Blue Heart Records artist: Rick Vito - Cadillac Man - New Release Review

 I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Cadillac Man, from Rick Vito, and it very cool. Opening with Love Crazy Baby, a solid shuffle Rick Vito on lead vocal and guitar takes command of the track, backed by Mojo Johnson on drums, and Jim Hoke on sax. Blues rocker, Little Sheba has a cool mix of blues, rock and ethnic overtones, with Steve Marriner on harmonica working nicely together with Vito on guitar and vocal. A tight drum line by Jackson and Vito on bass makes this an ideal radio track. Slow blues, Crying at Midnight, is a real nice track with a super melody showcasing Vito's vocals as well and his Fleetwood Mac guitar influence. Very nice. Chicago style blues, Barbeque'n Baby had a great feel with Vito on slide guitar and vocal. This is a pretty hopping track and surely a favorite. Instrumental. Just Another Day is one of my favorites on the release featuring the lead slide work of Vito, backed by Hoke on sax, Jackson on drums, and Kevin MacKendree on B3. Very nice. Another track with wide radio appeal is You Can't Stop a Guitar (from Playing the Blues). With a romping beat led by Lynn Williams on drums, Vito again lets the slide loose. Wrapping the release is slow blues, Sliding Into Blue with Vito playing melody on slide. This is a really nice track and a strong closer for a solid release. 

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VizzTone Label Group artist: Rick Vito - Soulshaker - New Release Review

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, Soulshaker, from Rick Vito and  it's really cool. Opening with low slung Texas style blues number, She's Just Too Fine, Vito is hitting on every cylinder right out of the gate. His vocals are strong and his slide work great. Backed by Rick Reed on drums, this is a great opener. I Do Believe has a snappy, revival pace with drums on the 2 and 4. Vito's slide work is contagious with excellent tone and vibrato. Doggin' Around is a cool instrumental ballad with lead slide guitar and Kevin McKendree on organ. This is one of absolute favorites on the track with a smooth style and trademark slide. Very nice. Two stepper, Dancin' Little Sister has a great beat blending early rock and roll with boogie guitar. How can you not love this! Another instrumental ballad, Soul Shadow, features strong drums rhythms by Charlies "Mojo" Johnson playing in beautiful sympathy to Vito's excellent slide playing. Wrapping the release is an excellent remake of Sam Cooke's, A Change Is Going To Come. Vito is known as an excellent slide player and this release not only confirms it again, it shouts it. If you like sensuous and soulful slide guitar … and who doesn't... your going to love this release. Excellent! (Did I say excellent?)

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Delta Groove music artist: Rick Vito - Mojo On My Side - New Release Review

I just received the newest release, Mojo On My Side, by Rick Vito and I think it's his best work to date. Opening with title track, Mojo On My Side, a warm swampy track with strong rhythm, cool slide, reverb and a handful of voodoo, this track is a great opener. Backed by Charles Mojo Johnson and Rick Reed on drums Vito on vocal and guitar is really nailing it! Sauntering, Easy baby, has a great feel joined by Jim Hoke on sax. Vito has a smooth voice and extremely effective slide style making this one of my favorite tracks on the release. Rocker Pretty Women, really moves fielding Hoke and Vito both showing just how warm an instrument can sound. Nice! R&B style My House has a great strut enhanced by Dan Serafini on B3. Nito's vocals are strong and clear and his slide work is cool. This is a great radio track for broad audience. Missy Brown has a lower key delta rhythm and acoustic slide work with an almost East Indian twist. Mesmerizing. Life Was Just A Struggle has the feel of a 50's R&B track with New Orleans influence. Vito really does a super job on vocals on this track and his slide guitar is always jolly on the spot with sweet melodic riffs. Femme Fatale is a rockin twist on the Booker T sound with Vito's guitar at the wheel. Very cool! Who Were You Thinking Of?, loosely based musically on SBW's Help Me with a bayou swell. Vito gives his slide the license to talk on this release and is is talking. Smooth! House Party is a real rocker with lead slide work on fire. This track almost sounds like it should be in a 60's movie (except it's well done). Slide guitar fans should be more than satisfied with the overall amount of guitar on this release. Super! Let A Woman Be A Woman gets so funky you can smell James Brown getting ready to thrown off his cape! Heavily reinforced by Mojo on sax, Vito's bass playing and the tight groove laid down by Reed... this track just needs some "Hot Pants". She's Got It All is a slinky shuffle with tandem slide and sax lead. Vito breaks loose and plays great lead work that makes me think of the great Danny Gatton. Very cool! Help Me Lord is an excellent delta style track with John Lee Hooker style riffs and Vito doing a great authentic take off on the real deal. Excellent! You Can Run has a revival/gospel feel with a great uplifting sound. I can see Vito on slide jamming with Robert Randolph on the next cruise. Wrapping the release is River of Blues with Vito doing a pretty amazing job of sitar sound on fretless guitar (I think). With a primitive Mali kind of beat this is a great tribute to Vito's talent as a musician and expansive listener. This is really a pretty hot release and one that I think should be exceptionally well received.

