Landslide Records - 40th Anniversary - New Release Review

 I just had the opportunity to review the newest release from Landslide Records, 40th Anniversary, a two disc compilation celebrating their 40th anniversary and a full house of great artists. Opening with Tinsley Ellis and the Heartfixers and Drivin' Woman. Ellis is a great choice to open this retrospective with his fiery guitar attack and tight rock shuffle beat. Strong opener. The Bluesbusters' track, If The Phone Don't Ring, is up next led by Little feat guitar and vocalist Paul Barrere in collaberation with Dregs keyboardist Lavitz and associated Feat personalities. This is a great track and solid addition to this release. Damon Fowler contributes Make The Best Of Your Time. Fowler was a great addition to Landslides lineup with his rugged vocal, strong rhythm and terrific slide work, I always look forward to his releases. Sean Costello was a unique talent and spectacular blues player. His contribution here is Motor Head Baby with it's slow swagger and Costello's relentless lead guitar work. If you don't know Sean, go find it now! Nappy Brown joins Ellis and the Heartfixers on Hard Luck Blues. Here you get the double whammy with Browns excellent vocals and Ellis' tasty guitar riffs, backed by strong horn work. Dave Bartholomew has a great jam on Jazz Fest in New Orleans with that funky New Orleans sound. David Earle Johnson (drums) brings a really hot Jazz Fusion sound. Partnered with John Abercrombie on guitar, Dan Wall on organ, Gary Cambell on sax these guys really fly on Route Two. Excellent! Derek Trucks Band continues in the jazz mind set with Mr. PC showcasing Trucks' world renown guitar improvisation. Mike Mattison best known for his work with Derek Trucks Band, showcases his soulful vocal work on Midnight In Harlem and it's R&B feel. Really nice. Steam Donkeys really put on the heat on Little Honky Tonks, a strong, Country and Western track with real grit. If you like this kind of music, and I do, you'll love this! Scrapomatic lays down a really hot track, Night Trains, Distant Whistles, with Mike Mattison on vocal, Paul Olsen on guitar and vocal, Dave Yoke on guitar, Ted Pecchio on bass and Tyler Greenwell on drums. Hot funky drumming, a great bass line, well blended vocals and strong lead guitar, great! Sax man Paul McCandless brings The Great Lawn, a new jazz piece featuring Steve Rodby on bass, Davidd Samuels on vibes, Ross traut on guitar and Linda Naimas on claps for an interesting instrumental diversion. Wrapping the release is Col. Bruce Hampton & The Late Bronze Age on Walking With Zambi, a driving country rocker. This is a great mix of music and a lot of hot talent on 2 cds. If you know all of the bands. it's a great mix tape and if you don't it's a great intro. 

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Vizztone Label Group artist: Sean Costello - In The Magic Shop - New Release Review

I just received the newest release of artist Sean Costello's work, In The Magic Shop and it is spectacular! This release was recorded at the Magic Shop studio in 2005 but never released. The spontaneity is remarkable. Opening with BB King's It's My Own Fault, Costello digs in on his guitar and plays some of the most lush guitar riffs that I have heard this year. This thing is off the hook! Primarily but not exclusively an instrumental, even Costello's vocals are spot on. Brilliant! Next up is Can't Let Go, a catchy R&B track joined by Paul Linden on B3, Melvin Zachery on bass, Brian Jackson on Wurlitzer, Liz Tormezand Brianne Winter on backing vocals and Ray Hangen on drums. On Hard Luck Woman, a bouncy blues track it's hard not to get infected. With Linden adding in some harp work, this is a tight track and on that on melody and rhythm alone should hit the airwaves. Really nice! Ned Wever's beautiful ballad, Trust in Me, is up next and Costello shows how expressive he can be just as a showcase vocalist. Excellent! Feel Like I Ain't Got A Home is a blues rocker with a straight forward drive. This is another excellent radio for different reasons. A catchy melody and driving rhythm makes this a track that will stick with you. Fenton Robinson's You Don't Know What Love Is, is a spectacular funky blues number. With Costello singing with great clarity over Matt Wauchope on B3 and grabbing his guitar by the scruff, this track defies you to sit still. Excellent! Bobby Womack's Check It Out retains all of the R&B sound and Costello's voice is perfect for delivery throughout. Succinct guitar riffs punctuate the track. I really really like it! I Went Wrong is a beautiful BB King styled track and Zachery's bass line setting the bar. Costello really does an excellent job on vocals and Linden keeping the groove on keys, Costello takes a really nice guitar solo. A totally unexpected track, Rod Stewart's You Wear It Well, would be a natural track for the radio as it was a huge track for Stewart years ago. Solid writing and a solid performance makes for a solid interpretation by Costello and addition of 12 string guitar work by Jimi Zhivago. Told Me A Lie is a really unusual track with soulful vocals and an interesting bass line. Although I'm not blown away by the guitar tone, the overall feel is still excellent. Make A Move is a light jazzy but funky track with a cool groove. Costello's tone seems pinched but his playing is really nice. Hagen really sets the tone on drums and backing vocals by Greta Gettler and Dayna Kurtz add texture. Wrapping the release is Johnny Fuller's Fool's Paradise. A really pretty melody is a super basis for this track with Costello again showing that he's not just another excellent guitar player. But an excellent guitar player he is. Playing light articulate riffs against Linder on keys, this track is a really nice close to an excellent release. I have a number of Sean Costello albums but this is a must have! (Profits to Sean Costello Memorial Fund for Bipolar Research)

