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Jackie Payne-Steve Edmonson
Band: Master Of The Game (Delta Groove) 
Delta
Groove is known for putting out some first class straight
ahead blues records but for their latest release take
"a sharp turn onto Funk Avenue and ends up deep
in the heart of Soulsville" as the liners descriptively
relate. Indeed "Master of the Game" is funky,
soulful outing shining the light on great unsung soul
singer Jackie Payne and his guitar playing partner Steve
Edmonson.
Veteran
singer Jackie Payne cut his first single ("Go Go
Train b/w I'll Be Home, Jetstream") way back in
1965. Payne has worked with T-Bone Walker, Freddie King
and Pee Wee Crayton, and was featured frontman with
the Johnny Otis Revue for fifteen years. In the last
decade Payne has cut his debut album "Day in the
Life of a Bluesman" for JSP, cut a pair with Kenny
"Blue" Ray including the terrific "Soulful
Blues" and most recently waxed 2003's "Partners
In The Blues" with Steve Edmonson. Edmonson spent
four years touring with the Blues/Soul show band, the
Dynatones and has worked with folks like James Cotton,
Sir Mack Rice, Syl Johnson and Van Morrison among others.
Backed by a sympathetic band the duo deliver the goods
on a classic soul session with a strong blues streak.
Payne
is every bit the classic soul singer, able to sing silky
soul ballad or move to a gravelly growl with ease. Payne
comes across somewhere between Otis Redding and Al Green
but definitely has his own style. Partner Edmonson plays
with utter taste, playing around Payne's vocals beautifully,
reminiscent of the way Steve Cropper and Otis used to
play together, although Edmonson has blusier style and
can really pour it on when it's called for. The two
are supported by a fine band that includes bassist Bill
Singletary, drummer Nick Otis (son of Johnny Otis),
and the Sweet Meet Horns (Carl Green on sax and John
Middleton on trumpet). Fred Kaplan and John Thomas guest
on piano. Things cook right out of the gate with the
rocking "Mean Evil Woman." The torrid pace
continues on the funky "Master of the Game",
the bouncy "The Real Deal" sporting some wailing
tenor and the roaring "Woman In Kansas City",
opening with an Elmore styled intro and features blistering
guitar work throughout. Payne dips into pure southern
soul territory on the gentle "A Fool Like Me",
the sultry "Wake Me Up In San Francisco" and
the pulsing Steve Cropper penned "Just The One."
On "Nickel and a Nail" Payne turns in a fiery
performance really doing justice to a throbbing version
of the O.V. Wright classic.
For
it's first foray into Soulsville, Delta Groove couldn't
have asked for a better kick off then "Master of
the Game" which captures a dynamic soul singer
at the top of his game.
(Jeff Harris)
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The Texas All-Star
Big Band Bash Live! (TopCat)
For
the last decade multi-instrumentalist Johnny Nicholas
has been quietly issuing some superb blues records
for the Texas based TopCat label. On his latest project,
"The Texas All Star Big Band Bash", Nicholas
gathers 20 or so of his musical buddies for an exciting
live outing as the talented band put down a rootsy,
eclectic mix of music with a distinct Texas stamp.
Nicholas
has racked up some impressive credentials which include
producing and playing with Walter Horton, Roomful
Of Blues, Asleep At The Wheel, Long John Hunter, Snooky
Pryor and Johnny Shines. In the last decade he's released
a trio of terrific records for the Dallas based Topcat
label: 1994's "Thrill On The Hill" (originally
issued on Antones and reissued by TopCat in 2005),
2001's "Rockin' My Blues to Sleep" and 2005's
"Livin' With The Blues 2005." "The
Texas All Star Big Band Bash" documents a gathering
of like minded musicians that get together in Fredericksburg,
TX, on the 2nd Saturday of November every year where,
as Nicholas says, "when it is over, everyone
leaves smiling, toes tapping and rejuvenated!"
As
on prior releases by Nicholas, he covers a wide range
of roots music from blues, jazz, jump to Tex-Mex R&B.
There's a staggering amount of talent in this mighty
unit including Joe "King" Carrasco (the
Sir Douglas Quintet and Sam the Sham & the Pharoahs),
Augie Meyers (the Sir Douglas Quintet and Doug Sahm),
Floyd Domino (Asleep At the Wheel), Greg Piccolo,
Mark "Kaz" Kazanoff, Jimmy Vaughn and a
host of others. The band excels at swinging, jump
blues on numbers like "Broke Again", Roy
Milton's "Baby, I'm Gone", Wynonie Harris'
"Good Morning Judge" and the stomping instrumental
"The Hummer" sporting some blazing tenor
from Greg Piccolo. The band delivers pure Texas blues
on the instrumental "The Ironic Twist" spotlighting
the killer guitar of Jimmy Vaughn, great B-3 from
Joel Guzman and the reedy tenor of Piccolo plus a
stunning version of Larry Davis classic "Texas
Flood" (a signature song of the late great Stevie
Ray Vaughn) sung by Nicholas and featuring smoldering
guitar from Vaughn. Other gems include "Down
In The Alley" dedicated to Doug Sahm and movingly
sung by Nicholas and Fats Domino's "I'm In Love
Again" sung marvelously by Augie Meyers featuring
fine tenor from "Kaz" Kazanoff and the keyboards
of Floyd Domino. Along the way we get some fine jazz
numbers and a little Tex-Mex to boot.
As
Nicholas notes: "With the spread of the MTV disease
and its horrible effect on live music and traditional
genres, it seemed to make sense to use this gathering
to try to pass on to young people a love and appreciation
and (hopefully) inspiration for what is truly special
about great music: the intangibles of soulfullness,
passion and "joi de vivre" which great music
always instills in those who experience it."