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Aquinnah Records artist: Arlen Roth - Slide Guitar Summit - New Release Review

I just received the newest release, Slide Guitar Summit, from Arlen Roth and it definitely lives up to all the pre hype. Roth, well known for his own guitar styling, especially on the tele with the likes of Roy Buchanan and Danny Gatton, has put together a group of the best known slide players on the planet for a full blown celebration of all things slide. Opening with Do What's Right, Roth teams up with Jack Pearson on vocal and slide guitar as well as Tom Hambridge on drums and backing vocal and Tommy MacDonald for a country two step rocker. This track moves along nicely with lead and harmonic sliding... a terrific opener. Robert Johnson's Dust My Broom is next featuring Lee Roy Parnell on vocal and slide and adding Kevin McKendree on piano. With the feel of Elmore James and a nice thick slide texture, this track is hot. McKendree adds significantly to the mix with hot piano riffs. Much like a live recording, Parnell and Roth take turns on lead slide making for a hot track. Clarinetist Acker Bilk wrote this next track, Stranger On The Shore, and performed it on clarinet in the early 60's. It has since been performed by a number of artists including the Beatles but none quite as sensuously as this take by Cindy Cashdollar on lap steel with just a touch of Hawaiian flare. Beautiful. Sonny Skies features Sonny Landreth and Roth joined only by Eddie Denise on upright bass. A jazzy track with Roth's signature sound, this is a great showcase for tow of today's masters to team up and show how it's done. Jackie Breston's Rocket 88's features Johnny Winter on slide (his last session) along with Roth on slide and lead vocal. Scott Spray and Tyger MacNeal join on bass and drums respectively. A bright toe tapper, the two guys blend nicely and Roth pulls out some of his trademark riffs making this a particularly cool track. Lowell George's Dixie Chicken gets the full Little Feat treatment with Tommy MacDonald on bass, Kevin MacKendree on piano, Hambridge on percussion. Leroy Parnell takes the lead vocal and shares slide with Roth. I don't know about my readers, but there are a few places that you need to tread lightly and Lowell George territory is one of them. I think that these guys did a great job of paying tribute and MacKendree really did a nice job on Bill Payne's work as well. Excellent! Jimmy Ninino brings the first delta style acoustic track with only he and Roth and their guitars on Poor Boy Blues. Possibly my favorite track on the release. Following with Laura Nyro's And When I Die made popular by Blood, Sweat and Tears again only Vivino and Roth on acoustics. Keeping it simple and playing it pure country blues style gives it a new life. Jimmie Rodgers' Peach Pickin' Time In Georgia features Roth on lead vocals and Greg Martin joining him on slide. McKendree takes a real nice piano bar on the track but the release is about sliding and in country 2 step style, the boys do bring it! Paradise Blues is a simple quiet guitar ballad with nice Les Paul like harmonics and Hawaiian style blending. Rick Vito and Roth blend their guitar vocals nicely for a really pretty instrumental track. Cindy Cashdollar is back on lap steel again on Steel Guitar Rag and Roth this makes two. A simple instrumental track with just a twist of country styling shows the chops of these two guitar super stars. Smokey Robinson's ballad, You Really Got A Hold On Me is delivered nicely with Roth and Vito playing the lead and harmony on slide with no vocals. This is a great track and these guys give it new life in this instrumental form. Roy Byrd's Her Mind Is Gone features the incredible David Lindley on lead vocal and lap steel, joined by Roth on lap steel. Everyone knows that Lindley is one of the best guitar players on the planet and especially creative on lap steel. This is a great little blues addition from the masters, jamming together in one of the tightest acoustic blues jams in a while. Wrapping the release is Roth and Greg Martin on Amazing Grace with Hambridge and Tommy MacDonald. Nicely done and heartfelt it is a really clean and creative ending to a long awaited tribute to slide guitar featuring today's modern masters. Very nicely done.

