Blues Blast Magazine Album Review: Brad Vickers and His Vestapolitans – That’s What They Say

Good day!

This CD review was originally published in the December 3, 2015 edition of Blues Blast Magazine. Be sure to check out the rest of the magazine at www.bluesblastmagazine.com

Brad Vickers & His Vestapolitans – That’s What They Say

ManHat Tone Records

www.bradvickers.com

15 tracks / 47:31

What exactly is a Vestapolitan, anyway? Vestapol (one of many spellings) is an open guitar tuning and the term is commonly used to describe the relationship between different chords. Brad Vickers uses this type of tuning, and he also was looking for a cool name that started with V for his band. It looks like he solved his dilemma, as Brad Vickers and the Vestapolitans certainly is catchy! Fortunately this group has a lot more going on than just a clever name, as their unique blend of American roots and blues is both entertaining and enthralling.

Brad, a Long Island native, is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist with impressive credentials. He has played with Bo Diddley, Hubert Sumlin, Odetta, Chuck Berry, and Jimmy Rogers, not to mention appearing on two of Pinetop Perkins’ Grammy-nominated albums. He has put out five albums of his own with his Vestapolitans since 2008 and the latest, That’s What They Say, is the best of the bunch. Vickers was joined on this project by a core crew of Margey Peters on vocals, bass, and fiddle, Bill Rankin on drums, and Dave Gross on the double bass, banjo, mandolin, percussion and piano. There were a lot more people involved in the studio, as you will soon see.

The album starts out with Tampa Red’s “Seminole Blues” and the trio of Vickers, Peters, and Rankin give this song a lovely acoustic treatment with jangly bottleneck guitar and a backbeat drums. Then the band launches into the traditional “Don’t You Love Your Daddy No More,” which was taught to Brad by Leadbelly. Matt Cowan and Jim Davis brought their sax and clarinet in on this one, which give it a cool New Orleans ragtime feel. Brad takes the lead vocals on both of these, and his voice is mellow with a laidback drawl.

After these openers, the remaining songs (a baker’s dozen!) are originals that were written by Vickers and Peters. These two have mature song-writing skills, and they penned clever lyrics to go along with the fantastic music that is heard throughout.

It sound like they had a lot of fun putting together That’s What They Say. There is a bit of Chuck Berry in “Another Lonesome Road” which is a neat duet with Brad and Margey on vocals, and a little yakety sax from Jim Davis. They also has a blast with “Mama’s Cookin’,” and Peters’ litany of international treats will get your mouth watering as she is accompanied by Davis and Matt Cowan on sax and Little Mikey on backing vocals. Both of these tunes are timeless, and sound like they could have been recorded any time in the past sixty years.

The band also cut an awesome ragtime track, “21st Century Rag,” which provides Margey and Charles Burnham the opportunity to bring out their fiddles. Like the title suggests, this song recounts how the things we have become used to are falling by the wayside. This is a funny contrast as this song has a definite old-time feel to it with its richly acoustic tone, including nice round double bass from Dave Gross.

One of the standout tracks is the a capella song, “Fightin’,” and you will find that it is certainly the most serious of the bunch. The lyrics are a wonderful blend of gospel harmonies from Vickers, Peters, and Mikey Junior, and they are a poignant conviction of the terrible things that people do and the way we treat each other nowadays.

Brad Vickers and the Vestapolitans have a winner with That’s What They Say, thanks to solid songwriting and their excellent performance in the studio. If you are a fan of roots or Americana music it would be in your best interests to check it out for yourself and pick up a copy if it strikes your fancy. If you want to see their live show you are in luck if you are on the east coast of the United States. The band has plenty of shows coming up in the Philadelphia/New York/New Jersey area as well as in Florida. Go to their website for details on shows and how to buy their CD.

Blues Blast Magazine Album Review: Al Grigg – Blues and Other Things

Hello!

This CD review was originally published in the October 22, 2015 edition of Blues Blast Magazine. Be sure to check out the rest of the magazine at www.bluesblastmagazine.com

Al Grigg – Blues and Other Things | Album Review

Self Release

www.algrigg.com

7 tracks / 29:52

Al Grigg has enjoyed a pretty cool music career since his 1975 debut album with one of the pioneer indie bands, The Flying Dogs of Jupiter. Since then he has done a little bit of everything, from playing with a 50s/60s tribute band, to traveling to three continents while living overseas for a decade. Al returned to the United States in 2010 and formed The Fine Line, who he still plays with in the New York / New Jersey area. He gets out on his own too, with an upcoming tour abroad and a new solo CD to entertain his fans.

