Mighty Mojos – Hook, Line And Sinker (Own Label).

Northern Ireland based Mighty Mojos have done everything for their debut album, from recording to distribution. The result is well worth the effort. The opener, White Lightning, is a powerful R&B, jug band Blues and a good, solid start. The uncomplicated Cindylou follows; a Country boogie and good time music. Can’t Be Satisfied is one of two live tracks on the album, it’s a Blues stomper and a classic Muddy Waters tune, treated well. There’s some good slide guitar work and a world weary vocal with wailing harp. From evidence like this, they sound like a good live band. Am I Wrong has acoustic finger picking and slide with snappy slapped drums. Looks like we’ve found a new slide hero in David McClean. You Wouldn’t Treat A Dog Like That is a rough and tumble Blues. A modern love story, eh and there’s that dirty slide again. Come On In My Kitchen is an often covered song and it’s difficult to be original with a Robert Johnson track. The Mojos try to give it a rhythm and they add slide and harp to give a good version of this classic. McClean’s slide is so powerful.  I Want It All is an upbeat R&B and the eponymous title track is fast paced Delta style Blues with McClean on fire. Alan Ward’s lived in voice sets the song off perfectly. Ward’s gruff vocal also comes to the fore on the Country Blues of Devil In Disguise and everything just fits on this one.  Back To You follows a different tack as they go all Country. Gentle acoustic and a lovely song. The highlight is Tampa Red’s Don’t You Lie To Me. This is a classic and could well confirm Mighty Mojos as a down and dirty Dr Feelgood for the 21^st century.  My only criticism is that bass player Ali McKenzie is lost in most, if not all, of the songs but that can be sorted on the second album. All in all, a very good band but McClean is the man.

www.mightymojos.com

David Blue.

Chuck Leavell – Back To The Woods (CrossCut Records).

Chuck Leavell needs very little introduction. He was the pianist for The Allman Brothers and played keyboards with The Rolling Stones; enough said. For Back To The Woods he has selected a number of Blues classics, both piano and guitar based. He’s also assembled a top class band and invited a number of all-star guests.

He opens with Little Brother Montgomery’s No Special Rider, a New Orleans piano Blues. Good sounds and good times. Leroy Carr’s Evening Train is played as an acoustic, strolling Blues with Keith Richards on guitar whereas Memphis Slim’s Wish Me Well is a pulsating Blues with Leavells fingers a blur at times and John Mayer guesting on guitar. Leroy Carr is obviously a favourite and four more of his songs are featured; the shuffling Low Down Dirty Dog, Mean Mistreater with Candi Staton sharing the vocal, the old time piano Boogie Woogie of Memphis Town and the highlight of the lot, the Professor Longhair-esque Naptown Blues. All four show that Leavell can sure play the Blues. Ray Charles made Losing Hand a hit and Leavell gives it a smouldering treatment. The eponymous title track, written by Charlie Spand, is a straightforward piano Blues but augmented by Danny Barnes’ tuba and clear, sharp guitar. Barrelhouse Buck McFarland’s I Got To Go Blues is played at lightning speed with added fiddle and guitar. Fast fingers all round on this Country Blues. Leavell gives fellow pianist Otis Spann’s Boots And Shoes an updated Delta feel (Keith Richards and John Mayer both making another appearance)and Jesse James’ Southern Casey Jones is an upbeat New Orleans epic with wailing sax from Randall Bramblett. Another in the New Orleans style is Skip James’ If You Haven’t Any Hay with piano mirroring the vocal. Candi Staton takes the vocal on her own for Leona Manning’s The Blues Is All Wrong although the song sounds a bit thin without bass or drums. Leavell finishes it all off where he began, with a Little Brother Montgomery song. This time it’s Vicksburg Blues which is triumphal. It’s just Chuck on piano and singing, simple and effective.

www.crosscut.de

www.chuckleavell.com

David Blue.

Robin Trower – Roots and Branches (Manhaton Records).

