Barry Levenson - The Late Show (Rip Cat Records; RC 1101)
reviewed by Michael Macomber

Guitarist Barry Levenson knows your blues. On this mostly instrumental album, he tells the story of your life with his strings. He knows your ups, your downs, your struggles, your triumphs.

On “Meters Runnin’”, he recalls that night you were kindah upbeat, happy and a little too drunk, walkin’ your walk and spendin’ your paycheck like it was wine. He knows what you said to that woman you met at the bar, he knows how you laughed when she threw a drink in your face, he knows you finger-snapped your way home and never did go back to settle up for the damage you did to the men’s room door.

The sparse and intense “Steel Life” finds Levenson recounting your hard-working week. The muscles across your back stretch over the bridge of his instrument, taking on more weight and more pain, knowing there is no other choice. Sometimes Levenson is the foreman, looking down on you with disdain. Sometimes he’s the sun, burning straight into your eyes. Sometimes he’s a friend with a glass of water and a smoke, a short break, before it’s back to the job.

And on “Charlie’s Ride”, he remembers that fine lookin’ lady you danced with all night long last weekend. And he reminds you that her number is in your wallet.

From the kick of “Riley’s Shuffle” to the heart-rending truth of “Blue Tears”, from the mysterious melancholy of “The Late Show” to the too-hot cool of “Turn Up the A.C.”, Barry Levenson knows your blues. Just back up and let the man tell the story.

Andy Poxon Band - Red Roots (EllerSoul Records)
reviewed by Michael Macomber

OK, we could go into all the hyperbole about how amazing it is that a kid of 16 could write, play, record and produce such an incredible album. But let’s put that aside for the moment. Forget that blues guitarist/singer/songwriter Andy Poxon is so freakin’ young. Just spin this disc, kick back, and marvel at one of the finest genre blending artists to hit the scene in a very long time.

Poxon pulls influences from rock, blues, rockabilly, pop, country, soul, jazz, ad infinitum, and folds them seamlessly into one another. His voice has texture and truth, his lyrics come from genuine emotion, his arrangements are heartbreaking and heart-racing, toe-tapping and tearful, and most importantly, 100% effective. He knows how to bend your emotions with those strings.

“Hottest Thing in Town” echoes the swing-a-billy mix of the Stray Cats, while never becoming an imitation. The badass funky groove of “No Love” is utterly irresistible, recalling the best of Allen Toussaint. “I Want You So Bad” is a sweet, gentle blues ballad, wide-eyed and romantic, utterly gorgeous. “I’ll Sing the Blues” is as heavy duty as anything out of the big-muscle rock n roll blues of the late 60s, with a drop of a Cream for good measure. And when Poxon declares “I can’t get my feelings wrong”, he hits on a universal truth of the form that is pretty darned perceptive for an artist of any age.

Poxon and his Band have recorded a great blues album, with many more to come, no doubt. Keep an eye on this guy. He may actually bring the genre back to national prominence.

For more info on Andy Poxon and his album “Red Roots”, visit http://ellersoulrecords.com and http://www.andypoxon.com.

Kaye Bohler - Like A Flower (The Kaye Bohler Band; KB 2009)
reviewed by Michael Macomber

I’m telling ya, this lady has more than a little Aretha in her big, beautiful blues belt. She isn’t a sound-alike by any means, but she has that kind of power, that kind of nuance and that kind of emotional resonance. Her stylistic range is impressive too. “Wasted On You” opens like a smooth R&B number, but gradually resolves itself into a self-empowering declaration in the “R-E-S-P-E-C-T” class. “Constant State of the Blues” is a mix of thumping blues and 60s soul, pulsing with pain and rhythmic power. As her story gets more and more dire, the edge in her beautiful voice gets sharper and sharper. It becomes clear that nothing, and I mean nothing, can get in her away.

Of course, Ms. Bohler is much more than a magnificent set of pipes. It also turns out she’s a killer songwriter, author of every tune on this disc. Once again, her range is incredible. “I Got to Know” is a jump blues n’ swing number that could have come right out of the ’40s. “Another Man’s Arms” is badass Curtis Mayfield soul, the hit single from a film soundtrack that never was. “My Heart Beats for Him” could have come directly from the pen of Mr. Cole Porter. Her vocal approach on this one is so Billie Holiday it’ll give you shivers. Again, no imitation, but rather emulation. She is so gentle, so subtle, so glorious.

If you miss the gold old days–whether those days were in the 40s, 50s, 60s, or 70s–or you just want to curl up with the true sound of rhythm n’ blues, Kaye Bohler’s “Like a Flower” will fill the bill. Utterly breathtaking.

JazzPrezzo proudly announces the release of The Blue Note Years: The Photography Of Francis Wolff and Jimmy Katz in celebration of the 70th Anniversary of Blue Note Records, the most important record label in the history of jazz.

This elegant coffee table book, including two CDs of music, spans an incredible seventy years of the label, from its beginnings to the present, through the eyes of two master photographers. The images, many of them never seen before, capture the major artists in modern jazz at historic recording sessions and other contexts. In recognition of this unique collection, the Jewish Museum of Berlin plans a special exhibition of photographs from the book for the fall of 2009.

