Midnight Breakfast – Close to the Wall | Album Review

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This CD review was originally published in the November 12, 2015 edition of Blues Blast Magazine. Be sure to check out the rest of the magazine at www.bluesblastmagazine.com

Midnight Breakfast – Close to the Wall

Glitterhouse Records

www.midnightbreakfastbluesband.com

http://label.glitterhouse.com

10 tracks / 48:13

There are times that it is not possible to put a label on a band or their music, and Midnight Breakfast from Bergamo, Italy is a perfect example of this. Over the past 30 years this blues band has developed their own tone and sound, one that bridges the roots of the genre with modern songwriting. Their latest album, Close to the Wall, is a heady piece of work that fans of any type of blues music should enjoy.

Midnight Breakfast is fronted by Marco Valietti on vocals and guitar, and for this latest project he was joined in London’s Master Chord Studio by Stefano Albertini on guitar, Luigi Cortinovis on bass, and Fabio Carenini on the skins. There are no keyboards or horns to be found on this release! Breaking with the homegrown tradition of their earlier albums, the band brought in a producer, Paolo Legramandi, to help them record all ten of their original songs over just four days. As a bonus, somehow they arranged to have the mastering completed at the venerable Abbey Road Studios. If only those walls could talk…

All of that work paid off, as Close to the Wall is a slick piece of work that has the feel of a live performance. The set kicks off with “There is a Bird” which has a Creedence Clearwater Revival swamp rock vibe, but the similarity stops once Valietti starts to sing. The words “raspy” and “throaty” are overused in album reviews, but Marco redefines these tired words with his beautifully croaking baritone. This effect plays well with the sound of the rest of the band, which uses a sparse arrangement to provide additional drama for the vocals. “You’re Talking About Your Feet” brings back the swamp rock sound (“Suzie Q”, this time), with some very tasty call and response between Marco and the lead guitar. As with the other tracks on the album, he adds a lot of extra sounds to his vocals that are not exactly words, and the overall effect is stunning.

From there they drop into a more conventional Chicago style blues on “Trying to Satisfy Myself,” with crystal clear guitar leads and a walking feel to the backline. A jangly guitar solo is the icing on the cake for this song. “Close to the Wall” is also a fine piece of fairly normal guitar-centered blues, this time with some crazy falsetto vocal work from Valietti.

The band mixes things up throughout Close to the Wall, and “One of These Mornings” is a neat song that could have been programmed on a mid-1970s progressive AOR radio station. This song has high quality guitar leads that could have come from Robin Trower, and the ostinato of bass and rhythm guitar moves things along at a markedly retrained pace. Marco shows even more vocal diversity and delivers the words in a breathless whisper.

With “I Missed the Man” and “Take Me,” Midnight Breakfast flirts a little with country blues-rock, and they do a respectable job. In fact, these tunes raise the question of whether this band could actually pull off a credible version ZZ Top’s “La Grange!”

The disc closes out with “Let Me Smoke My Last Cigarette” (how appropriate!), a slow burning blues track with subtle guitar interplay between Valietti and Albertini. A plodding and dramatic song like this would have been perfect with a little Hammond thrown into the mix, but these guys made it work anyway, and this was a perfect way to finish things up.

Midnight Breakfast’s Close to the Wall is one of the best modern blues albums of 2015, and it would definitely be worth your while to give it a listen. All ten songs are awesome by themselves, but as a whole this set is amazing and this record is the best work the band has done to date. There are no planned gig dates in the United States on their website, but hopefully they will make their way over here soon!

Blues Blast Magazine Album Review: Henry Carpaneto – Voodoo Boogie

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This CD review was originally published in the March 5, 2015 edition of Blues Blast Magazine. Be sure to check out the rest of the magazine at www.bluesblastmagazine.com

Henry Carpaneto – Voodoo Boogie | Album Review

OrangeHomeRecords

www.orangehomerecords.com

12 tracks / 66:23

A long path was traveled to produce Italian pianist’s Henry Carpaneto’s debut album, Voodoo Boogie. The journey started in New Orleans after a tour with famed blues guitarist Bryan Lee when the two of them headed into the studio to lay down the keyboards and Lee’s guitars and vocals. After two years, Lee sent the tracks along to Henry in Italy where the bass, drum, and saxophone tracks were recorded. The final three tracks were finished up in London with guest artists Otis Grand on guitar and Tony Coleman on the drums. The final results are very good, with a strong set of piano-driven blues that should please most blues fans.

Henry Carpaneto is the top blues pianist in Italy and is constantly working, but his reach extends beyond the European continent to the home of the blues in the United States. He appears at major festivals and shows across America, including recent gigs at the New Orleans Jazz Festival and the Blues Memphis Awards. He has worked with a fine group of solid musicians over the years including Guitar Ray & the Gamblers, Jerry Portnoy, Lea Gilmore, Sonny Rhodes, Paul Reddick, and Big Pete Pearson.

Voodoo Boogie comes in at well over and hour and is made up of eight songs written by Lee and four neat cover tunes. The first track is the original tune “Drinking and Thinking” with a heavy beat and a sweet guitar and piano intro. Lee has a very effective tenor voice to go along with his perfect guitar phrasing, and Carpaneto bangs out a complicated honkytonk piano part throughout. All of this is set over the rock-solid beat of the house band of Andrea Tassara on drums and Pietro Martinelli on the double bass.

Henry switches to the Wurlitzer for “My Brain is Gone” which is a well-written 12-bars blues track with jazz influences. Lee knows how to build a song as well as he plays the guitar, which is no small feat, and he and Carpaneto trade solos in this mid-tempo piece that will put a smile on your face. “Angel Child” brings Paolo Maffi’s saxophone into play on the album. This slow 12-bar blues song uses the age-old theme of lost love to good effect, and hearkens back to the transition of blues to rock in the mid 1950s.

