USM - United State Of Mind (Album Review)

March 02, 2021 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, Blues, R&B, Reggae, Soul

United State of Mind shouldn’t work as well as it does. On paper the idea of Robin Trower the guitar ace and Procol Harum founding member - who sold millions of records in the 70s and 80s with his brand of power-trio, blues-rock - forming a band with Maxi Priest the British singer who enjoyed chart success in the 1990s (‘Close To You’ was a US No.1 in 1990) with a sound that merged elements of reggae and R&B seems at the very least unlikely (The pair aren’t quite David and Bing but it’s a pretty close run thing). Any fears prove unfounded as there is plenty of musical chemistry on show here. Robin initially met Maxi by chance in the studio of producer Livingstone Brown who recalls “When Robin first met Maxi; I thought this cannot end well. Wow, this record is proof I was so wrong!” Livingstone Brown is the glue that holds USM together utilising his bass and keyboard skills alongside his duties as the producer on as soulful a record as you’re likely to hear this year.

Shannon LaBrie - Building (Album Review)

September 25, 2020 by Rich Barnard in Album Reviews, Singer-Songwriter, Soul, Country, Blues

Shannon LaBrie’s 2017 album War & Peace was met with the kind of critical acclaim most musicians only ever dream of and, while it put the honey-voiced singer on the map, her musical identity remained a little elusive, with her lyrically sharp songwriting left shrouded in smokey soul and easy-country robes.

Mick Hayes - My Claim To FAME (Album Review)

September 04, 2020 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, Blues, Soul, R&B

Back in the days of LP records (the first time, not the recent resurgence of interest) part of the joy of a 12” album jacket was the sleeve notes. You’d hope for a lyric sheet but if all else failed there was the absolute joy of digging into all that additional info (this was in the days when I didn’t need a magnifying glass to read the small print). Many hours would be spent pouring over the credits to ascertain who played what, the colour of the bass players socks and, most importantly, where was the album recorded? Various studios gained positive notoriety for sound and a feel that you couldn’t quite put your finger on that lay deep in the grooves. Abbey Road would instantly shout The Beatles, Rockfield conjured up visions of Ozzy in a barn with sheep watching the sessions while much further afield Compass Point painted glamourous pictures of lazing by the pool cocktail in hand. Then there was the FAME studio in Muscle Shoals Alabama…

JD Simo - JD Simo (Album Review)

August 20, 2020 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, Blues, Soul, Psych

The debut solo album from JD Simo ‘Off at 11’ (review) married bluesy tones with psychedelic influences and delivered them with impressive gusto. JD had something to say musically and the chops to deliver his message, which he conveyed to the masses via over 150 live shows spreading the word the old fashioned way by putting in the miles. JD took the songs he’d written on the road into his “funky little eight-track studio” resulting in a new album that expands even further on his bluesy psychedelia adding a layer of old-school soul to the mix.

Frazey Ford - You kin B the Sun (Album Review)

February 12, 2020 by Rich Barnard in Album Reviews, Folk, Singer-Songwriter, Soul

With a matchless voice that somehow balances a DiFranco charm with a Piaf vibrato, Frazey Ford made her name as part of The Be Good Tanyas back in 1999. Two decades on, we find her three albums into a solo career that’s taken her far from those banjo-whispering beginnings and her latest, U Kin B The Sun, effectively completes a ten-year transition from folkstress to funk-soul sister.

Mavis Staples - We Get By (Album Review)

May 23, 2019 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, Soul

If ever there was an artist that could rest on her laurels it’s Mavis Staples. Honestly, reading Mavis’ bio is effectively an American history lesson; Mavis marched with Martin Luther King, Jr, performed for JFK at his inauguration and more recently for Barack Obama at the White House. Her solo career has included releases on Stax, Curtis Mayfield’s Custom label and two albums on Paisley Park in collaboration with Prince. She sang on The Last Waltz with The Band and nearly married Bob Dylan, while recordings with Arcade Fire and Gorillaz highlight her relevance to younger audiences. In fact, it’s her more recent work on a trio of albums with producer Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) via the Anti- label in the last decade that has bought Staples back into the spotlight. The nearest comparison I can make of an artist releasing such a run of impressive records at this late stage of their career - albums completely sympathetic to their legacy and character - would be Rick Rubin’s American recordings with Johnny Cash.

Little Steven - Soulfire (Album Review)

June 06, 2017 by David Vousden in Album Reviews, Classic Rock, Blues, Soul

Steven Van Zandt aka Little Steven aka Miami Steve recently apologised for the gap of nearly twenty years since his last solo release. To be honest this refreshing approach is welcome, but unnecessary, as Steve had hardly been spending his days sipping cocktails, while counting his money, on some far flung beach. In the intervening years Van Zandt has successfully worked as an actor, first catching the attention of the masses in The Sopranos and followed that with the fish-out-of-water gangster tale Lilyhammer. He also found time to turn his hand to radio as a DJ / program director (Underground Garage / Outlaw Country) and launch his own record label (Wicked Cool Records). Then there is the little matter of his day job with the E Street Band. Does this man ever sleep?

RGM Review Round-up May 2015

May 14, 2015 by David Vousden in Americana, Country, Singer-Songwriter, Soul

Over the last few months Red Guitar Music has received a plethora of releases that we have been unable to give a full review due to the fact that there are only 24 hours in the day. With this in mind we thought an occasional round up of a few quality releases that you might have missed would be in order. So without further delay here are album reviews for Peter Blachley, Pi Jacobs and Brian Ashley Jones.

Fuzzbee - Dreams And Other Living Things (Album Review)

February 20, 2015 by David Vousden in Blues, Classic Rock, Instrumental, Rock, Soul

One from a number of unexpected pleasant surprises that recently arrived at Red Guitar Music is the first solo album from Fuzzbee Morse a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, singer, producer, raconteur and film/TV composer. Fuzzbee has worked with many of the best in the business including Peter Gabriel, Lou Reed, Bono, Pink, Ric Ocasek (The Cars) and Frank Zappa. I should add that his quite stunning band on this album features Jerry Marotta (Orleans / Peter Gabriel / Indigo Girls) on drums, Tony Levin (Peter Gabriel / King Crimson) on bass and David Sancious (Sting / Peter Gabriel / Bruce Springsteen) on keys. The sort of players that can afford to be very picky regarding the work they undertake.

David Bronson - Questions (Album Review)

January 21, 2015 by David Vousden in Singer-Songwriter, Pop, Soul

If you were David Bronson and had poured a decade of your life into the release of an album ‘The Long Lost Story’ then a step back, and a good think on what you might like to do next, might be required. This time out Bronson wanted a more soulful approach and with the classic David Bowie album ‘Young Americans’ forming a musical inspiration hooked up with famed producer Godfrey Diamond (Lou Reed), a man with one hell of an address book, and the result is ‘Questions’ an album that embraces his 70’s singer-songwriter influences and takes them to a place inhabited by the soulful rock of Joe Cocker, Van Morrison and, of course, the aforementioned ‘Young Americans’.