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Joel DaSilva & The Midnight Howl

Self-Titled

Self-Released

BluesWax Rating: 10

A Howling Good CD

There are many times after I review a CD that I don’t know what to do with it. I don’t like it enough to listen to it again, so the options are to give it away or to put it on my shelf to collect dust.

This is one CD I will be hanging on to and playing, regularly. This is truly a great CD, especially when you think that it’s a debut effort. Joel DaSilva’s guitar work is crisp with a unique tone I would recognize anywhere. His attack and varied dynamics create layers of sound that envelop you and hold your attention note after note. His restraint from sonic bombast (to which so many guitarists succumb) allows the band’s consummate musicianship to shine through. And when he plays solos, his style serves the entire song – he’s not just showing us how well he learned the blues scale for twleve bars.

DaSilva’s voice is strong and evocative – it may not have the raw power of Joe Bonamassa, but he delivers each song with genuine feeling and complete control.

As a songwriter, DaSilva shows a lot of diversity. The CD begins with the lustful “Let’s Not Fight, Let’s Make Some Love.” You gotta love a lyric that goes, “Let’s bump and grind until something falls off or gets loose.”

He also does a couple of terrific acoustic blues tunes, “Every Night” and “Hard Time.” The former is a very nice twelve-bar acoustic tune, played by a guitarist good enough to play the acoustic guitar as it is rather than if it were an unplugged electric. I especially like “Hard Time,” though. DaSilva is joined by Albert Castiglia and their voices blend to deliver a gritty tune worthy of the Mississippi Delta. DaSilva’s voice hits all the right notes and nuances.

Purists beware, there are a couple of rockin’ blues tunes here, too. And they work. The opening riffs of Hendrix’s “Who Knows” reach out and grab you as both smoking blues and driving rock.

One of the things I like best about this CD is that DaSilva never loses his anchor. A lot of times when today’s blues players try to “modernize” the sound by bringing in the blues’ offspring, the original blues voice is lost. But when DaSilva adds a rock sound on a tune, including his own “Hangin’ On,” he never loses the heart of the blues. This is no easy feat and a big reason that I’m going to predict that the world will be hearing a lot about Joel DaSilva very soon.

He also throws a very nice curve ball. “Heart of my Father” opens with a wistful acoustic guitar and accordion, as if it were 1938 Paris, before it smoothly transitions into an eight-minute, wrenching, soul-searching lament buoyed by Joseph Sant’ Angelo’s delicious Hammond B3 and DaSilva’s emotional guitar fills and solos.

I have reviewed a lot of CDs for BluesWax, including some very well-known names in the Blues World, and I can honestly say this one is my favorites. It is such a remarkably mature recording for a first effort. Dasilva hails from Chicago, which appears to have infused DaSilva with every ounce of blues mojo that storied town contains.

And he’s put it all on this CD. You should get it. Today. Right now.

Kim O’Brien is a contributing writer at BluesWax.

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Kipori Woods

Blues Gone Wild

Louisiana Red Hot Records

BluesWax Rating: 7

Big Easy Funky Blues

It’s been nearly twelve years since the last Kipori Woods album, so it’s great to have him back. I was fortunate to have seen him onboard with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band a few years back and enjoyed his spot in the band, but I think that might have been a one-time shot. Blues Gone Wild is Kipori’s third solo album, twelve tracks are offered, two covers, and the balance of the tunes were either authored or co-authored by Woods.

The album starts with two covers, first up is Jeannie and Jimmy Cheatham’s classic “Meet Me With Your Black Drawers On,” its offered in a more swinging setting than the original, and also includes new and bawdy lyrics that makes it “R” rated, but it’s fun, and the band is tight. Earl King’s “Ya Mama” is next and it finds Kipori in wah-wah mode, which sounds odd to me, but kudos to bassist Roy Pope who provides lively contrasts. Woods’ “Me and My Baby (Getting’ Down)” is funky and playful, as is the instrumental “Tip Groove,” which sounds like a track that Tower of Power could stomp over; there’s more thumping bass from Pope, and nice B3 from David Tarantolo. “Uptown Blues” has good energy, with solid guitar work from the hands of Woods. A second instrumental, “Free Flow,” allows the entire band to share the spotlight with their leader, and it’s another funky romp. Reminiscent of another Crescent City star (Walter “Wolfman” Washington), there’s some cool stutters and stops on Woods’ “Full Circle,” that also shows off some of Woods’ hottest guitar playing on this very danceable recording. The so-called bonus track, “Back In New Orleans,” is different from all the previous tunes, it has a honky-tonk groove aided by Tarantolo’s piano as opposed to his B3 organ, but it’s nothing special.

