Old News Blues

This whole post is relatively old news, which means it ain't news. I will start with the newest by mentioning Rick Estrin winning the award in the Best Harmonica category at the Blues Music Awards back in May against some might powerful competition. He also snagged a nomination for The B.B. King Entertainer of the year, which he certainly deserved to win also. I've never seen the winner, Curtis Salgado, play a live set, but he must put a whale of a show to beat out what Estrin brings to the stage. Certainly, with all the health battles that Salgado has faced (and is still facing), he dang sure deserves the nod there. Rick Estrin and The Nightcats received a nomination, but were beat out for Best Band honors by the Tedeschi Trucks band, and Kid Andersen (Estrin's guitar slinging partner) was trumped by Derek Trucks for Best Guitarist. Not the way I think it should have gone, but I guess a somewhat youth movement moved the voters. At the end of it all, though, I think that Rick Estrin and The Nightcats have perched themselves back on the plateau that they reached when his co-conspirator, Little Charlie, led the band with him.

What is news, since it ain't happened yet, is that Rick Estrin and The Nightcats will return to Houston's Dan Electro's Guitar Bar on June 22. Great news, I'd say, since they'll be within driving distance of my Ford pickup. The H Town Jukes, some friends of mine, will open the show, so that'll be a treat also. Looking forward to seeing the bad boy of the blues again. That's what my wife called him after I took her to see him years back and hearing some of his lyrical double entendres. "He's a bad boy" says she.

Back to the old news. I almost hung my head, but didn't, when I pulled my copy of One Wrong Turn out of its cubby hole and realized that I've had the darn thing almost a year and never got around to jotting down a review of some sort here on the blog. I'm sure that everyone with a passing interest in blues harmonica has had it almost as long as I have and have spun its wheels off since then. If not, then their interest in blues harmonica was just that--a passing interest, because this one deserves a spot in their blues rotation. Still can't believe I didn't pass along my opinion last year, but since I didn't I'll throw down something short and sweet.

One Wrong Turn picks up where Twisted left off with Estrin and crew establishing themselves as a band setting out to establish their Nightcats groove, not in opposition to the Little Charlie era, but with a stamp that says this is Rick's crew now. Of course, Estrin's witty observations of life as he knows it are on full display on every song. It's even rubbed off on drummer J. Hansen's song smithing, which fits nicely in the Estrin camp when he sings "You Ain't The Boss Of Me". His relentless beat drives this rocker and Kid Andersen rips the heart out of it. He also does the dog bark on the opener D.O.G. When Estrin's not lauding or lamenting over those of the female persuasion, he takes the dastardly deeds of male members of society. Here he sings Sniffin' 'round, sneakin' where you don't belong/Just huntin' for a spot to bury your bone/You're just a DOG.

And speaking of old news, Estrin does just that on "Old News". He does his superb Rice Miller acoustic best while talking about staying confused as he trots through life and as he says Yeah, but that's old news. He's always nailed down Sonny Williamson II's timbre, tone and attack and tends to give a nod to the master on most every album he's played upon, and while he can spit out the book of Chi-town style amplified at will, he's moved way beyond anything remotely slavish to that mode of doing his business with his harp. Beginning with the release of Twisted, I think that he began to develop a Rick Estrin mode of playing amplified blues harp that'll be as readily identifiable as his own, much in the same way that us harp players recognize a Sonny Boy or James Cotton style. I'll be darned if I can describe all the different tonal shifts that he get going with his harp in his mouth. He goes from wide open, full chord blasts with double stops torching his amp speakers to superbly bent slip sliding single notes with nary a cliched note. He yanks out some great chromatic bombs on 'Lucky You", on which he just wishes he had the luck of someone else.

Of course, I'm preaching to the choir here as far as Estrin's harp skills go, but if you only know him from the Little Charlie era, then you owe it to yourself to experience the signature sound that he's developing. If you don't know him from the Little Charlie era, then you've missed a one of a kind blues band at work. Iconic, I'd venture to say. And, I have to assume that there are those who aren't familiar with Rick Estrin's body of work. I had to chuckle when I read a One Wrong Turn review on Amazon that read "This is a guy with a great future". Well, this reviewer needs to work his way back to 1989s Big Break and should definitely stop off and enjoy Estrin's On The Harp Side aimed to appease blues harp fans with a program of covers representing some of the finest traditional blues songs ever written.

