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Roadhouse Album Review: “Closer to the Bone” is Tommy Castro at his “real blues” best

Jim WhiteLeave a comment

Tommy Castro — Closer to the Bone” — Alligator Records

Tommy Castro has been around the blues block a few times.

He’s been making his high energy brand of blues for four decades, covering 17 albums (including this one), thousands of gigs, and he’s won ten Blues Music awards, including the B.B. King Entertainer of the Year Award in 2023. And he and his band, the Painkillers, pretty much serve as the house band on the semi-annual Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise.

The Painkillers are at full strength for this new, closer-to-the-blues-bone release, including guitarist Castro on vocals and resonator guitar, Mike Emerson on keyboards, Randy McDonald on bass and vocals, with Bowen Brown on drums. A few high-powered guests include Chris Cain on guitar, Rick Estrin and Billy Branch on harp, Deanna Bogart on sax and vocals, Jim Pugh on keyboards, and the criminally talented Christoffer “Kid” Andersen, on bass, piano, rhythm guitar, organ and upright bass as well as producer at his Greaseland Studios.

“This is a real blues record, the way they would have made them back in the day,” Castro says. Almost all the tracks were recorded live in the studio, filled with spontaneous performances that evoke a personal, down-home, juke-joint vibe.

Castro uses the session to pay tribute to some of his influences, including songs by contemporary California blues guitar greats like Johnny Nitro, Ron Thompson and Chris Cain. And he dips back into blues past for songs from Magic Slim, Eddie Taylor, Johnny “Guitar” Watson, Jimmy Nolen and Wynonie Harris. It’s an impressive list.

The rollicking original opener, “Can’t Catch a Break,” is a traditionally themed blues shuffle with Castro full-throatedly bemoaning how “bad luck and trouble is the story of my life,” with a stinging guitar solo and fadeout. Nolan’s 1956 rocking blues “The Way You Do” follows with Estrin on harp, and Nitro’s loping blues, “One More Night” is next — Nitro was another California musician from ’70s and ’80s, who, like Castro and McDonald, was a member of The Dynatones.

The original “Crazy Woman Blues” is a slow-burning, churning urn of burning blues, with Castro’s pleading vocals about being “a fool for misery” are tangled up in fierce fretwork. A cover of Rick Cain’s “Woke Up and Smelled the Coffee” struts in with another crisp guitar solo (they’re becoming a feature throughout as Castro shines on every take). A sly cover of Gary Michael Duke and Joe New’s lively “Keep Your Dog Inside” features Deanna Bogart sharing the vocals. Emerson adds tasty barrelhouse piano.

Watson’s “She Moves Me” is the next cover, an upbeat R&B-flavored track with Bogart on tenor sax. The original “Ain’t Worth the Heartache” features Branch swinging hard on harp, leading into the sensuous strains of Ray Charles early hit, “A Fool for You,” with another scorching guitar solo. Castro’s steamy slide and tough vocals drive Thompson’s “Freight Train (Let Me Ride).”

Painkiller bass player McDonald rocks hard on his own composition, “Everywhere I Go,” followed by the classic, “Bloodshot Eyes,” a country song probably best known for the Wynonie Harris jump blues version. Estrin adds his harp to Taylor’s shuffling “Stroll Out West.” Everything wraps up with Jim Pugh’s organ licks kicking Hole in the Wall,” recorded by Magic Slim, and ridden hard by Castro’s vocals. It’s tough, swelling rhythms punctuate the climax to this terrific blues album.

“Closer to the Bone” is filled with Castro’s authentic vocals and steamy guitar licks. His backers are razor sharp and the arrangements are first class. It’s music blues that is exactly what it says it is — closer to the bone, but still meaty enough to satisfy the blusiest appetite. Don’t wait till the next blues ship gets into port — enjoy it now.

