Long John Hunter Border Town Legend

Long John Hunter
Border Town Legend
Alligator Records

Long John Hunter's exhibitionistic electric blues is fields removed from Cephas and Wiggins. With years of playing all night at the Lobby in Juarez, Mexico, across the border from El Paso. His gigs became legendary as he would swing from the rafters or stroll outside with his long guitar chord. So were his
45s for the New Mexico Yucca label. A couple years back, the now defunct Spindletop label issued his first cd, and this new follow-up, "Border Town Legend," is now on Alligator. 

Long John Hunter is an old fashioned Texas guitar slinger and vocalist. While B.B. King is his original influence, his cutting, guitar shows as much influence from T-Bone and other Texas based blues guitarists. One track, "Long Star Shootout" is a playful guitar battle with Hunter's guitar opening and closing, while sandwiching solos from Derek O'Brien, Johnny Nicholas, Joe Kelley and young Guitar Jake Andrews (son of Sam Andrews, guitarist for Janis Joplin and Tracy Nelson). His gritty singing is a strong point, too. His phrasing is right on the button, and the slight rasp in his vocals goes down like a smooth ale. In addition to his own playing, Art Lewis, his fabulous saxophonist, gets several spots to lay down some tough tenor solos including on the rousing "Ole Red" and his down in the alley spot on "Arkansas." 

While his covers of "Grits Ain't Groceries" and "Everybody Knows," are solid, they don't add anything to the better known originals. The strength of this collection is the originals, like the jaunty "Nasty Ways," co-authored with producers Tary Owens and Jon Foose, or the opening "T-Bone Intentions." Matched with some of Austin's finest players, it is a welcome straight, no chaser Texas blues album which will not disappoint those who have seen hirn live or heard his earlier recordings.

This review appeared in the March 1996 Jazz & Blues Report. I received my review copy from Alligator Records. I see Amazon sells this as a CD-R but it is available used from various, and one can listen to this recording on various streaming services. Here Long John Hunter performs a Gulf Coast classic, "Irene."

John McLean and Charles Barkatz - Shadow Man

John McLean and Charles Barkatz - Shadow Man - Leaky Shoes Records

Author and composer John McLean has developed into an eclectic, multi-talented artist who has followed his theater, cinema, and musical passions. The Manhattan, NY native, brought up on a ranch near Dallas, Texas, and studied writing and theater in Boston. As a jazzman, John has been a leader of several groups in Paris, where he became associated with his duo partner, partner Charles Barkatz. He also appeared at the Cornelia Street Cafe in Greenwich Village, NY. 

Barkatz, a Paris native, first started playing classical guitar. After he became influenced by Muddy Waters, B.B. King, John Lee Hooker, and especially Jimi Hendrix, he started playing in a blues vein. Later after seeing West Montgomery and Kenny Burrell in Paris, concentrate on learning jazz technique. He records and regularly plays in the U.S at the Blue Rooster and the Five O'clock Club in Sarasota with guitarist/singer Al Fuller and Tampa with the singer Peter D'Straw. He and McLean collaborated on his 2019 CD, "So Nice to Come Home To."

The two handle the vocals on this Kaz Kazanoff produced CD. Kaz and the Texas Horns are part of the musicians backing McLean's vocals and Barkatz's vocals and guitars. Other players include Derek O'Brien on guitar, Nick Connolly on keyboards, Chris Maresh on bass, and John Chipman on drums and percussion. Alex Cole on reeds and Elaine Barber on harp both contribute to two tracks each.

The music on "Shadow Man" reminds me of a jazzy John Mayall recording. McLean's vocals mainly remind me of Mayall, while Barkatz adds some tasty blues guitar. Add riffing horns and unusual horn solos such as Al Gomez's amplified muted trumpet on the opening "Leaking Shoe Blues." The songs don't knock me out. I find that sometimes the lyrics sound as if words strung together to rhyme, such as on "Brooklyn Blues Cafe." This song is about a Paris, France bar and provides Barkatz an opportunity to display a different guitar attack. Kaz Kazanoff also takes a booting tenor sax solo on this tune. 

There is the evocative blues ballad, "Lucia," where Alex Coke's soprano sax solo stands out. Another slow atmospheric blues is "Silver Lake," sung in French and with a haunting guitar solo. The title song is a bouncy shuffle with a refrain of "Dance Dance Dance for the Shadow Man" and more scintillating guitar. Kazanoof's horn arrangement for "She Cry Blues" lends that performance a Boz Scaggs flavor. "Black Train" is yet another solid moody performance with Kazanoff contributing mournful harmonica.