Same for the Nightcats. Back in the day, they were never a twelve bar shuffling groove blues band and they darned sure ain't now. They certainly play the blues while they mess with the timing, the rhythms, and the beats on the songs, sticking in a bit of jazz or roots rocking along the way. J. Hansen and Lorenzo Farrell are no small part of the overall sound that the band achieves. Besides playing bass, Farrell is also adept at swirling some organ and piano in the mix, which is highlighted on "Zonin'" with a great sax break by Terry Hanck and wild guitar leads from Kid Andersen. I think Farrell and Hansen deserved their own nominations at those blues awards for what they bring to this band.

Of course, Kid Andersen makes the stew simmer and boil over throughout the entire session. "Broke and Lonesome" is a tour de force from the Kid's fretboard, and if it's the lowdown twelve bar you want, then listen to what he twists through the song. Ya never know which way he's going to head once he sticks his fingers on the strings. Now, I guess there are a few guitarist who could have stepped into the shoes of Little Charlie; Rusty Zinn paired up with Andersen on the aforementioned On The Harp Side and smoked it on down, but I don't think anyone can equal the Kid as the perfect foil for Estrin's vision. Doesn't hurt that he runs Greaseland Studios, which is fast becoming the go to recording facilities on the West Coast.

Ok, I don't think I'm going drag out this old news review any longer than I have. Said I'd keep it shourt and sweet. Sure I could go through each song and gush about the witty lyrics, the outstanding harp licks, guitar licks, and the jump and jive of each, but I feel sure that most readers here know all that by now. I ain't gonna promise, but I darn sure plan to not wait a year to get a review up on the next great thing in the world of blues harp. 'Nuff for now.

Bet On The Blues

Of course, most blues harp fans know that Paul Oscher's blues validation ticket was punched once Muddy Waters tapped him to fill the harmonica chair in his band. He certainly had big shoes to fill, following in the footsteps of Little Walter, Junior Wells, James Cotton, and Big Walter Horton. Muddy hired him on the spot, after showing up at a gig at the Apollo without a harp player and allowed Osher to sit in for a few songs. Oscher played with him from that 1967 gig through 1972. A big deal was made of the fact that Oscher was the first white musician to be in his band. I don't think that Muddy thought in terms of black and white, but just that this white boy could blow his brand of blues.

Oscher hung his hat out as Brooklyn Slim back in the seventies and today carries on the blues tradition mainly as a solo act with a racked harmonica and guitar; sometimes with keyboards and melodica thrown into the mix.. He manages to get something out of his harp that eludes most racked harmonica players-that nasty ol' amplified tone. I've heard that he refuses to divulge the secrets of the contraption that he uses in order to maintain that essential element to the good ol' ChiTown sound.

He'll probably refuse to divulge his Three Card Monty techniques also, but he does share a tale about Luther Boy "Snake" Johnson introducing him to Little Walter for the first time and the warning to Walter to not play cards with this boy. That humorous narrative opens the title track from Oscher's newest release, Bet On The Blues. It also carries an "explicit language" warning for Osher's colorful choice of words decribing a classic moment in time. And that's all it is, a narrative and not a song cut. It is also one of only two original tracks on the album, but he wonderfully covers a variety of artists and a variety of styles, the majority of them being deep blues. The biggest surprise is his cover of Thelonius Monks' "Round Midnight" with Kid Andersen on standup bass and Willie "Big Eyes" Smith brushing the drum skins. The song exposes his lack of vocal range for this jazzy composition, but he makes up for it with the deep welled vibe set up by his big butt bass harmonica.

The "Kid" and "Big Eyes" hang with on few of the cuts, such as the biographical (IMHO) "Robin Lee". His dirty, nasty distorted guitar sets the stage for a low down woeful blues tale of the pains of love. His vocals match up better with this gutbucket style of blues and the listener can feel the pangs of depression in his voice. The same musical cohorts, along with Bob Welsh on piano, take Freddy King for a short ride (1:57). He slips the slide on and wails on "Slideaway (After Hide Away) and it rips. The highlight for me is Welsh getting down on the ivories.

