Christopher Ruel's Blues Music Reviews

Gary Moore first received widespread attention and national radio air time with his definitive hard electric blues effort Still Got The Blues. Up until this point in time (about 1990), Gary Moore was more or less an underground musician with a considerable following among blues guitarists. The title track received much air time, and rightfully so. "Still Got The Blues" has all the charactacteristics inherent in Gary Moore's electric blue style that embraces such legendary blues players such as Albert Collins, Albert King, BB King, and a plethora of other old timers. Gary's trademark is integrating this traditional blues with more modern guitar technique, feel, and heavy effects in a standard, traditional blues format. These things together achieve a driving, biting, hard-hitting effect that is always balanced with heart or gut wrenching melodies. Gary Moore is a true visionary who demonstrates a vision that has one foot firmly set in traditional blues and the other stepping forward in progressive stylism and technique.

Still Got The Blues demonstrates the wide range of Gary Moore's blues style coverage. Gary's playing centers around bittersweet melodies and themes on some tracks. The soulful melodies are balanced with Gary's hear-felt singing and overpowering, blazing lead work. On other tracks, Gary lets it loose with some driving blues tunes built around blues riffs. Moore is not so traditional that he will rule out any type of technique or phrasing and it is exactly this open-mindedness that makes Still Got The Blues a landmark in electric blues. The progressive, blazing lead work and heavy tones that Moore integrates are always balanced with his sense of proportion and foundations in musicality and melody. Gary Moore has excellent judgement in this balance and is always right on the mark.

Though the entire album is a solid effort from beginning to end, my favorites include "Moving On", "Walking By Myself", "Too Tired", and "That Kind Of Woman". The real standouts on the CD are the title track "Still Got The Blues" and "All Your Love", the old Otis Rush standard that Gary covers with an unmistakeable vision and drive that are all his own.

Still Got The Blues is the CD that first put Gary Moore into the world class spotlight and earned him recognition as a blues master, as well as a great following among guitarists. Moore was the first blues-centric player to transcend the boundaries of blues in his appeal because he seemlessly integrates classically flavored melodies and guitar technique from other genres. Among the many guitarists that I have met, Gary Moore is the one that they all agree on, despite their preferences for genre or style. And, Still Got The Blues is the definitive Gary Moore effort. A must have for any blues collection!!!

If you liked Still Got The Blues, you are going to love Blues Live. Gary Moore unleashes a barage of live blues ballads and wailing lead work. Gary Moore is in his element when playing live and his stylistic interpretation of the blues is very evident in its raw live form. Blues Live is high-energy blues featuring blistering fretwork that conquers listeners with a vengeance and blues presence that Gary Moore shares only with Stevie Ray Vaughan. Moore demonstrates his mastery of contrapuntal blues phrasing, laying to waste any doubters of his capabilities.

Gary tears it up on most of the tracks, but really sets the stage on fire on "Cold Day in Hell", "Walking By Myself", "Too Tired", "Still Got The Blues", "Since I Met You Baby", and a very raucous version of "Further On Up The Road", an old favorite covered by The Band and Eric Clapton. And, "Parisienne Walkways" will squeeze your heart with its bittersweet classical melody and heart-gripping lyrics even harder than "Still Got The Blues", if you can imagine that being possible. Blues Live is a solid effort from start to finish delivering high-powered and melody-oriented blues with earth-scorching guitar work the likes of which have not been seen since Sherman left Atlanta for the sea.

Blues Live is live blues at its best and the way the blues was meant to be played. No blues collection should be without this one!!!

Gary Moore proves that his well has not yet run dry with his 2001 release Back To The Blues. Gary returns with more of his signature blues melodies, demonstrating that he has still got a thing or two up his sleave that he hasn't shared with us before.

Back To The Blues opens with "Enough Of The Blues" that bridges the transition from acoustic traditional blues to the brand of bone-crunching, electric blues that Gary Moore pioneered. The contrast between the traditional sounding acoustic opening and the heavy electric variations that follow really accentuates Gary Moore's vision in his interpretation of the blues. Gary opens up the throttle on "Cold Black Night" breaking out the wah-wah to mix it up with the rest of the aggressive guitar work on this track. "Picture Of The Moon" delivers the classically-influenced, bittersweet, melodic, heart-felt blues ballad track on this CD that has become Gary Moore's trademark. The next track, "Looking Back", is a flirty track about love at first hindsight with a traditional blues format and Gary's raucous guitar fills. "The Prophet" follows with some soulful and haunting melodies keying off of a harmonic minor, classically-oriented, blues progression reminiscent of a Chopin melody played over a minor based progression with a gothic gospel feel. This is some of Gary's finest melodic invention to date with a melody that changes following the underlying harmonic minor chord progression.