"Shadow Man" is a well-played and produced album. With Charles Barkatz's first-rate guitar, solid ensemble backing, Kaz Kazanoff's production, and McLean's singing, this is an appealing, bluesy album.

I received my review copy from a publicist. Here is a video of "Leaking Shoe Blues."

Sue Foley The Ice Queen

Sue Foley
The Ice Queen
 Stony Plain

Sue Foley's early recordings left me cold in part because her vocals came off flat to these ears, despite he undeniable strengths as a guitarist, What is striking on her latest recording on Stony Plain is how her vocals have dramatically improved. Joining her as special guests is a trio of legendary Texas guitar slingers – Jimmie Vaughan, Z.Z.Top’s Billy F Gibbons and Charlie Sexton - along with other Lone Star State all-stars, including Chris “Whipper” Layton (bass) (and George Rains (drums), Derek O’Brien (guitar), Chris Maresh and Billy Horton (bass) and The Texas Horns: John Mills, Al Gomez, Jimmy Shortell, Randy Zimmerman and Mark “Kaz” Kazanoff. Producer Mike Flanigan adds his keyboards to the striking backing on a set of blues and roots songs.

With two exceptions (from the Bessie Smith and Carter Family songbooks), Foley wrote all the songs (one being a collaboration with Flanigan). The music ranges from blues, blues-infused rock and roots. The performances are solid and Foley's fluid guitar playing displays her virtuosity, but also her musical intelligence and ability to craft marvelous solos with wonderful support. As indicated her singing has improved as heard on her opening "Come To Me," with the restraint in her delivery of slightly nasal singing. Charlie Sexton's slide guitar and backing vocal is noteworthy besides her own smoldering playing. Like the opening track, "81" is more of a blues-infused rock number with her brooding vocal and stinging guitar.

The title track is a nice slow blues with just Billy Horton's bass and George Rains drums with a choice lyric ("all the men agree that I'm too slippery to catch"), and a terrific guitar solo. It is followed by a buoyant duet with Jimmy Vaughan on the shuffle "The Lucky Ones," with them trading vocal lines as well as guitar solos. Another strong track is "Gaslight," with a gusty tenor sax solo from Elias Haslanger along with Foley's own crisp solo against the amusing lyric. Billy Gibbons adds his gravelly vocal, guitar and harmonica to "Fool's Gold," with a lazy shuffle groove and some greasy organ from co-composer Flanigan, before another terrific Foley solo.

"If I Have Forsaken You" is a wonderful song which will evoke the classic Bobby Bland Duke recordings in part to John Mills' arrangement for the Texas Horns. While Foley will never be viewed as a singer on the level of the late Bland, she sings with quiet conviction here, and certainly this is a song one might expect to hear others cover as well. In contrast, her updating of Bessie Smith's "Send Me To The ‘Lectric Chair," is more interesting musically than vocally. Much more appealing is the wistful "Death of a Dream," with her on acoustic guitar with standup bass and drums backing. The final two tracks have her on solo acoustic guitar. The flamenco-rooted, "The Dance," is a striking original followed by a adept rendition of the Carter Family's classic "Cannonball Blues."

Overall, this was a delightful surprise to this listener. Sue Foley is an exceptional guitarist, writes intriguing originals, and is now a capable singer with charm and conviction. If there are a couple of imperfect performances, the "The Ice Queen" still is a first-rate album of blues and roots.

I received from Stony Plain via a publicist. This review originally appeared in the March-April 2018  Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 377). Here Sue Foley performs "The Ice Queen."

Snooky Pryor In This Mess Up To My Chest

Snooky Pryor
In This Mess Up To My Chest 
Antone’s 

Snooky Pryor was one of the earliest Chicago blues artists to record after World War II, first as part of Snooky and Moody, and later on his own for several labels including J.O.B. and Vee-Jay. Influenced in his harp playing by John Lee ‘Sonny Boy’ Williamson, he never had great commercial success with his initial recordings, although many are classic Chicago blues performances marked by a crying vocal style complemented by his crying harp playing. Antone’s has done a great job in recording him, and has presented several remakes She Tried to Ruin Me, and Judgment Day (from a live recording), along with nice versions of Sonny Boy’s Bluebird Blues, and new songs like Bury You in a Paper Sack, and Take It Easy Greasy. The late Luther Tucker adds his cutting accompaniment to several tracks and guitarist Derek O’Brien does a yeoman’s job elsewhere. Pinetop Perkins adds his typically solid piano on several tracks, and Ted Harvey, one of the last great blues drummers, adds to the music’s spirit. Another fine album of classic Chicago blues.