Osher obviously is satisfying the blues harp aficionados in the audience with his "live" solo rendition of Little Walter's "Juke".  Of course, he's got that sorta stuff down pat and it is apparent that he got some glee from breaking the Master's piece out on stage. This is one of several live cuts mixed in with the studio stuff just mentioned.

He continues in the Little Walter vein to things with "Mean Old World". It's actually a T-Bone Walker song, but when Little Walter transformed into Chicago blues mode, he changed enough that it is credited to him. Johnny "Ace" Acerno and Per Hansen support him on bass and drums, respectively. Oscher pulls out all the stops by sucking the harp tones out of his harp for all it's worth. He throws down some Muddy type slide licks into the mix.

"Jesus, Won't You Come by Here",  "River Jordan", and Mississippi John Hurt's "Lisa Jane-God's Unchanging Hand" spins some spiritual music into the programs mix and adds a bit of contrast to the "Devil's Music", which he keeps crankin' out by cover his ex-boss's "Rock Me" and "Sad Sad Day". He pulls up a darned good approximation of the unique guitar tones that Muddy Waters innovated. He's also pretty darned impressive with a chromatic harp in this neckrack; illustrated by his take on George "Harmonica" Smith's "Bues in the Dark".

So, Bet On The Blues represents a fine additon to the catalog of a veteran bluesman, who cut his teeth with the best that ever played it. For some fine reading and listening, go over to http://www.pauloscher.com/ He's got some great photos of his travels of the blues over there.

Bet On The Blues

Paul Osher

VJM CD1004

Kid Andersen's Stories

As my next birthday rapidly approaches I'm reminded that I never did discuss Kid Andersen's music as promised. Well, not promised, but I said I would after witnessing just what he could do with a guitar in Rick Estrin's Nightcats just about a year ago--and after downloading his albums The Dreamer and Greaseland to my iPod. Now, I could claim that I've been too caught up with writing fiction, reading fiction and reading about writing fiction, and that would be sorta true. BUT, I think the real reason is that I've never really been able to get my arms around what it is that Kid Andersen exactly does with the music. Description eludes the man and his music, but he is a novelist. He just tells his American tale in his songs--even though he was born and raised in Norway.

Greaseland has been tagged in the liner notes as being "a concept album describing the life of a broke, disillusioned drunkard musician who loves to have a good time, but is overcome with the blues". Okay, that's it, 'nuff said and it comes real close, but he displays so much more and it's just difficult to put into words. He puts it all into words very well, though, and when he not spinning his story lyrically, which bounces between dark depressive depths to a "party on dude" attitude, he's prancing it out with his guitar. His stories deal with the exciting highs and the resulting hangovers of life both lyrically and instrumentally. He embraces cliches with zesto, but wrings them out with plenty of originality. It's as if he and Kurt Vonnegut collaborated on his verses. Instrumentally, it would be he and EVERYbody who's ever plucked six strings--that's how wide his palette seems to be. Okay, I tried.

One minute "The Kid" wallows around with The Dirt People and it's most likely because he's feeling lower than dirt at the time. The next minute he's picking a million miles a minute on Mexican Kid!, which revs up the action that only a Dick Dale could only imagine--surf turf with a latin tinge. He'll go back down low and prove his blues guitar mettle on Peter Green's Jumping At Shadows (one of my favs from Fleetwood Mac) and then rip it with a Magic Sam style feeling alright groove on Greaseland Boogie, which basically recounts living the life of easeland at Greaseland where they party hardy without a care nowhere. Ex-employer Charlie Musselwhite even gets in on the preceeding with some of his signature harp licks bouncing around the studio. That's the story morning glory--he'll incite the partying with C'mon Johnny, Let's Hit That Town and then regret doing such on I'm Tired, deadtired, dogtired, too tired--but he'll still go get him a jug of wine to help face the day.

His vocal chops remind me a lot of Charlie Musselwhite's--not much range, but a ton of emotion. The slight gruffness in his voice, barely more than a speaking timbre, fits his songs very well. He sings plenty about women. Singing Jennifer, Jennifer, he warns the gal that "I smoke and I drink and do all the things you hate" and that he's a "bad motherf*&%$ who likes to stay out late". Jennifer just thinks that she knows what awaits her.No need in reminding what Skip James' Devil Got My Woman is all about, just that Kid nails the otherworldly vibe that only Skip James conjured up. Brandy! kicks off like a Freddy King instrumental, but is only declaring the sweetest thing that he ever did see, because when he was feeling low down and dirty, she came by and got him drunk. What a gal pal! He certainly squeezes the joy from his strings, along with some nice blues harp call and response by Richard Gjems.

