Andrew Alli Hard Workin' Man

Andrew Alli
Hard Workin' Man
EllerSoul

Born in 1988 in Richmond, Virginia, Andrew Alli delivers a straight-ahead, no-frills collection of harmonica blues. Recorded at Jon Atkinson's Bigtone Studio, this is old-school blues in the vein of Little Walter and George "Harmonica" Smith. Backing Alli's vocals and harmonica are Atkinson on guitar and bass, Danny Michel on guitar, Carl Sonny Leyland on piano, and Devin Neel or Buddy Honeycutt on drums.

There is a no-nonsense quality to Alli's blues, starting with the title track where he proclaims with his robust tenor that he is a hard-working man and lays down some raw, amplified harmonica. This song is followed by a tight instrumental, "AA Boogie," and an excellent interpretation of George 'Harmonica' Smith's "Good Things, with biting guitar fills and cohesive rhythm. "Walter's Sun," is an instrumental performed in the manner of the recordings Walter Horton made for Sun Records and the Modern label before he moved to Chicago. Then there is Alli's original "30 Long Years," where he sings about being in this town for 30 years, but it feels like he has to break out. Alli lays down some chromatic harmonica on the rollicking instrumental "Chron-A-Thick," delivers a brisk tempo shuffle, "Easy Going Fellow," and solidly covers Little Walter's "One More Chance."

With strong originals and the complimentary backing provided for Andrew Alli's strong singing and robust harmonica, "Hard Workin' Man" is a splendid debut album.

I received my review copy from Ellersoul Records. Here is a brief preview of this recording.

Alabama Mike Hip You To My Blues

Alabama Mike
Hip You To My Blues
Big Tone Records

It was a surprise to learn about a new release by Alabama Mike (real name Michael A. Benjamin) on Big Jon Atkinson's new label. Alabama Mike's earlier recordings, such as those with The Andy T Band in 1997's "Double Strike," often displayed a gospel-rooted vocal style in the manner of Little Johnnie Taylor. This new release finds him in a down-home blues vein with a dose of Lightnin' Hopkins flavor along with some tracks that evoke early 50s Chicago flavor. This recording reflects Alabama Mike's long-burning desire to "do a record in the classic style of early electric blues pioneers… ." The backing musicians on this set of retro blues include Kim Wilson on harmonica, Big Jon Atkinson guitar, Danny Michel on guitar, Troy Sandow on bass, Kedar Roy on bass, Joe Lempkowski on harmonica, June Core on drums, Malachi Johnson on drums, Robert Welsh on keyboards, on retro-sounding performances.

Alabama Mike certain invests his vocals with intensity and soul. The Lightnin' Hopkins influence can best be heard on the opening "Black Cadillac" (with Atkinson on guitar) as well as the revival of Hopkins' "Hello Central" with Danny Michel on guitar, Kim Wilson on harmonica and Marty Dodson on drums lending the performance a swamp blues flavor. Danny Michel also channels Hopkins guitar on the swamp blues "California Blues," with choice Joe Lempkowski harmonica accompaniment.

A reworking of John Lee 'Sonny Boy' Williamson's "Cut That Out" sounds as a down-home version of Junior Wells fifties recording. Kim Wilson is on harmonica, Atkinson on guitar and Dodson on drums. Welsh provides the greasy organ on "Diabetic Man" with Wilson on the harp. On "How You Want Your Rollin Done," Atkinson plays some excellent T-Bone Walker styled guitar. On Big Bill Broonzy's "I Feel So Good," Alabama Mike delivers a strong vocal in the manner of Muddy Waters with J.B. Hutto styled slide guitar in the backing. "Keep My Grave Clean" is an ingenious band reworking of what was Blind Lemon Jefferson's most famous recording, while the cover of J.B. Hutto's "Too Much Alcohol" sticks close to the arrangement of Hutto's Delmark recording.

A moody rendition of Willie Love's "V-8 Food" with Atkinson and Welsh closes a release of notable down-home blues performances. There are a couple of times the backing may be a tad skeletal, but Alabama Mike's singing and the idiomatic support result in a most entertaining blues album.

I purchased this. Here is Alabama Mike performing "Let Me Hip You To My Blues."

Big Jon Atkinson's House Party

House Party At Big Jon's, a new Delta Groove release by Big Jon Atkinson & Bob Corritore is a rollicking traditional blues recording featuring the 26 year old Atkinson, who plays and sings with an authority of someone much older, and veteran harmonica master Bob Corritore, who was producing classic blues recordings before Atkinson entered this world. The two are supported by a variety of players including guitarist Danny Michel, bassist Troy Sandow, and drummers Malachi Johnson, Brian Fahey, and Marty Dodson. Recorded at Big Jon's home studio with vintage equipment, these originals and choice covers capture the sound of vintage recordings from Chess, Excello and Trumpet. Adding spice are guest appearances by Dave Riley, Willie Buck, Alabama Mike and Tomcat Courtney, providing their well seasoned voices.

Thee are many pleasures to listen to here, from the swamp blues meets Sonny Boy Williamson ambience of Atkinson's opening "Goin' Back To Tennessee," and his own evocation of a classic Jay Miller recording on another original "It Wasn't Easy," followed by a rocking swamp blues penned by Miller, "She's My Crazy Little Baby," that almost sounds like an unissued Lonesome Sundown recording. Corrritore's "Here Comes My Baby," sounds like a Sonny Boy Williamson Chess recording although retro-traditional with Little Walter styled harp. Dave Riley's down-home rendition of Charles Johnson's gospel number "At the Meeting," is followed by a rearrangement of Lightnin' Hopkin's "Mojo Hand" with biting guitar from Atkinson and vocal from Alabama Mike. Tomcat Courtney follows with his own Muddy Waters' styled down-home blues "Mojo in My Bread." 

Atkinson's "Mad About It," is a Muddy Waters styled blues, musically reminiscent of "Tiger in My Tank," with hot slide guitar and some strong Corritore harp while the pair channel the Second Sonny Boy Williamson on "Empty Bedroom." Also nice is a cover of Slim Harpo's "I'm Gonna Miss You Like The Devil," followed by Willie Buck channeling Muddy Waters in his vocal on his "You Want Me To Trust You," and then Dave Riley is more in a Memphis meets Chicago mood on "Mississippi Plow." "El Centro," a harmonica feature set against a Tex-Mex groove, is followed by Willie Buck taking the vocal on a cover of Slim Harpo's "I'm a King Bee," with the band capturing that Baton Rouge groove. 

The recording closes with Alabama Mike channeling Muddy Waters singing Casey Bill Weldon's "Somebody Done Changed The Lock On My Door," as Big Jon evokes Muddy's slide style, and Big Jon letting us know "My Feelings Won't Be Hurt," taken a medium tempo and sung and played with the authority characteristic of the entire House Party at Big Jon's. It was indeed quite a party as they evoke the classic blues sounds of the fifties and the sixties with these excellent performances.

I received a review copy from Delta Groove. While written several months ago, this review was just published in the November-December 2016 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 369), although I have made corrections to the version that appeared there.  Here is a video of them in action.