So in summary this is a nice return to studio recording for Kipori Woods, his songwriting is good, his vocals have developed further, but it’s his guitar that receives and deserves the attention, and gets the spotlight. Hopefully it won’t be another twelve years till the next album. In the meantime, have some friends over, serve up a bunch of jambalaya, suck down some oysters, a few brews, and enjoy Blues Gone Wild. That’s what I did.

Bob Putignano is a contributing writer at Blues Revue and a contributing editor at BluesWax. He is also the heart and soul of  Sounds of Blues.

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Ryan Hartt & the Blue Hearts

Call My Name

Far-Tone Records

BluesWax Rating: 9

East Meets West…Coast

New England is a pretty swingin’ area of the country that doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. Roomful of Blues, the Radio Kings, and Monster Mike Welch all hail from these woods. Most of the time you think the west coast swings harder than the east coast, well, those names mentioned and Ryan Hartt will give the Delta Groove Records guys a run through the woods. Let’s see those city slickers hang with these country bumpkins.

Ryan Hartt is right out of the rockin’ swing clubs that could pack any dance floor. He has a little Kansas City flavoring that makes everything gel just right with the muscle of Eric Ducoff’s tough guitar tone. Ducoff has a tone that could be called a “tall Texas tone.” It’s just so big, but he has such a strong control of it. Hartt then expands on the strings with his screaming harmonica that has traveled the roads of Chicago, Austin, and L.A. to land into his own well-crafted lips. These two complement each other like peanut butter and jelly.

The album starts off with a lazy “Anti-Blues Pill.” I tell yo,u if you just want to sit back have a brew and chill to one song this year, here it is. Then they turn the heat up T-Bird style on “Love at First Sight.” Hartt channels his inner Kim Wilson and rips the song down with that laid-back southern pace. Another gem that lets the harp blow on one of those windy, sunny days you don’t want to end is “One More Night.”

On a different note, the songwriting on “I Choose the Blues” really sells this song. It’s the halfway point on the album and changes the whole face of what you have heard so far. It’s a dark, foreboding song; it tells their story – of musicians that have made the choice to play blues instead of work 9-5 every day. It reminds me of John Lee Hooker’s “I Cover the Waterfront” on his Real Folk Blues album. Although Hooker’s song was at the end, it was a total change in feel from the rest of the album; but it worked perfectly.

“Kaboom!” is a Spanish-flavored instrumental piece worth putting on your plate. I like the little reggae scratch in the middle of the song, too. These guys are all over the place, but right where they need to be. Even “Sleepwalkin’” doesn’t slow Ryan Hartt and his crew down. They just poke it along and drink some “caffeine in the mornin’/ and it’s beer at night/ that’s the only way I feel alright/ sleepwalkin’/ sleepwalkin’ through my life.” And of course to wrap it up they pick up the pace with “Dartboard.” They can’t let you down without gettin’ you out of your seat for one last dance.

Ryan Hartt & the Blue Hearts aim to please and they do from start to finish. It’s a slow ride through the New England woods where you test speed limits and sometimes get a little too close to the trees on the side of the road, but your blood will be pumping through your veins with excitement until the last note rings out.

Kyle M. Palarino is a contributing editor at BluesWax.

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Adam Gussow

Southbound

Self-produced

BluesWax Rating: 4

An Eclectic Set

Adam Gussow is a native New Yorker who fell in love with southern rock as a teenager and then emulated the example of countless others by following its trail back to gut-bucket country blues. After gaining proficiency as a harmonica player, Gussow teamed with Sterling Magee for many years as the duo Satan and Adam. Now a transplanted Mississippian, Gussow has released his second solo album, a sequel and expansion of his 2010 release, Kick and Stomp.