Here’s “Can’t Catch a Break” from the album:

Tracklist:
1. Can’t Catch A Break
2. One More Night
3. The Way You Do
4. Woke Up And Smelled The Coffee
5. Crazy Woman Blues
6. She Moves Me
7. Keep Your Dog Inside
8. A Fool For You
9. Ain’t Worth The Heartache
10. Bloodshot Eyes
11. Everywhere I Go
12. Freight Train (Let Me Ride)
13. Hole In The Wall
14. Stroll Out West

Roadhouse Album Review: Jennifer Porter creates a musical masterpiece of bluesy Americana in “”Yes, I Do”

Jim WhiteLeave a comment

Jennifer Porter — “Yes, I Do — Cougar Moon Music

Jennifer Porter is a superb songstress with a uniquely seductive voice. Her lyrical and musical creativity has allowed her to shape a wide variety of styles, from opera to blues, into her own elegant personal vision.

With her tenth album, “Yes I Do,” Porter highlights her ability to create a lyrical masterpiece of bluesy Americana and deliver it in a silky smooth vocal style that underscores the eloquence of her music.

“Yes I Do” follows Porter’s success with her 2021 release, “Sun Come and Shine,” for which the title track received a We Are the Music Makers award for Best Roots/Americana/Blues song. This latest release brings back the talents of Grammy winner Cindy Cashdollar and Grammy nominee C.J. Chenier.

Porter created six of the eight delightful songs here, and blended her own sparkling style into two traditional blues covers. She handles the vocals in her inimitable honeyed style, and plays piano or Wurlitzer or Hammond B3, sometimes all three, on each cut.

A rollicking “Before we Call It A Day” opens the session, upbeat in mood and lyrics, as Porter blends lead and backup vocals with honky-tonk piano into a vibrant message: “I wanna race the clock, kiss the moon / Kick up my heels, and work the room / And have a hell of a night / Before we call it a day.”

The title track, “Yes I Do,” follows, mellowing the mood with Porter again singing her own backup in front of her Wurlitzer and B3 lines. Her gentle vocals accentuate the romantic offering: “I’ll spend my time just making rhymes into these / Hopeful little lines / And leave this lonely broken heartache behind. / Cause I love you, I love you, yes I do.”

“Over You,” a softly romantic ballad follows, enhanced by vocals in the upper register that build a haunting love song into an ethereal presence. “All I Needed Was You” sparks a lovely sentiment behind Chenier’s New Orleans fire and Porter’s rousing piano: “For all my dreams to come true / All I needed was you.”

“Don’t Worry No More” opens with a flourish of horns that leads to Porter’s bluesy tale fueled by her piano and B3. Once again, her vocal charms provide a soft counterpoint to the ttoughness of the lyrical message: “Baby, don’t worry no more / See me walkin’ out the door.”

The Leroy Carr classic 1928 blues “How Long” gets Porter’s subtle vocal treatment with her classy piano and a sweet flugelhorn solo adding unique flavor. “Lucky Dust” opens with a Dixieland swagger with Porter and her piano leading the way through a joyous take that ends with another crackling, jazzy flourish.

The sprightly closer feels just right as a finale for this adventurous set; a lighthearted, innovative cover of the 1925 Stuart Balcom and Bessie Smith chestnut, “Good Ol’ Wagon,” with just Porter caressing the piano and Randy Andos’ easy-thumping tuba.

You wouldn’t guess it from listening, but among Porter’s generous list of accomplishments (actor, screenwriter, composer) is her interest in martial arts. She holds a second-degree black belt in Tai Jujitsu, and has advanced training in Kali and Jeet Kun Do. What do they add to this thoroughly enjoyable music? As the legendary lyricist Sammy Cahn once put it: “Ain’t That a Kick in the Head?”

Here’s the title track, “Yes, I Do”:

Tracklist:
1. Before We Call It A Day (3:46)
2. Yes, I Do (4:19)
3. Over You (4:24)
4. All I Needed Was You (3:57)
5. Don’t Worry No More (Funk / Rock Version) (3:37)
6. How Long (4:09)
7. Lucky Dust (Shining Through) (3:29)
8. Good Ol’ Wagon (3:16)