Month: August 2013

Best known for stints with Steely Dan, Donald Fagen’s New York Rock and Soul Revue, and Boz Scaggs, Drew Zingg is a complete guitarist. And he has gone a unique route with this record, working with producer George Walker Petit and a group of friends and admirers who all contributed money and session time.

The band is comprised of Zingg’s buddies, and they’re no bunch of stiffs. George Whitty plays keyboards and does the bulk of the arranging. Will Lee is masterful on bass, and Vinnie Colaiuta is the perfect drummer to translate all the various styles that are present on the record. Throw in a few guest vocals from the likes of Scaggs and Mike McDonald and you’ve got a pretty good crowd.

But the real beauty of all these great players is that the record comes off as a true band record; players feed off each other like they’ve been together for years. Zingg straddles the lines between rock and roll, blues, soul, and jazz, dipping his toes in every style while remaining incredibly soulful. For the most part, his tone is pure, blistering ES-335. It’s a hot sound – clean, but always on the verge. His chops are unquestionable. On “One-Off,” a subtle jazz-fusion vibe gives way to bursts of notes that belie the fact that it’s based on a simple riff. Throughout the song, he solos without repeating ideas; the final solo features the only heavy dose of wah on the record.

Funk is never far away. “Downstream” is slinky, bluesy funk with a soaring solo and vocasl from Whitty. “Cactus” features chunky bursts of notes while the rhythm section cooks. “Tennessee Street” is a groove piece that showcases Zingg’s ability to play simple chord changes but still sound truly musical. It also highlights his precise bends – an important part of his playing.

The Commodores’ “Easy” gets a soulful gospel feel with the kind of vocal you expect from McDonald. Zingg’s solo is melodic and expressive, displaying imagination and soul. Scaggs’ contribution comes in the jazzy ballad “Save Your Love for Me” that finds Zingg dancing around the chord changes with tasty fills and a lovely solo.

Being released in conjunction with the CD is a DVD that is an interesting production, letting you in on how the group was put together and how the money was raised to make the CD. Video clips include an acoustic jam between Zingg and producer Petit that shows just how good Zingg is. Another nice snippet shows the band jamming on “Cissy Strut.” It’s the perfect way to display the incredible chemistry between the musicians.

Everything about this album is near-perfect; a guitarist of incredible skill matched with like-minded musicians and great songs played with soul and imagination.

This article originally appeared in VG‘s Jan. ’13 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

If you’ve been waiting for the future of jazz to arrive, this may well be it. The young trumpeter is creating a beguiling blend of post-bop, dark rock, and hip-hop – try to picture Miles Davis in Radiohead and you’ll be getting warmer. Better still, Christian Scott has a young, gifted band featuring guitarist Matthew Stevens, and his new two-CD set may be the one that finally pushes him over the top.

For a first taste of Scott (who also goes by the surname aTunde Adjuah), cue up “New New Orleans,” where the horn man lays out a haunting melody over Stevens’ alt-rock-infused chord arpeggios. It’s hard not to be grabbed by the song’s uncanny, angst-filled groove.

One of the album’s keynote tracks, “Danzinger,” is buried in the back of the second disc, but is getting radio airplay and is fast becoming a contemporary classic. It’s a dark, brooding ballad that wouldn’t be out of place on a Peter Gabriel album, full of a beautiful melancholia and deep soul.

There aren’t many guitar solos, but Stevens opens up on “Vs. The Kleptocratic Union” with a beguiling lead. His tone is clean and compressed yet edgy, and his phrases use clever swirls of arpeggios and fast, complex lines that are unlike much of the jazz-rock clones out there.

This is a bold album and, arguably, a breakthrough. If you love brave, heart-wrenching instrumental music, check this album out. It could be a game-changer.

This article originally appeared in VG‘s Jan. ’13 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

The late Cub Koda wrote that Rick Holmstrom’s “inventive ideas are topnotch,” comparing him to the great Earl Hooker. That was in reference to Holmstrom’s solo debut, released in ’96, when he was 31. Sixteen years and five solo albums later, Holmstrom has matured by leaps and bounds into a master of tone and taste. Likewise, his producing sensibilities were already impressive (including two outings with blues harpist Johnny Dyer) but have continued to evolve and refine.

Today, Holmstrom is probably best known as guitarist with gospel icon Mavis Staples, but he’s continued to lead his own trio. The Holmstrom/ Staples trio – with drummer Stephen Hodges and bassist/saxophonist Jeff Turmes – has that rare combination of abundant versatility and a unique, identifiable sound.

The dozen vocal songs on Cruel Sunrise display the RHB’s stamp as well as Holmstrom’s best songwriting to date. Not tied to any genre, his churchy “Owe You Everything” lives up to its guest vocalist (Ms. Staples), while his five co-writes with Andy Kaulkin combine rock, country, and blues sensibilities. The Tele-toter’s gentle “You Drive ’Em Crazy” and stirring “I’ll Hold You Close” defy categorization – unless “great” is a category.