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See See Baby - Sean Costello and the Soul Shakers

Sean Costello (April 16, 1979 – April 15, 2008) was an American blues musician, renowned for his fiery guitar playing and soulful singing. He released five critically acclaimed albums before his career was cut short by his sudden death at the age of 28. Tinsley Ellis called him ‘the most gifted young blues guitarist on the scene... he was a triple threat on guitar, vocals and as a songwriter’
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, Costello moved to Atlanta, Georgia at the age of nine. Obsessive about the guitar from a young age, he got hooked on the blues after buying Howlin’ Wolf's 'Rockin' Chair Album'. At 14 the young prodigy created a stir in a Memphis guitar shop, where an employee tipped his father off about a talent contest sponsored by the Beale Street Blues Society, which Costello duly entered and won. He formed his first band shortly after.
Costello honed his skills through almost constant performing, playing over 300 gigs a year and touring widely in the USA and Europe. His reputation as a brilliant live performer enabled him to play alongside blues luminaries such as B. B. King and Buddy Guy (Ma Rainey House benefit concert, Columbus, Georgia, June 1997), James Cotton (Cotton's 64th birthday concert in Memphis) and Hubert Sumlin (South by Southwest, Austin, Texas, March 2005). When not touring, Costello made a living playing small venues in his home town of Atlanta, Georgia, such as the Northside Tavern. Richard Rosenblatt, former President of Tone-Cool Records, recalls Costello's performances:

As a guitarist he was astounding, but for Sean it was never about showing off monstrous chops or stroking his own ego. His playing always fit the song; he would work the tone and phrasing, sometimes with an economy of notes that let the empty spaces hang achingly for what seemed like hours. When he did take off on the occasional blazing run, he was the ultimate tightrope walker, flirting fearlessly with danger before bringing it all back home with the unlikeliest of phrases that was still, somehow, perfect.
Sean Costello was found dead in his Atlanta hotel room on April 15, 2008, one day before his 29th birthday. A medical report later determined that he died of an accidental drug overdose. Posthumously, Costello's family revealed that he had suffered from bipolar disorder, and set up the Sean Costello Memorial Fund for Bipolar Research in his honor.
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Landslide Records artist: Sean Costello - At His Best Live - New release review

I just received the new release of Sean Costello's unreleased live music recorded live in the US and Europe between 2000 and 2007. This first ever completely live album by Costello includes 11 tracks which have not been included on any of his prior releases.
This release is particularly strong and reminds us just how great a musician Sean was before his untimely death in April of 2008.
This release runs the gamut of blues styles displayed by Costello from the shuffling sound and rhythmic syncopation of T-bone Walker on "Blue Shadows" and articulation of Gatemouth Brown on Lowell Fulsoms "Reconsider Baby" or the "The Humbuckle". He also demonstrates further his diversity on jazzed/funked up soul tunes "Check it Out" and "Change My Mind". He demonstrates his renown feel on "All Your Love" and Jonnie Taylor's "Doin' My Own Thing". A few times throughout the recording I detected a deep raspiness in his voice that I don't recall hearing before.

The entire recording is very strong but you have to hold on during "Motorhead Baby" cause the soloing is outrageous.

A great ending selected for the recording is "Lucille"... Little Richard's landmark song. This is one you can't miss! It it doesn't get you moving...you're dead!!!