On Southbound, Gussow not only demonstrates his chops but also his versatility. Kick and Stomp featured his stylings on percussion, as well as harmonica; Southbound allows him to stretch out on guitar also. The addition of other musicians, not only on guitar but also on bass and keyboards, leads to a fuller sound. Not to be confined to the country-blues sub-genre, Gussow delves into Chicago blues and displays a respect and affinity for jazz.

The result is an eclectic set of eleven cuts which begins with the title song, attributed to ex-Allman Brothers guitarist Dicky Betts. This full-tilt rocker features Gussow on harmonica, percussion, rhythm and lead guitars, and vocal, and is abetted by the fine piano contribution of Bill Perry, Jr. and the propulsive bass of Jerry Jemmott. A segue into full blues mode is represented by the Jimmy Reed classic “You Don’t Have to Go,” again played at a rapid clip that highlights Gussow’s impressive Mississippi saxophone chops while abandoning Reed’s seductively languid tempo and harp style. Gussow’s vocal, though, falls short of Reed’s lascivious drawl and slur as Gussow strains for the high notes.

The Quincy Jones theme from the TV show Sanford and Son is played at a similar frenetic clip. The pace slows down a little for the jazzy “Grazing in the Grass,” with Jemmott’s funky bass foundation front and center. “Old McDonald in Mississippi,” one of two of Gussow’s own compositions on the disc, is a rather limp (pun intended) attempt at euphemistic barnyard sexual humor and suffers from a weak vocal.

Shifting back into the Chicago blues groove, Gussow tackles the standard “I’m Tore Down,” this time accompanied by the adept Dave Woolworth on bass. The instrumentation is fine, but the song suffers from the lack of a powerful, compelling vocal. Next up are two instrumentals: “Why Not,” with maracas and a weaving harmonica line that reminded me of Charlie Musselwhite’s “Christo Redentor,” and “Green Tomatoes,” which is repetitious and undistinguished.

Gussow’s second self-penned composition, “Home to Mississippi,” is the longest cut of the album and wears out its welcome after a couple of choruses. Another blues chesnut, “C.C. Rider,” is given an upbeat treatment; liner notes give a nod to “a brilliantly supportive guitar part” by Bryan Ward, but the guitar is barely audible, as is true throughout the CD. The album concludes with “Alley Cat,” a brief but sprightly jazz turn that allows Gussow to explore the full range of his harmonica.

Although Gussow is justified in highlighting his formidable harmonica skill, his attempt to be front and center on every song diminishes the contributions of his accompanists and even his own guitar overdubs, and the six songs on which he sings expose his lack of vocal power and range.

Features which deserve praise include the informative and unpretentious liner notes, and the inclusion of harmonica key used on each song.

Steve Daniels is a contributing writer at BluesWax.

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W T Feaster Band

Juggling Dynamite

Mystic Recor

BluesWax Rating: 8

A Cracking Album

This is the third album from the Indianapolis band and a debut CD for this excellent UK label, although recorded in Nashville. Paul Jones recently featured the W T Feaster Band on his national blues show, having recorded four of their songs at the Abbey Road Studio in London prior to their solo tour and other UK appearances with Walter Trout.

“The Road Is Mine” starts with a slow chain gang rhythm and explodes into the ultimate road-travelling song, thanks to Chris Taylor’s driving, and mesmeric snare drumming, which takes the listener on a roller coaster ride. Gary Burnette’s lap steel guitar complements Travis Feaster‘s piercing guitar solos and the background wash of Kevin Anker’s Hammond B.

The title song is a powerful, evocative song built on Austin Shearer’s funky and melodic bass groove. “She is a firecracker lady, a woman made of temptation and a body built for sin, I’d light her fuse tonight but I’d be juggling with dynamite.” This is 21st century blues with universal themes of love, betrayal, and redemption; it is passionate, intense, and played with exceptional feeling and emotion. The only cover song is Bob Marley’s “Is This Love?” but Feaster gives it his own interpretation as he stretches his vocal range to its highest registry, in contrast to “Love Is A Lie,” which sounds deep and gritty.

Other highlights are “About Time,” co-written by Stacy Feaster, whose husband bends those guitar strings to give that unique slide sound, with Anker adding Wurlitzer to superb effect. “I Can’t Let You Go” is a beautifully crafted ballad written by long-time associate Erick Sims, who co-writes many of the original tracks performed by the band. All in all, a cracking album, detonated by the explosive axeman and showcasing the amazing talent and extensive musical range of a band establishing itself as the most innovative on the UK circuit today.

