Big Jake Records artist: Paul Filipowicz - Pier 43 - New Release Review

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Pier 43, by Paul Filipowicz and it's solid Filipowicz if you know his style. Opening with Old Time Superstition and Paul on slide guitar and vocal, this set is off to a good start. With it's blues rocky feel, Al Dorn on harp, Steve Lewis on bass and Brian Tito Howard on drums, this is a solid opener. Lewis opens title track, Pier 43 with a cool, sauntering bass vamp. Paul gets into a really nice groove with long flowing guitar lead and twisted blues riffs. Paul is no Clapton or Bonamassa but his notes are heartfelt and piercing. Talk about 9 plus minutes going fast...really! I particularly like When I Get To Town with a droning bass line by Lewis and jangly drum rhythms spurring on Paul and his RL Burnside like chanting. He is relentless on guitar always looking for that punctuation. Very cool. Paul digs up Slim Harpo's Hip Shake and with his unmistakable guitar/amp sound, this track really boogies. Sit still during this track you need to switch over to Brittany Spears. Another romping boogie, Cut You Loose - Texas Out is bound to get all the bodies out on the floor in the club and Paul brings the real feel of a juke joint. Love it. Wrapping the release a 1979 WIBA radio concert cut of Barry Goldberg's, Use My Imagination. Paul 's vocals are tame and melodic with Clyde Stubblefield on drums, Fat Richard Drake on sax, Will Smokey Logg on guitar, Gary Zappa on bass and John Chimes on piano. This is a cool closer to a real cool release. 

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Big Jake Records artist: Paul Filipowicz - Rough Neck Blues Live! - New Release Review

I just received the newest release, Rough Neck Blues Live!, from Paul Filipowicz and I really like it! A few years back I reviewed another release by Filipowicz, Saints and Sinners and this release, being live, gives Paul an opportunity to take an already great formula and blow it out and that he does. Opening with shuffle track, Gambling Woman, Filipowicz is cranking with his trademark raw vocals and rowdy guitar riffs. Backed by Rick Smith on bass and Brian "Tito" Howard on drums, this is a hot opener! Most Dogs is up next and Filipowicz brings down the tempo but not the heat. His guitar phrasing is masterful and engaging with traces of Magic Sam, Johnny Winter and Buddy Guy. Black Spider is a blues rocker with a solid bottom. Chuck Berry like construction but with less spring and more blues is complimented by Benny Rickun on harp. Slowing things way down, Santa Fe Windows is a hot potato with really hot, Albert King like phrasing but without King trademark riffs. Smokey guitar attack and honest vocals make this a scary cool track. Hi energy, Junk In The Trunk, visits Freddy King territory with a really cool shuffle. With a little Bo Diddley injection, this track rocks out. Excellent! Jackson Transfer has a hard Chicago edge and Muddy Waters feel. Filipowicz's vocals on this track are particularly cool and with a slack sounding guitar rhythm and super cool harp on the top by Rickun, this track has legs. Breaking into a clean, electric solo run, Filipowicz shows patience and taste. Very nice! Midnight At The Nairobi Room has a super bottom with a diminishing bass line by Smith and a seductive drum rhythm by Howard. His own guitar work is excellent with wide vibrato further adding to the tension which is ultimately broken into a cool instrumental shuffle. Excellent! Chickenwire steps up with a cool rockin' boogie featuring a blend of call and response between vocals, guitar and harp. With it's solid drive...Hooker style...it's hard not to love and when Filipowicz opens up the guns, he shows he knows the ropes! Your True Lovin' has the feel of Waters, Winter and Rush. A great Chicago style blues number, Filipowicz shows his positive mastery of this style. His guitar tone is warm and radiant and his phrasing really nice. Excellent! My favorite track on the release, Hootin' and Hollerin' is an excellent loose jam with a blend of everything that I liked about TJ White's Polk Salad Annie and CCR with the raw honesty of Jimbo Mathus. This track is excellent! Wrapping the release is Where The Blues Comes From has a solid R&B bottom reinforced by Rickun on harp. Jamming out for over 8 minutes Filipowicz has an engaging voice and trading riffs with Rickun, makes this a super closer for a really strong release!




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Big Jake Records artist: Paul Filipowicz - Saints & Sinners - New Release Review

I just received the newest release, Saints & Sinners, from Paul Filipowicz and I really like it. This cd doesn't have pretty singing and it doesn't have perfectly manicured guitar riffs... but what it does have is great! Opening with Hound Dog Shuffle, and plodding blues instrumental, I know right away I'm gonna like this guy. Simple, straight forward, not perfect but raw and interesting. Spontaneous riffs, driving drums and grit! Bluesman, has a more distinct Albert King style blues funk and the guitar maybe sounds a little like Albert Collins... but this is great stuff. Filipowicz knows how to tell the story and lack or over production to me is a thing of beauty on something like this. Your True Lovin' has a bit of a lope to it and a lot of feel...this is the real deal. If you have been reading my reviews for a while you know I don't so much like "purty" and do like dirty and gritty... this is it! Hootin' and Hollerin' has a great bass by Dave Remitz and Filipowicz sounds scarily like my man Jimbo Mathus on vocals. With a Mustang Sally groove this is a great track. This is pure party stomp music! Filipowicz rips the fretboard up on this track ... I mean the guy isn't Joe Satriani... he's really good and playing blues! Excellent! Good Rockin' is a real driver with a walking bass line and Harris Lemberg on keys. ... did I mention Jimmy Voegell on drums. This is an excellent rock n roller with the drive of Alvin Lee but with the pace of a traditional blues man. Oh, and I have to mention his guitar tone... it's absolutely outrageous!! Filipowicz slows things down a bit on "Fat Richards" Blues. This is a great ripping slow instrumental. If you love slow guitar blues..and who doesn't, this is a terrific heartfelt dagger! Just sit back and let it tear you to shreds! Where The Blues Comes From has a little tint of Jimi added in but it is subtle. Raggedy ass vocals add to the real human nature of this track and I wouldn't change a thing. Everyday - Everynight is a bit of a swing blues more typical of Ronnie Earl and Filipowicz once again shows that he is up to the task. Such raw grinding blues playing I haven't heard in a long long time. I don't know where I've been but this guy is hitting me like a meteor from light years away. Hey Bossman is a great boogie track again keeping the raw texture but not losing any of the tightness of the band as a unit. Think La Grange but with a bit more drive and a little less BDG. Another great track. There are 3 bonus tracks included on this release including Clarence Carter's Back Door Santa, a more polished funky blues track with Will Smokey Logg on guitar, Fat Richard Drake on sax, Randy Joe Fullerton on Bass, Rob Strupka on drums and Chuck Solberg on piano. This band also plays on the next two tracks as well. These tracks are a bit more polished and recorded back in 1982. Drake plays a killer sax on this first track. Wolf's How Many More Years is hard bass driven and displays almost 7 minutes of machine gun guitar riffs. Great track. This release finishes up with Original Texas Strut, a fast mover that Stilladog would be struggling to keep up with. Rippin guitar solo and sax playing complete this short outro. Don't know what to make of this review? Make your way to the closest place selling this cd and buy it! If this guy comes to my town...I'm not missing it!! This captures the spirit of Hound Dog Taylor, ZZ Top, Johnny Winter and Buddy Guy but doesn't sound like any of them. This thing will grow on you... I warned you!

  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 favorites band! -  ”LIKE”