This review appeared in the July-August 1994  Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 193) and I likely received a review copy from Antone's Records. This may be harder to fine on CD or LP but is available as a download. 

Snooky passed away October 18, 2006 in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Here is Snooky performing his classic Judgment Day, from a New York City appearance in 1991.

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The Texas Horns Blues Gotta Holda Me

 

Mark ‘Kaz’ Kazanoff may be the best known of The Texas Horns, a trio of horn players who have contributed to numerous fine recordings. Kaz brings his tenor sax and harmonica along with John Mills who plays baritone and tenor saxophones and Adalberto Gomez on trumpet to “Blues Gotta Holda Me” (VizzTone). Recorded in Austin in 2014 the three are joined by guitarist Derek O’Brien, and drummer Barry Frosty Smith along with a variety of guests who include Nick Connolly, Marcia Ball, Ronnie James, Johnny Nicholas, W.C. Clark, and Anson Funderburgh.

There is a mix of instrumentals and vocals (most of which are taken by Kazanoff) on a recording that breaks no new grounds perhaps, but makes for enjoyable listening and likely to be a favorite for dancers. The music is well played and there are plenty of strong horns solos. The standout vocal is a soulful one from W.C. Clark on Kazanoff’s original “Cold Blooded Lover,” while Marcia Ball does a credible cover of the Smiley Lewis classic recording “Go On Fool,” with the horns providing an unusual Mariachi tint to the performance.

Musically, the rendition of “You’re Driving Me Crazy” is better than Kazanoff’s bland vocal. The performance sounds like it was based on the Big Joe Turner rendition from classic “The Boss of the Blues” album on Atlantic. He takes a terrific tenor sax solo on this. Also his vocal on the Percy Mayfield classic “Lost Mind” lacks the grit of Mayfield’s original as well as the brilliance of the late Johnny Adams’ rendition. Finally, as much as he tries, he can’t bring the ebullience needed on a rendition of Louis Jordan’s “Caldonia.” Here he is company with others like Muddy Waters and Gatemouth Brown who have faltered on this.

The instrumentals are fun, finger popping tunes with the exception of a terrific rendition of “People Get Ready.” The opening “Soul Stroll” kicks this off with a nice shuffle groove while Mills’ “Kick Me Again” has a march like feel with some robust playing from Mills on the baritone and O’Brien on guitar. “Rippin’ and Trippin‘“ is a hot number for the jitterbuggers while the funking rendition of Hilton Ruiz’s ”Home Cookin’” has soulful grease from Connolly on the B–3 along with some tough playing from each of horns.

“Blues Gotta Holda Me” may not be a compelling recording, but it certainly is a fun and entertaining recording that is a welcome change of pace for blues listeners.

I received my review copy from Vizz-Tone. Here is a video of them performing.

Marcia Ball CD review

Here is a review from nearly a decade ago of Marcia Ball's Rounder album, Let Me Play With your Poodle that appeared in the Cleveland based Jazz & Blues Report in 1997 and the DC Blues calendar around the same time. This is the album where she first sang Randy Newman's Louisiana, 1927, a song unfortunately made timely in light of Hurricane Katrina. This was before the excellent guitarist Pat Boyack started his tenure with Ms. Ball with what became an excellent touring band.

Marcia Ball
Let Me Play With Your Poodle
Rounder

Marcia Ball’s first new album in several years contains the same lively mix of New Orleans R&B, zydeco and gulf coast blues that have made her such a popular performer, mixing her smooth, yet so soulful vocals with her vigorous piano on a savory menu of musical treats - some vintage blues and some she newly penned. The title cut is a classic Tampa Red number that was also a staple of Lightning Hopkins’ repertoire that Ball dresses up in a hot zydeco arrangement and plays at a very hot tempo with Paul Klemper’s sax and Steve Williams guitar adding solo voices in addition to Ball’s Crescent City based piano groove. Others on this session include Derek O’Brien, Clarence Holliman, and Kaz Kazanoff. Also included is a rocking version of Clarence Garlow’s R&B classic, "Crawfishin’," and her own originals, like "Why Woman Cry" and "The Story of My Life," are sung in an unmannered, soulful fashion that is a real delight to listen to. Those who might quibble and suggest that Marcia Ball’s music lacks the grit and grime of some other artists would be ignoring her soulfulness, which can be heard in all of the performances here. And when she finishes Randy Newman’s ballad about the Mississippi River floods of 1927,"Louisiana, 1927," you’ll be ready to give this disc another spin.