A portion of the royalties from the sale of this "At His Best Live" will benefit the Sean Costello Memorial Fund for Bi-Polar Research.
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BLUES MAN: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SEAN COSTELLO

BLUES MAN: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SEAN COSTELLO Author and documentary filmmaker Sarah Baker, along with her partner producer/editor Elaina Archer, are currently in pre-production on a documentary film about the life and times of blues guitarist and vocalist Sean Costello. A short 10-minute promotional trailer has been developed to help raise funds for the project in order to make it possible to go into production. Once the film is completed, plans are to debut it at the Sundance Film Festival in the hopes of getting theatrical or broadcast distribution. To see the trailer CLICK HERE! Costello’s final studio album “We Can Get Together” was released on Delta Groove Music just two months prior to his tragic and untimely death on April 15, 2008, one day before his 29th birthday. Check out the promotional trailer and view Delta Groove’s own Randy Chortkoff and Jeff Scott Fleenor as they share their fond remembrances of Sean Costello and his music. For more information about this project please visit Sarah Baker’s website – www.sarahbaker.org or follow updates on Facebook - CLICK HERE

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Lord Have Mercy On Me - Sean Costello

Sean Costello (April 16, 1979 – April 15, 2008) was an American blues musician, renowned for his fiery guitar playing and soulful singing. He released five critically acclaimed albums before his career was cut short by his sudden death at the age of 28. Tinsley Ellis called him ‘the most gifted young blues guitarist on the scene... he was a triple threat on guitar, vocals and as a songwriter’.
Sean Costello was found dead in his Atlanta hotel room on April 15, 2008.[28] A medical report later determined that he died of an accidental drug overdose. Posthumously, Costello's family revealed that he had suffered from Bipolar disorder, and set up the Sean Costello Memorial Fund for Bipolar Research in his honor.

Double Trouble - Sean Costello

Sean Costello (April 16, 1979 – April 15, 2008) was an American blues musician, renowned for his fiery guitar playing and soulful singing. He released five critically acclaimed albums before his career was cut short by his sudden death at the age of 28. Tinsley Ellis called him ‘the most gifted young blues guitarist on the scene... he was a triple threat on guitar, vocals and as a songwriter’.

Thunderbird - Seasick Steve

Steven Gene Wold, commonly known as Seasick Steve, (born 1941) is an American blues musician. He plays (mostly personalized) guitars, and sings, usually about his early life doing casual work.

It's My Own Fault - Sean Costello

Sean Costello (April 16, 1979 – April 15, 2008) was an American blues musician, renowned for his fiery guitar playing and soulful singing. He released five critically acclaimed albums before his career was cut short by his sudden death at the age of 28. Tinsley Ellis called him ‘the most gifted young blues guitarist on the scene... he was a triple threat on guitar, vocals and as a songwriter’.

It's My Own Fault

Costello was born in Philadelphia in 1979, moved with his family to Atlanta at the age of 9, and soon afterward picked up the guitar. Within a few short years he'd won the Memphis Blues Society's new talent award, and was on the road with his own band. At age 17 he released his first album, "Call The Cops", acclaimed by Real Blues Magazine as "an explosive debut." He soon joined forces with fellow blues guitarist Susan Tedeschi, with whom he toured and recorded, laying down tasteful lead guitar work on her Gold-certified Tone-Cool debut "Just Won't Burn".

In 2000, Costello released "Cuttin' In" on Landslide Records, which earned him critical acclaim as well as a prestigious W. C. Handy Award nomination for 'Best New Artist Debut.' With 2002's "Moanin' For Molasses", also on Landslide, came a Blues Revue cover story touting Costello as "the top contender to be the next blues star - and soon." Costello's hometown paper The Atlanta Journal-Constitution called his guitar playing "masterful" and of "remarkable maturity." The paper also compared him to such legends as B. B. King, Eric Clapton, and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

In 2005, his self-titled fourth CD "Sean Costello" was released by Artemis Records. Produced by Steve Rosenthal (The Rolling Stones, Suzanne Vega, Freedy Johnston), it was an appealing blend of soul, funk, upbeat rock. He was joined by some very special guests: Levon Helm of The Band sits in on two tracks, as does his daughter, Amy Helm, with her group, Ollabelle. Steve Jordan, Willie Weeks and the Conan O'Brien horn section also appear.
Sean's Delta Groove debut CD "We Can Get Together", just released in February, was produced by Costello himself. He was justly proud of "We Can Get Together", calling it the best work he'd ever done, and the critics agreed, with excellent reviews from radio and press alike lauding it his most impressive and mature work to date.

Costello was fortunate enough to earn the respect and admiration of many of his own idols, and had the opportunity to perform with his mentors. He shared stages with B.B. King, Buddy Guy, James Cotton, Pinetop Perkins, and Bo Diddley among many others. He recently said, "All I've ever wanted to do was play the guitar well. I've been fortunate to be able to make a living doing it, and I plan to keep it up for the rest of my life.
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