I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release,
Long Road Home, from
Midnight Johnny Morana and it's got a nice flow. Opening with Texas style shuffle track,
Your New Occupation, Midnight Johnny hits the road running with solid vocals and a loping guitar feel. Backed by Steve Zoyes on keys, John Grillo on drums and Sergio Caizzo on bass, this is a real cool opener. One of my all time favorite JJ Cale tracks,
Crazy Mama, gets a cool cover with a slight upward adjustment in speed. Johnny's vocals are a bit more country in styling and with the addition of Zoyes piano work and nicely laid in guitar soloing, this track works nicely. Title track,
Long Road Home is based on a rework of Rolling and Tumblin giving Johnny the opportunity to dust off his slide and throw some fire, backed by Arlene Coutee on vocal. With a Latin beat and real flair,
Tired of Foolin' Around is a really cool track showing off some real nice piano riffs and some fat fat slide. Very nice. With an blues /jazz fusion feel,
All The Blues features a super sax solo by Stan Waldman and some round jazz guitar riffs from Midnight Johnny. Very nice. Digging into the blues with
Motels, Whiskey and Me, Midnight Johnny shows off not only his nest vocals but also his hottest guitar riffs making this one of my release favorites. Instrumental track,
Baby Batter is really just a crusin jam but it gives Johnny a great platform to lay out some nice soloing. Very nice. Big Bill Broonzy's
Key To The Highway is an exceptional, old style blues track with clean vocals and finger picked guitar soloing. Excellent. Wrapping the release is an acoustic version of
Long Road Home and it has a really nice feel. With ethereal slide work and a strong melody, it puts me in mind of Rod Stewart's Mandolin Winds. Excellent closer.
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