The three London tracks feature classic big band blues leader and guitarist Otis Grand and B.B.King’s drummer, Tony Coleman. There is Louis Jordan’s jump blues classic “Caldonia,” so of course Maffi’s saxes are prominently featured as well as Grand’s red-hot leads. Another fine selection is B.B King’s “Rock Me Baby” and Lee does a respectable rendition of the Beale Street bluesman’s classic vocal sound as Coleman keeps time on his hi-hat.

Just to show you that Henry has a bit more in his bag than the blues, the band tears off a quick ditty, the Latin-themed “Mambo Mamma” which might not be the most politically correct tune in the world “She’s not fat, she’s just tall…” but it certainly is a fun song! They also throw a little boogie-woogie into the mix with “Turn Down the Noise,” which provides a nice break in the heavier blues action.

The album draws to a close with one last original, “Blind Man Love,” which is five minutes of slow-tempo juke joint glory. An old-time feel is attained through Lee’s dirty guitar (which features a fabulous solo) and Carpaneto’s saloon piano sound that benefits from a strong right hand. When the song is over do not pop the disc out right away, as there is a bonus track hidden at the end that provides one last taste of Henry’s piano magic.

Henry Carpaneto’s Voodoo Boogie is a testament to the value of hard work, perseverance, and good communication. It stands together as a singular body and does not sound like a mishmash of different pieces that were stuck together, which is a real danger with projects that were spread out like this one. Henry and Bryan can be proud of the work they did here, as the result is a solid set of piano-driven blues that is worthy of your valuable listening time and a bit of your hard-earned money.

Markbass CMD 121P Bass Amplifier

Hey there!

Today we are looking at the other Markbass amplifier that I have owned: a CMD 121P combo amplifier from Italy, the home of quality electronics. Heh.

This is a powerful and lightweight amplifier. It weighs in at 29.3 pounds, and measures about 15 inches wide by 17 inches high by 14 inches deep. The head puts out 500W at 4 ohms, and the 1 12-inch speaker and piezo tweeter are rated at 400W. You can add an extension cab to get max volume.

The cabinet is super-sturdy, and is built of glued and screwed poplar plywood. I cannot stand the fuzzy black carpet covering on these amps. It never holds up well, and eventually pills up and looks like poo. I prefer a vinyl covering. This amp would definitely benefit from a built-in stand that would angle it up some (like the Genz Benz Shuttle has).

The amplifier is the same as the Little Mark II head unit. It is a solid-state unit that can put out 500W at 4 ohms or 300W at 8 ohms. On the front is a ¼-inch jack that will take either passive or active inputs, as well as a balanced XLR input. On the back is a Neutrik output jack, a balanced XLR out, a ground lift, an unbalanced tuner out and an effects loop.

There are gain and master volume controls, in case you want to dirty up the tone. There is a 4-band equalizer and a two filter knobs: the VLE (Vintage Loudspeaker Emulator) and VPF (Variable Pre-shape Filter). These filters really change the tone, and I managed to get some pretty killer tones out of this amplifier.

The list price on these is $1,459.99 and Guitar Center/Musician’s Friend (the sole importer) will not sell them cheaper than $899.99. What is the point of having a list price, if there is only one seller in the country? Whatever.

I realize that this all sounds very good on paper, but my reality was a bit more disappointing.

I had plenty of troubles with this amplifier. It would shut down when it got hot, and it eventually shut down and never turned back on again. Markbass had the amplifier for more than 6 months before they sent it back. I sold it right away and vowed to never buy their products again.

For a great alternative to this Markbass amplifier, I would recommend the Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0 combo. I have been using one for awhile and it is a fantastic amp.

MarkBass CMD 102P Bass Amplifier

Hi there!

Today we are looking a Markbass CMD 102P amplifier from Italy. These amplifiers have been popular since they were introduced due to their low weight and high power output.

How light and powerful? This one weighs in at 44 pounds, and measures about 25 inches wide by 19 inches high by 19 inches deep. The amplifier puts out 500W at 4 ohms, and the 2 neodymium 10-inch speakers and piezo tweeter are rated at 400W. Of course, you can hook up an extension cab to get the full sound out of it.

The cabinet is solidly built of glued and screwed poplar plywood. Tragically it is covered in that fuzzy black carpet crap that pills up and looks like poo. I prefer the vinyl covering more. The cabinet is beveled at the back so it can be angled up, or straight forward. It also makes it easier to roll around in the back of a truck when going around corners or slamming on your brakes.

The amplifier is the same as the Little Mark II head unit. It is a solid-state unit that can put out 500W at 4 ohms or 300W at 8 ohms. On the front is a ¼-inch jack that will take either passive or active inputs, as well as a balanced XLR input. On the back is a Neutrik output jack, a balanced XLR out, a ground lift, an unbalanced tuner out and an effects loop.

There are gain and master volume controls, in case you want to dirty up the tone. There is a 4-band equalizer and a two filter knobs: the VLE (Vintage Loudspeaker Emulator) and VPF (Variable Pre-shape Filter). These filters really change the tone, and I managed to get some pretty killer tones out of this amplifier.

Of course, good things do not come cheap.

The list price on these is $1,829.99 and Guitar Center/Musician’s Friend (the sole importer) will not sell them cheaper than $1149.99. Sounds like price-fixing to me.

I eventually sold this CMD 121P, as I had another Markbass combo (CMD 121P), and this one was not getting much use. Unfortunately, later on it failed, and he had a lot of trouble getting it repaired by them. Not long after, my CMD 121P also failed, which is not a great pattern of reliability (based on a sample of two), as both amps were less than two years old.

I have since moved on the Gen Benz amplifiers and have been very happy with them.