I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Keep Pushing, from Artur Menezes and it's quite good. Opening with radio track, Now's The Time, Artur Menezes delivers a smooth R&B track with warm horn saturation, highlighted by melodic BB King like guitar riffs. Nice opener. Title track, Keep Pushing, has a real nice feel with fluid guitar runs by Menezes, a solid bottom by Daniel Aged on bass, Gary Novak on drums, Carey Frank on keys and solid horn work by Jamelle Adisa on trumpet and Dan Bosley on sax. Come With Me is a lumbering blues rocker that really gives Menezes a great floor for his vocals and with a thick underbelly, his vibrant guitar riffs are smoking hot. Excellent track. Slow blues number, Any Day, Anytime has strong blues bones along the lines of a Freddie King number. Menezes keeps coming on stronger and stronger with his soulful vocals and crisp guitar work. his phrasing is intuitive and inspired. Excellent! Funky, Should Have Never Left has a strong balance of bass, drums and horns, underlaid by organ by Frank and Menezes' guitar playing is nothing short of super. Jump blues number, Love 'n' Roll gives Menezes a great opportunity to show his best "Gatemouth" Brown styling and again, he is tops. With trumpet punctuation by Adisa, this track rocks. Shuffle track, Give My Money Back has great pace and flow. Menezes gets in a really nice groove on this one and just rides. Very nice. Slowing way down for a soulful jazz ballad, Can't Get You Out Of My Mind, Menezes conjures up the sound of 50's jazz club with smooth vocals, muted trumpet of Adisa and his own lush guitar chords, breaking into George Benson like runs. Very nice. Wrapping the release is 'Til The Day I Die, shifting gears one more time to a contemporary rocker. Moving midsong to a heavy bottomed rocker, reinforced by Aged and Novak, Menezes shows that he understands how far blues roots extends and really kicks it with flashy heavy riffs. Excellent closer!
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