Dave Scott is a contributing writer at BluesWax.

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The Grateful Dead & Various Artists

Dawn of the Dead & The Rise of the San Francisco Underground (DVD)

MVD Visual

BluesWax Rating: 8

Flashback: Can You Pass the Acid Test?

During the mid 1960s, psychedelic music became a movement that was born out of San Francisco. The local scene, and more specifically the Bay Area, musicians started experimenting (in more ways than with the music) with folk, country blues, and rock ‘n’ roll. The new blended sounds were typically created while they were under the influence of drugs, and this revolutionary era eventually exploded and caught the nation and the world by storm. But make no doubt about it that San Francisco was the epicenter of it all.

Dawn of the Dead is not just about the Grateful Dead, though they are the main focus. Other period bands are shown and talked about to some degree: The Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Janis Joplin with Big Brother & the Holding Company, and others are all shown performing live from way back in the day.

There are also many interview segments with Rock Scully, Peter Albin of Big Brother, Dead publicist Dennis McNally, The Grateful Dead Hour’s David Gans, Merry Prankster Ken Babbs, The Charlatans Mike Willhelm, and journalists Robert Christgau, Ritchie Unterberger, and my old grammar school and high school buddy Anthony DeCurtis of Rolling Stone magazine fame.

For a two hour-plus documentary this video moves along at a non-boring pace, as the performances and interview segments are sequenced smartly. Highlights include Tom Canstanten saying how “Dark Star” was the perfect vehicle for the Dead to go all the way out there then come back to some sort of reality. There are also chapters on the making of Anthem of the Sun, which was the live performance/studio LP were the Dead paid to learn how to work in the recording studio. Bill Graham advising the Dead to write some songs! Jerry Garcia telling a story about how mad he was with Phil Lesh after they performed, and threw him down a flight of stairs. Jerry also says he was pretty high. There’s talk about how, after Anthem of the Sun, Warner Brothers was growing skeptical of the band, and how the label wanted a live album, and the way the Dead were able to negotiate a three-record deal of the Aoxomoxoa studio recording and the two-LP (now legendary) Live Dead. Afterwards how the Hunter/Garcia songwriting team gained “accessible” acceptance with the back-to-back (more acoustic-based) Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty that basically formulated the band to begin to tour the world as a tour de force powerhouse band. Plus the Altamont concert fiasco (with the Hells Angels) is also featured with several performances. I also really enjoyed watching footage of Bill Graham tossing a musician out of his offices for cursing him; Graham was definitely (and legendary) for being one tough guy who took no bull, and this is very clear here.

Whether you like this era and music or not, there’s no denying that psychedelic music changed the world. Dawn of the Dead shows how a lot of it went down and how the counter-culture movement soured too. So this documentary is fair at showing both sides of the rise and fall of what many thought was going to be a new dawn. That being said: I definitely enjoyed this video, and suspect you might too, especially if you are into a good flashback.

Bob Putignano is a contributing editor at BluesWax and the heart of  Sounds of Blues.

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Anthony Gomes

Up2Zero

www.AnthonyGomes.com

BluesWax Rating: 8

Welcome Back, Mr. Gomes!

He’s back, and tells us so on the rocking opening tune “Back To the Start,” sending a message that, after a few sidesteps, Gomes is now focused on (for the most part) returning to his previous blues-rocking days. My first clue came from seeing Gomes at the Tremblant Blues Fest two or so years ago, where his performances were in the same vein as this fine new recording.

But Up2Zero is not all about hard-rocking blues, and it’s on some of the more laid-back songs where Gomes shows his songwriting skills and feel for more affectionate moods. For example, on the slow and straight blues of “One Last Time” Gomes really digs down and asks (begs?) for that “one last kiss.” Now this isn’t exactly a quiet love song, but what’d you expect? Ever so slowly and tenderly, Gomes amps up his guitar (tastily) and eventually brings this solid blues song to an exploding climax. The well-written Southern-styled “Love Sweet Love” is reminiscent to what you’d expect of something the Marshall Tucker Band would have been comfortable with back in the good old days when Toy Caldwell was at the helm. I could also see Coco Montoya covering this solid song.

