Mitch Woods - Jammin' On The High C's

Mitch Woods is a real solid conveyor of boogie woogie piano and jump blues and for over a decade has been running Mitch Woods Club 88 on the Legendary Rhythm and Blues cruises. It started simple enough when as an invited guest on the cruise, he noticed the ship had a piano bar that wasn't being used, so he simply started playing and people came by to listen and musicians came by to sit in. Soon the jams were lasting until daybreak and someone put up a sign saying Mitch Woods' Club 88 which became the Club 88 Piano Bar and Blues Lounge n the cruise with now 4 piano players on every cruise alternating shifts from early evening to until ?.

Woods had a variety of performances from the January 2015 cruise recorded and they have just been issued on Club 88 Records (distributed by VizzTone), "Jammin' On The High C's" which is subtitled "Live From Mitch Woods' Club 88 on the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise." Its a fun recording with his boogie and jump piano joined on different selections by members of Roomful of Blues, Julia Magness, Billy Branch, Victor Wainwright, Papa Chubby, Coco Montoya, Lucky Peterson, Tommy Castro and Dwayne Dopsie.

Mostly the music is renditions of well known blues standards played in an ebullient fashion with Woods handling the old Smiley Lewis classic "Big Mamou" to open it up. Highlights are Lucky Peterson singing Jimmy Reed's "Bright Lights, Big City," Billy Branch reprising Sonny Boy Williamson's "Eyesight to the Blind," Papa Chubby handling "Wee Wee Hours," and Dwayne Dopsie joining on a rocking "Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On." One also gets entertained by Tommy Castro singing Little Richard's "Rip It Up," and a nice "Rock Me Baby" from Coco Montoya.

My major criticism is the lack of fuller personnel information (although I might imagine it would be pretty lengthy), and more seriously the lack of composer credits. These performances are entertaining and fun if not classic and the sense of good times comes though on this nicely put together recording which includes Woods reciting the history of Club 88. Certainly one of aspects of the Cruise that makes it a consistent sell-out.

I received my review copy from VizzTone. This review originally appeared in the September-October Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 362). Here Mitch previews this disc.

Tommy Castro's Commanding Blues Revue

One make suggest that it is presumptuous for a varying traveling blues show to call itself “The Legendary Blues Revue” given that few if any of the performers on it deserve the stature of being a legendary performer. The revue grew out of shows that Castro organized as part of the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruises which also included Castro and a varying cast of performers doing some tours as the Revue. While the Legendary is more marketing and reflects the tie-in with the popular Cruise, there are some of the more popular ‘blues artists’ such as Tommy Castro, whose band is the anchor of this revue. This tour has been documented previously on Delta Groove with Command Performance which featured Castro, Deanna Bogart, Magic Dick and Ronnie Baker Brooks. Alligator now brings us Tommy Castro Presents The Legendary Rhythm & Blues Revue -- Live!

On this disc Castro is represented on this the most as a featured performer, while more other performers are featured than the earlier CD, although only for a track by each. Castro opens with some hard rocking numbers from the Cruise, his own Wake Up Call, and Bob Dylan’s Gotta Serve Somebody, with plenty of almost over the top guitar, sax from Keith Crosnan and a tight band. Michael Burks is heard on an extended performance from the Kansas City club, Knuckeheads, of his Voodoo Spell. It sports a solid vocal reflecting Albert King’s influence, a lengthy guitar solo from Burks and a nice piano solo from Tony Stead. Up next is a solid performance by Joe Louis Walker of a song by the late J.J.Malone, It’s a Shame, backed by Castro’s band minus the leader.

Castro is on guitar for Sista Monica’s strong performance of her Never Say Never, perhaps my favorite selection in this CD. More strong piano and organ backing here from Tony Stead. With Kid Andersen on guitar, Rick Estrin provides his own take on a relation gone bad on My Next Ex-Wife. I was pleasantly surprised by the brothers and sister band, Trampled Under Foot with their Fog, that shows they are more than a novelty act. Bassist Danielle Schnebelen is an impressive  vocalist. The old Five Royales classic Think is interpreted by Janiva Magness, perhaps in a rendition more influenced by James Brown’s recording, but the performance doesn’t quite fully jell to these ears. Theodis Ealey takes us down a bit on chitlin circuit with his soulful blues, This Time I Know, followed by strong Debbie Davis performance, All I Found.

