Tinsley Ellis Ice Cream in Hell

Tinsley Ellis
Ice Cream in Hell
Alligator Records

"Ice Cream in Hell" is Tinsley Ellis' 11th album for Alligator Records. There will be no surprises for fans of Ellis' mix of blues and blues-rock filled with his searing guitar and robust blues shouting. Co-produced by Ellis with Kevin McKendree (who plays keyboards (and guitar on one track). Others on this include Steve Mackey on bass and Lynn Williams on drums and percussion. Jim Hoke and Quentin Ware play sax and trumpet respectively on two songs.

In addition to his rocking blues playing and vocals, Ellis is an excellent songwriter who coins intriguing phases in his lyrics. He opens "Don't Know Beans," with "If dogs could talk, about what they see… they would really tell it all, so you don't know beans," as he tells his lover who is she going to believe, Tinsley or her loving eyes. Set against an emphatic groove, Ellis delivers a dynamic performance about a relationship blowing up. Relationships breaking up is a common theme as he sings that they will serve ice cream in hell before he takes his lover back. Besides his robust vocals, there is plenty of crisp, torrid guitar.

Then there is the brashly played shuffle, "Foolin' Yourself," a passionately sung slow, minor-key blues, "Hole in My Heart," and a slide guitar feature "Sit Down Mama" on which McKendree plays rhythm guitar. This latter number sounds like a tribute to Hound Dog Taylor with its house-rocking groove and high energy slide guitar that evokes Taylor. It also sports one of Ellis' best vocals here. Other sterling performances include "Everything and Everyone" with its Latin groove and Ellis evoking Santana's guitar playing, and "Unlock My Heart" where Ellis' guitar channels Johnny 'Guitar' Watson. There is outstanding guitar playing, solid and tight backing, and first-rate originals resulting in another excellent Tinsley Ellis CD.

I received my review copy from Alligator Records.  Here is "Last One To Know" from this CD.

Tinsley Ellis Winning Hand

Tinsley Ellis
Winning Hand
Alligator Records

Near thirty years since he first recorded for Alligator Records (and twenty since his last Alligator album, Tinsley Ellis returns with an album of house rocking blues and rock, showcasing his brawny, volcanic guitar and husky singing. He is joined by Kevin McKendree on keyboards (who co-produced this with Ellis), Steve Mackey on bass and Lynn Williams on drums that was engineered and mixed by McKendree at The Rock House.

Nine of the ten songs are Ellis originals and display the range of his music starting with the searing, hold no prisoners opening blues-rock of "Sound of a Broken Man." In contrast, the easy rocking shuffle blues, "Nothing But Fine," illustrates the clarity and precision, along with fire of his playing along with a more relaxed vocal, while "Gamblin' Man," is a nice original blues performance (the melody slightly evocative of Box Scaggs recording of "Someone Loan Me a Dime"), with a well-shaped, fiery guitar solo and a heartfelt, expressive vocal. Another fine blues performance is "Don't Turn Off The Light." There is also high energy blues-rock of "Kiss This World" with its swelling groove and the rock and roll of "Satisfied," with McKendree's rollicking road house piano in addition to Ellis' guitar. The one cover, Leon Russell's "Dixie Lullaby," sports more rollicking piano (and organ grease) along with some fiery Freddie King inspired guitar.

This is another impressive collection of music from Ellis whose playing shows him still to be a tone master and a fiery guitar slinger. His high energy playing is firmly backed by the terrific studio band. Ellis is also a most congenial, expressive singer and contributed some solid original blues on this memorable blues-rock release.

I received my review copy from Alligator Records. For those in the Washington DC area, he will be at Blues Alley on Wednesday January 17 and playing the Creative Alliance in Baltimore on Thursday January 18. Here is Tinsley from an October, 2017 performance. A fuller listing of upcoming shows is at http://www.tinsleyellis.com/toughloveshows.html.

Jimmy Carpenter Plays the Blues

Jimmy Carpenter
Plays the Blues
VizzTone

Veteran saxophonist Jimmy Carpenter is currently part of blues rocker Mike Zito's band, though he previously has lengthy stints with Jimmy Thackery and Walter 'Wolfman' Washington. Zito produced this and adds his guitar and vocals to Carpenter's tenor saxophone, bassist Bob Bridges, Matthew Johnson's drums, and Marc Adams keyboards with a variety of guests including guitarists Tony Diteodoro, Tinsley Ellis, Anders Osborne and Jonn Del Toro Richardson and keyboardists Lewis Stephens and Dave Keyes.

The ten songs heard include two originals and eight covers starting with Magic Sam's "You Belong to Me," and ending with a rousing Junior Walker's "Shotgun." Carpenter plays plenty of rousing, raspy saxophone in a Junior Walker-King Curtis--Boots Randolph vein throughout and, if not a great singer, is like-able with an unforced delivery as on the hot Little Walter shuffle "Too Late." The longest selection is "Jimmy Plays the Blues," a nice blues instrumental with plenty of space for his roadhouse saxophone. The other original is a piece of old-fashioned rock and roll, "Kid in My Head," with rollicking piano from Stephens in support of the leader's yakety-yak sax playing.

Jonn Del Toro Richardson adds some nice guitar support on the cover of "Blues With a Feeling," which has a booting sax solo as well, while Tinsley Ellis joins in for a musical dialogue with with Carpenter on a rendition of Freddie King's "Surf Monkey," and Anders Osborne contributes to an instrumental interpretation of Sam Cooke's "Change Is Gonna Come," which arguably has Carpenter's finest playing with a more attack employing a broader tonal range. Up next is a rousing rendition of King Curtis' "Preach," and then Otis Rush's "All Your Love (I Miss Lovin').' with fine guitar from Zito and another booting sax solo.

A straight cover of "Shotgun" closes this straight-forward, well played recording that entertains even if it breaks no new ground.

I received my review copy from VizzTone. This review originally appeared in the November-December 2017  Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 375). Here is Jimmy Carpenter playing "Shot Gun."

 

Tinsley Ellis Gets It!

Its been a bit since the last Tinsley Ellis, and the blues rocker has returned with an all instrumental album, Get It! (Heartfixer Music). Recorded in Nashville and Atlanta, Ellis is backed by Kevin McKendree on keyboards, Lynn Williams on drums and percussion; and Ted Pecchio on bass (on 5 of the ten selections). The selections include eight originals and two covers and allow Ellis to display not simply his impressive guitar chops and tone, but his ability to craft thoughtful, yet electrifying solos.

There is a nice range of material ranging from his tribute to (and evocation of the style of) Albert Collins on the opening Front Street Freeze, along with his tribute to Roy Buchanan on Anthem For A Fallen Hero. Berry Tossin’ is a lively take-off of Chuck Berry’s distinctive guitar style through Ellis’ own approach (with some Freddie King riffs tossed in). The title track is a driving bulldozer of a guitar shuffle while Fuzzbuster has Ellis exploring a range of tonal effects. Detour is a cover of a lesser known Bo Diddley track with Ellis playing through a Leslie speaker, suggesting classic Lonnie Mack. 

The focus here is strictly on Ellis as the backing musicians play solely in a supportive role. Get It! impressively displays Ellis imagination, power and taste as a guitarist.

A publicist sent my review copy to me. Here is some vintage Tinsley Ellis doing a classic Joe Zawinul tune that was written for the great Cannonball Adderley.