool or Lavern Baker’s Voodoo Voodoo, Michelle Wilson’s voice is never strident or pretentious sounding, and her phrasing is relaxed and assured. The overall result is some first rate music. And, she is not afraid to sing ballads, as in her rendition of Cry Me a River. I approached this with a bit of skepticism, but there is not a duff note on a terrific debut recording.

Another vintage review This review originally appeared in the September 1994 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 194). I probably received a review copy from Bullseye Blues. Here is a recent performance of singing As Long As I’m Movin’.

 

Charles Brown Just A Lucky So And So

Charles Brown
Just A Lucky So And So
Bullseye Blues

Brown’s new Bullseye Blues album adds to the fine body of his recent recordings. The centerpiece of the backing is his excellent band with Danny Caron’s guitar, with its echoes of Oscar Moore as well as T-Bone Walker, and Clifford Solomon’s tenor saxophone, whose solos here show him to be the strongest horn player working in this idiom, with his solo on the remake of Black Nights, being particularly notable.

The big band charts add considerable punch with Wardell Querzergue’s arrangement on Drifting Blues building upon embellishments found in Johnny Otis’ treatment of the song. Song For Christmas is one of several non-blues and the strings add to Brown’s description of holiday times and spirits. Querzergue’s charts are never stodgy nor syrupy. Gloomy Sunday suggests Billie Holiday’s influence in how Brown delivers the vocal, although this performance sounds a tad lethargic. The Quintet shines on Danger with its New Orleans rhythms and superb solos from Caron and Solomon. Brown continues to show his considerable piano talent here and throughout the record.

There is no claim that this is Charles Brown’s best recent recording, but the handsome production insures that this is not simply more of the same (although excellent) music found on his recent albums.

I am pretty sure I received my review copy from Rounder Records at the time. This review appeared in the April 1994 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 190). Here is a love performance from Charles Brown and his band.

Davell Crawford's The B-3 & Me

Touted by some as the latest emerging New Orleans keyboard master, Davell Crawford’s second album for Rounder’s Bullseye Blues & Jazz, The B-3 & Me, presents a different side of his music than his earlier album, Let Them Talk. While that album showcased his vocals, rollicking piano and gospel influences, the present album features him in an organ trio. Crawford is joined by a couple of major young voices: saxophonist Clarence Johnson II and drummer Shannon Powell. Guitarist June Yamaguchi of the Wild Magnolias band plays on one track, Germaine Bazzle sings on one, and Henry Butler plays piano on another. Many of the songs are blues-based but the playing here is more forward looking than some similar albums. Johnson’s sometimes acerbic tone, which occasionally reaches to the saxophone’s upper range, is complimented by Crawfords’s chicken-fried organ. The trio sounds tight whether it takes the music into the alley or hits a hot bebop groove. Powell’s contributions cannot be underestimated as he propels the performances with shifting rhythmic accents along with a solid rhythmic pulse. In addition to original blues like Johnson’s Struttin’, and Crawford’s The Cat, the trio shows a particular affinity to Ray Charles as they go to church on the country classic, I Can’t Stop Loving You along with Hallelujah I Love Her So. Johnson sits out I Can’t Give You Anything But Love. The track with Butler on piano showcases not only that each is a master of the keyboards, but also how much they compliment each others solos. This review originally appeared in the April 1998 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 230). Davell will be having a new album coming on Basin Street Records in the not distant future which will be highly welcome as he has not had a nationally distributed recording in some time. He is Davell performing.

Wild Child Butler Knew These Mean Old Blues

These Mean Old Blues by George ‘Wild Child’ Butler appeared on Bullseye Blues in the early 1990s. The following review appeared in the June 1992 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 171), although I have made slight stylistic revisions. This release is still available as a CD or as digital downloads. I received my review copy from Rounder Records, Bullseye’s parent company. A fine set for harmonica blues fans, George ‘Wild Child’ Butler’s These Mean Old Blues (Bullseye Blues, are his first recordings since Funky Butt Lover in 1976 (now available on Rooster Blues). This London session captures some of the flavor of a Willie Dixon session. Some of these songs, The Devil Made Me Do It, and No One Woman’s Man, sound like songs Dixon wrote for Howlin’ Wolf. Butler is a capable, harmonica player who best suggests Sonny Boy Williamson, and he is a solid, ebullient, vocalist. He is particularly effective in a solo, country-blues mode (where he recalls the second Sonny Boy) such as on Walkin’ the Little Girl Home, where the mix of harp and narrative is very effective. Wild Child’s It’s a Pity is a nice Dixon-like topical minor-key blues. Wild Child Butler may not be among the first-rank of post-war blues singers or harp-players, but he puts on a good show, and makes a good record. Overall, this is a tasty blues morsel. Here is a video of the Wild Child performing.