Designed by award winning designer Ingo Wolff, the book features essays by producer Michael Cuscuna, Blue Note president Bruce Lundvall, recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder, and jazz historian Ashley Kahn.

Wolff’s Rolleiflex caught each important development from traditional and swing-era styles of the 40’s through bebop, hard bop, soul, avant-garde, and even the first sounds of fusion.

Photographs include jazz legends Sidney Bechet and Thelonious Monk, Art Blakey and Horace Silver, Miles Davis and Clifford Brown, and Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane — breadth staggering in its historical importance. The story continues with jazz greats Jackie McLean, Herbie Hancock, Dexter Gordon, Freddie Hubbard, Lee Morgan, Grant Green, Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, Don Cherry, Andrew Hill, Cassandra Wilson and Joe Lovano.

Wolff’s iconic black and white photographs, intimate, relaxed, and respectful of the musicians and their craft, raised jazz players to a heroic level. His point of view endures today: musicians intensely working on their instruments, peering at sheet music or talking among themselves, playing the music with eyes gazing off into space or closed in musical rapture.

In the early nineties, Blue Note found Wolff’s spiritual descendent in Jimmy Katz whose style has its own distinctive signature. Like Wolff, Katz can catch the right moment, frame it, light it and shoot it in a fraction of a second. Their careers have run along parallel lines: both picked up the camera early, fell under the spell of jazz, and established a mature, visual signature. Like a Wolff image, a Katz portrait is instantly recognizable.

Ashley Kahn writes, “Seeing, as the saying goes, is believing. In the photography of both Wolff and Katz there is a deep, shared reverence for the music, captured in a way that makes us all fortunate witnesses to some private and truly historic moments.” Bruce Lundvall comments, “This book is the nicest 70th Anniversary gift that Blue Note could get.”

For more info visit:
http://www.jimmykatz.com/
http://www.mosaicrecords.com/
http://www.jazzprezzo.de/

As someone whose life has been personally touched by Bipolar Disorder, I urge you to support this event, and the fund established in Sean Costello’s memory:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FROM DELTA GROOVE MUSIC

ATLANTA, GA - The Sean Costello Memorial Fund for Bipolar Research will hold its first benefit concert Sunday, March 1, 2009 at the North Atlanta High Center for the Arts. Sean was a beloved blues musician from Atlanta, who was internationally acclaimed, and in his honor, fellow musicians Lurrie Bell [2008 Living Blues Awards for Blues Artist of the Year and Most Outstanding Guitarist], The Wood Brothers [debut disc named one of National Public Radio’s top ten discoveries of 2006], King Johnson, Felix and the Cats with Jon Liebman and the Soul Shakers will lend their time and talent to this cause. Doors will open at 4p.m. and music begins at 5p.m. Tickets are $30 and will be available online [ http://www.seancostellofund.org ] and at the door. Food and beverages will be available for purchase. Donations are tax deductible.

The original lineup also included Jason Ricci, who will no longer be able to perform due to a conflict in his performance schedule.  Although Ricci will not be part of the lineup, he will be donating the proceeds of his alternate performance to The Sean Costello Memorial Fund for Bipolar Research.  Ricci hopes to lend his time in the second annual benefit concert.       

The benefit emerges as the first project of The Sean Costello Memorial Fund for Bipolar Research, an organization founded by his mother, Debbie Costello Smith, upon Sean’s untimely passing.  Sean was acclaimed for his musical prowess at a very early age. He was designated the Beale Street Blues Society Best Performer at age 15; was nominated for a W.C. Handy Award for his album Cuttin’ In in 2000; was voted Best Blues Band in Creative Loafing and Atlanta magazine; was featured on the cover of Blues Revue in February of 2002; and was named the Best New Act by the French Blues Feste in 2003. Most recently, Sean was nominated for two Blues Music Awards: Best Contemporary Blues Album and Best Contemporary Blues Male Artist of 2008. 

Sean resided in Atlanta, but was known throughout Europe and the U.S. as a talented, but humble musician who readily shared his talent with young and old. He played with musical greats BB King, Buddy Guy, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Hubert Sumlin, Elvis Costello, Etta James, Pinetop Perkins, Bo Diddley, Little Jimmy King, Nappy Brown, Bob Margolin, and many others. He formed special and lasting relationships with Felix Reyes, Donnie McCormick and Levon Helm. Sean had the honor of playing for James Cotton’s birthday, as he was Mr. Cotton’s favorite band.

Sean passed away suddenly in April last year on the eve of his 29th birthday, after quietly battling depression and anxiety for more than 10 years. It was only a year before his passing that Sean was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. At the time of his passing, he was in treatment to overcome the debilitating symptoms of this mood disorder and the often associated self-medication.

The Sean Costello Memorial Fund for Bipolar Research is a non-profit organization that has attracted a dedicated Board of Directors and an Advisory Board of renowned clinical researchers as a direct result of Sean’s reputation as an artist, an exceptional person and friend. In creating the fund, the board hopes to increase research for treatment, develop and support education for early diagnosis and intervention, and eventually create a program for musicians and artists seeking holistic support in their effort to lead functional, healthy lives.

For more information, please visit http://www.seancostellofund.org