Sista Monica Is Living In the Danger Zone

Guitarist Vasti Jackson gave Sista Monica Parker the label of “Lioness of the Blues,” which fairly describes the power and impact of her vocals and performances. Having seen her live a few weeks prior to writing this review, I can attest to the presence of her vocals and performances that she delivers in a natural fashion. She is able to caress a lyric with a whisper before belting out her shouts without it ever sounding mannered or forced. Sista Monica will suggest to some the late Etta James, who along with Koko Taylor, Katie Webster and Ruth Brown, among the Sista’s major inspirations. However, she is her her woman and imitates no one. With a tight band that includes her long-time collaborator Danny B. (Daniel Beconcini), plenty of strong original material and select covers, she commands attention with the soul, warmth and passion she exhibits.

Her most recent recording on her Mo Muscle Records label is Living In The Danger Zone. It has her backed by Danny B.; Artis Joyce on bass; Leon Joyce, Jr. on drums; Don Caruth on guitar; and Danny Sandoval on tenor saxophone with appearances on guitar from Mighty Mike Schermer, Vasti Jackson; Terry Hiatt, Danny Caron and others; as well as appearances by Kelley Hunt on vocals and keyboards; Andy Just on harmonica, and Ruth Davies on acoustic bass.

Sista Monica at the 2012 DC Blues Festival

Monica may well be Fierce Force of Nature, as one of her songs is titled. Her fierceness may be directed against the the man who can’t take the truth when she says goodbye in No Shame In My Game, when he doesn’t meet her needs;  he spends no money on her; or is dancing too close with some other woman as on Worn Out Your Welcome. In contrast on the opening track (that was inspired by a back stage visit with B.B. King), Hug Me Like You Love Me, she sings that when you hug me like you love me I’ll feel it and let you know.” In a similar vein on Fierce Force of Nature, she declares that if her man treats her right she’ll make him scream and dance.

The title track casts a different mood as Monica sings about having to be strong and holding one’s own while Mighty Mike Schermer adds nice guitar fills. Tears is a strong slow blues where Monica sings that she can’t stop crying. It has outstanding guitar from Schermer and piano by Danny B. Andy Just's harp adds to atmosphere of the understated Let Me Moan, where she sings that “if you aren’t coming home, leave me alone and let me moan.” There is a soulful reflectiveness displayed on You Can’t Go Back, with Ruth Davies on bass and Danny Caron on guitar. 

There are more soulful originals including Sista Monica’s positive message on Just Keep Living. There is a solid cover of Robert Cray’s The Forecast Calls For Pain, and a heartfelt rendition of the gospel classic, Glory Hallelujah, where Kelley Hunt adds her piano and shares the vocal (sounding more than a little like Bonnie Raitt). It is a spectacular vocal duet that concludes this recording. Living In The Danger Zone s another excellent addition to Sista Monica Parker’s body of recordings.. As good as she is on record, she is even more enthralling live, and hopefully she is finally getting the recognition she deserves as among the finest blues and rhythm vocalists today.


I received this directly from Sista Monica.  Here she is performing the B.B. King inspired Hug Me Like You Love Me.

Kenny Neal is "Hooked On Your Love"

With his health issues apparently (and thankfully) behind him, Kenny Neal has a new Blind Pig release, “Hooked On Your Love,” that is certain to please his existing fans and garner him some new ones. The twelve performances find him with his brothers and friends like Vasti Jackson and Lucky Peterson as Kenny’s immediate recognizable vocals and guitar brings warmth and good times to the listener. Easy swinging grooves are mixed with his own laconic approach that goes down like a smooth scotch.

Neal’s restrained approach that works with the opening title cut that celebrates of his love and the philosophical “Bitter With the Sweet,” when he sings about life not always champagne and rose, have to take the bitter with the sweet.” “Down in the Swamp,” reminds me of some of Tony joe White’s numbers as Kenny sings about being the bayou where the alligators play and plays some nice harmonica (oddly uncredited in the personnel listing. For some reason, Kenny is credited with composing the old OV Wright classic “Blind, Crippled & Crazy,” and obviously Kenny can’t match Wight’s gospel rooted soul shouting, but he does deliver a nicely paced performance with effective use here, as elsewhere on this, of backing vocals. Also the solo here is a fine example of how marvelous paced Kenny is as a player. Just like his vocals, he never rushes the notes. Its followed by another cover, this time of Little Milton’s hit “If Walls Could Talk,” an ironic lyric that Kenny ably handles.