There are a couple more performances by Castro to round this album out, with the closing Serves Me Right to Suffer, paying his respects to John Lee Hooker, starting as a slow dirge-like blues before picking up an ‘endless boogie’ groove. Its a fun performance if not a compelling one. It ends over an hour of performances that should appeal to the Blues Cruisers, fans of Castro and of the other artists especially. Alligator also provides web-links of the artists on the cd booklet of the artists that hopefully listeners will explore of artists they get introduced here to.


My review copy was provided by Alligator Records

Elvin Bishop Raises Hell With Blues Revue

As part of participating on the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise, Elvin Bishop, led the Raisin’ Hell Revue. This writer suspects this was modeled on the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Revue that Tommy Castro fronted and featured several artists in addition to Castro and enabled greater exposure for some of what were perhaps lesser known acts to the Blues Cruisers. Delta Groove has just issued Elvin Bishop’s Raisin’ Hell Revue, from performances on the Cruise.

In addition to Bishop, the performances on this showcase vocalist Finis Tasby: vocalist and harp player, John Nemeth; saxophonist and vocalist Terry Hanck; guitarist Kid Andersen, and Bishop’s fine band that included Ruth Davies (some may remember from Charles Brown’s Band) on bass, drummer Bobby Cochran and the varied keyboards of Steve Willis.

Thirteen tunes with almost an hour of music opens with a good-natured Bishop take on Lazy Bill Lucas’ Callin’ All Cows with hot guitar from Andersen and accordion from Willis. It is followed by the gravelly vocals of Tasby on B.B. King’s Whole Lotta Lovin’ as Anderson and Bishop blaze away. Nemeth takes the vocal mike as Bishop reprises his big hit, Fooled Around And Fell In Love. What the Hell Is Goin’ On, has Bishop spin a topical lyric to a Funky Chicago Blues groove as Kid Andersen taking the first guitar solo, while Nemeth revives Nappy Brown’s Night Time Is the Right Time, based on Ray Charles recording, with Nemeth playing harp as well as singing. It is followed by Tasby, who reworks Jimmy Reed’s Down in Virginia.

Saxophonist Hanck handles the fine vocal on Cryin’ Fool, a terrific New Orleans -Swamp Pop styled number with nice guitar that evokes Robert Ward and Lonnie Mack. There is choice tenor sax solo from Hanck on Tasby’s rendition of River’s Invitation. Bishop does a nice rendition of Albert Collins’ Dyin’ Flu, while recalling the late Master of Telecaster. Hank Ballard’s rocking Tore Up Over You, is revived with a terrific Nemeth vocal while Tasby gets to us with It Hurts Me Too, with Bishop on slide.

Nemeth leads everybody on the closing Bye Bye Baby, concluding a most entertaining revue of blues and rhythm songs. The material does include some familiar songs but mostly some rarely performed songs, the level of the performances is high, and the recording quality is fine. Recommended.

A review copy was provided by a publicist.

Take a Sea Cruise With Joe Louis Walker

This is a review of the latest Joe Louis Walker CD from Stony Plain (his third for the label).

One would be hard pressed to find anyone in the past thirty years who has put together a body of recordings as deep and substantial as Joe Louis Walker. Especially his initial recordings on Hightone and then on Verve-Gitanes, Walker has been able to be forward looking as well as rooted in the tradition. Few approach his versatility as both a guitarist and as a vocalist. While his post Verve recordings may not have been on the same level as these earlier masterpieces (and one would be hard-pressed to name a half dozen other recordings the past two decades that approach these blues masterworks), Walker still remains a fervent and quite entertaining performer.

Now on Stony Plains Records, Walker has a new release, “Blues Conspiracy: Live on the Legendary Rhythm 7 Blues Cruise,” that he views as a companion to his two volumes of “Live at Slims” and the “Great Guitars,” that both date from the 1990s. This is a live recording taken from January, 2010 performances on the Cruise with most of these performances featuring Walker and his band joined by guest artists who were on the cruise. Walker’s Band included Linwood taylor on guitar,Kevin Burton on keyboards, Henry Oden on bass and Jeff Minnieweather on drums with guest appearances by the likes of Mike Finnigan on organ and vocals; Johnny Winter, Duke Robillard, Tommy Castro, Tab Benoit, and Kirk Fletcher on guitar; Mitch Woods on piano; Curtis Salgado on vocals; Jason Ricci, Kenny Neal and Watermelon Slim on harmonica; Keith Crossan and Deanna Bogart on saxophones; and Tom Poole on trumpet. These tracks all feature guests on the performances with the exception of one. A good number of the performances here are of songs Walker has previously recorded, but several selections seem not to be have been previously waxed.