Along the way, the Kid throws down other drinking tunes like The Bender and his ode to Whiskey!. He has those party tunes cranking with plenty of musical twists and turns--and plenty of times within the same song. Hard to predict where he's going when he gets going. I'd say that some of Junior Watson's idiosyncracies rubbed off on him while tooling around the West Coast. The Kid does issue a caution before all the partying gets rolling on the deep vibed, atmospheric It's Dark In Here. Nice blues harp helps provide an eery mood to the song along with Kid's echoing tones. My hope is that most of his Greaseland story is fictional.

The Dreamer and Greaseland would make perfect companions in a two disc set. Bookends if you will. The Dreamer is more about redemption and optimism. He looking for that better day, but wishing for old values at the same time. There are still songs about drinking Rocket Fuel, but he balances that out with tunes such as A Better Day and Take It Slow. The latter sounds as if he's melding Roy Orbison's Candy Man with Willie Cobbs Don't Love Me with Chuck Berry's Memphis thrown in for good measure and then some Earl Hooker style wah-wah slipped into the mix. The acoustic harp definitely gets the Candy Man thang going on. I love the former for the B.B. King licks that he jabs out and just the solid blues being laid out.  I think his masterpiece, though, has to be Dig The Pain. No, maybe, The Dreamer is...no, I think that The Nightmare...Well, never-the-hell-mind. A bunch of his songs twist my mind. I'm not even going to try to describe the ten minute The Nightmare (No Where To Turn), but I love it and the deep harp licks he lets into the song. Dig The Pain starts out with a great slapped bass rhythm and then he slams it and jams it and fills it full of wicked word play. Some really nice blues harp helps set the tone again. I don't know who is blowing, because these are iPod tunes with no listings for who is who. There is too many tongue blocked notes and slaps for it to be Charlie Musselwhite and I did hear that Mark Hummel played on some it, but regardless, the harp tones are righteous-especially on the nasty solo within The Nightmare.

Serves Me Right To Suffer takes John Lee Hooker and throws down some Buddy Guy tonal slinging along with a bit of Sonny Boy Williamson II in the lyrical mix and match and it is so exquisite. Along the way, some fingerpicked acoustic seeps into the background, then takes the foreground, and then a back seat to some more electric bamm. Danged it, I can't write while this plays. Speaking of mashing styles, take that Buddy Guy style tone and mash it with some Sly Stone and stir in a pinch of Booker T & the MGs and you'll have Soul City.

Okay--that's it! I quit! This exhausted me. Just get Chrisoffer 'Kid' Andersen's stuff and forget you ever read this review. Decide for yourself where the Kid is coming from, but I do know this--the boy can play the guitar. 'Nuff for now.

A Bluesman's Education

R.J. Mischo
Knowledge You
Can't Get In College
Greaseland Records
GR20923

Got a little distracted by applying for a facebook account and figuring out how all that goes, but I've been meaning to follow-up my earlier teaser with more of a review of R.J. Mischos' latest. So here it be.

The proceedings kick off with really deep toned chromatic notes setting up a familiar travelling bluesman's need to just get home on Two Hours From Tulsa. I may use the "deep toned" phrase too often in my attempt to describe what I'm hearing, but by golly that's just what R.J. gets going--sounds like it is reverberating from the bottom of a barrel. The groove hints at Otis Rush's All Your Love I Miss Loving, in large part from Kid Andersen's guitar knowledge that he didn't get from college. I mentioned just how much he impressed me at the Rick Estrin and the Nightcats' show, and he certainly doesn't disappoint throughout this disc (which by the way he co-produced with Misho). He plays inspired guitar licks and it ain't no telling where the inspiration's coming from. One minute he's quoting a smidgen of Otis Rush and then throws out something akin to Albert King's style and then he threatens the fretboard with his own creations. A little tasty wah-wahed rhythm guitar backs him up, along with Sid Morris' organ swirls. I don't know if Rusty Zinn's doing the rhythm work or not. He and the Kid swap off on the lead solos, so I'll assume that they do the same with backing guitar. R.J. takes this one on home by working his chromatic from the low down notes to the high end.