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Arlen Roth Gets His Mojo Workin' On New Album Deal with King Mojo/Garage Door Records, Due Out April 14; Acclaimed Guitarist Convenes a "Slide Guitar Summit" on Latest CD

Arlen Roth Gets His Mojo Workin’ On New Album Deal with King Mojo/Garage Door Records, Due Out April 14

Acclaimed Guitarist Convenes a Slide Guitar Summit on Latest CD, with Special Guests Johnny Winter, Sonny Landreth, David Lindley, Rick Vito, Jimmy Vivino, Jack Pearson, Lee Roy Parnell, Cindy Cashdollar and Greg Martin,

Produced by Tom Hambridge

RIDGEFIELD, CT - Guitarist Arlen Roth announces that his new CD, Slide Guitar Summit, which teams the acclaimed musician with fellow slide guitar greats Johnny Winter, Sonny Landreth, David Lindley, Rick Vito, Jimmy Vivino, Jack Pearson, Lee Roy Parnell, Cindy Cashdollar and Greg Martin, will be released April 14 under the terms of a new deal signed with King Mojo/Garage Door Records, distributed nationally by Burnside Distribution. Slide Guitar Summit was produced by Grammy-winner Tom Hambridge, and recorded at studios in New York, Nashville and Connecticut.

Called “The Master of the Telecaster,” Arlen Roth recently celebrated the upcoming release of Slide Guitar Summit with a special show at the City Winery in Nashville, where he was joined onstage by album participants Rick Vito, Jack Pearson, Lee Roy Parnell and Greg Martin for an amazing night of music. Fans that night were also treated to an advance screening of the one-hour film, Glass, Brass and Steel: The Making of Arlen Roth's Slide Guitar Summit Album.

“This Slide Guitar Summit album was a longtime dream come true for me,” recalls Arlen Roth about the recording sessions. “It's like a group of old friends getting together for a great time that is rooted in our serious and mutual love for what we do.”

Recording with the late Johnny Winter was also special for Roth, since it turned out be Winter’s last session before he passed away in 2014. “Getting to work with the legendary Johnny Winter was such an incredible feeling, and it got the album totally off on the right foot,” says Roth. “It was hard to believe that I was sitting there playing ‘Rocket 88’ with him, when I could remember being 16 years old and watching Johnny from the very front at Woodstock in 1969....this album is of course, dedicated to this slide and blues guitar master who always served to inspire us all.”

Roth has fond memories of all the tracking sessions. “Each player brought something unique to this project and the interaction between me and them is what I was looking for in making each track truly unique” he says. “And Tom Hambridge and I go way back together as musicians and as friends, so I was really happy to be able to see this great producer lend his magic touch to this project. I also loved how so many of the artists came in with some very strong choices for the songs for us to do, and how we got to pay tribute to many of the great slide players before us such as Lowell George, Elmore James and Duane Allman. I suppose the thing about this album that intrigues me the most is how with the common thread of slide guitar we were all able to touch upon so many styles, emotions, traditions and also break new ground at the same time!”