Blues and Other Things is the latest self-produced album from Grigg, and he did all of the heavy lifting on this one. Al wrote all seven of the songs (some of them from Flying Dogs of Jupiter albums), took the lead on all of the vocals, and played all of the guitar and drum parts. Guest artists Greta Tristram (harmonica) and Frank Kaiser (rhythm guitar) joined him on this project.

Looking at the sleeve for this disc, it appears that Al Grigg is a bit of tone junkie, as he made notes of the different guitars and amplifiers that he used to get the desired sounds in the studio. It certainly worked out well, as you will hear in the opener, “All the Way Home.” This is a country rocker with hard and crunchy overdriven guitars, and Al’s voice goes all the way from smooth to jagged -- he can really howl out the lyrics! This is followed up by a more straight-up blues tune, “Your Meal Ticket (I Ain’t Gonna Be),” which uses two or three layers of guitars to achieve a fun and bouncy beat under Griggs smorgasbord of double entendres.

Keeping thing moving, the next tune is “It Just Don’t Have to Be That Way,” which provides a healthy dose of smooth rhythm and blues to accompany the heavy lyrics. Grigg lays down a very tasteful guitar solo on this one, and he has a wonderful feel for the instrument. Then the mood turns to country blues with “Dead End Boogie” which has some well-placed harp from Tristam and plenty of catchy guitar licks.

There are also three rock (or maybe even pop) tracks. “I’m Gonna Jump Right Into the Fire” and “In Cecelia’s Garden” are well constructed, as their lush instrumentation and vocal harmonies go well with the lyrics which are thoughtful with good imagery. Finally, the set finishes up with seven minutes of “American Dream,” a hard-hitting Flying Dogs of Jupiter rocking jam where Grigg and Tristam get to finally cut loose with everything they’ve got.

So, after listening to the whole thing it turns out that the album title is true: this CD really is full of blues and other things!

As this release comes in at a bit under 30 minutes it would have been nice to squeeze in a few more tracks. This being said, all seven of the songs are solid; Al Grigg did a fine job with Blues and Other Things, and it is an entertaining listen for fans of blues and blues-related music. Check out his website for winter tour information as there are shows listed for the UK and Ireland, with more dates to be announced soon.

Blues Blast Magazine Album Review: Lazer Lloyd

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This CD review was originally published in the May 30, 2015 edition of Blues Blast Magazine. Be sure to check out the rest of the magazine at www.bluesblastmagazine.com

Lazer Lloyd – Lazer Lloyd | Album Review

Lots of Love Records

www.lazerlloyd.com

12 tracks / 56:01

There are not exactly a ton of blues albums coming out of Israel, but fortunately for us one of the most talented artists around, Lazer Lloyd, is the country’s blues statesman. His new eponymous album is a departure from the tasty acoustic folk blues that he perfected on Lost on the Highway, and this blend of electric blues and rock is a winner!

Lazer Lloyd has taken quite a journey to get to this point in life. He was born in New York (his birth name is Eliezer Blumen), and he started playing the guitar when he was 15. After attending Skidmore College he drew the notice of producer Gary Tallent (from the E Street Band) and was ready to continue his music career in Nashville when another opportunity presented itself. After playing a gig with the late Ray Shlomo Carlebach (The Singing Rabbi), he decided to visit Israel and he figured out that was where his calling was. For the past 20 years he has been using that as his home base, and been busy gigging, recording, touring, and raising a family.

Lazer Lloyd is a powerful collection of twelve songs, with all but one being written by Lloyd. He is the frontman, harp guy, and guitarist, and he is joined by a seriously dangerous backline that features Moshe Davidson on bass, Elimelech Grundman on drums, and Kfir Tsairi on the keys. He co-produced the album with Yocheved Seidman and all of the tracks were cut at a studio in Tel Aviv.

Though Mr. Lloyd has a wonderfully strong voice and good harmonica chops, his most notable talent is his uncanny guitar feel and tone. He is a bit of a gear hound and is always searching for the perfect sound, but electronics are only the icing on the cake. Without his fingers channeling the mojo from his soul, it would not be possible to produce the killer tone that he achieves.

This disc is a journey through blues and rock, and all of the songs should please blues fans and guitar aficionados alike. If you like traditional blues, “Time to Love” is as close as you are going to get, though Lloyd does throw a few jazz chords into the mix. There is also a little country rock in “Rockin’ in the Holy Land,” which features some slick harmonica work from the man, as well as a little insight into how he ended up in Israel.

But this album is most populated by catchy blues-rock, including the opener “Burning Thunder,” the extra greasy “Out of Time,” and the poppy “Love Yourself.” The latter is ripe for airplay, and could certainly be a great opportunity for Lloyd to get some radio time in the states.

