STEVE GERARD
AND THE
NATIONAL
DEBONAIRES
FEATURING
DAVE "ELMO" BAILEY
"NEW SOUNDS FROM KANSAS
CITY"
SOUNDGATE
RECORDS
BY PETER "BLEWZZMAN"
LAURO © SEPTEMBER 2007
It's a beautiful
thing to be able to instantly recognize a beautiful thing. That's exactly
what happened as I listened to "NEW SOUNDS FROM KANSAS CITY" by the
NATIONAL DEBONAIRES. It was barely twenty-five seconds into the
opening track when I had decided I was listening to a winner of a disc, and the
next fifty-one minutes repeatedly
validated that decision.
The NATIONAL
DEBONAIRES are: STEVE GERARD on guitar; DAVE "ELMO" BAILEY on vocals; ANDY
GRAFFITI on drums; PATRICK RECOB on bass; MIKE "SHINETOP JR" SEDOVIC on piano
and organ; And their very special guests on "NEW SOUNDS FROM KANSAS
CITY" include: LEE MCBEE on harmonica; DOUG "SARGE" RYNACK on
piano; JIMI BOTT on drums; MIKE CLARK on sax.
"LET'S
RUN", the opening track referred to earlier, starts out with a hot
piano and guitar lead, by DAVE and MIKE, backed by the rhythm section
setting the pace that immediately had me snappin' and tappin' my fingers
and feet. Then, ELMO started singing and what was already good, just got
better.
The very same groove
continues right into "MY BABY'S GONE", with MIKE adding some great sax
highlights. Meanwhile, ELMO continues to blow me away on
vocals. I think it may be due to the fact that his voice and style are so
much reminiscent of the late "Barkin" Bill Smith, one of my all time
favorites blues vocalists.
"CLEAR
VIEW", is another of several STEVE GERARD originals. It's
a smoker with that rockin' "Johnny B. Goode" thing happening
on guitar and that wailin' "Great Balls of Fire" thing going on
the piano. One of the discs best right here.
ANDY,
PATRICK and MIKE are on fire on "WRAPPED AROUND HER
FINGER". The pace they set on drums, bass
and piano absolutely rips. This one will
definitely delight the dancers.
One of ANDY'S
originals, "ROCKING FOOL", has such a great, line in it. It goes
like this........
"I had a job pumping gas, I just had to quit
it.....I tried to tell the boss, but he just didn't get it.......When the radio
was rockin', I just had to stop.....You can't check the oil when you're doin'
the bop". Damn could I relate to that. In many a review, I've
mentioned not being able to type due to excessive bopping. Some of the
discs best guitar work can be heard on this one.
One of the more
serious blues tracks is "AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN AGAIN", another original by
ANDY. This is the kind of stuff that gets my blues boat floatin'.
ELMO'S super soulful vocals sent chills right through me. Damn, who
is this guy and why have I not heard of him
before? Also highlighting this one is some great blues guitar
work by STEVE and lots of masterful mood setting organ by MIKE.
Unquestionably this listeners favorite track.
The closing track,
"THE HUSTLE IS ON", is the one that features all of the special guests with
MIKE'S tenor sax being the highlight.
Other tracks on
"NEW SOUNDS FROM KANSAS CITY" include: "MISSING MY
BABY", "BETTE JANE'S SMILE", "SEND FOR ME", "HEAVY
WEIGHT BABY", "STEADY DRIVER" and "I LIKE PRETTY
WOMEN".
I know I recommend a
lot of CD's to my readers, but this one's a must have. Check out the
NATIONAL DEBONAIRES at www.nationaldebonaires.com and
grab a copy. While you're there, tell the guys that Blewzzman's saying
that if you want to win the 2007 BLEWZZY AWARD, "NEW SOUNDS FROM KANSAS
CITY" is the disc ya gotta beat.
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