Blues Blast Magazine Album Review: Doug Otto and Hurricane Harold – Blues at Barkin’ Jack’s

Good day!

This CD review was originally published in the February 19, 2015 edition of Blues Blast Magazine. Be sure to check out the rest of the magazine at www.bluesblastmagazine.com

Doug Otto and Hurricane Harold - Blues at Barkin’ Jack’s

Self Release

10 tracks / 36:53

A lot of new blues music has to be described in terms of the other genres that have influenced its sound, for example, blues-rock, country-blues, and the old standard: rhythm and blues. There is no struggle to figure this out with Doug Otto and Hurricane Harold’s new CD, Blues at Barkin’ Jacks. This release is mostly blues at its most basic level – guitar, voice, and harmonica, and all of it is played with a remarkable brilliance. No drums, bass or keyboard were needed to achieve their goals, and the effect is really cool.

Both of these gentlemen hail from the Twin Cities, and those long cold winters in the great white north have apparently given them the opportunity to hone their chops! Doug Otto provides the guitar and vocals for this project, but he also finds plenty of work with his own bands, the Getaways and North Country Bandits, as well as sitting in with the No Accounts. Hurricane Harold Tremblay is a master harmonica man (a mentor of Curtis Blake), and co-founder of Cool Disposition. He also hosts a weekly blues show on KFAI radio in Minneapolis and leads the All-Star Revue, which features some truly fine artists from Minnesota – he is a genuine renaissance man.

Blues at Barkin’ Jacks has ten tracks that are mostly covers of wonderful vintage blues tunes, along with three originals that were written by Otto. It was recorded live in the studio with no overdubs and no more than two takes for any song. Jeremy Johnson did a wonderful job of engineering and mixing the guys’ time in the studio, and the final product has a clean sound that makes it sound like these guys are playing in your living room.

After starting off the set with a slow-driving rendition of Howlin’ Wolf’s “Asked for Water,” the duo plays the first of the three originals, “Broken Thoughts.” Otto’s writing on these songs has more of a roots and country-blues theme, and all of them are well suited to his pleasant tenor vocal range (which makes him sound a bit like Eric Clapton). His songwriting is mature, with good imagery and phrasing, which can also be found on “Heart to Heart” and “My Time is Moving Slow.” The latter gives Tremblay a chance to sing harmonies, which is a cool effect as his voice lends a unique droning effect. This is the standout track in the album, without a doubt.

The rest of the songs are straight-up Maxwell Street blues material, as can be heard from Muddy Waters’ “Long Distance Call,” which uses subtle electric guitar chording with a heavy bass beat while Harold shows off his fine feel for the harp. Otto’s guitar tone is outstanding on Skip James’ haunting classic “Hard Time Killing Floor,” and he also delivers a surprisingly good falsetto vocal performance, which is a hard thing to accomplish for most singers.

The classics continue with Lonnie Johnson’s “She’s Making Whoopie (in Hell Tonight)” which would be a hard song to write today, but in 1930 there were no political correctness police to contend with. There are also a couple of well-done Robert Johnson tunes, “Hell Hound on My Trail” and “Kind Hearted Woman,” that are delivered in a wonderfully laconic style.

Despite the good craftsmanship these gentlemen showed on the cover tunes, the originals are exceptionally special, and are the highlight of this disc. A full-length album of Otto-penned originals would surely be a good listen, and hopefully this pair will have the chance to continue their work and head back to the studio to give us a bit more of this wonderful stuff.

There is a lot to like about Blues at Barkin’ Jack’s, and Doug Otto and Hurricane Harold really delivered the goods. Their bare bones live sound is clear, and the selection of tunes that they assembled works well together. There is no mistaking this album for anything but the blues, and you should certainly give it a listen!

Mahalo!

Dalannah and Owen – Been Around a While | Album Review

Dalannah and Owen – Been Around a While | Album Review

Quest Records

www.dalannahandowen.com

www.questrecords.ca

11 tracks / 41:58

I have the privilege of listening to a lot of new albums every week, and most of them fit pretty well into various categories – blues rock, Delta blues, Chicago blues, jump blues, and the list could go on and on. Every once in a while, I get something completely different, and sometimes that something is really special. Dalannah and Owen’s new disc, Been Around a While, breaks the mold and is very different and very special. This duo from Vancouver, Canada has re-imagined the blues and if you are a fan of the genre you are going to like what they have done.

There is plenty of experience that brought this pair to this point in their lives. Dalannah Gail Brown has been on the Canadian music scene for almost 50 years, and her blues, gospel, and jazz chops are astounding. Owen Veber, or “Owen Owen Owen” as he is credited in the liner notes, has been playing bass professionally for over 40 years. These two have only been working together for a year, but they already earned a trip to the 2015 International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee.

The self-produced Been Around a While is Dalannah and Owen’s debut album, and it is amazingly unique. All you are going to hear for the 42-minute playtime is Dalanna’s voice and Owen’s bass as they cruise through eleven blues originals and covers. No guitars, drums, keyboards, harmonica, or horns. You may be thinking that forty minutes of some guy playing the bass while somebody else sings could be tedious. But with the way that Dalannah and Owen do it, the music is very listenable and not the least bit boring.

There are five originals, including the title track which kicks off the album. “Been Around a While” is a cool story of being at a place in life where you are comfortable with yourself. Dalannah’s voice is as clear as a bell, and Owen’s bass work is fairly astounding. He does not just hammer 1/8 notes on a P-bass. It sounds like he is using a six or seven-string bass, and there are plenty of high notes and guitar-like chords to be found throughout the album.

The half-dozen covers span from the early days of recorded blues up through around the time that Nixon was in office, and they cover a lot of ground. The closer on this album, Son House’s 1930 song, “Walkin’ Blues” was made famous by Robert Johnson in 1936, and Dalannah makes it her own here. By interspersing conversational lyrics that are sweet or howled with emotion she creates a sense of drama that I do not hear in the originals. Owen cranks out a righteous solo for good measure.

The other cover tunes include Robert Johnson’s “Come on in My Kitchen,” “Early in the Morning” from Louis Jordan and his Tympani 5, Billy Eckstine’s “Blues Mother of Sin,” B.B. King’s “Why I Sing the Blues,” and Marvin Gaye’s “Inner City Blues.” These were all great songs when they were originally done, and nothing was lost when this duo re-did them.

By tearing these songs down to the bare bones, the stories of the lyrics come to the forefront, and Dalannah and Owen are master storytellers. Their original songs are poignant, and their re-working of tunes from the masters of the blues was done with great care. When you combine this with excellent musical ability and good production values, this make Been Around a While is a must-buy if you are a blues fan of any type. Trust me!