“Darkest Before the Dawn” is a pretty ballad that offers passionate vocals from Gomes, where he asks “keep holding on.” It’s beautiful and a welcome addition, with supporting background vocalists, even though it was covered on Gomes 2002 Unity album. It’s pedal to the metal time with “Room 414.” Gomes and company are flying low to the ground and on the prowl with dueling overdubbed guitars that possess strong blues undertones. Deeper blues, Mississippi Delta styled arise on “Voodoo Moon.” It’s so haunting with Gomes calling out for “the ghosts of Clarksdale.” It’s here where Gomes unearths his grungiest guitar work with mystical vocals, and it’s a memorable keeper for sure. In similar fashion, “Last Bluesman Gone” echoes “Voodoo Moon” stylistically, but Gomes is playing solo acoustic with spiritual background vocalists as he emotionally calls out the names of Big Jack, Koko, Pinetop, Gary Moore, Big Eyes, Honeyboy, Hubert Sumlin, and others saying “they’re all gone.” Gomes repeats Etta James‘ name twice on this very heartwarming and touching track. The title track (as expected) is an upbeat rocker that includes some of the more high-spirited and rocking playing by Gomes that classically ends abruptly and smartly. The closing “N’ Abandonne Pas” is a ballad sung in French.

In summary, where have you been Mr. Gomes? No matter, it’s great to have you back! Up2Zero should reignite Gomes’ career, and I suspect it won’t be long that you’ll see him performing at a bunch of festivals throughout the land. This new album is far from perfect, but if Gomes continues on this path, I would suspect that there will be further improvements. You see, Gomes is a triple-threat artist who sings soulfully, writes strong songs, and continues to improve his already great chops on guitar. Bring it on Anthony, at just thirty-seven years old, your future is bright.

Bob Putignano is a contributing writer at Blues Revue and a contributing editor at BluesWax. He is also the heart and soul of Sounds of Blue.

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Anders Osborne

Black Eye Galaxy

Alligator Records

BluesWax Rating: 9

He Ain’t Heavy…Well, Yes, He Is! 

Being a fan since first hearing “Pleasin’ You” on 1995’s Which Way To Here on a college radio station out of Philly, I was totally blown away by seeing Anders Osborne play Tipitina’s in New Orleans on a double bill with Mardi Gras Indian Big Chief Monk Boudreaux. Why blown away? Easy, Osborne displayed an incredible array of powerful lead-guitar styles and intensities that hadn’t shown up on his CDs at that time, which was just month’s pre-Katrina.

I’m sure this came to pass for most of his CD fans on their first exposure to his live shows. Well, people were first exposed to that same kind of zeal with his last CD, American Patchwork, and will be shown the nth degree of power, helped by Carl Dufrene (bassist for Tab Benoit for years) and Stanton Moore (producer and drummer for Galactic), on a few tunes of Black Eye Galaxy. Osborne credits Moore’s production efforts to take his guitar sound closer to his live sound by constantly saying, “No, heavier man, more distortion, heavier!!” And this is the result: HEAVIER MAN! No B.S. there my friends.

It begins with a semi-biographic journey through Osborne’s life struggles battling addiction, rehab, relapse, rehab, losing a friend, lost love, and, finally, redemption. Sounds kinda heavy, too, doesn’t it? His troubadour days aren’t over, just consigned to second place by songs that state facts instead of his former shapely wordsmithing that merely implied facts.

OK, one more thing before we speak of the CD: as was the original purpose of this review-turned-article. In 2011 Osborne joined with Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe to present The Stones’ LP Sticky Fingers (in it’s entirety). Perhaps a clue to how rockin’ he had become.

Let’s start with the opening tune of Black Eye Galaxy, “Send Me a Friend.” A heavy, pounding beat from Anders and Stanton Moore accentuates the desperate pleas for a friend while totally lost in life’s turbulence while still defiant.

Next we have a slow cadence that imitates the junkie life’s tempo, complete with lyrical flashes of the title, “Mind Of A Junkie.” The next two songs will placate fans of the earlier musical version of Osborne. Then he smacks you upside the head with “Black Tar.” The title infers the content and then my favorite tune on the disc, the title track that morphs from a dream into an authentic soundtrack for a dream.