This is all good, but where Lazer Lloyd really shines is with “Set My Soul Free,” an awesome 1970s style psychedelic blues-rock song that is chock full of licks that would make Robin Trower jealous. This song has everything: smooth guitar virtuosity, fat bass from Davidson, and amazing drums courtesy of Grundman. In fact, the drums have a tremendous presence, and at times it sounds like a drum solo that just happens to have a song happening on top of it.

Then there are a couple of softer songs to round things out. Notably, there is an acoustic cover of “Dock of the Bay” that transforms it from Otis Redding’s easygoing melancholy tune into a stone cold bummer. The other is Lloyd’s testimony, “Whole Heart,” a soft blues-rock ballad that closes out the set with a touch of Hammond organ from Tsairi.

Though all of the songs are very good musically, his lyrics might be even more powerful. They are not terribly fancy, but they are heartfelt and most seem autobiographical. They are a portfolio of sadness, hope, love, and faith. There is a spiritual feel to much of it, but this is not a preachy or religious album – instead, the words come across as personal and heartfelt.

With his new disc, Lazer Lloyd shows once again that he has strong writing skills, a mature voice, and guitar skills that are hard to match. Each of the dozen tracks has a different feel and they are sequenced perfectly so that this is project is a complete picture. It would be a shame to cherrypick a few songs off this album, as they are all winners. So, do yourself a favor and buy the whole disc, not just a few tracks from your favorite online seller. Also, if you go to his website you will see that he is touring Israel and the United States extensively through the end of the year (including my home town!), so make of note when he is coming to your area so you can catch his live act. It will certainly be a worthy use of your time!

Album Review: David Michael Miller – Same Soil

David Michael Miller – Same Soil | Album Review

Food for the Soul Records

www.davemillermusic.com

11 tracks / 54:56

Hi!

I do not get a lot of new Blues music out of Buffalo, New York, but apparently there is some pretty awesome stuff going on there judging by the CD from David Michael Miller, Same Soil. Miller grew up just south of there the Buffalo, where he started his musical endeavors by playing at church, while still getting a wonderful education into the ways of blues, R&B, and soul. After years of playing gospel music, he formed a few bands to explore the world of blues and soul music, including Beautiful Bones and Dive House Union.

A few years ago he started recording solo projects, and Same Soil is his sophomore disc. David crammed the studio full of vintage equipment, and put his voice and guitar to work. He was joined by plenty of awesome sidemen, but his core band included keyboardist Jim Ehinger (Bonnie Raitt and Albert Collins), drummer Carlton Campbell (The Campbell Brothers), and saxman Jason Moynihan (Buddy Guy). Miller penned all eleven tracks for the disc, and it clocks in at a respectable 55 minutes – that is a lot of music for the money!

The first track in the set is “All the Blues to You,” which is an encouragement to enjoy blues in all of its forms. This is a great intro for the album, as David walks the walk: there are no two songs that sound the same, and he leads the listeners on a journey through many of the sub-genres of the blues. His voice is marvelous with clear and consistent tone, great intonation and outstanding diction. You will not need a lyrics sheet for this one!

Miller is also a very talented guitarist, and he lays down respectable acoustic and electric riffs throughout. His choice of vintage instruments was worth the effort as his tone is amazing. Likewise, Moynihan does a marvelous job of arranging the horns, Campbell has a heavy beat, and Ehinger is the master of the keys.

There is a little bit of most everything related to blues going on here: roots, rhythm and blues, soul, rock, blues rock and southern rock. There is even a killer live track, “Got Them Blues,” which was recorded at Buffalo’s bastion of the blues: The Market Bar. One of the standout tracks is “Doing Me In, Doing Me Wrong,” a killer stop time blues song with only riffs to die for.

This collection of diverse music all fits together into a cool package and none of the songs stand out or do not fit in. David Michael Miller turned in a solid performance on Same Soil with mature songwriting, good musicianship, and excellent production values. It is totally worth your time, so check it out if you get a chance!

Mahalo!

Review: NY Gilbert and Sullivan Players’ H.M.S. Pinafore at the Carpenter Center in Long Beach, CA

Greetings!

When thinking about musical theatre, it is a shame that modern audiences are not more familiar with the works of Gilbert and Sullivan. Fortunately, the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players keep the legacy alive, as they take their shows to the stage in the Big Apple, as well as around the US. I recently had the pleasure of seeing their production of H.M.S. Pinafore at the Carpenter Center in Long Beach, California.

This location was a great choice as the Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center at Cal State Long Beach is a lovely venue with plenty of conveniently located parking. Each of the 1000 seats has a good view of the stage (without being too far away) and the acoustics are very good.

The New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players have been around since 1974 (or 1975, depending where you look), when the group was founded by a group of alumni from the Barnard College Gilbert & Sullivan Society at Columbia University. One of these folks was their biggest proponent, Albert Bergeret, Founder and Artistic Director/General Manager. Besides their full productions, they also conduct many outreach performances to student in NYC schools.

