Album of the Week - Opinion/Samples

David Vest and the Willing Victims-- Way Down Here.

Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00009ZYB8/qid=1065213329/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/104-6316972-6201553?v=glance&s=music&n=507846

The guitarist's tube amp buzzes a bit through this sparsely recorded live set. Buy it anyhow. I bought it and about wore it out, rested it for a week or so, brought it back out last night. Phenomenal blues set-- from piano heavy boogie woogie blues to some more traditional stuff. Paul Delay on harmonica and backup vocals-- his trigger work on track 3 is amazing, and Vest's lyrics show his gift for political commentary (whether you agree with him or not) as evident from his writing available on line if you visit http://www.rebelangel.com

You can buy the CD off his rebelangel site, too if you don't like to support Amazon.

Great thread- let's see some more contribution --

Sorry I forgot to make my link clickable. If you can't handle the cut-n-paste--

David Vest & the Willing Victims featuring Paul Delay

Oh, and by the way, Vest plays with Paul Delay's usual band now at Paul's gigs, having replaced their departed horn player-- they played my wedding reception. Yes, I am gifted with both excellent taste and good luck, but that's not the point. The point is, Book them from Paul Delay's website http://www.pauldelay.com and you'll get Vest's piano work on Paul Delay favorites AND they play most of the material off of "Way Down Here", too-- it's like 2 for 1 and their cost to play a gig in the NW is remarkably low for the level of talent (Vest, + the greatest living harp player Delay + a great guitarist Pete Damann- they already shared a bass player). Can't reccommend them highly enough for any function where you might want a killer live band.

* I am in no way affiliated with any of these guys. Just love their work.

Regiolanthe- your effort to keep this alive is commendable.

Following on the heels of the deafening applause for my first suggestion...

http://www.johnnemethblues.com

No samples, but go buy Jack of Harps anyhow, on my word that it kicks butt. The album starts with John blowing harp in a Little Walter mode, moves to a shuffle, simmers, then boils on a couple of originals, suprises you with a way off-beat Sonny Boy Williamson tune (where john shows his huge vocal range singing male and female parts of the song) and mixes in some great original material like Love Zombie. The album sounds very retro, and there's no overdubbing or BS- the "tricks" are limited to John occasionally singing into his harp mic for effect. It was recorded in John's living room, but you will not care. Trust me.

John is a hell of a nice guy, and has honed his harp skills and vocals playing a ton of live gigs the last 15 years. I've watched him since his band was too young to play in bars. If you ever find his first album, Harmonica Frenzy- buy it-- Some Junior Wells covers, but he makes them his own and adds some great other tunes on that as well. DO NOT buy the album with the blue chicken foot on it- it was a jazz experimental thing John did and it's lousy. He even admits he doesn't like it now.

And in keeping with the thread's original intent, stuff that you can go hear samples of...

http://www.michaelpickett.com/

Michael Pickett is a white guy from Canada, but he has the blues. For real. "Blues Money" and "Conversation with the Blues" are my favorites, his site has samples of these two albums and more. Great harp work, tight arrangements, very listenable. The recording is pretty good - it's not a standout recording, but it's not a lousy recording. This isn't an "audiophile approved recordings of crap music" thread, right? It's about the music.

Snook2, I've posted stuff I find "moving". It's not your thing, that's fine, post some of your favorites. I don't really like any of the stuff Regiolanthe has posted about, and it would appear that he's not really into what I like, but that's fine- to each his/her own. Maybe someone will add to this and I'll discover some new music, but we've already got threads about how lousy a lot of new music is.