Then it is back to more genial tunes with very poignant lyrics of “Tracking My Roots” and then “Louisiana Gold”’s story. Then it all calms down even more with the redemptive songs “Dancing in the Wind” and “Higher Ground.”

Simply put, this is a very fine effort that includes something for everyone by New Orleans’ favorite adopted Swede, Anders Osborne. Now on tour in support of this CD, I anticipate catching up with him next month for a chat and a show as a trio with Carl Dufrene and drummer Eric Bolivar (Bonerama).

Beardo is a contributing editor at BluesWax.

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Stacy Jones Band

No Need to Spell It Out

Self-Released 

BluesWax Rating: 8

Nothing But Good

The Pacific Northwest has been producing some very interesting blues acts lately. This continues to be the case with the Stacy Jones Band out of the Seattle, Washington, area. This is one tight band. Front and center is Stacy Jones, an accomplished musician and a powerful vocalist. Not only can this lady belt out a song, but she can play piano, as well as a mean harp. Her band was not short-changed on talent either. Playing bass guitar, is her father, Tom Jones, who has been playing bass as a primary instrument for over twenty-five years. The remainder of the quartet consists of guitarist Jeff Menteer and drummer/percussionist Rick J. Bowen. I love Menteer’s playing, it reminds me a bit of Clapton on a few tracks. 

Composed of original and well contrived tunes, No Need to Spell it Out is an unexpected delight. So delightful and enjoyable, it’s hard to choose a favorite. The opening track, “No Matter What,” has been circulating around my head more and more. It’s a catchy little love song and just a bit over two-minutes long. I look at it as kind of an appetizer for the rest of the album. It gets the juices flowing while the full meal is being prepared. Tell the chef that the harmonica was delicious.

There are a few songs that I consider the icing on the cake. One of those songs is “The Radio Song.” This one makes me grin ear to ear like a possum. The song itself is an upbeat head-bobber. With Stacy playing piano and Menteer seemingly possessed by Jerry Garcia, the performance reminds me a bit of the Grateful Dead with Bruce Hornsby. Stacy’s vocals, smooth and sweet, show us a nice range and occasionally comes off as very beat, like Rickie Lee Jones. Another lively song , “Do What You Wanna,” immediately follows. This one, no doubt, draws a crowd to the dance floor when performed live. It’s just laid out so well, it’s pretty much the full package. From Bowen’s dynamic drum fills and Tom’s walking bass line, to Stacy’s vocal styling, ”Do What You Wanna” exudes an abundance of energy. 

Unique and special, the very last song, “Diggin’ in the Mud,” caught me totally off guard. Somewhat of a manic spiritual, it has a certain Bourbon Street vibe. Stacy plays the piano fast and furious, keeping up with the constantly increasing tempo.  

I have nothing but good things to say about this album. I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish.

Phillip Smith is a contributing writer at BluesWax.

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Phantom Blues Band

Inside Out

VizzTone label group

BluesWax Rating: 9.75

Largely Unheralded Group Creates A Timeless Blues Album

I don’t know about other reviewers, but it’s a lot harder for me to review an album that I really like. We want to provide real information for our readers, who by-and-large are much more knowledgeable than the average music listener (and usually this writer, too!).

That said, I really, really like this album. It is so good, in so many ways, delivering so many perfectly-performed styles, that I’d feel pretty comfortable just saying, “Go get this and you won’t be sorry.” The end. Byline.

If you’re not familiar with the Phantom Blues Band, you probably actually are because you’ve probably heard them, collectively or individually, on stage or on CDs. Nowadays, when Taj Mahal needs a band, he calls on the Phantoms – like he has for the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise (LRBC) this past January and on more than a dozen previous cruises. In fact, the current Mahal backups, except for keyboardist Mike Finnigan and bass player Larry Fulcher, were originally assembled by Mahal for his 1993 album Dancing the Blues.

The latest Phantoms group chose the January LRBC to announce their new album, Inside Out, and those onboard had the opportunity to get one. Its official release is this week.