On that score the band succeeds on all counts.
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Lee Shot Williams:
Starts With A "P" (Ecko)
For
the past decade veteran soul/blues singer Lee Shot
Williams has found a comfortable home at Ecko Records
where he's successfully updated his sound for the
contemporary southern soul market. "Starts With
A "P"" is one of his best efforts for
Ecko, rising above the too slick production, with
some better than usual songs plus some fine straight
blues numbers.
While
Williams' records these day fall very much into the
mainstream southern soul that's still played on black
radio and favored by black audiences, his roots are
much more traditional. He came up to Chicago in 1958
where he hooked up with old friend Little Smokey Smothers
and began singing with Smokey's band in 1960 and a
few years later joined Magic Sam's band as a vocalist.
After Magic Sam he sang with Earl Hooker for some
years. Along the way he cut a number of singles starting
in 1962, for Chicago labels like Foxy, King/Federal,
Palos, Gamma, Shama and Tchula. His 1964 recording
"Welcome to the Club" was a hit in Chicago
(covered by Little Milton for Checker Records in 1965)
while 1969's "I Like Your Style" was a regional
hit (later covered by Junior Parker). Williams hasn't
cut a straight blues record since 1995's terrific
"Cold Shot" for Black Magic but proves he's
still got the pipes on his latest Ecko effort.
Like
Malaco, the Memphis based Ecko label has a rather
formulaic sound, often relying on canned instruments
and churning out and endless stream of risque novelty
songs for the southern market. As Williams said candidly
in an interview for Jefferson Magazine: "I call
it bull shit. They love bull shit. I'm serious. ...I
was cutting them serious songs but didn't get any
airplay. I had good songs and good lyrics, they wouldn't
play it." He cited his big Ecko hit "She's
Made A Freak Out Of Me" as a prime example. While
the material may often let him down, Williams has
retained his growlish, soulful voice, and is rewarded
with some better than average songs and arrangements
on "Starts With A "P"." The lead
off "Everything I Like To Eat Starts With A "P""
is a lascivious novelty number that despite it's obvious
nature, still brings a sly grin to your face and the
same can be said for the funky "Meat Man."
Williams really delivers the goods on smooth, slinky
soul jams like "You've Been Lying", "You
Don't Have To Be A Freak To Do Freaky Things"
and "It's Not What You Got, It's What You Do
With It." It certainly helps that he's backed
by some real instruments, some nice horns, and sultry
female background vocals. Williams tackles bluesier
material as he delivers a smoldering version of Albert
King's "Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven"
and a surprisingly fine version of Aretha's "I
Never Loved A Woman The Way That I Love You."
"Starts
With A "P"" finds Lee Shot Williams
in soulful and sly form on one of his best efforts
in recent years. He may not be singing the kind of
songs he really wants, but you wouldn't know it the
way he puts these songs across with utter soulful
conviction.
(Jeff
Harris)
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Jeremy Spencer: Precious
Little (Blind Pig)
Those
who know their British blues rock may raise a few eyebrows
upon seeing that ex-Fleetwood Mac member and long time
reclusive Jeremy Spencer has a new record out. More
surprising, unlike the few solo efforts he's put out,
"Precious Little" is not a religious outing
but a (mostly) full fledged blues record, and a superb
one at that.
In
1971, hours before the Los Angeles gig on Fleetwood
Mac's American tour, Spencer vanished without warning.
It turned out that he had fell in with a Christian sect
called the Children of God, which he had apparently
joined after being approached on the street. Over the
years Spencer has issued a few records with Children
of God members, cut his last studio effort in 1979,
toured India a few times but has otherwise retained
a very low profile. Now, after a 25-year absence from
the recording studio, Spencer is back and in fabulous
form on "Precious Little" issued on Blind
Pig (the album was licensed from Norway's Bluestown
Records, which originally released it).
It's
obvious on "Precious Little" that Spencer
has never stopped playing and delivers a gorgeous, relaxed
performance here filled with terrific guitar work, especially
on slide with superb vocals in the service of some first
rate originals and covers. Backed by some very good
Norwegian musicians, Spencer exudes a laid back, confident
air creating a beautiful mellow atmosphere that pervades
the whole record. Opening with the original "Bitter
Lemon," Spencer and the band amble through a laid
back shuffle punctuated with Spencer's mellow, creamy
slide and warm assured vocals. Spencer kicks up the
tempo on the strutting, blues shuffle "Dr. J"
laying down some elegant Elmore James inspired licks
backed by riffing horns and rolling piano and takes
a more 60's rock approach to the grooving "Psychic
Waste" a term referring to all the trash spewed
out by the media. It's the blues that most impress and
Spencer has a masterful, delicate feel for the music
as evidenced on the gorgeous country blues of "Many
Sparrows" as he hums along hypnotically to his
snakey slide playing and the sublime "Serene Serena",
a lyrical rewrite of the traditional "Corrine Corrina."
Elmore James is a big influence (the first two Fleetwood
Mac albums feature several Elmore covers) and Spencer
delivers beautifully fragile versions of "It Hurts
Me Too" and "Bleeding Heart" that really
get to the emotional core of these songs. Spencer also
tosses in a rockabilly tune and a world music number
for good measure, handled as impeccably as everything
else on this wonderful record.
"Precious
Little" ranks as a near perfect comeback record
by a master musician who has a unerring feel for the
blues. Filled with subtle shadings, beautiful playing,
a deeply emotional feel and nary a trace of rock excess,
Spencer proves he's a bluesman of the highest order.
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