“Things Gotta Change” is a soulful ballad with a message about a baby not having shoes on her feet, got to pray for a helping hand, and the need love one another but the backing may be a bit too smooth. The backing provided on William Bell’s “New Lease on Life,” is more emphatic which suits Kenny’s vocal here. Kenny’s rendition of “Ain’t Nothing You Can Do,” isn’t far removed from Bobby Bland’s original recording and Kenny’s can’t emulate Bland’s leaps and cries, but he conveys a suitable legacy. “Old Friends” is a nice swamp-pop number with lazy harp and a country-ish feel, while horns and a second-line groove provide “Voodoo Mama,” with a livelier flavor as Kenny plays some nice slide (I presume on lap steel guitar).

The CD closes on a nice shuffle “You Don’t Love Me,” where Kenny plays guitar and harmonica as he tells his baby to get on her merry way. Its a solid way to conclude this very solid collection of performances that touches a variety of musical bases but always showcasing Kenny Neal’s distinctive style of blues.



The review copy was provided by Blind Pig Records

A Marvelous Retrospective of the Blue Lioness

The following review has appeared in issue 322 of Jazz & Blues Report (December 2009 to January 15, 2010) on page 13, and the issue can be downloaded at www.jazz-blues.com. For purposes of FTC regulations which may be applicable, the review copy of the CD was received directly from Sista Monica and Mo Muscle Music.

Vasti Jackson was the one who described Sista Monica Parker as “The Lioness of the Blues,” which suggests the power she brings to her performances. In the writer’s humble opinion, she has been the finest female blues singer of the past decade and a half. I have had the pleasure of seeing her at the 1997 D.C. Blues Festival, one of the few performances she has made on the East Coast of the US and it was one of the most memorable performances in the 20 odd years of this event. She can belt out the blues with the power of Etta James, Koko Taylor or Big Maybelle, yet she delivers and caresses the lyrics with the subtlety of Ruth Brown and Irma Thomas. Her new CD, “Soul Blues & Ballads,” is a compilation of her recordings over the past 15 years. On her website she expounds about the songs here, “They have been carefully tucked between up-tempo, high energy, rock n’ Chicago style blues songs on eight (8) different CDs. They span almost two decades of expressing my love, my lessons, and my losses. I have had to let go and live on. It’s been healing to sing my blues!” On the CD insert she dedicates this to the three great women who inspired and influenced her Katie Webster, Koko Taylor and Ruth Brown. “These women paved the way for me to open up and write about my heartaches and expose my woundedness.”

As for the music, there is a focus on slower and medium tempo songs where she caresses a lyric and goes from a whisper to a scream (to borrow the title of a classic Esther Philips album and Allen Toussaint song). The opening “I’m a Woman,” by Vasti Jackson, is a different song from the Leiber-Stoller song associated with Peggy Lee and others or the Koko Taylor answer to Muddy Waters and Bo Diddley, while her own “Honey’s It’s Your Fault,” with Danny Beconcini on keyboards and Larry McCray on guitar, is a strong mix of singing and spoken parts. “Behind My Back,” is another strong soulful performance about how her lover has been cheating on her with Monica belting out about how “you have been playing behind my back with my best friend,” and not taking it anymore. Notice how relaxed and powerful her singing is. She opens “Leave the Door Open,” almost whispering before she starts singing about loving her baby down to her bone and wondering if enough to stay at home but tired of fighting about every little bitty thing. “I’m leaving the door open and you can come through,” with nice organ and jazzy guitar from Chris Cain. Most would emote or sing over the top on Etta James’ “Come To Mama,” but Sista Monica is right on the money here with an outstanding piano solo. I’m not gonna go through every track, but a couple standout. One can look at how she and her accompaniment build things up so her vocal and the backing just explode towards the end of “Never Say Never,” as well as on Katie Webster’s, “Pussycat Moan,” where she sings about a woman who is mad at her lover, and moans about him telling her best friend “he didn’t want her no more,” but knowing its a lie because when Sista turns her back he tries to come in Sista’s back door with a terrific piano solo break from Beconcini before she comes back in snarling “why don’t you pack your bags, don’t you see I don’t need you no more … this here pussycat ain’t gonna be your pussycat no more,” then vocalizing and moaning against Mike Osborne’s blistering guitar. From her first CD, “Get Out of My Way,” this still resonates and sounds as fresh today as when it first came out. The CD closes with the uplifting gospel-soul rendition of Warren Haynes “Soul Shine.”

There is a generous amount of music here with thirteen outstanding performances for about 70 minutes by one of the blues and R&B world’s finest singers here. I add that she could have selected from her earlier recordings, a dozen different performances and had as compelling a recording. She is just that dynamic and soulful. For those lacking anything by the Sista, here is a good place to start. This is available at cdbaby, amazon, itunes, rhapsody and other locations. For more information on Sista Monica, and her other recordings, performance schedule and such, go to her website, www.sistamonica.com.