The Phantoms are actually a band of bandleaders – any one of them could easily front their own group, and most have. Finnigan, who sings a lot of the leads and plays masterful keyboards, is the sort-of, defacto leader, I think. My own experience with Mr. Finnigan goes back to 1968 or ‘69 when I heard his band from Wichita, Kansas, The Serfs, play at a beer joint in Emporia. I was 18 and he was already a rising star, at least in the eyes of us Kansas college kids.

I was probably directed to the show by my great friend and music lover, Suz, who was a lifelong Finnigan devotee. A brilliant biologist and reference librarian from a small town near Wichita, she even had this complex explanation of how her or her relatives were related to him. (I never could quite get it and when I tried to explain it to Finnigan on the cruise, he laughed and quipped that “I might be related to a lot of people that I don’t know”.)

Suz totally loved blues music, was a truly great person and one of my very best friends. Sadly, she passed away just a few days ago. A real loss to the world. She would have been excited that I’m writing about Finnigan and the Phantoms. So this one’s for you, Suz!

Back to the Phantoms; for the last 45 years Finnigan has been performing with some of the biggest names in the business, including the fan-favorite Finnigan and Wood, Dave Mason, Etta James, Dr. John, Carlos Santana, and Joe Cocker – as well as with Mahal and Bonnie Raitt, whom he will be touring with this summer. He also famously played organ on “Rainy Day Dream Away” and “Still Raining Still Dreaming” on Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland in 1968.

There’s Tony Braunagel on the drums, from Houston, who has played with Eric Burdon, Rickie Lee Jones, Bette Midler, and Raitt. He produced Mahal’s Grammy-winning Shoutin’ in Key; last year’s Wrong Side of the Blues from Trampled Under Foot, which is currently nominated for three BMA awards; and, co-produced Curtis Salgado’s just-released Soul Shout. Oh, and he’s Robert Cray’s regular drummer, too, and on the LRBC he triple-dipped, also drumming with Coco Montoya.

Handling guitar and many vocal duties for the Phantoms is Johnny Lee Shell, who also produced Inside Out. Shell always looks like he’s getting away with something when he’s performing – with a twinkle in his eye and a big grin – like he’s having more fun than he deserves to have. He’s yet another Texan who learned the ropes working with Buddy Holly’s producer Norman Petty. Shell lead the band Baby, and has toured with Raitt, The Bump Band, Ron Wood, and John Fogerty.

Shell also runs Ultra Tone Studios where the Phantom’s CD was recorded, and he recently recorded and mixed Little Feat’s latest.

Fulcher is the bass player and frequent vocalist on Inside Out. He has recorded with Smokey Robinson and The Crusaders, and toured and recorded with reggae artists The Wailers, Third World, and Andrew Tosh. He was a featured vocalist on the Emmy Award-winning ABC-TV series I’ll Fly Away.

Then there is the terrific horn section – individually Darrell Leonard on trumpet and Joe Sublett on saxophone, together the Texacali Horns. Another pair of Texas transplants, they got together first in 1989 to record on Stevie Ray Vaughan’s In Step, which won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues CD. Leonard then spent time touring with Delaney and Bonnie before working with Dr. John, Mahal, Raitt, Elton John, Leon Russell, Glenn Frey, and Little Feat. A master arranger, Leonard’s work has been featured on recordings by Randy Newman, Vaughan, Mahal, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Keb Mo, and Raitt. And he’s featured on the new Bruce Springsteen CD, Wrecking Ball.

Sublett started his career in Austin with Paul Ray and The Cobras, which included a twenty-one year old Stevie Ray Vaughn. He has played on albums by The Rolling Stones, Mahal, Vaughan, Los Lonely Boys, Keb Mo, Bono, Little Feat, Raitt, B.B. King, Macy Gray, The Black Crowes, Buddy Guy, The Crickets, and Bette Midler. The Texacali Horns have their own CD, and have appeared on more than seventy-five albums.

With all that talent and experience, you might expect Inside Out to be good. Well, it is. Or you might expect that so many accomplished artists would clash and not be able to put out a cohesive set. Not even close. Together, the Phantoms are loose and totally egoless, journeymen performers working together perfectly to create a timeless blues CD. The stereotypical “well-oiled machine.”

