New Blues Review 11-19-24
By Jack Roy
Chad Rupp and The Sugar Roots – Gate C23 (Lightning in A Bottle Records)
Bio – “Sugar Roots Featuring Chad Rupp is a Portland-based blues band formed by multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Chad Rupp, guitarist Jason “JT” Thomas, keyboardist Sam Gendler, bassist Timmer Blakely and drummer Chandler Bowerman. This band was forged from the roots of Portland’s uniquely prodigious local blues scene with three Portland natives and two extremely talented transplants who appreciate the legacy of Portland’s musical history and the amazing musicians who have provided a lasting tradition of blues performance. Sugar Roots draws on inspiration from Portland greats like Curtis Salgado, Lloyd Jones, Jim Mesi, Paul deLay, DK Stewart and Norman Sylvester, along with their supporting bandmates. The band’s name is a nod to a popular local blues band, Brown Sugar, a pioneering staple of Portland’s live music scene. Here’s what frontman Chad Rupp says about the band’s formation: “Really, the band came together because we had been playing together regularly pre-pandemic for a few years at a popular local jam session, The 1-4-5 Blues Jam Party, and we were having a great time! “Sam Gendler and Chandler Bowerman brought their experience and mojo from the LA and Illinois scenes, combined with veteran local and national act musicians Timmer Blakely and Jason “JT” Thomas. This group really became a tight and organic unit for me to work with. “When we looked at the chemistry we had, we decided that we should be recording and gigging together more! These guys have made it possible for me to stretch out on stage leading to some fun and powerful performances for me, personally!“”
Review – Cool Funky Blues album with a great guitarist and singer Chad Rupp. Album floats between New Orleans Funk, straight up Blues and slow Ballads. Some of my highlights are “Blues City Cafe”, “2 Inches Shy A Foot” and “Fresh Suits” but I think my favorite is “Gate 23″, straight up slow Blues Ballad, listen here. I will give this a 10++ on Blues Content and a 10++ on Music Content.
Dick Earl’s Electric Witness – Get Up Off The Ground (Self Produced)
Bio – “Dick Earl has been spreading the love for blues for decades with his raw vocals, solid guitar styling, and stirring harmonica, “from the depths of a true bluesman’s soul.” (KTIM Radio) With Isaac Ericksen, Mari Ericksen, and Thomas Anderson, Dick Earl’s Electric Witness showcases a rhythm section that is second to none that has won notoriety on the Utah Blues Festival stage (2023) and beyond. Their self-titled debut album can be streamed on all major platforms so that you can experience their brand of Blues whenever, wherever! As a long-standing member of the Las Vegas Blues Society, Dick Earl has performed with numerous noted studio artists, worked as a pit musician at Tuacahn Amphitheater, shared the stage with Tas Cru, a national award-winning recording artist, and was even featured in the documentary “Into the Fire” which premiered at Doc Utah (2022) and won Best Feature at Zepstone Film Festival (2023). Recently, Electric Witness competed in the 2023 International Blues Challenge held in Memphis, Tennessee, where they finished 3rd overall! What an achievement! It was an honor for the band to represent the Las Vegas Blues Society in this prestigious event hosted annually by The Blues Foundation. Experience a unique journey of American Roots music with Dick Earl’s Electric Witness!”
Review – A super solid Blues album from the multi-instrumentalist Dick Earl. His voice is outstanding and great Harmonica sounds, big and fat and he plays guitar on most of the songs. The band is rounded out by Isaac Ericksen, bass and backing vocal; Mari Ericksen, drums, percussion and backing vocal; and additional backing vocalists Alice and Zoe Ericksen. Music is definitely Blues with some great Funkiness to it but some of the songs are a bit slow and poppy. Some of my highlights from this album are “Eggs”, “Vineyard”, and “I Hear You Calling” but I think my favorite is “Black Lines and White Crosses”, listen here. I will give this a 9 on Blues Content and a 9 on Music Content.
Anthony Paule Soul Orchestra with Willy Jordan – What Are You Waiting For (Blue Dot Records)
Bio – “Based out of San Francisco, California The Anthony Paule Soul Orchestra, was founded in 2007, by guitarist/songwriter Anthony Paule. Inspired by authentic Soul and Blues recordings of the ‘60s and ‘70s, this dramatic horn driven extravagant act took shape. Known for having great, authentic singers, APSO invites newest member, the incomparable vocalist Willy Jordan into the organization. Having worked with Elvin Bishop’s Big Fun Trio (which garnered him two Grammy Award nominations), John Lee Hooker among others, Willy holds court from a throne previously occupied by Wee Willie Walker, Frank Bey, and Terrie Odabi. Jordan’s commanding vocals and unpretentious stage presence, give audiences an honest, fresh, heartfelt experience.”
