The Wentus Blues Band – Family Meeting (Ruf Records).
This 2CD pack is a celebration of The Wentus Blues Band’s 20th anniversary and they managed to get some stellar guests to come along and help them celebrate. The album is also the soundtrack to the DVD of the same name, giving it a feeling of The Last Waltz. The Wentus Blues Band is a Finnish outfit with an international outlook. Proceedings begin with a short acoustic introduction, Going To The Show, before they are off into the electric boogie of Moonshine. They are a big family and have many guests but this is one of their own songs played just by themselves with strong guitar from Niko Riippa & Kim Wikman and Juha Kinaret’s vocal hits the mark. Pekka Grohn provides excellent backing on organ. Deadric Malone’s You Gonna Make Me Cry is slow and soulful with a mourning voice. It builds superbly and certifies the bands credentials. There is a snappy BB King style guitar on Since I Been Loving You and this is overlain with a powerful vocal. It also sees the first guest star, Sven Zetterburg, on guitar. Kim Wilson joins Zetterburg and the band for Little Walters I Got To Go. As expected, this is a harmonica blues which is fast paced and well received. Zetterburg leaves but Wilson stays on for Passenger Blues, which is a grinding, churning blues with Wilson’s harp a wailing. Pick Up The Pieces has Eddie Kirkland joining the family and he provides some silky guitar. The vocal interchange between him and Kinaret is top drawer. Zetterburg is almost becoming an extra band member as he joins the band and Kirkland on this Kirkland original. Lonesome Fugitive is an acoustic country blues performed by Lazy Lester and Angel Blues is a slow electric blues with Omar Kent Dykes. He has such a lived in voice and even manages to get his guitar sounding like a helicopter at one point. This is a strong performance overall. Stop Twistin’ My Arm is a big production R&B and the high energy will get to you. Barrence Whitfield screeches it out, especially at the end and Clas Yngstrom adds some telling guitar. The Stones’ Can’t You Hear Me Knocking gives sax player Tore Berglund a chance to excel and he grabs his chance on this soulful instrumental. He is followed by Grohn on keyboards and guitar – all excellent soloists. It’s appropriate that the guitarist is none other than Mick Taylor – who else to get to play a Rolling Stones song!
The second CD opens with I Heard The Angels Singing, which is an acoustic led, gentle paced swinger with spiritual overtones. The guest on this one is Eric Bibb and his soul is all over the track. Down The Line has the band playing on their own again and they deliver a grungy R&B with high energy and impact. Looking For Trouble is a Kim Wilson song and he returns to play harmonica on this standard shuffling blues. Hold That Note has searing guitar from Clas Yngstrom, as you would expect. This is a bouncy blues with a good sentiment to the lyric. It goes to show that you can do as much with one note than 10 times as many. Annie-Lee is a slow Chicago blues with powerful vocal performances from Whitfield and Kinaret. Blind Willie McTell has an explanation of the song before it gets played. It is different from the Dylan original and it is beefed up by Taylor. I like this! Backroom Delta is, as the title suggests, a Delta blues. This is good fun, especially at the end, as Louisiana Red and Niko Riippa try to outdo each other. Louisiana Red stays on for Ride On Red and gets the audience going with its funky style. Jagger & Richards’ Ventilator Blues is a plodding, grinding blues on a topic that can’t be classed as pleasant. Mick Taylor guests again and performs it very well. Raining In My Heart is a strolling Kansas City style harmonica blues with Lazy Lester on harp. The closing song, Biscuit Roller is a bouncy R&B with organist Grohn back on good form again. There’s a smokey lead vocal from Barrence Whitfield with screaming backing vocals and more guitar interceptions from Yngstrom. The last track, Outro – Great Final is one minute of soft acoustic led, Celtic style music – point?
This is a celebration of a band that has stayed together for twenty years and on this evidence, there’s another twenty yet to come.
http://www.rufrecords.de/
http://www.wentusbluesband.com/
David Blue.
