Hmmm ...
as I am writing this I am enjoying the
heck out of on the new CD from Jean Shy
& The Shy Guys, "The Blues Got Soul".
My first thought as I heard the first
notes she belted out on the first cut
was 'What a great voice'! It is clear
why she is nominated for "Soul Blues
Female Artist Of the Year" in 2009 by
the Blues Foundation. Her voice is dark
and rich and versatile, running the
gamete from sweet and tender to strong
and powerful depending on what she needs
at any moment to meet the needs of the
songs she is singing.
I also am pleased that there is a
'serious' band behind her, a group that
is more than just a 'support platform
for the singer'. These guys have some
great chops and their sound stands on
it's own. And when they are combined
with Jean's lush vocals, it creates
something bigger than either one on it's
own.
Klaus Zimmerman and Martin Hoette rip it
up with their guitar work, whether they
are filling in around Jean's powerful
vocals or taking the lead in a break.
I was surprised to see that the horn
section was just one man, Bernd
Winterschladen. His sax puts out
something that sounds more like three or
four horns. You can hear that on
'Unchain My Heart'. He does some nice
solo/lead work as well.
The 'rhythm section' is a real
'smorgasbord board' with piano player
Frieso Luecht switching off with Sacha
Kuehn on a few cuts; Peter Bruemmer
plays bass on most of the cuts, but
Michael Strohm fills in on a few.
Bernhard Spiess does most of the
drumming and some of the writing.
Hendrik Smock takes over for one cut
and finally Georg Mahr contributes with
some B3 on several cuts. All these
changes makes for a great variety, while
at the same time there is a
consistency of 'sound' that holds
everything together.
As for the music itself, there is quite
a lot of variety in the music selected.
There are some traditional tunes like
Muddy Water's Rock Me or Amazing Grace,
that show they 'done their homework'
along side some great new tunes written
by the various band members like Livin'
the Blues. They cover quite a bit of
ground and do a damned good job with
each of the tunes they selected for this
CD
MikeD
The World of Blues
(www.theworldofblues.com)
