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.

Roger Girke Featuring The Wandering Souls Silver Lining

Roger Girke Featuring The Wandering Souls
Silver Lining
Teletone Records

This is the 5th album by Girke, a popular singer-guitarist-songwriter in the Mid-Atlantic. His Wandering Souls include Glenn Ferracone (he also co-produced this with Girke) or Andrew Haley on drums; Bennett Sykes on bass; Tam Sullivan on keyboards; and Dan Gutwein on sax. On a couple tracks Bill Schilling guests on organ and Sykes and Gutwein sit out, on one selection it is a trio with Ferracone on drums and Jimmy Pritchard on bass, and on one selection a trio of horns replace Gutwein.

Girke impresses throughout these nicely played and paced performances. He contributed the twelve originals that resonate with the listener with the memorable lines. There is also Girke's honest, straight-forward, wholehearted vocals, and his lean, sinewy guitar playing. Certainly this is evident on  the opening "Gas and a Match," with its funk groove and touches of Albert King. Here he sings about us burning so hot and other times we don't care. The title track is a relaxed shuffle with more potent guitar as he sings about the silver lining in every dark cloud. "Wandering Soul," has some rock-tinged slide guitar in the backing as Girke sings about inability to hold a woman while wanting to touch her so bad. His spare playing and short, cutting solo are most effective.

Tam Sullivan on piano and organ adds a touch of Crescent City flavor to "Shake It." Shilling is on organ and Sullivan on piano on "Southern Soul Cookin'," providing a greasy underpinning to this relaxed rocker. Girke's rendition of Lloyd Price's "Baby Please Come Home," evokes classic R&B of the fifties and sixties. There is also a punchy updating of Larry Williams' "Slow Down," with Girke's driving guitar solo with his careful, and cleanly articulated single note runs. Schilling is outstanding on this as is saxophonist Chris Farr and trombonist John Swama.

"The Philly Boogaloo" with just Schilling, Ferracone and Girke," is a marvelous jazzy instrumental. The three, with pianist Sullivan added, lay down an atmospheric "The Ride Home" to close this recording on a relaxed, soul jazz mode. These are superbly played like the entire recording. Girke impresses with the passion he sings and the controlled intensity of his guitar or a well programmed variety of material. This is a superb recording.

I received my review copy from Roger Girke. Here is Roger Girke and The Wandering Souls performing the late Lazy Lester's "Sugar Coated Love."