What is there left to say about Robin Trower? One of the all-time British guitar greats, listing Procol Harum and an extensive solo career covering 40 years in Blues and Prog Rock, he could be forgiven for putting his feet up. Not likely! Roots & Branches is his 31^st release since leaving Procol Harum and as the title suggests, he’s returned to his roots to rediscover some of the songs that shaped his blossoming years, mixed with some new songs influenced by these classics. He starts off with by slowing down the intro to Hound Dog and returns the song to its Blues roots with suitably laconic guitar and harp. Shape Of Things To Come has some classic Trower playing as he turns this into a grinding Funk Blues and I Believe This To My Soul is a sophisticated Blues. Two Blues classics in the form of Born Under A Bad Sign and The Thrill Is Gone are offered in differing versions, the former delivered like a string bending master and the latter is played in a way that even BB King hasn’t thought of. He keeps the vocal laid back and throws in a few more notes than BB and it works. When I Heard Your Name is a contemporary Blues on the soulful side and Sheltered Moon is a sultry, sophisticated Blues. Both are relaxing in their own way. Another song made famous by Elvis Presley, That’s Alright Mama is given a grungy makeover and Trower returns to his original slashing, screeching guitar. Little Red Rooster has Trower in his element. Forget the Rolling Stones’ very good cover but this is how it should be played, on the menacing side. It’s dark and brooding and he’s not lost any of his guitar prowess on sustain and power. Save Your Love is a lengthy, slow Blues with plenty of fills and thrills. He’s well known for his grinding Blues Rock and there’s not a finer example than the closing track, See My Life. This reminds me why he is one of the best guitarists ever to come out of the UK and the old time guitar solo is not too indulgent. A true master!

www.manhatonrecords.com

David Blue.

Marcus Bonfanti – Shake The Walls (Jigsaw).

With his 2010 album, What Good Am I To You, listed in Classic Rock’s top 50 albums of the year, the follow up could have been difficult. The opener, Alley Cat, dispels the fears immediately with its great riff and deep, velvet vocals. That voice is the constant despite some genre switches – Country Blues (Jezebel), classic Rock (Cheap Whisky), R&B (My Baby Don’t Dance), Americana (We All Do Bad Sometimes) and Blues (Honest Boy). Highlights are Honest Boy with images of the old Blues shouters and the high octane rocker Bang Of A Gun. Where that big voice comes from in such a little dude I don’t know.

www.marcusbonfanti.com

David Blue.

The Reverend Jimmie Bratcher – Secretly Famous (Ain’t Skeert Tunes).

Secretly Famous is the good Reverend’s seventh album and this time it’s produced by the multi-Grammy winner Jim Gaines. You can tell immediately as the opener, Jupiter & Mars, comes at you with plenty of attitude and grinding Blues. It’s got a big, full sound in the solo and is a sweetly produced starter. Craig Kew’s funky bass line is the basis of the sexy sounding 57. Laid back and smooth, pity he’s singing about a microphone! Feels Like Friday is a fast paced contemporary Blues with guitar flowing like molten metal and he slows things down on the acoustic ballad, Just Feels Right. It goes the whole nine yards and could easily be a Bon Jovi song. Check Your Blues At The Door is a clever title for a straightforward, no nonsense soft Blues rocker with a swinging feel. It’s gritty vocal and sharp guitar carry it through. Tobacco Road is an often covered song but I’ve never heard it played this way. There’s a of John Lee Hooker’s delivery in here and it is as good a version of this song as I’ve ever heard, especially in the grungy parts. The driving Blues of Nowhere To Go But Down gives a contemporary feel whereas When I Fall Apart is a classy Blues Rock. Bratcher plays it a bit safe on the Addrissi Brothers’ ballad Never My Love but he’s back on form with the solid, grinding funky Blues of I Can’t Shake That Thing. He plays it for laughs on Bologna Sandwich Man before finishing up with Starting All Over Again, a good Country Blues rocker. The Reverend can turn his hand to a number of styles but he’s most at home when he’s rocking the Blues.

www.theRevJB.com

David Blue.