New West Records artist: Angela Strehli - Ace of Blues - New Release Review

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Ace of Blues, by Angela Strehli and it's her best in years. Opening with Bobby Bland's Two Steps From The Blues and it's soulful presentation. Strehli's vocals are smooth as silk, backed by Mike Schermer on guitar, Steve Ehrmaann on bass, Kevin Hayes on drums, Mike Emerson on keys and a power horn section of Rob Sudduth on tenor sax, Johnnie Beaumont on bari sax, and Marvin McFadden on trumpet this is a fine opener. Funky track, Ace of Spades shows Strehli falling back into her R&B feel delivering "in spades" with cool trumpet highlights by McFadden. Schermer plays a beautiful intro on Gambler's Blues, setting a deep bluesy path for Strehli, supported by Jim Pugh on B3, Emerson on keys and Sudduth, Beaumont and McFadden on horns. Schermer really digs in on this track laying you back in your seat just cruisin. Very nice. Another fine soul track, Otis Clay's Trying To Live My Life Without You, holds true to the original with punchy horns and a tight bottom. Wrapping the release is Strehli's own, SRV, a tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan. A strong radio ballad with a solid guitar solo, SRV is a smooth closer. 

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Little Village Foundation artist: The Mike Duke Project - ...Took A While - New Release Review

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, ...Took A While, from The Mike Duke Project and it's a soulful southern style release packed with musical elite. Opening with Little Miss Ponytail, a certain radio track, Mike Duke on lead vocal and piano leads the way with Bill Stewart on drums, Phil Yeager on bass, Ronnie Brown on guitar and Rick Kurtz on guitar. Hope You Love Me Like You Say You Do features Duke with Jimmy Hall and the vocals are not only warm and solid but this is really a strong track. Let Me Be Your Fool Tonight is a real cool track with the addition of Lloyd Meadows, Angela Strehi  and Lisa Lueschner Andersen on backing vocal and featuring super accordion work by Bruce Gordon. I'm Not Sad Tonight sounds like it could be pulled right out of Van Morrison's songbook with distinct vocal phrasing and poise and the addition on Jim Pugh on B3. Very nice. Gospel flavored Torn & Scarred is Duke, accompanying his vocal lead on piano with  Andersen on bass. Short but very nice. I Can't Let You Go is a bluesy ballad with all the right notes. Certain radio compositional style and Elvin Bishop's trademark slide work makes this track a release favorite. Another soulful ballad, Coming 'Round Again is certainly one of my favorites on the release with some of Duke's best writing and vocals. Backed by Bill Connell on drums, Paul Hornsby on bass, Ray Honea on guitar Don Finney on sax, Larry Finney on trumpet and Roger Dennison on trombone, this track has real traction. Wrapping the release is Nicasio, a short piano track with Duke showing his stylistic chops. This is really a rich release on one to hear.

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Finedog Records artist: Mighty Mike Schermer - Blues In Good Hands - New Release review

