It’s hard to beat the combination of May- all’s keys alongside Athas on guitar. They just sound so good together. Mayall brings the album to a close, busting out some fabulous barrel house piano blues on “Crazy Lady”. Mayall is known as the “Godfather of
British Blues” for a good reason and his legacy continues with Find a Way to Care.
- Phillip Smith
Brad Davis A Bluegrass Trib- ute to George Jones (Mansion Entertain- ment) The first time I
met Grammy Win-
ner Brad Davis, he was playing lead guitar for The Boxmasters, vacillating in style be- tween British Invasion sounds, country and more. With his latest album, Davis re- turns to his roots of bluegrass, paying trib- ute to iconic country music legend George Jones. During the recording sessions for the
album, George Jones passed away. A Blue- grass Tribute stands as a first class tribute to the greatness that was Jones. The music is a great balance between the songs of Jones as well as the top drawer bluegrass stylings of Davis. There are bluegrass versions of songs
from various stages of Jones' recording ca- reer, including mega- hits “The Race is On,” “White Lightning,” “The Grand Tour,” and “I Don’t Need No Rocking Chair”- eleven tracks in all, featuring Brad’s smoking fast guitar work. This
album is a great Brad Davis project as well as a great George Jones tribute.
-Michael Buffalo Smith
JP Blues Live at Darwin’s (Midnight Circus Records) One listen to his lat-
est album, Live at Dar- win’s is all it takes to understand why John “JP Blues” Pagano is rapidly rising up in the ranks of blues gui-
tarists. This sizzling guitar virtuoso is joined by bassist Tony Hossri and drum- mer Shiloh Bloodworth to make one killer blues trio. I love the gritty and swampy “Old Man Joe”. This quick paced track re- minds me so much of my favorite South- ern Rock band, Black Oak Arkansas, down to the Jim Dandy-styled vocals. I had to stop and think a while the first time I heard JP’s rendition of Jay Z’s “99 Prob- lems”. It was so interesting and quite the unexpected treat to hear this rap song played so bluesy. JP pours his soul out in “Another Time, Another Place”. From a calming and beautiful beginning, the song builds traction, gaining speed until an ex- plosive battleground of pure guitar expres- sionism is reached. But wait, there’s more. The finale “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl” dishes out nearly ten minutes of unadulterated blues and ferocious jams. JP’s guitar playing on this track is simply amazing. It doesn’t matter who moved your cheese, this is where it’s at.
-Phillip Smith
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