Jeff Jensen – The River City Sessions | Album Review

Jeff Jensen – The River City Sessions

Swingsuit Records

ww.jeffjensenband.com

www.swingsuitrecords.com

12 tracks / 67:00

Jeff Jensen is one of the most energetic and engaging performers on today’s music scene, and his live shows are an amazing blend of the blues, funk, rock, and roots genres. You may know Jeff from his last release, Morose Elephant, which was an excellent album. This left coast bluesman has done wonderful work since his move to Memphis in 2011 (where he was director for Brandon Santini’s band), and since then his grueling solo tour schedule has continued unabated.

His latest disc is The River City Sessions, a live show that was recorded in December 2015 at the Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tennessee with an audience of the band’s fans in attendance. Jeff provided the guitars and vocals for this show and was joined by Bill Ruffino on bass and Robinson Bridgeforth on the skins. This club-friendly set included eight original songs and three cool covers.

After a quick intro from the famed Memphis bassman, Leo Goff, the band kicks off with a searing rendition of T-Bone Walkers’s “T-Bone Shuffle,” complete with an almost jazz-like interlude. Jeff has a tremendous vocal range that comes off as natural and relaxed, and his guitar chops are first-rate. This is pretty much one of the best live shows you will hear, as in the controlled environment it is easier to get everything at the right levels. So, the end result is a studio album with the spontaneity and audience reactions of a live show. One take!

From there they segue into an original, “Make it Through,” which is more casual with a gulf coast feel. This fun blues-rock tune highlights the tightness and talent of Ruffino and Bridgeforth’s backline. Then, “Empty Bottles” uses more light-hearted lyrics over a simple beat to show another side of the band’s ability. Jeff lays down a smooth solo, and eventually the tune flips into a full-blown rocker.

The band included a couple of instrumentals to break up the set. “JJ Boogie” starts out with the audience enthusiastically clapping along and once the band get going on this driving song it becomes hard to believe that there are only three of them on stage. Changes in dynamics keep things interesting, and there is no boring flailing on the instruments to be found here. In fact, this is the most kick-ass instrumental blues that I have heard in a long, long time. The other instrumental is “Elephant Blue” (from the Morose Elephant album), and this up-tempo piece features chords that give it an Eastern European mood. You will even hear a bass solo here, and it actually good with no gratuitous popping or slapping.

Jensen and his friends came up with a couple of other covers for the audience’s entertainment. Tom Waits’ “Hear Attack and Vine” (also covered on the Road Worn and Ragged disc) is more conventionally constructed and accessible than the original, and Jeff hollers out Waits’ horrible lyrics that expose the darkness of man while Bridgeforth hits the drums with everything he has. The group finishes up the CD with Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower,” and after a jazzy intro they turn it into something bluesier than Bob’s version, and smoother than how Hendrix played it. Pretty much it became a Jeff Jensen song at this point, which is a good thing.

If Jeff Jensen and the band needed to find gigs, The River City Sessions would be the perfect demo and would surely find them plenty of work. But looking over their website, it appears that they are really busy with a European tour, and there are many US dates scheduled after they get home. So, you need to give it a listen for yourself and use what you hear for motivation to get off the sofa and head out to one of their shows. This could be your ticket to the Jeff Jensen experience!

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!

Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater – Soul Funky | Album Review

Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater – Soul Funky

Self Release through Cleartone Records

www.eddyclearwater.com

12 tracks / 75:44

Eddy “The Chief” Clearwater is a certified Chicago hero, and is certainly one of the legendary blues guitarists/singers of the last half of the 20th century. Born as Edward Harrington in pre-WWII Mississippi, he moved with his family to Alabama where he taught himself to play the guitar (as a southpaw), and he took up with a few gospel groups. But the big city lights have their allure, and he finally had to take off for the Windy City in 1950 to live with his uncle.

He started his career in Illinois washing dishes, but he worked his way into some gospel gigs and eventually fell under the mentorship of Magic Sam. By 1953 he was performing as Guitar Eddy Clearwater, and he has not let up since -- that long of a professional music career makes for true guitar hero stuff!

Well past the normal retirement age Eddy is still out gigging and recording while most folks of his era are sitting at home and trying to figure out what to do with themselves. He has figured out what he wants to do, and that is playing the blues! His latest release, Soul Funky, is a wonderful glimpse into the world of his live show, as recorded at SPACE in Evanston, Illinois on January 10, 2014.

A killer crew joined Eddy that evening, and they brought some serious muscle to what must have been a crowded stage. This included Ronnie Baker Brooks on vocals and guitar, Johnny Iguana (the Claudettes!) on the keys, Shoji Naito on guitar and blues harp, Stephen Bass behind the drum kit, David Knopf on bass, and Thomas Crivellone on guitar. Eddy, Shoji and Rick Barnes produced this 12 song disc that plays out like a regular hour-plus club set, and they made sure that it would be a neat piece of work in all respects.

The show kicks off with “They Call Me the Chief,” a catchy intro that was written by Brooks, and it is the first chance on the CD to hear The Chief’s still-incredible guitar prowess. Eddy and Ronnie are proficient songwriters, which is fortunate as these gentlemen penned 10 out of the 12 songs on this album. From there they coasted into “Hypnotized,” an original funky blues tune with burning guitars from Brooks and Clearwater and sweet Hammond work from Iguana.

“Too Old To Get Married,” was written by Brooks and is catchy enough that hearing it once is enough to get it stuck in your head for the rest of the day. It has that Check Berry sound, this time with Naito on guitar and a little Jerry Lee Lewis piano thrown in for good measure. It is all good stuff, but the highlight of this album is a hybrid presentation of “Came Up the Hard Way” and “Root to the Fruit,” which is thirteen minutes of slow-grinding blues and feel-good stomp, both with some nice harmonica parts from Shoji. It looks kind of weird on paper but works out just fine on the stage.

A couple of sweet covers can be found in this set, too. “Please Accept my Love” does not stray far from the B.B. King original, and this slow blues ballad provides a breather in what is an otherwise rocking blues set. And “Lonesome Town” is a spooky grind with reverb galore, co-written by Los Straightjacket’s Eddie Angel. There will certainly be no mistaking this for the Ricky Nelson song of the same name.

As the album draws to a close, the “Ending Midnight Groove” gives Eddy the chance to graciously thank his fellow musicians, as well as the fans in the crowd that keep him in the spotlight year after year. His love for what he does and for the folks that come out to see him play is obvious; he is a bridge to an era of the blues that should be appreciated and never forgotten.

Soul Funky is the next best thing to seeing Eddy Clearwater and his band playing out, and if you are a fan of Chicago blues you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy of this CD because you will be able to hear for yourself that after more than 60 years he is still at the top of his game. Unfortunately, his upcoming tour schedule is mostly in Europe, but if you play your cards right you will make sure you are in Evanston on January 9, as he has another gig scheduled at SPACE. Check him out for yourself!