Kid Ramos' West Coast House Party

Kid Ramos
West Coast House Party
Evidence

Kid Ramos' second Evidence album, West Coast House Party, features a who's who of some of the more prominent blues guitar pickers on the West Coast blues scene along with a variety of vocalists and other players.

Musically, this album leans to the jump blues scene that thrived on the West Coast, with two takes of a T-Bone walker instrumental,  Strollin  With Bone, spotlighting Gatemouth Brown and Duke Robillard along with Kid Ramos, sandwiching other tracks. Other guitarists here include Junior Watson, Rick Holmstrom, Rusty Zinn, and Charlie Baty, while Zinn, Robillard, Watson, James Intveld, Kim Wilson, Janiva Magness, Big Sandy Williams, and James Harman handle the vocals. Jeff Turmes anchors the horns, while Fred Kaplan is on piano, LarryTaylor on bass, and Stephen Hodges is on drums.

It is a tight band that swings, and Ramos gets to trade guitar solos with his peers and special guests. The vocals are generally quite good, although overshadowed by the originals. James Intveld is a capable singer on Roy Brown's  Love Don't Love Nobody,  but not merely in Brown's league as a singer (admittedly few are), and even Kim Wilson can't quite equal a Smiley Lewis on a jump blues like Real Gone Lover.

Within its admitted limitations, this record still possesses considerable appeal. The music is wonderfully played and the result is a lively blues party disc great for dancing and/or listening.

I wrote this review in 2000 and it likely was published in the D.C. Blues Calendar. I likely received a review copy from Evidence Records or a publicist. Here is Kid Ramos as part of The Fabulous Thunderbirds from 2003.