RED BEANS &
RICE
"HOT 'N
SPICY"
WHITE WOLF
PRODUCTIONS
BY PETER "BLEWZZMAN"
LAURO © AUGUST 2007
When does one of
your favorite foods become not only one of your favorite things to eat, but one
of your favorite things to listen to as well? When it's a talented band
that plays a killer mix of Delta, Chicago, and Jumpin' Swing Blues, and they
call themselves RED BEANS & RICE - that's when. Just as the dish
contains all the right ingredients to make it a favorite of many, the bands' got
just what it takes to do the same.
The personnel.....or
ingredients, if you will.....that make up RED BEANS &
RICE are: BISHOP MAYFIELD, lead vocals, djembe and handclaps; TAMAS
MARIUS, tenor and alto saxes; GIL RUBIO, guitar, congas, organ, handclaps and
vocals; TOM LAWSON, keyboards, accordion and vocals; JOE VALLAIRE, bass;
JAMEY DE MARIA, drums & percussion; JON GORMAN, special guest
vocalist.
On "HOT 'N
SPICY", RED BEANS & RICE open the disc dishing out a tasty cover
of a Taj Mahal favorite - "STRUT". Everything about
this number impressed me - their adaptation and presentation is
masterful. The vocals are splendid, the rhythm - with all it's got
going on - is awesome, the guitar work is sharp and the organ and
horns just blew me away. I'm sure it's happened before, but I
can't recall the last time I was this impressed with my first listen to a new
band.
Be prepared for body
parts to start flailing when "SHE'S TOO YOUNG TO KNOW", comes
on. Calling this one an all out swing-fest is a certain
understatement. It's a fast and furious four minutes of hot horn blowing,
finger lickin' guitar pickin', pounding piano playing, raucous rhythm and
lots of great harmony and timely hand clapping. Another of this discs
many highlights.
I had a problem
with another of the discs originals, "GETTING OLD". You
see, I was able to relate! Lyrics such as "aching in the morning and
aching at night", "sitting down fast and getting up
slow", "taking pills if I were able to read the label".
Damn, this track reminded me too much of me ....... especially the part which
claims "I'm too young to be this old". Great song with lots
of hot guitar riffs.
Although I'm
overwhelmed by his vocals on every track, some of BISHOP'S best work can be
heard on "UNCHAIN MY HEART". His voice is just too incredible on
this one. On top of that, the music is masterful. TOM and TAMUS get
in some nice highlights on piano and sax and the rhythm section is sounding
better than I've ever heard any rhythm section sound. Here I am five songs
into the disc and I've already raved about four. I need to start skipping
around or I'm gonna be here awhile.
For my thoughts on
"BOTH SIDES OF THE FENCE", you could pretty much re-read what I said
about
"SHE'S TOO YOUNG". This
one is a smoker with JAMEY at his absolute best on drums.
Fans of the Hammond
Organ and Dr. John - and pretty much all the rest of you - are going to love
"ONLY IN IT FOR THE MONEY". With the band doing a great job
of backing him up, this one's all about TOM. On this Dr. John cover,
TOM not only does an excellent job on the vocals, but he tears it up
on the organ as well. Another of many great tracks.
About the only slow
track on the disc happens to be the closing track - an original titled
"I'M NOT GOING TO STAND IN YOUR WAY". This one closes out
"HOT 'N SPICY" with some very soft and sultry sax work by
TAMUS.
Other tracks on
"HOT 'N SPICY" that were not mentioned - and only for the sake of space
limitations are:"HANDA WANDA", "HOPIN' FOR THE BEST", "SHE CAUGHT THE KATY",
"RED GUMBO", "VOODOO", and "CONGA SQUARE"
So my friends, the
next time your stomach is telling you it wants something good to eat and your
head is telling you it needs to hear some good music, just fix yourself a
batch of "RED BEANS AND RICE" and satisfy both cravings.
Stop by www.redbeans.com and say hi
to the best band from Monterey Bay. While you're there do these
two things: Grab yourself some grub - a RED BEANS & RICE CD that
is - and tell the band that the Blewzzman is talkin' bout a frontrunner in
the BLEWZZY competition.
This review has been complimentary written
for your newsletter by Peter "Blewzzman" Lauro, a contributing writer for
BLUESWAX and the Blues Editor at www.Mary4Music.com where you can read many
more CD and live show reviews, view lots of blues photographs and find an
abundance of blues material. I can be reached at Blewzzman@aol.com