Okay, that song took waayy too many words out of me, but I had to get them out. Now if that first number had the deep toned blues harp working, R.J. sounds like he absolutely swallowed his diatonic on Too Cool For School, because his thick notes come welling up from way down inside of him. This fast paced instrumental showcases what the man does best--worry the hell out of his harmonica reeds with great note choices. He lets everyone jump on this one, though, especially veteran Kedar Roy slapping on his upright bass with a little jazzy sensibility.

R.J. works his vocals up into his high blues falsetto and back down again, which is sort of his trademark singing style, on the title cut. I've always liked his singing. He works a lot of chords, octaves, and double stops into his harp solo,
as he explains just some of the things that a college education may not help. He's mastered being able to create and coax different tonal qualities from his harp playing, which always lends his releases a great deal of variety. His songs follow suit and keeps his program from getting stale with the same ol' blues.

Little Joe is a case in point. Driven by hand drums from June Core (ex-Nightcat drummer) and surprise...Rusty Zinn, R.J.'s melodic acoustic harmonica makes this sound like a country ballad that Marty Robbins could be comfortable singing, but this Little Joe ain't Hoss Cartwright's little brother. This one's always in trouble. Shifting from amped up wallop to acoustic harp, with the aforementioned chromatic work thrown in for good measure, is common to R.J. modus operarandi (or something like that).

Rusty Zinn's guitar swings into action and is featured prominently on Ain't Nothing New. I've posted about just how much I like Zinn's playing before and R.J. allows him to take it on home on this shuffling blues. He does nothing fancy, just plays down the river, solid, blues licks. He's a proven commodity when it comes to backing up what a blues harp player needs. He cut his teeth on Kim Wilson's solo efforts, so he knows the way around the block. R.J. whips out the amplified fatback again, and twists and turns the blues scale notes to suit him.

Not going to wade through each of the fourteen cuts on this release. These five that I just mentioned are sort of representative,you might say. Kid Andersen (who joined up with Rick Estrin after leaving Charlie Musselwhite) and Rusty Zinn bounce back and forth, sharing their lead chops with us, R.J. gets after it, regardless of whether he sucking on his chromatic or diatonic, amplified or acoustic. He's written some great tales to tell us and he sings them very well. As always with R.J. Mischo's stuff, I'd be hard press to pick out a favorite tune, but as always, if someone pressed hard enough, I choose a song with some of his nastiest, dirtiest, fattest, amplified tones. Don't Look Twice fits that bill, plus I love the Kid's unpredictable guitar licks, and his unabandoned playing on this tune warning all of us not to think twice about his woman. Love the whole enchilada, though. Mighty fine blues harmonica from him to us. Oh, there has to be some kind of mojo going on deep inside of Kid Andersen's Greaseland studios. Lots of good stuff sliding out of those doors. I still have a couple of excellent releases by the Kid that I need to share--soon. 'Nuff for now, though.

Blues Harp Alert!

I won't waste your time right now with a review. Just Get This!--



Go over to Charlie Lange's Blue Beat Music and pick it up (or Pacific Blues or CD Baby--they all good for us blues fools). For you guitar slingers, Kid Andersen and Rusty Zinn are doing the do. For those in the know, this is another excellent release from the Kid's Greaseland Studios and picks up where R.J.'s King Of A Might Good Time leaves off. We'll discuss it later.

Happy Birthday To Me (and Ricky Estrin)

I turned 58 on Friday without much fanfare. My wife was still in Corpus Christi attending CPS foster parent seminars, my son crawled out of bed with his mind on school and my birthday slipped his mind. My daughter called with discussion topics unrelated to the day I was born, and I had to jog her memory. I had already put the pedometer, that she sent me for the event, to task a week ago--so she actually offered her congratulations early. So, the house felt a bit emptier than it normally does on a Friday morning. I did go over to my mom's in the afternoon to eat the chocolate birthday cake that she had ordered from HEB and to accept her cash donation to my birthday fund.

