Top Stories Headline News
	Contents This Issue's Index
	Editorials Editorials Columns Letters
	Arts & Leisure Reviews & Schedules
	Outdoors Fishing/Hunting Outdoor Magazine
	Sports Local Scores & Standings
	Food Recipes for culinary delights
	Bridges Bridges of the Upper Delaware
	Back Issues
	Search
	Links
	Commerce Sponsors
	Classified Ads Find it here
	Staff Pages
	Masthead
	Design Studio
	Subscriptions Get your copy delivered

Roll over Beethoven, dig these rhythm & blues!

The Neville Brothers, Valence Street, Columbia Records

New Orleans’ first family of soul and R&B has returned with yet another listenable collection of Crescent City sounds that run the gamut from chunky voodoo rock, to sexy soul, to dirty funk, and jazzy sax workouts courtesy of brother Charles Neville. And there’s more. Like the city from whence they came, the Nevilles have always thrived on eclecticism. Each brother brings a unique style and energy to the band. Keyboardist Art and percussionist/singer Cyril are former members of The Meters, legendary New Orleans funk masters. Charles has had a long and distinguished career as a sax player and arranger, and Aaron Neville is best known for his mega-hit "Tell It Like It Is," which still garners major radio airplay to this day. The Neville’s willingness to experiment has brought them to try hip-hop and country this time around, along with a healthy dose of classic second-line rhythm, best exemplified by their knockout version of Pete Seeger’s "If I Had A Hammer," which features Aaron’s sensitive lead vocal. "Mona Lisa" spotlights an appearance by rapper/producer Wyclef Jean, with electronic percussion and a distinctly laidback groove. Valence Street is just one more tasty morsel from the wonderful Neville Brothers.

Rod Piazza & The Mighty Flyers, Here And Now, Tone-Cool Records

Rod Piazza & The Mighty Flyers just might be the hardest working musicians in all of bluesdom. With a sound free of modern rock influences and based on traditional house rockin’ blues, jump swing, rockabilly and R&B, Piazza, his piano pounding, barrelhouse boogie woogie wife, Honey Piazza, and his band of Los Angeles-based musicians, tour nonstop, maintaining a large fan following both here and abroad. While every track is a winner, some of the better cuts are the rollicking "First Love," the medium tempo shuffle "Brought Together By The Blues," and "Greasy Foot," a frantic instrumental with Piazza’s pungent, Little Walterish harp. Years of playing together has tightened The Mighty Flyers to the point of skin-tight precision, and they are perhaps the foremost exponents of the swinging West Coast sound. Recommended.

Curtis Salgado, Wiggle Outta This, Shanachie Records

After working with Santana, Robert Cray, and Roomful Of Blues, and providing John Belushi with the impetus and inspiration to create the Jake Blues character, R&B virtuoso singer/harpist Curtis Salgado is ready for some serious acclaim of his own with Wiggle Outta This, his fourth solo disc and first for Shanachie. Loaded with meaty R&B, funk, rock and radio-friendly tracks, Wiggle Outta This is one of the best examples of modern-day, retro soul music heard in many moons. Salgado possesses the kind of raw, Afro-American emotion that too few white singers have, and on top of that, his harp playing, used only as embellishment, is equally impressive. Only one problem — there’s not enough of it. There are way too many glossy, slick, black vocalists working the famous "chitlin’ circuit," and most of them don’t have anywhere near as much soul as Salgado. I’m not going to bore you (or me, for that matter) with a cut-for-cut rundown. If you like Otis Redding, James Brown, Bobby Blue Bland, B.B. King and others, you’ll love Wiggle Outta This. My highest recommendation. Five stars. El Mondo Grande. Rhythm & Blues just doesn’t get any better than Curtis Salgado.

Duke Robillard, New Blues For Modern Man, Shanachie Records

Duke Robillard, also an alumnus of Roomful Of Blues, is back with his debut on Shanachie. New Blues For Modern Man attempts to push blues beyond its restrictive form and allows Robillard, a master guitarist (as evidenced by his recent appearance at Bodle’s Opera House in Chester, NY), to stretch out with his fine band in tow. One will hear a strong early rock influence, jump swing, dirty blues, lowdown jive, spacey, Miles Davis-like jazz and much more. The opening track "Jumpin’ Rockin’ Rhythm" sets the tone for the whole disc, as Robillard rips into the familiar Chuck Berry feel, a groove few musicians can play properly, although it sounds deceptively simple. Other excellent cuts include the funky "Fishnet" (a stocking fetish?), the Booker T. & The MG’s inspired "Good Man," and the sultry, out-jazz instrumental "Big Bottom Blues." Whatever Duke Robillard’s personal taste in women’s legwear and physical attributes are, I hope he continues to release albums like this for a long time.