Record Boy Ink:

Let me just get this out of the way. What do Bryan Lee and Big Joe Maher have in common?? They both have recent releases out on independent labels, and at the risk of seeming politically incorrect and insensitive, they are both big, fat, middle age white boys that sing blues and R&B music. There, that being said, let me now tell ya how much Record Boy likes these guys!

Bryan Lee is a veteran blues performer from New Orleans. His recent release "Live at the Old Absinthe House Bar…Saturday Night" (Justin Time) is a lot of fun. Bryan is a talented blues guitarist, playing with a lot of feeling and understatement. His real secret weapon however is his voice, which is as big and expansive as he is. The boy could sang. Not many current blues artists could pull off making Albert Kings "I’ll Play The Blues For You" their own.

This live album features an overall stellar performance by Bryan’s crack band, especially harmonica player "Cadillac" Pete Rahn and keyboardists Mark Adams and John Banks. The only qualms I have with this disc is Bryan’s guest stars: Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Frank Marino ( yes, he of Mahogany Rush notoriety ). Let’s face it; Shepherd has got guitar chops from here to St. Louis( those of you in Alton Illinois, please don’t misinterpret ). What he doesn’t have is the wisdom of maturity and experience to know precisely when to use his back log of blues riffs. Marino, a rocker with no apparent reason to be sharing the stage with Bryan, plays a surprisingly jazzy scale run his first time up on "Things I used to do". After that he reverts to diarrhetic blues/rock riffing that is the musical equivalent of stuffing college students into a phone booth. The interesting thing is that even with these distractions, Bryan Lee’s presence never lets things stray too far from the blues. He is a solid pro and this album is all the evidence you’ll need of that.

Now, for my man Big Joe and his album Big Joe and the Dynaflows "I’m Still Swingin’" (Severn Records). Big Joe and his band ( out of the Washington D.C. area) are not a blues band. They are a swing combo ala the music of Louis Jordan. They play a jump, jive, and wail style wrapped firmly around the R&B combos of the late ‘40s and early ‘50s.

Joe anchors the rhythm section of his ace band as the drummer, but special props go out to his pianist Kevin McKendree for being in the driver’s seat. Joe’s rich voice is perfectly suited for this material and a couple of his original tunes "Big Long Buick" and "I’ll Always Love You" showcase an impressive songwriting talent. This is one rhythmic disc y’all. Pick it up and sway.

( Record Boy Contest: Please re-read the above reviews and count how many times Record Boy had to resist making insensitive fat jokes.

Then, thank Record Boy for his good taste and self-restraint.)