I just received the newest release, Blues In Good Hands, by Mighty Mike Schermer and I really like it! Opening with R&B track, Baby Don't Stop featuring Mighty Mike on lead vocal and guitar, Paul Revelli on drums, Steve Ehrmann on bass, Tony Stead or organ, Austin Delone on piano, Terry Hanck on sax, and backing vocals by Shelley King and Carolyn Wonderland. Hanck steps up with a clean solo and Mighty Mike throws down a nice riff or so himself but I gotta mention that I really like Delone's piano work on this track. Great radio track with a cool melody and a good hook. With a funky beat, Heaven's On The Other Side struts in and Ehrmann's bass really sets the pace. Mike rips really tasty blues guitar lines over a warm organ line by Stead. With a laid back Philly kind of sound, It's A Pleasure, really hits a solid. It's catchy melody, even pace and warm overall feel, with Delone on electric piano and nice jazz style guitar work from Schermer makes this a radio success story. Reggae track, One Tear At A Time, has a really nice Jimmy Cliff kind of feel with Keith McArthur on bass and spot on guitar riffs from Schermer and perfect vocal blending between Schermer and Randle. Very nice! Pop jazz track, World Gone Crazy has a nice Steeley Dan feel with some of Schermer's best vocals on the release. Nancy Wright hits the sax on this number adding warmth and texture and Schermer's own guitar riffs at the bottom of the fret board are really nice! The writing on this release is really quite good with traces to many of the great song writers of the 70's to now. Blues In Good Hands has a real Becker/Fagen compositional style (Any Major Dude Will Tell You) but based around a different style. It is quite interesting and successful with Hanck on sax and King and Wonderland adding smooth backing vocals. Shuffle track, Wait-On-Me Woman, is more Dylanesque with a definite blues feel. Greg Izor's contributions on harp and Damien Llanes on drums give it it's looser style. Nice! New Orleans style Most People has just a twist of Chuck Berry (Almost Grown) and Schermer's vocals paired with Delone's piano deliver the goods. A plucky guitar solo from Schermer and breaks the basic 2 step pace but compliments the track nicely. Boogie Woogie track, Barkin' Up The Wrong Tree, features Marcia Ball, the perfect piano player for this track. With it's country blues feel and casual vocal delivery, Elvin Bishop would be proud. Schermer takes and excellent guitar solo followed by Ball. One of my favorites on the release. Latin style, Take Me By The Hand, lets Llanes loose on drums, complimented by Izor on harp. Schermer has a rockin good time on vocal and guitar and Johnny Bradley's bass line is perfect. Tommy Castro joins on Stop Cryin' the hottest blues track on the release. With only simple bass and drums complimenting the vocal, Castro (on left) and Schermer really tear this one up. Excellent!! R&B track Baby Be Kind, is another track that really lends itself to cross radio play. John Nemeth trades harp riffs with Schermer on guitar giving the track nice balance. Wrapping the release is Hear You Calling Him Baby, has a strong dose of New Orleans and a spunky guitar solo from Schermer over the stylized piano work of Stead. Excellent closer! I definitely recommend that you check this one out!

   

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Stevie Ray Vaughan with Jeff Beck, Jimmie Vaughan & Angela Strehli

Angela Strehli (born November 22, 1945, Lubbock, Texas, United States) is an American electric blues singer and songwriter. She is also a Texas blues historian and impresario. Despite a sporadic recording career, Strehli spends time each year performing in Europe, the US and Canada In the early 1960s, Strehli learned the harmonica and bass guitar before becoming a vocalist. In 1966 she visited Chicago, and attended concerts given by Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters and Buddy Guy. In her final university year, Strehli and Lewis Cowdrey formed the Fabulous Rockets. Strehli then sang as a backing vocalist for James Polk and the Brothers and assisted with Storm, which had been formed by Cowdrey and Jimmie Vaughan. In 1972, she was a founding member of Southern Feeling, along with W. C. Clark and Denny Freeman. Three years later Strehli became the stage manager and sound technician at Antone's, a nightclub in Austin, Texas. By 1986, Strehli had recorded Stranger Blues (EP) which help launch Antone's own record label. Her debut album was Soul Shake (1987, Antone's Records), and she appeared on Dreams Come True, with Lou Ann Barton and Marcia Ball (1990). Her own effort Blonde and Blue (1993, Rounder Records) assisted in building the Austin, Texas blues scene, alongside nightclub owner Clifford Antone, Kim Wilson, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimmie Vaughan. In 1998, Strehli released Deja Blue, and Blue Highway followed in 2005. Strehli has either recorded, toured or performed with Andy Santana, Elvin Bishop and Pinetop Perkins, and appeared at festivals including Notodden Blues Festival, Long Beach Blues Festival, Edmonton's Labatt Blues Festival and the San Francisco Blues Festival. In 2003, she recorded music for the tribute album, Shout, Sister, Shout: A Tribute to Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Strehli is now based in San Francisco If you support live Blues acts, up and coming Blues talents and want to learn more about Blues news and Fathers of the Blues, -  ”LIKE” ---Bman’s Blues Report--- Facebook Page! I’m looking for great talent and trying to grow the audience for your favorite band!