Cruel Sunrise stands on its own just fine, but do yourself a favor and get the Deluxe Edition. On its second CD, Lonesome, the same trio plays instrumental interpretations of a dozen vocal standards, ranging stylistically from country to gospel to jazz to R&B. Staples gave Holmstrom a lot of freedom from the very first gigs, and that’s evolved to her leaving the stage mid-set, so the band can do an instrumental medley of gospel standards like “Just Closer Walk With Thee” and “Wayfaring Stranger,” both included here. The latter features Turmes on slide. In fact, any slide you hear on either CD is by him – although Holmstrom does a very convincing imitation with his fingers on his sort of Muddy Waters-meets-Link Wray arrangement of Hank Williams’ “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.”

Rick cut the instrumental disc live to 1/4-inch tape, with band members actually switching instruments on the fly. There’s so much space, it’s like the air is the fourth member of the “quartet.” Coming up with an original instrumental group voice is as hard as finding one’s own guitar style, but Holmstrom (and band) succeed in both respects.

This article originally appeared in VG‘s Jan. ’13 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

Darren Jay may not be in Gregg Allman’s class as a singer, but he’s still effective. As a guitar player and arranger, though, he can stand with many, and he leads this big eight-piece delta soul band like an expert muleskinner.

It doesn’t hurt to have a rhythm section like bass player Laura Cupit and drummer Herbert Crawford behind you either. Crawford herds the band through a seamless change from the zydeco first half of “Lovin’ Man” to a standard shuffle in the second. Cupit is the force behind “Everybody Get Together” and “Drink My Wine” – a big, nasty blues juggernaut that’s a showcase for the rhythm section and features some of Jay’s most aggressively intense playing. He, Crawford, and Cupit are a three-headed combo that guides, pushes, and shepherds the band from outdoor festival music, as on the opening cut, through the almost progressive rock of “Zilla” to the ’50s rock and roll of “(Baby) Don’t You Lose My Number.”

Guitarman Jay won’t be bullied by the horns; they operate almost as part of the rhythm section, and he keeps things pneumatic by adopting a brassy guitar tone. The uptempo boogie “Workday Blues” has the same spirit of fun the J. Geils band had in its heyday, Jay bringing a little “J.” into a commanding guitar part.

The gang also shines on a fresh take of Willie Dixon’s “Hoochie Coochie Man,” but the minor-key blues, “Tin Pan Alley,” is the album’s finest cut. Considering the strength of the rest of the disc, that’s saying something.

This article originally appeared in VG‘s Jan. ’13 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.

Finally! At last! Considering that she made her recording debut in 1973 with Asleep at the Wheel’s maiden voyage, it’s amazing that it’s taken nearly 40 years for Chris O’Connell to release her first solo album.

During the Wheel’s zenith, she dueted with leader Ray Benson on “The Letter That Johnny Walker Read,” managed to outdo Toussaint McCall’s original on the R&B ballad “Nothing Takes The Place Of You,” swung like crazy on “Song Of The Wanderer,” and took a backseat to no one on Irma Thomas’ “Ruler Of My Heart.” If the Wheel had been dubbed the Chris O’Connell Band, instead of being one spoke of a multi-pronged whole, she would’ve probably been recognized for what she was – the greatest female country singer of her generation.

There are at least six Wheel alumni here, including co-producer Danny Levin, and ex-Wheelers Leroy Preston and Brenda Burns contribute songs, but this CD is all O’Connell. As such, the repertoire ranges from Johnny Paycheck country to Rodgers and Hart and Irving Berlin standards, from the Elvis hit “(Marie’s The Name) His Latest Flame” to a striking rendition of the folk song “Shenandoah” – which is exactly what O’Connell fans have been waiting for: an album that shows her interpretive mastery, able to meld disparate elements into a cohesive experience.

A great rhythm guitarist in the mold of Eldon Shamblin or Freddie Green, O’Connell is surrounded by such superb six-stringers as co-producer Don Margraf, Cindy Cashdollar on Dobro, Bill Kirchen on baritone on “My Baby Don’t Love Me Anymore” (featuring Junior Brown’s hot licks), Derek O’Brien adding some jump blues, Noah Jeffries’ flat-top flatpicking, and Carter Arrington’s tasty electric. The only quibble is multi-instrumentalist Levin’s organ on some cuts. It may be stylistically accurate, but it’s distracting – even in a set where Joel Guzman plays bossa nova accordion.

It took a long time, but O’Connell proves she’s more than just a great female country singer. Male, female, country, or anything else, she’s simply one of the best singers around.

This article originally appeared in VG‘s Jan. ’13 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.