Guitar legend Arlen Roth is considered one of the most influential guitarists of all time, and during the course of his 45-year-career has toured the world and recorded with an amazing list of artists, including Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, John Prine, Phoebe Snow, Levon Helm, Ry Cooder, Eric Andersen, Dusty Springfield, Janis Ian and The Bee Gees, among others. His teaching and creation of the Hot Licks Video pioneered music and guitar education all over the world, with his videos having sold in excess of 2.5 million copies. His current online lessons and blogs for Gibson.com have over 1 million followers. Arlen was also the man behind the legendary blues film, Crossroads, creating the guitar parts, directing the guitar scenes and working alongside fellow guitarist Ry Cooder and actor Ralph Macchio during the film’s production. He was voted in the “Top 50 Acoustic Guitarists of All-Time” by Gibson.com and in the “Top 100 Most Influential Guitarists of All-Time” by Vintage Guitar Magazine. He has eight best-selling books to his credit, and his book, Hot Guitar, is a compilation of 10 years of his wildly popular column for Guitar Player Magazine.

Roth’s first album Guitarist, won the Montreux Critics Award for “Best Instrumental Album of the Year” in 1978, and his last album, All Tricked Out!, garnered four Grammy nominations. His new Slide Guitar Summit CD is similar in approach to his classic and legendary album, Toolin’ Around (1993), which featured duets with guitar greats such as Danny Gatton, Duane Eddy, Brian Setzer, Duke Robillard, Albert Lee, Sam Bush and Jerry Douglas, and which also became a film documentary. He followed up that album with Toolin’ Around Woodstock, with Levon Helm, Sonny Landreth and Bill Kirchen.

Arlen Roth continues to record and tour all over the world. His current band, The Cordobas, features Eddie Denise on bass, Shannon Ford on drums and Chris Foley on second guitar. His daughter, Lexie Roth, also sings with the band, and has become a superb recording artist, vocalist and songwriter in her own right, with many credits to her name, such as singing on the recent Les Paul tribute album (she sang "Vaya Con Dios”), plus singing the blues classic, “Night Life,” on the album with Levon Helm.

With songs that cover multiple genres of music, Slide Guitar Summit promises to reach a wide ranging audience of fans and promises to be one of the most celebrated albums of the year.

Arlen Roth is also the founder and CEO of the “International Guitar Hall of Fame and Museum,” which has been a long-time dream for him to create.

To download a hi-res color photo of Arlen Roth (photo credit: Diana), click here:

http://www.markpuccimedia.com/ArlenRoth.jpg. For more information, visit www.arlenroth.com, www.facebook.com/arlenroth and www.guitarhalloffame.com

Acclaimed Guitarist Arlen Roth Convenes a "Slide Guitar Summit" on New CD, Due January 13

Acclaimed Guitarist Arlen Roth Convenes a Slide Guitar Summit on New CD, Due January 13,

with Special Guests Johnny Winter, Sonny Landreth, David Lindley, Rick Vito, Jimmy Vivino, Jack Pearson, Lee Roy Parnell, Cindy Cashdollar and Greg Martin, Produced by Tom Hambridge

CD Release Performance with Special Guests Set for Nashville’s City Winery on January 20 to Include Screening of Film Documentary on the Making of the Album

RIDGEFIELD, CT - Guitarist Arlen Roth, the “Master of the Telecaster,” announces a January 13 release date for his new CD, Slide Guitar Summit, which teams the acclaimed musician with an incredible lineup of fellow slide guitar greats – Johnny Winter, Sonny Landreth, David Lindley, Rick Vito, Jimmy Vivino, Jack Pearson, Lee Roy Parnell, Cindy Cashdollar and Greg Martin – for what promises to be one of the most celebrated albums of the new year. Produced by Grammy winner Tom Hambridge, Slide Guitar Summit was recorded at studios in New York, Nashville and Connecticut. Roth will release the new CD on his own Aquinnah Records imprint.  

Arlen Roth will celebrate the release of Slide Guitar Summit with a special CD release show at the City Winery in Nashville on Tuesday, January 20, where he’ll be joined onstage by many of the guitarists on the new album (http://www.citywinery.com/nashville/). Fans at the album show premiere will also be treated to a screening of the film documentary about the making of the album (Doors open at 5:30 PM; show time: 7:00 PM). An announcement of additional Slide Guitar Summit CD release shows in the northeast will be forthcoming. 

“This Slide Guitar Summit album was a longtime dream come true for me,” recalls Arlen Roth about the recording sessions, “and it's like a group of old friends getting together for a great time that is rooted in our serious mutual love for what we do.”