I also sampled the Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood Live from Madison Square Garden DVD birthday present and really enjoyed watching these two guys perform with same passion that they had when they played together as 20 year olds--this time unenhanced by chemical assistance. Eddie C. Campbell's new Delmark release, Tear This World Up, played a part in my one man birthday celebration. Maybe I'll get back to these two worthy musical productions later, but right now I'll get on to the main event.

First, I'll explain using Ricky for Estrin's first name. I've always gone by Ricky for Richard and plenty of times that gets shortened to Rick. I just happened to hear crackerjack bassist, Ronnie James Webber, call Estrin by the name of Ricky at one point after he was invited to sit in with the Nightcats (more on that in a bit). It seemed to drop a few years from Rick's 60, hearing him called Ricky. I was once told that I should go my Richard, because Ricky seemed to be more juvenile. I'll take juvenile. Of course, when I watch Ricky Estrin, I think more in terms of juvenile delinquency, if he lived anywhere close to some the tales he sings about. So, the name Ricky fits the Bad Boy of the Blues persona just fine.

I'll back up a bit here and explain that I had ordered an online e-ticket from Dan Electro's Guitar Bar for the Rick Estrin and the Nightcats' show. My expectations were that the club would be extremely packed and getting an advanced ticket would be wise. My only reservation about the reservation was the possibility of stormy weather. Stormy weather + Houston traffic = nightmare. So, I sort of sat around listening to my new birthday music and the downpour on my rooftop, debating whether or not to weather the weather. By six o'clock the rain had slacked enough for me to make the dash to Houston.

I left early in order to make it by the time the doors opened at 8 and to find parking in the lot, which I knew would be limited. As I stood under the front porch awaiting entry with only five other folks, one of life's missed opportunities arose as a character stepped out from the club's door for a smoke. The thought crossed my mind that the shaggy looking, bearded fellow might just be the band's guitarist, Kid Andersen, but I just as quickly dismissed the thought. Once we got into the club and he picked up a Les Paul and started slinging out notes for the sound check, then I figured that I could have at least said hello to him outside. I did get the opportunity to meet local harp player, Larry Bernal, who was among the five waiting with me outside, along with his 7th grade son. Steve Schneider had mentioned Larry to me several times in the past and I always wondered about this guy who at one time had one of the only Sonny Junior III amplifiers ever made. So, I entered the club with Larry and his son and we took a front row table that also ended up being occupied by Steve, Carlos Ramirez, and Andy Edwards--all Houston harp guys. I really enjoyed their company. My good friend Sonny Boy Terry also showed up with his lovely wife, Jenny. Those two make such a beautiful couple; they are so proud of each other. So, I was in great company for a show featuring one of the world's greatest blues harp players.


If you are still reading this, I'll get to the birthday heading now. Somewhere (I can't remember where, maybe I dreamed it) I read that Rick Estrin's birthday was either on October eighth or on the ninth like mine. So, when Larry enticed him to our table saying that Scott Berberian said hello,(Scott's the wizard behind the Meteor harp amps and Larry has two of his Mini-Meats and is ordering the 15" speaker version), I wished Rick a happy birthday and he appreciated it and didn't deny it and I told him that I was celebrating my 58th with him and he appreciated it and said, "Man, I turned 60". Oh, and then he kicked ass all night long.

I used to carry a note pad with me back in the day when I seriously tried to get someone to publish my blues articles, but I'd rather just sit back and enjoy the show--what I'm saying is that I don't recall set list songs and such things as that. I'll tell you this, though. I meant to pack a camera, but didn't do that either. The Nightcats opened with a number that absolutely smoked the place and it would have been an encore tour de force for lesser bands. The smiles at our table indicated that, "It just don't get any better than this"--but it did and did and did. Rick turned Kid Andersen loose on that first number and he never did get him back in his cage--not that he had any intentions of doing that.

