Wayne Nicholson & John Campbelljohn 

Elmore’s Blues
Grindstone Records 

Reviewed by Greg Johnson 

Though the names may not be familiar to blues fans in the United States, in their homeland of Canada they’re musical icons. Wayne Nicholson has one of the country’s most notable voices, strong and gritty that he has developed with more than 50 years of performances. John Campbelljohn has released nearly twenty albums over his career and plays slide guitar that can be set next to the very best. These two award-winning artists joined forces for their latest recording, the outstanding tribute to the great Elmore James, titles appropriately Elmore’s Blues. 

Most of the tracks on this disc are Elmore James numbers, many instantly recognized just by their titles alone: “Shake Your Moneymaker,” “Standing At The Crossroads” and “It Hurts Me Too,” but also perhaps lesser known numbers like “Sinful Woman,” “Happy Home” and “Sunnyland.” The pair turn in exceptional renditions and they also included a couple of their own originals done in James’ fashion that work remarkably well: “If I Was Blue” and “Dancin’ With The Blues.” 

It should be noted that alongside Campbelljohn’s guitar playing, the bouncing barrelhouse piano provided by Barry Cooke is smoking tasteful, too. Rounding out the band are Neil Robertson on drums, organist Kim Dunn and bassist Bruce Dixon delivering a great bluesy pace that fits just right. 

When paying accolades to an iconic bluesman like Elmore James, it should be noted that an artist should place their own mark on the material. Rather than just coming out and doing a note for note copy of the original, there should be something additional to make it sound fresh while not losing the master’s intentions. Nicholson and Campbelljohn do that quite well here. A beautiful tribute to James with enough fresh ideas of their own thrown in to make this album shake all on its own. 

Total Time: 47:46 

I May Be Wrong / Standing At The Crossroads / I Believe / If I was Blue / Knocking At Your Door / No Love In My Heart / Rollin’ And Tumblin’ / Sinful Woman / Happy Home / Shake Your Moneymaker / Sunnyland / Strange Kinda Feeling / It Hurts Me Too / Dancin’ With The Blues 

Mary Jo Curry Band

Front Porch
(Self Produced) 

Review by John Taylor 

People tell the damnedest stories out on the porch, and Mary Jo Curry’s got a few you’re gonna want to hear. So pull up a chair, grab a lemonade or a beer out of the cooler and get ready for some genuine house-rockin’ blues. “Front Porch,” the Mary Jo Curry Band’s second release, is something to write home about. 

Northwest listeners might not be familiar with this Illinois-based outfit, but they’re not exactly newcomers. Curry and guitarist Michael Rapier started playing together nine years ago, picking up bassist Chris Rogers and drummer Rick Snow four years later. In 2016, they turned heads with their first album, “Mary Jo Curry,” which broke out in the top spot on the RMR Classic Blues Chart, yielded three No. 1 hits and held court as the top blues album for three weeks. They’ve played regularly at stops all over the Midwest, and two recent Western tours took them through North Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota and Nebraska. 

Now they’re starting to get the recognition they’ve long deserved. As 2019 wound down, the Illinois Times named Curry Best Female Vocalist of the Year. 

Good call. Curry’s got a wall-banging voice that knows exactly where it’s going. And it’s got some places to go on “Front Porch.” 

First stop: the crossroads, where in “Nothin’ Is Easy, she encounters a shadowy figure in a burned-out pickup truck who tells her he doesn’t have any more deals to offer — she can’t even give her soul away. 

It doesn’t stop there. Throughout “Front Porch,” Curry’s muscular vocals belt out blues that stay true to tradition, but advance modern themes and relatable circumstances. 

“The Man” laments the pain of realizing that a love has cooled from dismissive to degrading. Which apparently leads to “Lookin’ ” – a rhythm-driven rhyme (featuring Andrew Duncanson’s guitar work) about when it’s time to move on to the next one. 

“Explaining the Blues” is a spot-on take on the complications and situations that only make sense to those who’ve tried to account for a complicated breakup to well-intentioned, but prying, friends. 

Or maybe it’s just time everybody got up to “Shake & Bake,” with the agile artistry of the late James Cotton’s guitarist, Tom Holland. 

The songs are solid, the sounds are tight – and the more you listen, the more this album sticks with you. This is a band with a powerful voice, and it’s not timid about raising it. 

The neighbors complaining about all that racket aren’t the only ones who’ll be taking notice of “Front Porch.” 

Total Time: 44:00 

Nothin’ Is Easy / Turn It Loose / All Your Lies (feat. Tom Holland) / The Man / Lookin’ (feat. Andrew Duncanson) / House Is Lonely / Explaining the Blues / Shake & Bake (feat. Tom Holland) / We All Had a Real Good Time (feat. Albert Castiglia) / Front Porch (feat. Albert Castiglia) / Joyful 

Jose Ramirez 

Here I Come
Blind Racoon  

Reviewed by John Taylor 

Costa Rican native Jose Ramirez, the second-place finisher at the 2020  International Blues Challenge in Memphis, has brewed a wicked concoction of straight-ahead blues, passionate soul, and tasty R&B with his debut release “Here I Come.”  

Ramirez is joined here by famed producer and bandleader Anson Funderburk, who adds some fiery licks (check out his rapier-like lead guitar attacks on “Gasoline and Matches”) while drummer Wes Starr and bassist Nate Rowe supply a stone-solid rhythm section. Organ and piano marvel, and Robert Cray alumnus, Jim Pugh offers some sinuous keyboard playing, particularly on “Goodbye Letter,” “One Woman Man,” and “Waiting for Your Call.” All this is then topped off with The Texas Horns — saxophonists  Kaz Kazanoff and John Mills and trumpet player Al Gomez — and their tough, razor-edged horn riffs.  

Ramirez is as fine a songwriter as he is guitarist and singer, and while several of his original songs stand out on this album, “Three Years,” a blues and soul-infused shuffle that echos Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Cold Shot” and features fine guitar work from both Ramirez and Funderburk along with some luscious organ lines from Pugh, is the finest track on the album and alone testifies to the promise of Ramirez’s talent.   

Included on “Here I Come” are remakes of two definitive blues numbers: T-Bone Walker’s “I Miss You Baby” and Robert Johnson’s “Traveling Riverside Blues.”  Ramirez’s version of Walker’s classic song manages to capture the spirit of the original yet sound fresh and dynamic, but his version of Johnson’s “Traveling Riverside Blues” is too languid. I appreciate the attempt to give that famous tune a new, slightly soulful spin, but it’s been covered so often, (I imagine at some point The Archies recorded “Traveling Riverside Blues”) and by such heavy hitters as Clapton and Zeppelin that nearly any other recording is fated to fall short. Degree-of-difficulty points awarded for giving it a shot though. 

Ramirez’s “Here I Come” is a mature, rock-solid blues album steeped in soulful musicianship and superb songwriting. The fact that it’s a debut album makes it all the more impressive. Jose Ramirez is clearly an up-and-coming contender for the first rank of blues songwriters and performers working today and is a major talent to watch. One hopes, after all this virus craziness passes, to catch him on tour.

Total Time: 54:42 

Here I Come / I Miss You Baby / Gasoline & Matches / One Woman Man / Goodbye Letter / The Way You Make Me Feel / Three Years / As You Can See / Waiting For Your Call / Traveling Riverside Blues / Stop Teasing Me