Back To The Blues continues to establish Gary Moore's electric blues legacy of heavy texturing balanced with unearthly bittersweet melodies. If you had forgotton about Gary Moore after Still Got The Blues, you really should check this one out and rediscover the prolific blues prodigy, Gary Moore.

Stevie Ray Vaughan burst onto the scene with his 1983 release Texas Flood. I can still remember hearing "Pride And Joy" on the radio when this album was first released. It wasn't soon afterwards that I went out and bought Texas Flood and was watching SRV live in New Haven, CT in 1983. Those of us that were there in the beginning when SRV first stepped into the national spotlight knew right away that SRV was something extraordinary and that the future held promise for this flamboyant yet shy bluesman.

Texas Flood, now a legendary blues classic, was the first blues album in fifteen years to receive commercial coverage. SRV was the first blues player to tear down the walls of commercial music that had excluded blues for a decade and brought the blues back for a new generation of fans. SRV accomplished this feat with his unique personal vision of the blues, his charismatic playing and presence, unbound stream of energy, unending well of contrapuntal blues phrasing, and extensive yet coherent blues vocabulary.

Texas Flood opens with the riveting and rockin' "Love Struck Baby" that establishes SRV's unrelenting drive right from the get go. But this track is only a prelude to SRV's signature song "Pride And Joy" that follows. This is the track that single-handedly broke down the barrier that had been put up against the blues in commercial music for a decade prior to the release of Texas Flood. And then, once SRV has established his popular appeal on the CD, he takes us to the depth of his roots with the title track "Texas Flood". The rest is, as they say, "history".

SRV draws from an unending vocabulary of blues phrasing that he acquired and built upon from legendary blues masters such as Albert King, Albert Collins, BB King, Lonnie Mack, and Jimi Hendrix, to name a few. Though SRVs influences were clear early on, SRV was also clearly a prodigy that was building upon these influences as a foundation, adding his own unique brand of high-energy, driving blues. SRV's unique style has become a trademark that is universally recognized and often immitated. SRV's style straddles the boundaries of traditional blues, jazz based blues, and rock and roll, fusing elements from all three into SRV's signature style. Texas Flood catalyzed the 1980s blues revival and established the new threshold that blues players had to achieve to enter the blues arena thereafter.

SRV was the first virtuoso blues player to enter the world class arena and there have been none like him since. Texas Flood is the definitive modern electric blues album. Texas Flood is an essential CD for any blues collection.

Stevie Ray Vaughan returned with his second effort Couldn't Stand the Weather in 1984 proving that he was not just another blues prophet but that he was indeed the blues Messiah. I can remember the skepticism that was put to rest by the skeptics that thought that SRV could not put out a second effort comparable to Texas Flood. Couldn't Stand The Weather set the record straight and relegated those skeptics to a footnote in the history pages.

Couldn't Stand the Weather comes out of the gates blazing with "Scuttle Buttin'", a rocking blues instrumental that features finger-blistering licks borrowed by SRV from Lonnie Mack. But, once again this impressive little gem is just a prelude to another masterpiece, this time "Couldn't Stand The Weather" the title track. "Couldn't Stand The Weather" established once and for all time that SRV was world class in his guitar playing, stylistic interpretation, and compositional skills, fusing jazz-based underpinnings with tasteful, melodic blues counterpoint and complex jazz-blues rhythms. Then, for those who had compared SRV to Hendrix, "Voodo Chile" established that SRV was without a doubt of the same caliber as Hendrix with its amazing reproduction of the Hendrix original that showcased SRV's depth and scope. SRV's interpretation embraces the once thought to be unreproduceable Hendrix style with ease and profound insight into the original. And, "Cold Shot" has become a blues standard since the release of Couldn't Stand the Weather. On the remastered version of Couldn't Stand the Weather, the SRV cover of the old Freddie King classic "Hideaway" is included.

SRV's Couldn't Stand the Weather has become a classic since its original release in 1984. No blues collection would be complete without it.