Review – Oh, this is a good one with the incredible voice of Willy Jordan and an incredible band including Paule on guitar, Endre Tarcy plays bass, while Kevin Hayes plays drums. Also included through the album is the four-piece horn section of Derek James, trombone; Ethan Pires, trumpet; Charles McNeal, tenor saxophone; and Bob Sudduth, baritone saxophone. Also featured through the recording are backing vocalists Omega Rae, and Nona Brown. Produced by Anthony Paule, his wife Christine Vitale, Larry Batiste, and Willy Jordan most songs are written by them in various combinations. Classic big band sound with that west coast feel. Every song is well thought out and composed in such a way that the album seems to flow together from the first song to the last, hard picking favorites out from this CD but my highlights were “You Ain’t Old Till Your Cold”, “You’re Somebody Else’s Baby Too” and “Bruised but I think my favorite is the funky tune “No Tofu”, listen here. I will give this a 10+ on Blues Content and a 10++ on Music Content.
Dennis Herrera – Four (DAS Entertainment)
Bio – “Dennis Herrera was born and raised in San Jose, California just a heartbeat away from San Francisco the home of the hippie generation and Golden Gate Bridge. When asked about his music history Dennis shared, “as a kid in the 60’s I was introduced to rock n roll via the transistor radio by my mom we listened to a pop AM station, KLIV and that planted the music seed. Tuning into The Yardbirds, Animals, Rolling Stones, Beatles, Sam and Dave, Wilson Picket etc. became my favorite pastime. “At age 15 I saw James Brown LIVE and I was blown away!” At a young age Dennis went to count-less rock & roll, R&B, blues and soul concerts/shows in the Bay Area, San Jose, Oakland, Santa Cruz, San Francisco at the Fillmore, Winterland, Avalon Ballroom, and numerous juke-joint blues clubs. Dennis’ fondly recounts his first guitar given to him by his grandfather, took a handful of guitar lessons and played in garage bands, “We wanted to be rock stars put our first band together and the girls dug it my first ever performance was at my high school, I was flunking music class but in order to pass my teacher suggested I play for the student talent show. Nervously I went on stage and covered the Richie Havens song Freedom from the film Woodstock. I’ll never forget what a major rush that was and I passed with an straight A!”. Early on Dennis found that his favorite rock groups the Stones, Savoy Brown and original Fleetwood Mac covered songs written by blues greats Willie Dixon, Sonny Boy Williamson, B.B. King, Howling Wolf, John Lee Hooker just to name a few, “It’s been blues ever since struggling to play music as a profession, I found myself re-directed a number of times but have always come back to playing blues, regrettably I didn’t join an established blues band, I have had opportunity but instead chose to lead various blues projects of my own to date, I’ve tried a variety of catchy band names thinking they were original but soon found out most were taken, so I simply settled with my birth name for the band”. Dennis Herrera has recorded 3 CD’s and continues to perform his original blues as well as his favorites for well over 30 years in and around the state.”
Review – Decent band, very simplistic but sometimes that is the best. Dennis’ voice is not the strongest and you can tell as he does more talking than singing through out this album. Instrumentation is very basic, nothing flashy but seems to work for this band. Band consists of Dennis Herrera on guitar and vocals, Jeff Jorgenson on saxophone; Wenzel on Hammond B-3 and piano; and the rhythm section of Bill Stuve, bass; and Lee Campbell, drums. Highlights for me were “Can’t You Feel It”, “Tenderness I see”, and “Mean Old Texas Shuffle” but I think my favorite is “All Said and Done”, listen here. I will give this a 9 on Blues Content and a 7 on Music Content.
Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne – Ooh Yeah! (Stony Plain Records)
Bio – “Winner of the 2024 Blues Foundation AND Living Blues Magazine “Keyboardist of the Year” award, and Downbeat magazine’s critics award for favorite keyboardist, Kenny “Blues Boss” is having a very good year. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Jus’ Blues Foundation and is a member of the Boogie-Woogie Hall of Fame. Capping it off is his remarkably adventurous new album, “Oooh Yeah!” that stretches the boundaries of instrumentation for the blues, including matching non-traditional instruments like the banjo with a trombone heavy horn section.’ Wayne kicks off the album with the high energy title song with a call and response-style lyric and a gospel/boogie-woogie beat. In this, Kenny’s 80th year he is not slowing down, performing across North America, at European festivals, and on the high seas as a featured solo piano attraction on Blues Cruises, his virtuoso playing peppered with telling tales from a life in the Blues filled a plethora of musical adventures.”
Review – 80 years old and still going strong, his music is traditional and current. His band is incredible including Joey DiMarco, Bucky Burger, Ian McKeown & Adam Warner on drums/percussion, Nick Succi, James Rasmussen on bass, James Anthony on guitar, Jimmy Bowskill on bass/strings/guitar/banjo, Kaven Jalbert on tenor sax, Remi Cormier on trumpet, Mathieu Mousseau on baritone sax & Salena on vocals/bgv. Wayne gives you some classic barrel house piano tunes and mixes it with some great funky modern tunes, love this album. Highlights for me were any of the tunes with Jimmy Bowskill on banjo including “Try It Out” and “Whatch Going To Do Now” and “Honey, Honey, Honey” but I think my favorite by far is “Whatcha Going To Do Now”, listen here. I will give this a 10+ on Blues Content and a 10+ on Music Content.