H.M.S. Pinafore was Gilbert & Sullivan’s first international hit, and it ran for around 600 performances in its first London run in 1878. It was so successful that this talented duo was ripped off by numerous copies of the show that sprang up in the Empire and in the United States. With their clever lyrics and biting satire, the show is the story of two young lovers, Ralph Rackstraw and the captain’s daughter, Josephine, who kept apart by society until a convenient role reversal brings them together in a most improbable ending. There are a few other romantic plotlines bizarre plot turns, making it complicated enough that I am not even going to try to fit it all into a 800-word review…

The overall themes of class inequality, overbearing nationalism, and foolish are still relevant, and they are presented with Gilbert’s inimitable linguistic genius and Sullivan’s knack for writing addictive melodies.

The NYGASP brought all of this to Long Beach for one lonely matinee, which seems like a lot of work for a single show. They brought the full cast, the crew, a 25-piece unamplified orchestra, and an impressive set of sets and backdrops. They were faithful to the music of the show, and the book was modified a bit to bring some local flavor to the production, as well as to bring the orchestra and Mr. Bergeret (the musical director too, it seems) into the stage action.

Visually, Pinafore is an attractive show. There is only one set, but it is a fairly detailed replica of a ship’s deck, complete with rigging and huge masts, so it must be a bear to drag around and set up. The lighting was classy and brought the scenes to life, courtesy of designs by Benjamin Weill. For the most part, the cast was not amplified, but there must have been some sort of microphones set up near the back of the stage, as the volume of the vocals varied quite a bit as the cast moved back and forth. They might want to work on this a bit.

The costumes were also well done, without going over the top. The sailors’ (tars, as the would say) and officer’s uniforms seemed period correct, as far as I would know; the ladies’ gowns were also very pretty, with more than enough bustles to go around.

The cast embraced the spirit of Gilbert & Sullivan perfectly. They are all capable singers and dancers, but that is not really what this show is about – the acting comes first. They have great comedic timing, and are able to spit out the uber-complicated lyrics with no missed cues. The leads all gave satadnout performances, and the players included David Auxier as Captain Corcoran, Kate Bass as Josephine, Daniel Greenwood and Ralph Rackstraw, James mills as Sir Joseph Porter, and Angela Christine Smith as Little Buttercup. All of them are very experienced with the Players, and some have actually appears in all 13 G&S operas. Impressive!

If there was anything that brought me down about the NY Gilbert & Sullivan Players’ production of H.M.S. Pinafore, it was that the auditorium was only 2/3 full, and there were not many young folks in the crowd. Where are the new fans going to come from? If you have not seen one of these shows before, take the time to check one out the next time one comes up in your area – it will definitely be worth your time!

Mahalo!

Peaches and Crime – Do Bad Things | Album Review

Peaches and Crime – Do Bad Things

Self Release

www.peachesandcrime.com

14 tracks / 49:25

I get over a hundred new albums a year to listen to and review, and have to say that in my whole life I have never received anything in the mail like Peaches and Crime’s third CD, Do Bad Things. This project was put together around a really fun concept, and I really appreciated what they created for the listening public.

Do Bad Things is a modern day bawdy vaudeville cabaret show that has a little bit of everything: singing, maybe some dancing (it is a CD, you know), acting, comedy, drama, and even a little ventriloquism. The honky-tonk feel of this disc includes elements of old-time jazz and blues music with a few surprises thrown in for good measure. This music, along with the very clever lyrics, ties the fourteen different vignettes together to make an attractively cohesive whole.

Peaches and Crime is based out of Binghampton, New York (somewhere between Scranton and Syracuse), and they have been evolving and honing their show since their debut CD in 2010. The main crew includes the master of ceremony and lyricist, Daniel Schwartz (his stage name is Daniel Black), vocalist Angela Schwartz (Angie Diamond), vocalist Julia Adams (Ms. Abigail Pins), vocalist/clarinetist Cat Macdonald (Young Catherine), bassist ”Honest” Stephen Longfield, pianist Mike Sclafani (Mikey the Fist), and Ross Bennett behind the skins.

I do not want ruin any of the surprises from the show, but let’s just say that all of the major human conditions are to be found here: love, hate, death, infidelity, culture and class. They are presented via song and dramatic skits, and yes -- one case of the aforementioned ventriloquism. The performers are obviously having a good time, and the ladies pull out some wonderful 3-part vocal harmonies. As a whole it is pure entertainment, which is what going to the show should be all about!

Peaches and Crime are working on a new burlesque show, and are scheduled to start recording a new album any day now. In the meantime, check out their website at www.peachesandcrime.com for show dates, and make sure you give Do Bad Things a listen. I think you will like it!