I say cage, because Kid Andersen is absolutely a wild man on guitar. I need to mention that once he donned his stage clothes and slicked back his long blond hair, this bearded Norwegian proved to be an excellent sidekick for Estrin's ultimate showmanship. Superman jumped from the phone booth. He wowed us! Yep, he really did and the room was filled with a bunch of Houston musicians eating up his tonal grooves--that varied immensely. He'd rock the billy awhile like Johnny Burnette, shoot out reverbed ladened staccato jabs, ride a slow down low down wave that washed out over the club, sling a few leg kicks to the air, pick with his teeth, and basically just do the do. Take Otis Rush, Magic Sam, Hubert Sumlin, Guitar Slim, and Junior Watson, roll them up and feed 'em a mushroom or two, and it might get close to describing what comes out of the Kid's amplifier. Once he gets rolling, it ain't no telling what notes will be firing out from the stage. I think back a few posts ago about Rick Estrin's Alligator Records release, Twisted, in which I described his instrumental Earthquake, as sounding quite like Freddy King on meth. He did that one (which Estrin said was a hit in Russia) and burned it down to the filter. Strange thing about it all, is that he showed immaculate restraint when called for and proved that he's a master at backing a harmonica player. Those types are rare. With all his guitar antics, though, there is still no way that Rick Estrin got upstaged at any point during the night. Estrin just reclaims his turf once the slinging is done and sometimes with one well placed harp note, blown with the finest tone known to man (or blues man) at least.

Most of the night's set came from the aforementioned CD or the one right before it called On The Harp Side, with a few chestnuts from his Little Charlie albums. I could run down each and every one of those, but I'm not. Let's just say that if you have those two CDs, then you have a good idea of what the Nightcats laid on us last Friday night. He did throw down an outstanding version Little Walter's Off The Wall, just in case us harp players thought that we were somebody. He nailed it down wonderfully, blowing through a digital reverb pedal and analog delay fed into his Harp King amp with 6x10" speakers. Got some kind of wall of sound going--which he also kicked in when he whipped out his chromatic harp. He prefaced a few of his witty, humorous songs with a humorous tale as how the idea entered his cranium. Those snippets were priceless. He had us all eating out of his hand.

Of course, if you've seen a Little Charlie and the Nightcats show, then you know what a cool cat daddy Rick Estrin is, which no one in show business comes close to matching, and few can match his blues harp skills. The difference now is that Rick leads the Nightcats and he puts his harp in his mouth a whole lot more often and proves that point song after song. You've also seen him put the whole harp in his mouth (like a cigar) during a Sonny Boy Williamson II number and he pulled that trick out for us, too. He amazes me with just how solid his acoustic intonation is when he's emulating this master.

These are Rick's Nightcats. J Hansen impressed every harp player in the club with his knack for driving what Rick wanted driven on drums. My buddy, Sonny Boy Terry said that he wished that every drummer in town could witness how a drummer should back a harp player by listening to Hansen. He proved quite the witty lyricist and singer himself when he took the mic to sing the double entendre, I'm Taking Out My In-laws. Lorenzo Farrell slapped the standup bass and locked stepped with Hansen all night. Seems that they spent some time together in the past and both have a little jazz in their resume. Rick gave them a bit of time to showcase themselves a time or two during the night. Great rhythm section duo dudes. Farrell even slid over to the keyboards to add a bit of spice to the stage sound. The last set he slid over there and stayed awhile for an unexpected treat. Ronnie James Webber was in the house and Rick brought him to the stage to plunk the Fender electric bass. Ronnie James played with the Nightcats for about a decade and with the Fabulous Thunderbirds and with Mark Hummel and recently with the Mannish Boys and, and, and...Let's just say that he knows how the blues is suppose to go and he knows how to go about doing it really well. I enjoyed watching him pick the bottom out of things. It was a real treat watching him work. He seemed to really get off on a low down harp instrumental that he claimed that someone named Greg requested. Estrin sucked the song for all that it was worth.

Of course, that brings me back to the Nightcats' guitarist. He's just plays the best guitar that I've heard in a long, long time and he co-produced the Alligator release with Estrin, so he knows his way around the sound board. His last employer was Charlie Musselwhite (he's plays on the Delta Hardware release, so that seals the deal for his credentials as the real deal. Charlie don't hire no slouches on the six string. I've heard his work previously from what he laid down on John Nemeth's and RJ Mischo's last recordings, but nothing prepared me for the what he kicked out live and in person. He's a phenom! I'm heading to CD Baby to pick up his own Greaseland.

