Black Joe Lewis’ new
album Electric Slave was released in
late August and the band just started a month long tour supporting this new LP.
Lucky for us, they are performing at the Harvest
Jazz and Blues Festival in Fredericton this Saturday night and this new
batch of songs is sure to make it a fun, rockin’ show.
Where do I begin to describe the sound of this album? Their Howlin’ Wolf influence is definitely obvious,
funk can be heard often in the bass, the screaming distorted vocals sure gives
it a rock and roll feel, and I can even hear bits of ska with the horns in the
background. That’s what makes this album so great; it’s almost in a music genre
of its own. Lead singer Joe Lewis
recently told CBC’s East Coast music man Bob Mersereau that Electric Slave is “the first of the three (albums) we've done that I
actually like.”
Filled with a huge guitar riff and Joe Lewis’ distorted
shouting vocals, the opening track Skulldigging
starts Electric Slave off with a huge
punch. I love the heavy drums filled with constant crashing on the cymbals. The
blues/soul never felt so heavy.
Come to My Party
is another personal favorite. The cool trebly guitar riff is backed with the funky
bass that I love so much, it gets my foot tapping with every listen. I love the
horns in the background giving it a slight big band feel.
I would have never expected this blues/soul/funk sound
coming from this album judging by the cover alone. The band members bearing
arms and standing in a desert, I figured that I would be listening to an outlaw
country or mariachi band - go figure.
Band members are: Joseph Lewis, Bill Stevenson, Eduardo
Torres, Jason Frey, Joe Woullard and Derek Phelps. This gang will be performing
this Saturday in the Bell Aliant Mojo Tent at the Harvest Jazz and Blues
festival here in Fredericton. It should be a great show, sharing the bill with The Record Company, Garret Mason and Keith Hallett.
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