This 2CD pack is a celebration of The Wentus Blues Band’s 20th anniversary and they managed to get some stellar guests to come along and help them celebrate. The album is also the soundtrack to the DVD of the same name, giving it a feeling of The Last Waltz. The Wentus Blues Band is a Finnish outfit with an international outlook. Proceedings begin with a short acoustic introduction, Going To The Show, before they are off into the electric boogie of Moonshine. They are a big family and have many guests but this is one of their own songs played just by themselves with strong guitar from Niko Riippa & Kim Wikman and Juha Kinaret’s vocal hits the mark. Pekka Grohn provides excellent backing on organ. Deadric Malone’s You Gonna Make Me Cry is slow and soulful with a mourning voice. It builds superbly and certifies the bands credentials. There is a snappy BB King style guitar on Since I Been Loving You and this is overlain with a powerful vocal. It also sees the first guest star, Sven Zetterburg, on guitar. Kim Wilson joins Zetterburg and the band for Little Walters I Got To Go. As expected, this is a harmonica blues which is fast paced and well received. Zetterburg leaves but Wilson stays on for Passenger Blues, which is a grinding, churning blues with Wilson’s harp a wailing. Pick Up The Pieces has Eddie Kirkland joining the family and he provides some silky guitar. The vocal interchange between him and Kinaret is top drawer. Zetterburg is almost becoming an extra band member as he joins the band and Kirkland on this Kirkland original. Lonesome Fugitive is an acoustic country blues performed by Lazy Lester and Angel Blues is a slow electric blues with Omar Kent Dykes. He has such a lived in voice and even manages to get his guitar sounding like a helicopter at one point. This is a strong performance overall. Stop Twistin’ My Arm is a big production R&B and the high energy will get to you. Barrence Whitfield screeches it out, especially at the end and Clas Yngstrom adds some telling guitar. The Stones’ Can’t You Hear Me Knocking gives sax player Tore Berglund a chance to excel and he grabs his chance on this soulful instrumental. He is followed by Grohn on keyboards and guitar – all excellent soloists. It’s appropriate that the guitarist is none other than Mick Taylor – who else to get to play a Rolling Stones song!
The second CD opens with I Heard The Angels Singing, which is an acoustic led, gentle paced swinger with spiritual overtones. The guest on this one is Eric Bibb and his soul is all over the track. Down The Line has the band playing on their own again and they deliver a grungy R&B with high energy and impact. Looking For Trouble is a Kim Wilson song and he returns to play harmonica on this standard shuffling blues. Hold That Note has searing guitar from Clas Yngstrom, as you would expect. This is a bouncy blues with a good sentiment to the lyric. It goes to show that you can do as much with one note than 10 times as many. Annie-Lee is a slow Chicago blues with powerful vocal performances from Whitfield and Kinaret. Blind Willie McTell has an explanation of the song before it gets played. It is different from the Dylan original and it is beefed up by Taylor. I like this! Backroom Delta is, as the title suggests, a Delta blues. This is good fun, especially at the end, as Louisiana Red and Niko Riippa try to outdo each other. Louisiana Red stays on for Ride On Red and gets the audience going with its funky style. Jagger & Richards’ Ventilator Blues is a plodding, grinding blues on a topic that can’t be classed as pleasant. Mick Taylor guests again and performs it very well. Raining In My Heart is a strolling Kansas City style harmonica blues with Lazy Lester on harp. The closing song, Biscuit Roller is a bouncy R&B with organist Grohn back on good form again. There’s a smokey lead vocal from Barrence Whitfield with screaming backing vocals and more guitar interceptions from Yngstrom. The last track, Outro – Great Final is one minute of soft acoustic led, Celtic style music – point?
This is a celebration of a band that has stayed together for twenty years and on this evidence, there’s another twenty yet to come.
http://www.rufrecords.de/
http://www.wentusbluesband.com/
David Blue.
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