Breezy Rodio If It Ain't Broke Don't Fix It

Breezy Rodio
If It Ain't Broke Don't Fix It
Delmark Records

Billy Branch, in the liner notes to Breezy Rodio's new release, observes that "the mandate of record companies and audiences is to present vibrant quality new material." He then observes that this new release fulfills this. "He has produced a veritable smorgasbord of tasty songs that span the 1940s to the present."

Breezy Rodio has surrounded himself with a terrific band of Sumito 'Ariyo' Ariyoshi on piano, Dan Tabion on organ, Light Palone on bass, Lorenzo Francocci on drums, Constantine Alexander on trumpet, Ian Letts on alto and tenor sax, and Ian 'The Chief' McCarrie on baritone sax. Guests include Corey Dennison, Monster Mike Welch, and Kid Anderson. And they certainly kick off this album with a touch of a James Brown funk that segues into a shuffle. The horns stand out as does harmonica player Simone 'Harp' Nobile before Rodio takes his solo. On a talking blues, "Dear Blues," Rodio raps about his love of the blues before paying tribute to some of his heroes. First sounding like Albert King, he verbally salutes and then emulates B.B. King, Albert Collins, and T-Bone Walker. His love for Collins is also reflected in a sizzling instrumental, "The Breeze."

With Nobile's harp, Rodio performs an easy-rocking shuffle "From Downtown Chicago to Biloxi Bay" with a marvelously shaped solo. There is an excellent urban blues cover of B.B. King's "A Woman Don't Care." There also is a fine cover of a lesser-known B.B. King recording, "I'll Survive." "A Minute of My Kissing" is rock and roll mixed with Rodio's guitar evocative of Magic Sam. Pianist Ariyoshi stands out on this. Rodio does a bit of crooning on the jazzy "Look Me in the Eye," loriginally recorded by T-Bone Walker. Saxophonist Letts shares the spotlight here. Then there is a touch of soul for "Desperate Lover," followed by his autobiographical "Los Christianos," where he sings about his experiences in this Copenhagen district. The latter number features some deep singing and exquisite guitar. Another highlight is a moving, soulful rendition of 'Toots' Hilbert's "I Need Your Love."

A particularly noteworthy track is "Led to a Better Life," a gospel-infused tribute to the late Mike Ledbetter with Monster Mike Welch, who also solos on this. Corey Dennison shares the vocal duties on this moving selection. I found a couple of lyrics a tad off, and Breezy Rodio sings with a pinched, quivering vibrato that others might find to be an acquired taste. With the exception of these minor reservations, the music here is first-rate.

I received my review copy from Delmark. Here is a performance of one of the songs from this album.

Frank Bey & Anthony Paule Band Have Soul For Your Blues

Frank Bey shared gospel bills with the Soul Stirrers with Sam Cooke, the Blind Boys of Alabama and others when singing gospel with his mother. As a teen he opened shows for Otis Redding and after committing himself to the blues, his career progress was undercut by a failing kidney. After several years of dialysis, he had a successful kidney transplant. A couple of years later he started making appearances with the Anthony Paule Band at Biscuits & Blues in San Francisco. In February 2013 they issued a solid live recording and now a year later Frank Bey & Anthony Paule Band have a new recording, Soul For Your Blues on Blue Dot Records. 

What is striking is just how strong the musical pairing of Philadelphia singer Frank Bey with San Francisco’s Anthony Paule Band is. Presented is a nice mix of lesser know blues and soul classics with choice originals and interpretations of lesser know numbers. The opening number is Willie Mitchell’s I Don’t Know Why with Bey’s strong singing suggesting the late Solomon Burke and Mighty Sam McClain. Tony Lufrano plays deep soul organ here and on most of this disc. Paule and guest Kid Anderson are featured on Paule’s driving blues I’m Leaving You, followed by the Muscle Shoals groove of Christine Vitale’s deep soul original I Just Can’t Go On. Paule evokes Steve Cropper with his fills and brief solo on this. Rick Estrin adds harp to a humorous Vitale-Paule blues, Don’t Mess With The Monkey. 

There is a jump blues feel to Wyonnie Harris’ Buzzard Luck with riffing horns behind Bey’s strong vocal and a T-Bone Walker styled guitar solo. Vitale, Paule and Karen Falkner wrote You're Somebody Else's Baby Too, that has the feel of mid-sixties B.B. King flavor. There is a nifty arrangement of Percy Mayfield’s Nothing Stays the Same Forever, with Mike Rinta on tuba (he is on trombone most of the recording. In addition to Rinta, kudos go to Nancy Wright’s tenor sax and Steffen Kuehn’s trumpet for their playing throughout. Bey is superb here with a vocal that suggests what Solomon Burke might have done with this song. There is also a wonderful interpretation of John Prine’s Hello In There, which again displays how Bey brings some of the same interpretative magic to a lyric that Burke did and MacLean still does, while marvelous restrained backing by the Paule Band. 

The funky Smokehouse and an instrumental rendition of “I Left My Heart In San Francisco showcase the band. Rinta takes an outstanding trombone solo on the former as does organist Lufrano, while Paule displays a crisp delivery and imaginative playing on San Francisco which closes this disc out. It should be noted that I have attempted to select highlights, but the performances by Frank Bey & Anthony Paule Band on Soul For Your Blues are first-rate throughout. This is a terrific recording.

I received my copy from a publicist. Here are the two in performance doing Ray Charles' Hard Times.