I just received the newest release,
Live from
Sabrina Weeks & Swing Cat Bounce and it's easy and fun. Opening with
Bad Boys, Weeks, joined by Mike Hilliard on lead guitar, Ed Hilliard on drums, Terry Strudwick on bass and Bill White on rhythm guitar, set the pace for a pop country blues concert.
Jimmy Dee has a boogie line but roots in country. A two step melody with cool guitar riffs from Hilliard makes this a release favorite.
Slide Over Here has a slinky feel and Weeks vocals are top notch.
Roll It throws a bit of funk into the mix and I particularly like Ed Hilliard's snappy drum riffs. Mike Hilliard takes a longer guitar solo on this track and although compressed in sound, it does rip!
Happy Home is a straight up shuffle led by Mike Hilliard. Weeks gets a rock n roll feel going and Mike H. takes it a step further with stinging riffs. On Randy Newman's
You Can Leave Your Hat On, the band puts a bit of funk on the original arrangement and it had a fresh feel. Weeks holds the bluesy road making this a fairly successful cover of a very familiar track. Ike Turner's
Strange has a pinch of jazz to a standard R&B track. Hilliard is back again spicing up the track with clean guitar riffs supported by White on rhythm. Ballad
Tarantino opens quietly but slowly builds momentum with Hilliard building his riffs to a drop off. Lieber and Stoller track
I Can't Hear A Word You Say has a vintage shuffle feel and Ed Hilliard dances on the drums as Mike lays out a nice open rock guitar solo.
Hound Dog, another Lieber and Stoller track made popular by Big Mama Thorton and Elvis gets a Latin beat and nicely showcases Weeks vocal style. Rolling right into
Big Boss Man, a Luther Dixon composition made popular by Jimmy Reed among others holds a funky beat and Mike H. takes a cool guitar solo and the band takes an esoteric bridge but follows back to the funky grind. Wrapping the release is
Got My Eye On You, a lounge style blues with Weeks' vocals very stylized, reinforced by E. Hilliard's punctuation. A longer jam the band stretches making for an enjoyable conclusion to what I'm certain was a cool live performance.
“Like” Bman’s Facebook page. I use Facebook to spread the word about my blog (Now with translation in over 50 languages). I will not hit you with 50 posts a day. I will not relay senseless nonsense. I use it only to draw attention to some of the key posts on my blog each day. In this way I can get out the word on new talent, venues and blues happenings! - click
Here
I just received the newest release, Got My Eye On You, by Sabrina Weeks and Swing Cat Bounce and it's radio bound. From the first note on the first song it has a distinctive sound. The title track, Got My Eye On You, has a club sound reminiscent of ballad singers of the 40's and 50's and horns for backing but extremely strong guitar work by Mike Hilliard tells you that it's today. Weeks has a silky smooth voice and Vince Mai on trumpet plays clean support. Burn That Boogie has strong bones and nicely features Weeks backed by Linda Kidder on vocals. This swinging track again has nice work from Mai. I'll Never Let You Go is a real swinger with a hot opening by Jerry Cook on sax. Horns play a strong part in the dynamics of this track with Ed Hilliard rappin out the drums. Cook and Mai trade off riffs with M. Hilliard but it's really about the vocal harmonies. The Lady Sings The Blues has a real contemporary R&B sound and Mai mutes his horn for a real cool sound.Terry Strudwick adds a nice funky strut to the bottom on bass. Crickets is an uptempo track with a little funk in it's step. With Weeks singing lead and echoing horns this develops nicely. Cook blows a real nice solo on this track followed by Mike Hilliard on guitar. Swing Cat Bounce is one of the more clever tracks on the release with a definite 40's style melody construction. With a classic New Orleans swing to it and featuring Dave Webb on piano, this is a pretty cool track. M. Hilliard and Bill White add a flavor of jazz with some rich chords at the bridge. Forgive Me is a really traditional ballad with a lead guitar opening. This could most certainly be the torch song that hits the money mark for Ms Weeks. Sunday is a rompin boogie with barrelhouse piano and hot double stop guitar riffs. Definitely my favorite on the release. Mr. Regret has a bit of a contemporary country/pop sound with nice vocal harmonies from Weeks and Kidder. The release is wrapped up by Moving Forward, an R&B style track. Cook has a nice opportunity to play a nice sax solo on this track but it's mostly a solid track for airplay.
This is a consistent release that shows a lot of strength in the pop blues market. Weeks has a very strong voice and the writing is very commendable. I think that the bands performance is impeccable and this release should be well received by music listeners as a whole.