Stevie Ray Vaughan continued to broaden his scope in coverage of blues in his third studio release, Soul To Soul. Soul To Soul ventured further into SRV's rock-blues roots with coverage of rock-flavored blues classics, such as "Look At Little Sister", "You'll Be Mine", and "Come On". But, SRV continued his format of blues diversity with more straight-laced blues tracks like "Ain't Gone 'N' Give Up On Love", "Change It", and "Empty Arms". The remastered CD also includes a cut of the Hendrix classic "Little Wing" for the SRV conisseur.

Soul To Soul continues the SRV legacy with high-energy blues showcasing SRV's virtuoso blues guitar technique.

Stevie Ray Vaughan was scorching the air waves again in 1989 with his latest release In Step. SRV set out to lay down some ear-catching, driving rock-n-blues tracks on In Step and achieved his goal. The opening three tracks, "The House Is A Rockin'", "Crossfire", and "Tightrope", all received much air time and have since become classics. But, SRV did not stop there on this effort and ventured further into other blues styles on the remainder of the CD.

In Step was SRV's final studio release prior to his tragic airplane accident in 1990. I can still remember that day in 1990 when the news came over the radio about the plane crash. It was a sad day for all of us who love the blues.

Do I need to tell you that you should have this one in your blues collection too?

Stevie Ray Vaughan brings down the house at Carnegie Hall with this release of live blues. Live At Carnegie Hall is a nonstop stampede of blues a la SRV that demonstrates his amazing capabilities as a live player. SRV is one of the few musicians that exceeds his studio material on stage in live performances and this CD is proof of that.

Live At Carnegie Hall opens with a sizzling rendition of "Scuttle Buttin'" that shows that SRV wasn't really trying to play fast on the studio version. From there, SRV goes on to cover many of his popular tunes including "Love Struck Baby", "Pride And Joy", "Honey Bee", and others for a total of fourteen tracks.

Live At Carnegie Hall is SRV in his prime and live the way he played best. There have been many that tried to immitate SRV since, but none have ever recaptured that improvisational blues genius and virtuoso packaging that only SRV was the master. A religious experience for the electric blues fundamentalist.

The Sky is Crying is packed with tasty blues morsels from the immortal, legendary blues guitar prodigy, SRV, who returned from beyond the grave with this farewell release. Besides the title track, there are a number of exceptional blues masterpieces including "Little Wing", "Close To You", "Chitlins Con Carne", and "Life By The Drop". The Sky Is Crying is characterized by straight ahead rocking blues in the style that SRV established. There is a bountiful plentitude of great music in the SRV tradition on this CD and no blues collection should deny it a good home.

Move over Stevie Ray Vaughan because Scott Henderson was only humouring you to let you think that you were the blues Messiah while he was exploring the vast space of jazz fusion. ;) (No real disrespect intended to the late great SRV!)

Dog Party is characterized by tongue-in-cheek wit that details life through the eyes of man's best friend. This album received awards for the best blues album of the year for good reasons. Henderson blurs the line between blues and jazz, making us remember back to a time when the blues were just jazz. The sophistication that Henderson brings to the blues is well-balanced with his gut-wrenching feel that he executes his playing with, demonstrating that he has a firm grasp on the nuances involved. Scott Henderson delivers his best performance yet that I am aware (but my preference for his playing in the blues format may bias my opinion).

Scott Henderson plays the blues with sophistication that has never before been lended to the blues. Henderson blazes over the fretboard laying down some of the best contrapuntal blues playing ever to grace a maple neck. Henderson follows the sometimes complex chord progressions with seemless ease making a mockery of the rest of the blues players that he relegates to the status of second rated. The end effect is impressive with the high art of music theory that Henderson brings from his sophisticated jazz fusion to the more rudimentary blues which Henderson sets out to pull up to a new standard. The blues format makes Henderson's improvisational capabilities a little more accessible to a wider listening audience. And, this also makes it easier to see why so many people speak so highly of Scott Henderson.

Definitely a member of my permanent rotation club. This is one of my all-time favorite blues albums.

If you have recovered from Dog Party yet, you need to get Tore Down House. Henderson picks up right where he left off. I liked the dog theme better, but that's just me. Just buy it. Hey Scott, can you just keep doing blues albums? That other, outside stuff is just too much strain on my brain!

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