There are thirteen cuts and just over fifty minutes of music. Save for a couple songs, this CD still solidly qualifies as blues, though it stretches the genre in all directions. If you wanted to critique at all, you might say that Inside Out tries to do too much. There are so many different rhythms and arrangements that it’s almost aural overload, each tune demanding a new set of ears to notice it, and appreciate it. And it all succeeds splendidly.

Much credit for that goes to Shell’s excellent oversight in structuring the album. He seemed a little apprehensive when we spoke – “I really hope people like it.” – but he needn’t have been, because his structure, like the songs themselves, was very well performed.

There are a variety of excellent blues rockers, shuffles, boogies, and other “upbeat” tunes on Inside Out. That includes the opener, Smokey McCallister’s “I Can’t Stand It,” about the singer not being able to handle losing his main squeeze – And when I hear you say/That you will go away/And leave me someday/I can’t stand it.

The swinging “Having a Good Time with the Blues,” co-written by Shell, features his tasty honky-tonk guitar, and the hard-rocking “Boogah Man” reminded me of a piano-driven rockabilly group like Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen. I was impressed by Finnigan’s vocal power and flexibility throughout this album. On many cuts, he assumed completely different personas, with excellent, pleasing results.

The album takes one of a couple side trips, like “So Far From Heaven” by Fulcher and Sublett, with an assist from legendary Joe Sample (The Crusaders). It has a soul/funk intro that’s like Curtis Mayfield’s “Super Fly,” with lyrics equally reminiscent. It is one of two excellent “message” tunes on the album, all about the horror and stupidity of violence, in the inner city and by religious zealots:

Everyone said the sister was so lovely/She was at the top of her class/All the teachers expected certain big things/Took just one bullet to end all of that. And You say your God’s got to kill my God/It makes no sense to me/Cause how can you kill women and babies/And call it a victory?

It’s a really good song, with exciting, jazzy piano (from Sample, I think), vocals by Fulcher and several powerful sax breaks from Sublett. An equally good message tune takes on Washington, Wall Street, and the recent financial disasters. It’s called “Change” and it describes the crazy the world we’ve created:

Things ain’t right in the land of the free/There ain’t enough brave around here/Running the world is a mighty big job/But it seems like we’re running on fear. Times are hard/Jobs are scarce/But the stock market’s doing real well. Fighting two or three wars/And five dollar gas/And war ain’t all that’s hell. We need a change, people.

And “There’s the party of money/Then there’s everybody else/And the country’s about to explode. Illegal aliens paid eleven billion in taxes/And Bank of America paid none/General Electric made twenty-six billion/Got a four billion dollar refund. I’m looking for a change, people.

There are other very good tunes, like Doc Pomus’ jumping “Boogie Woogie Country Girl,” Jimmy McCracklin’s soul shaker “Shame, Shame,” Shell’s toe-tapping “It’s All Right,” and the wonderful, mostly instrumental “Where Did My Monkey Go” from Leonard that shows off how very talented he, Sublett, and the other musicians are.

My favorite two songs, though, are “Feel Like Going Home,” a slow, county blues by superstar songwriter/singer Charlie Rich (“Behind Closed Doors”) that Finnigan absolutely nails, and the final cut, David Egan’s “Stone Survivor,” that is as close to a traveling musician’s anthem as you’re going to find. It’s an instant classic. Like an Eagles’ song that’s so good you can’t stop singing it, “Survivor” struts and rolls joyously, all about enduring the road and being proud of the accomplishment – I’m a stone survivor/I’ve seen this little world go round/I’m a straight through driver/And the ever-spinning wheels don’t get me down. And I ain’t no apologizer/I’m a stone survivor.

I toyed with giving this album a perfect “10” – something I’ve never done. In the end, I gave it a “9.75” (which I’ve also never done). BluesWax editors will round that up to “10” I assume. Hey, I’m still clinging to the thought that the “perfect” CD is yet to be made. But Inside Out is as close to perfect as anything I’ve heard this year, and for a long time. Inside Out is, both literally and figuratively, a Texas-sized triumph that expertly blends and stretches some of the finest musicians working today, in any genre.

Dan D. Harrell is contributing writer for BluesWax and president of The Write Answer in San Jose, CA, specializing in writing, public relations and marketing consulting. Contact him by commenting below or at dan@writeanswer.biz.

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