Delta Groove Artists: The Blues Broads - New Release Review

Delta Groove has a mega release, The Blues Broads, hitting the streets on September 18, 2012. The package includes both a CD and DVD of Dorothy Morrison, Tracy Nelson, Angela Strehli, and Annie Sampson live together in concert. I've watched the DVD a few times (it is a similar but slightly different grouping from the cd)and it is very well composed, performed and shot. The video opens with Livin' The Blues, a shuffle track led by powerhouse Nelson who also trades a lead with Strehli and backed by the others and band. Bring Me Your Love, a solid R&B track is sung by Simpson, the tracks composer. The voices blend extremely well as if they have been singing together all of their lives. Next up is River Deep/Mountain High, another R&B track and gets the crowd revved up. Walk Away finds Nelson back on lead vocal for a nice slow blues number. She demonstrates her solid vocal bass and range as well as true feeling for the blues. I want to mention the band who plays extremely well, and the overall mix of the recording which is very near natural presence. The band is Mike Emerson on keys, Paul revelli on drums, Steve Ehrmann on bass and on this track especially nice guitar work by Gary Vogenson. Strehli sings her own composition, Two Bit Texas Town which follows the rhythm pattern of Wang Dang Doodle. Cool track. Morrison, Nelson and Strehli sing a very crisp trio on Strehli's Blue Highway. The vocal blending is really solid. It's Won't Be Long ( a gospel style track) lets band member Deanna Bogart step forward and sing some lead as well as have a chance to be highlighted on keys. (Her presence is obvious on every track but is especially highlighted on this track). Sampson is back on lead for Dylan's It's All Over Now Baby Blue. Gotta mention, Sampson is solid on vocals but I also like her outfit ... a real standout. Bogart steps up with a really sweet sax solo on this track... a particularly hot addition. Spiritual, Mighty Love, is led off by Morrison and she really steps up and carries the weight on this track with the support of all of the Broads. Jesus, I'll Never Forget is done totally acapella with each leading a chorus and with the addition of Bogart. This is a particularly strong performance and the voices really blend well. The concert wraps with Edwin Hawkin's Oh Happy Day. It is lead by Morrison and again demonstrated the vocalists total capability to step back and blend perfectly. This is a terrific video / cd combination for fans of blues/R&B/Spiritual and just great solid singing.
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The below video is not an extract from the film. The quality does not touch the quality of the original performance but does capture the essence of the band.

Big Town Playboy - Angela Strehli

Angela Strehli (born November 22, 1945, Lubbock, Texas, United States) is an American electric blues singer and songwriter. She is also a Texas blues historian and impresario. Despite a sporadic recording career, Strehli spends time each year performing in Europe, the US and Canada.
In the early 1960s, Strehli learned the harmonica and bass guitar before becoming a vocalist. In 1966 she visited Chicago, and attended concerts given by Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters and Buddy Guy. In her final university year, Strehli and Lewis Cowdrey formed the Fabulous Rockets. Strehli then sang as a backing vocalist for James Polk and the Brothers and assisted with Storm, which had been formed by Cowdrey and Jimmie Vaughan.

In 1972, she was a founding member of Southern Feeling, along with W. C. Clark and Denny Freeman. Three years later Strehli became the stage manager and sound technician at Antone's, a nightclub in Austin, Texas. By 1986, Strehli had recorded Stranger Blues (EP) which help launch Antone's own record label. Her debut album was Soul Shake (1987, Antone's Records), and she appeared on Dreams Come True, with Lou Ann Barton and Marcia Ball (1990). Her own effort Blonde and Blue (1993, Rounder Records) assisted in building the Austin, Texas blues scene, alongside nightclub owner Clifford Antone, Kim Wilson, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimmie Vaughan. In 1998, Strehli released Deja Blue, and Blue Highway followed in 2005.

Strehli has either recorded, toured or performed with Andy Santana, Elvin Bishop and Pinetop Perkins, and appeared at festivals including Notodden Blues Festival, Long Beach Blues Festival, Edmonton's Labatt Blues Festival and the San Francisco Blues Festival. In 2003, she recorded music for the tribute album, Shout, Sister, Shout: A Tribute to Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
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