Rick Estrin has himself one hell of a band and I feel privileged to have witnessed them perform their magic. It's the Estrinman, though, that makes the whole engine work and he has definitely mastered the master of ceremonies better than a carnival barker, and did I mention that he plays some of the best blues harp in the land?

Bottom line--this was the best birthday gift that I've ever given myself. Great night! Great band! Great company! Get over to Rick's site and get yourself a Nightcat fix. Anyway--'nuff for now.

Rick Estrin and the Nightcats

Rick Estrin
& The Nightcats
Twisted
Alligator Records


He's baaack! Seems just yesterday that I plugged Rick Estrin's On The Harp Side and his DVD just before that and now he's back with a new Alligator release with his version of the Nightcats. Twisted. Now that title perfectly fits Estrin's personality.This new Nightcats' recording adheres more or less to the old Nightcats' formula--instead of Charlie Baty leading the guitar charge and shining on jazzy or swinging instrumentals, Kid Andersen turns loose his different flavored chops. Where On The Harp Side was an Estrin vehicle, Twisted does the ensemble band thang that we've grown to love about a Nightcats' release. Estrin's still front and center as always, but he certainly allows Andersen to stretch out and put the pedal to the metal on occasion--such as on his instrumental, Earthquake where Kid approximates what Freddy King might have sounded like on meth. Rockabumping stuff, indeed. Oh, and Estrin gets the shaking going right along with him.

Estrin's witty lyrical behavior lives up to his reputation as an astute observer of real life stories, siphoned through his wise ass demeanor. The opener Big Time takes off where his last CD left off--with some nasty, honking Estrin licks. The amped up tone sounds very similar to what he squeezed out on the solo release. He aims his message at those folks who think that they are 'big time' and basically tells 'em to get out of his face with the attitude. The tune rocks. No, really. Kind of an old time rock and roll vibe kicks things off right.

Back From The Dead answers the song he wrote called Circling The Drain from that great, last Nightcats' CD, Nine Lives. That tune had Estrin ready to throw in the towel, this one has him saying that even though some may have thought that he did---well, he's got news for them because he's back from the dead despite the laundry list of reasons he offers why he should have croaked by now. Hilarious stuff and with the Kid slinging hash with his guitar, I think it should be on every Top 40 play list. Riiight.

UBU is another about minding your own damn business as he says "Let me be me and you be you" on this driving shuffle and Catching Hell is about, well, catching hell and slows the pace down with Kid showing off what he can really do with blues licks. P.A. Slim Is Back jumps the boogie with Estrin's harp leading into a tale about a cool daddy hitting town again after fleeing cold Chicago winters.

And so it goes and if you know Estrin like I know Estrin and his work with the Nightcats, then you know what the rest of the program is all about. He does keep his harp stuck to his mouth throughout the proceedings a little more so than on a typical Little Charlie and the Nightcaps release and he sucks the tonal variety out of the instrument, as usual, to keep things sounding fresh. He does the sweet and low chromatic thing on the Cool Breeze instrumental, gets his exquisite Sonny Boy II style going on You Can't Come Back, and displays some original acoustic licks during the brooding, Someone, Somewhere (which also showcases the Kid's acoustic flair).

The rhythm section of J Hansen (drums) and Lorenzo Farrell (bass) rode along on Estrin's solo release and they prove adept at swinging the variety of rhythmic changes thrown at them--or hell, maybe it is they who set the vibes. Regardless, they prove to be quite the groove monkeys. Hansen is turned loose on rough-hewn vocals on his own, I'm Taking Out My In-Laws, which is right up the Nightcats' alley.

Can't say enough about Kid Andersen, though. This ex-Norwegian seems to pretty much play "in-the-moment", sort of like a twisted Hubert Sumlin might or Junior Watson and it ain't no telling where he's coming from, going, or ending up. Darned unpredictable. Then, again, so is Estrin--even when you think you know what he's all about, he'll pull his own stunts with a harp in his mouth. He plays outside of himself everytime he takes a solo and way outside of what a wealth of other harp can achieve. Hurray for this one!

Anyway---This may be my last post for awhile. I'm going to try like the dickens to finish typing my novel before leaving for a Grand Canyon/Bryce Canyon trip June 14-23, which should be a great ride. I'll see if I can stick something up here before pulling up stakes and heading that direction.