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Blues Underground Network |
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The Eli Yamin Blues Band "I Feel So
Glad"
Piano, Tuba, Drums, and Vocals are
perhaps not your first thought concerning the makeup of a typical
blues band, but The Eli Yamin Blues Band is certainly not your
typical blues band. Consisting of Eli Yamin (Piano/Vocals), Kate McGarry
(Vocals), Bob Stewart (Tuba), and LaFrae Sci (Drums), The Eli Yamin
Blues Band give you a whole new sense and interpretation of the blues with
their new release "I Feel So
Glad".
"I Feel So Glad" consists of a really
interesting group of 12 songs, that for some of you, you won't
equate some of them, with being blues songs. Take for instance the
opening Track "Hound Dog", which to me is a hip shakin' rock n'
roll song made famous via Elvis Presley. Further investigation into the
origins of "Hound Dog" comes up with the fact that it was originally
"a twelve-bar blues written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and
originally recorded by Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton in 1952." The
Eli Yamin Blues Band puts yet another new spin on it with their version
that is Sultry, Slow, and jazzed up a little bit, with the great Vocals of
Kate
McGarry.
Another interesting song is Track 4
"Fishin' Blues", a song written by Country Blues Artist Henry Thomas and
most notable covered by Taj Mahal and The Lovin' Spoonful. Sung by Eli
Yamin, with background Vocals throughout, this version is roughly the same
tempo as others, but with that added bit of uniqueness, via Bob
Stewart's Tuba, this one really comes alive with a whole new
freshness.
There are just 2 originals on "I Feel
So Glad" of which Eli Yamin wrote one ("Rwandan Child") and co-wrote
one with Clifford Carlson ("A Healing Song"). "A Healing Song" was
originally written for Yamin's and Carlson's Jazz Musical "Message From
Saturn
", and really embodies the true sense of how music, especially the
Blues can have such a profound ability to heal us all, in our darkest
hours.
The ability for "I Feel So Glad" to
stand up and be counted as a truly unique and inspirational album, comes
not only from the music chosen, but the key players in this production.
"
Eli Yamin, a Steinway artist,
is an internationally acclaimed jazz and blues pianist, singer, composer and bandleader.
As a cultural ambassador for the U.S. Department of State,
Eli has performed with his quartet and his
blues band in Mali, India, China, Brazil, Chile and the
Balkans."
Kate McGarry's forte is in the genre
of Jazz for which she had been nominated for a Grammy with one of her
five albums, "If Less Is More". "The Wall St. Journal called the
recording, "austere and elegant...an exceptionally appealing blend of folk
and jazz ."
"Bob
Stewart is a freelance concert artist, educator, and studio
musician. Stewart has toured and recorded with such artists
as Charles Mingus, Gil Evans, Carla Bley, David Murray, Taj Mahal, Dizzy
Gillespie, McCoy Tyner, Arthur Blythe, Freddie Hubbard, Don Cherry, Nicholas
Payton, Wynton Marsalis, Charlie Haden, Lester Bowie and many others
both in the United States, Europe and the Far East. In their review
of Blythe's album Lenox Avenue Breakdown, the editors of The Penguin Guide
to Jazz called Stewart's title track solo "one of the few genuinely
important tuba statements in jazz
."
"Drummer/composer LaFrae Sci
believes music can heal the world and is trying to do her part one day at
a time. In addition to being a founding member of the Willie Mae
Rock Camp for Girls(williemaerockcamp.org), and a faculty member of the
Middle School Jazz Academy at Jazz at Lincoln Center, LaFrae has toured,
recorded and worked with a myriad of Jazz, Blues, Pop, Rock, and Hip-hop
artists including Kelis, Il Divo, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Robert Lockwood Jr.,
Reuben Wilson, David “Fathead” Newman, Pinetop Perkins, Cyndi Lauper,
Nancy Sinatra, Irene Cara and Bumblefoot
."
You would think that having four such
talented individuals in the genre of Jazz, that that would over shadow the
blues elements on "I Feel So Glad", but that is not the case. Certainly
the infusion of Jazz is a big part of this Album, but more so as a
wonderful blending with the Albums element of Blues, which make it both
together, very unique and
refreshing.
When I first started listening to "I
Feel So Glad", I was not sure if I was really going to be able to get into
it and give it a chance that I would end up liking it. It did not take me
long though to realize that I was listening to something that was very
special and although it may be a little different, or should I say a lot
different to what most of us consider to be the Blues, it is still worth
the time taken to give it a good
listen.
For me, "I Feel So Glad", really took
a chance that a Blues fan such as myself would find this album intriguing,
but I must say that is the impression it left me with. For something a
little different in your world of music, I really have no hesitation
recommending you give "I Feel So Glad" a
listen.
Review by John Vermilyea (Blues
Underground
Network)
Additional Info
Tracklist
1. Hound Dog 3:26
2. I Feel So Glad 2:56 3. I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free 6:09 4. Fishin' Blues 4:57 5. A Healing Song 6:34 6. After Hours 6:44 7. Rwandan Child 4:55 8. Night Time 4:07 9. John Henry 2:51 10. Trouble of the World 6:02 11. Rabo de Nube 4:19 12. Shake Sugaree 3:41
Listen To Samples Here...
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