Recording with the late Johnny Winter was also special for Roth. “Getting to work with the legendary Johnny Winter was such an incredible feeling, and it got the album totally off on the right foot,” says Roth. “It was hard to believe that I was sitting there playing ‘Rocket 88’ with him, when I could remember being 16 years old and watching Johnny from the very front at Woodstock in 1969....this album is of course, dedicated to this slide and blues guitar master who always served to inspire us all.”

Roth has fond memories of all the tracking sessions. “Each player brought something unique to this project and the interaction between me and them is what I was looking for in making each track truly unique” he says. “And Tom Hambridge and I go way back together as musicians and as friends, so I was really happy to be able to see this great producer lend his magic touch to this project. I also loved how so many of the artists came in with some very strong choices for the songs for us to do, and how we got to pay tribute to many of the great slide players before us such as Lowell George, Elmore James and Duane Allman. I suppose the thing about this album that intrigues me the most is how with the common thread of slide guitar we were all able to touch upon so many styles, emotions, traditions and also break new ground at the same time!”

Guitar legend Arlen Roth is considered one of the most influential guitarists of all time, and during the course of his 45-year-career has toured the world and recorded with an amazing list of artists, including Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, John Prine, Phoebe Snow, Levon Helm, Ry Cooder, Eric Andersen, Dusty Springfield, Janis Ian and The Bee Gees, among others. His teaching and creation of the Hot Licks Video pioneered music and guitar education all over the world, with his videos having sold in excess of 2.5 million copies. His current online lessons and blogs for Gibson.com have over 1 million followers. Arlen was also the man behind the legendary blues film, Crossroads, creating the guitar parts, directing the guitar scenes and working alongside fellow guitarist Ry Cooder and actor Ralph Macchio during the film’s production. He was voted in the “Top 50 Acoustic Guitarists of All-Time” by Gibson.com and in the “Top 100 Most Influential Guitarists of All-Time” by Vintage Guitar Magazine. He has eight best-selling books to his credit, and his book, Hot Guitar, is a compilation of 10 years of his wildly popular column for Guitar Player Magazine.

Roth’s first album Guitarist, won the Montreux Critics Award for “Best Instrumental Album of the Year” in 1978, and his last album, All Tricked Out!, garnered four Grammy nominations. His new Slide Guitar Summit CD is similar in approach to his classic and legendary album, Toolin’ Around (1993), which featured duets with guitar greats such as Danny Gatton, Duane Eddy, Brian Setzer, Duke Robillard, Albert Lee, Sam Bush and Jerry Douglas, and which also became a film documentary. He followed up that album with Toolin’ Around Woodstock, with Levon Helm, Sonny Landreth and Bill Kirchen.

Arlen Roth continues to record and tour all over the world. His current band, The Cordobas, features Eddie Denise on bass, Shannon Ford on drums and Chris Foley on second guitar. His daughter, Lexie Roth, also sings with the band, and has become a superb recording artist, singer and songwriter in her own right, with many credits to her name, such as singing on the recent Les Paul tribute album, plus singing the blues classic, “Night Life,” on the album with Levon Helm.

Arlen Roth is also the founder and CEO of the new “International Guitar Hall of Fame and Museum.”

Slide Guitar Summit Track Listing

Do What's Right: Jack Pearson & Arlen Roth

Dust My Broom: Lee Roy Parnell & Arlen Roth

Stranger on the Shore: Cindy Cashdollar & Arlen Roth

Rocket 88: Johnny Winter & Arlen Roth

Sonny Skies: Sonny Landreth & Arlen Roth

Her Mind is Gone: David Lindley & Arlen Roth

Peach Pickin' Time in Georgia: Greg Martin & Arlen Roth

Paradise Blues: Rick Vito & Arlen Roth

Dixie Chicken: Lee Roy Parnell & Arlen Roth

One Child Born (And When I Die): Jimmy Vivino & Arlen Roth

Steel Guitar Rag: Cindy Cashdollar & Arlen Roth

You Really Got a Hold on Me: Rick Vito & Arlen Roth

Poor Boy Blues: Jimmy Vivino & Arlen Roth

Amazing Grace: Greg Martin & Arlen Roth