Veteran UK blues players Baby Isaac
have released their newest collection of genuine blues and roots
music, titled “Blues Epidemic.”
Veteran UK blues players Baby Isaac
have released their newest collection of genuine blues and roots
music, titled “Blues Epidemic.” The record includes a standard 12
tracks, but spans a full 55 minutes of playing time, making it one of
the most comprehensive digital blues LPs available today. Baby
Isaac's sound is a time machine trip to the 50s blues scene of
Chicago, crossed with elements of West Coast swing, a bit of
bluegrass, a touch of rockabilly, and a healthy dose of the United
Kingdom's 60s R&B revival.
The tracks on “Blues Epidemic” are
not generally focused on the introspective, downtrodden tone blues
was known for in the Leadbelly era, but rather the devil-may-care,
hands-in-the-air attitude that came much later with songs like John
Lee Hooker's “Boogie Chillin'” and Ray Charles' “Hit the Road
Jack.” This is not to say that Baby Isaac do not have the proper,
cool and moody blues – oh, they do.
This is exemplified in the soulful,
natural voices of their vocalists, who to the ear often resemble
Elvis Presley and Ella Fitzgerald, although not in an ostentatious
way. They play against one another gorgeously, and if such a historic
meeting had occurred, their duet could not have sounded much
different than the marvelous singing from Baby Isaac (such a meeting
did occur, incidentally, in 1956 on the Dorsey Bros. “Stage Show”
program, although Presley and Fitzgerald did not perform together).
Baby Isaac's instrumentation is
flawless, tasteful, respectful to the godfathers of blues and mindful
of everything blues ought to be. Their bass lines are a stroll down
urban streets, sometimes a walk through rain, sometimes on a busy
Saturday morning. Their guitar is a jazzy, funky, active part of
their rhythm section just with the right proportions of lay-back and
“watch this,” clean when it ought to be, and slightly muddy when
it should, too. Their harp deserves especial mention, having at once
that railway sound that sounds like the frenzied flight of phantoms
from the harmonica, yet at other times the mournful blue wail of the
banshees of Memphis, Tennessee. Their tight, razor-sharp percussion
is of the Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa persuasion, although again, not so
ostentatious.
In fact, the entire ensemble, composed
of Gary Arnott, Angela Moore, David Welsh, Graeme Smith, and Derek
Welsh, is like an all-star team of performers who have pledged to
stay true to the heart and soul of the music they love without ever
“hamming it up” or getting showy. They are the UK's modern
stewards of the old sound, and their heartfelt integrity makes all
the difference in the world.
Baby Isaac's LP “Blues Epidemic” is
available worldwide beginning February 14, 2013.
-S. McCauley
Staff Press Release Writer
MondoTunes
The LP “Blues Epidemic” is
distributed globally by MondoTunes (www.MondoTunes.com)
and is available at iTunes for convenient purchase and download
MondoTunes
(www.mondotunes.com)
supplies the largest music distribution in the world and provides
upstream services for many major labels in search of breakout
artists. While most independent distributors reach only 45-50
retailers despite charging needless monthly and yearly fees,
MondoTunes reaches over 750 retailers and mobile partners in over 100
world regions without any monthly or yearly fees.
ARTIST
CONTACT INFO:
admin@babyisaacblues.com
website -
www.babyisaacblues.com
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