Track Listing
1 - Murder in theFirst Degree
2 - Goin' to Chicago
3 - Somebody's BeenSleepin' in my Bed
4 - Southside Shuffle
5 - Back Door Man
6 - Rockin' Chair Daddy
7 - Don't Cut Me off Again
8 - One Day theBlues Will Hit You
9 - Chicago's Still Burnin'
10 - I'm Gettin'down on You Baby
11 - I've Got MyDoors Open Baby
12 - You BurnedToo Many Bridges
13 - Woke Up In Chicago
14 - Goin' Up Your Alley
15 - Too Many Drivers
EB Rating - 4.0
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Vocalist/keyboardist Chris "Blue" Coltrane is 63 years young,
he looks and sings much younger than his years. He grew up in Fresno, California, and cut his
blues teeth performing in predominantly all black blues joints while still in his teens. For
the last several years he has been based in the Eugene, Oregon area. His vocals are solid and
fairly distinctive.
Messin' With the Blues is billed as "Blues With a Jazz
Fuse". Most of the songs are backed by a full horn section. The band is tight and talented,
though the horn section gets a bit overbearing at times. Guitar is not heavily featured, but
there are a few good slow blues guitar solos scattered here and there. There is also the occasional
harmonica fill.
My favorite songs from the CD are the three slow blues numbers,
Somebody's Been Sleepin' In My Bed, One Day the Blues Will Hit you,
and Goin' Up Your Alley. These songs are each individually unique,
and are the CD's strongest offerings. Also noteworthy are Murder In the First
Degree, Goin' To Chicago, Don't Cut Me Off Again, You Burned Too Many Bridges, and
Woke Up In Chicago.
The balance of the songs are in the OK to good range. For me, this CD hovers between a 3.5 and 4.0
rating. I gave it a 4.0 on the strength of the three excellent slow blues songs, and the fact that
there aren't any truely poor songs on the CD. The make or break factor for this CD may be whether
or not you enjoy blues backed by a fairly up-front horn section.
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