From a standpoint of a fan, the guests add a dimension of special occasion that does not always translate to an audio recording. Also, the performances may take away from the focus of the performances with some rough edges and perhaps a bit more emphasis on soloing. Generally these pitfalls are avoided, and the performances are quite fine if they do not quite reach the level of the two volumes of “Live at Slims,” arguably among the toughest live blues recordings of the past two decades. Things start off on a solid note on “Slow Down GTO with Mike Finnigan’s organ joining Walker and his band (and its great that bassist Oden, a Boss Talker from 2 decades ago is back with Walker), and followed by “Ain’t That Cold,” where Johnny Winter’s slide embellishes Walker’s fervent singing. Curtis Salgado and Mike Finnigan share the vocals on the OV Wright classic, “You’re Gonna Make Me Cry,” which is enjoyable but slightly messy and frenzied in execution. Tommy Castro and the horn players join in on the rocking rendition of Travis Phillips’ Louisiana rock’n’roller “Eyes Like a Cat.”

Kirk Fletcher adds some nice guitar to the rendition of Lowell Fulson’s “Ten More Shows to Play,” but “Born in Chicago,” suffers from too many musical cooks with Jason Ricci, Nick Moss and Paris Slim adding solos for a performance that seems longer than it should have. In contrast, “Sugar Mama,” with Watermelon Slim added on harmonica, is the longest track, but allows Walker to stretch out for some inspired playing along with Slim’s nice harp on a performance that seems to take little time at all. Kenny Neal joins on “A Poor Man’s Plea,” adding some Slim Harpo flavored harmonica on Junior Wells’ “A Poor Man’s Plea.” “Its a Shame,” is the track showcasing Walker’s band and Linwood Taylor is featured on guitar here, followed by another jam as pianist Mitch Woods and guitarists Tab Benoit and Paul Nelson join Walker for “747.” Even if not as tight as Walker’s earlier takes on this song, this track is fun way to close this recording and certainly, warts and all, is a worthy addition to his considerable body of music that he has graced us with for such a lengthy period.


My previous reviews of Joe Louis Walker's Stony Plain CDs on this blog are of "Witness to the Blues" and "Between A Rock And The Blues."





For purposes of FTC regulations, the review copy was supplied by the publicity form for the record company.

Homemade Jamz Youthful Blues

Much has been made about the family band from Mississippi, The Homemade Jamz Blues Band who were runners up at the Blues Foundation's International Blues Challenge a year or so ago.

When Lucky Peterson first came to attention as a very young child playing keyboards and singing the blues, there was no doubt that part of his appeal was as a child. One might be tempted to suggest that part of the appeal of The Homemade Jamz Blues band is their youth. The Perry siblings range from 9 year old drummer Tara, 13 year old Kyle on bass and 15 year old Ryan on guitar and vocals, yet perhaps because of the maturity of the vocals in particular, this trio does not come across as a novelty act. Northern Blues has issued the trio’s debut recording, “Pay Me No Mind.” With the exception of the closing rendition of John Lee Hooker’s “Boom Boom,” all the songs are written by their father, Renaud, who also adds harp to several songs while producer Miles Wilkinson plays rhythm guitar on several tracks. Listening to this disc, one would not guess they were so young, and they sound as accomplished as many bands much older than them. At the same time like many often highly touted recordings, nothing on this recording is striking or compelling. There are several songs that build on a Stevie Ray Vaughn styled power riff and two tracks, including the Hooker classic and ‘Pay Me No Mind,’ are nice workouts in the North Mississippi Hills style. The elder Perry provides typical blues themes in his songs such as the philosophical ‘Who Your Real Friends Are,’ who reveal themselves when you are heading to the bottom, or ‘Voodoo Woman,’ a well worn blues theme. One expects the trio to mature and grow, especially Ryan as a vocalist, who needs to exhibit a bit more of a relaxed or a bit of hesitation to his vocals. That is one aspect of their music that should improve with maturity and experience. One can imagine with the youthful exuberance they must bring to the performances, that they are a terrific live act. It should be noted that they have been booked on encore performances of the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise, indicating that they put on really good shows.

I will hopefully have an opportunity to see them August 9 when the DC Blues Society presents them at the Surf Club, and I expect to enjoy the live performance more than this album, which is respectable, but not extraordinary.