It is
kind of ironic that I listened to K.02
Sessions, the brand new release by the John Frick Band, for the first time
on the night that B B King died. I’m not going to make the claim that a torch
has been passed on from Riley to John yet I believe that John Frick represents
not only a future of blues in the tradition of the late B B but also the type
of innovation that King himself brought to blues when he started out.
John
Frick is no novice to the blues and has been plying his trade for about 25, or
more, years now. Over the two recent albums, from Urban Crossroads (2014) to K.02
Sessions (2015), John Frick is demonstrating to us that he is a musician
maturing and even peaking as songwriter and instrumentalist. The fact that you
might be a technically adept guitar player does not make you a good songwriter
and ultimately one does not want to listen to just fleet fingered solos. If the
songs are not memorable the experience of listening to an album becomes quite
wearying if each song is no more than the empty vessel for a sequence of glib
guitar solos.
As was
the case with Urban Crossroads, the
immediate impression is that Mr Frick is a really good, interesting and
intriguing musician. He has the blue tropes down cold but the intricate and
often unpredictable arrangements and quirky licks that are generously
distributed over the length of the album are proof that John Frick is not
merely a bloke who can replicate conventional blues licks very well but is a
musician deserving of close attention.
The
second thing is the quality of the songwriting itself, with actual hooks that
make the songs stick in the mind. The hard riffing horn arrangements add that
cool element of classic Stax soul–blues.
The two
tunes that are the immediate standouts from just that first listen are second
track “Frankie” a tribute to the late Frank Frost, original drummer of the
Blues Broers and father of master guitarist Albert Frost, and a narration of
the history of the Blues Broers, and the last track “March for Peace,” which
(to be honest) is a surprisingly low key and cliché-free plea for, well, peace. In the former track John
Frick seems almost preternaturally delighted in his own delight in singing this
exultant paean, with strong rockabilly echoes, and in the latter he has a more
gentle, thoughtful tone and words of hope backed by an old timey string band
supported by second line horns. These two tracks are head and shoulders above
the rest because they are so individual and so viscerally engaging.
Having
said that, there is not a single bad track on this album and each tune has
something catchy to offer, such as the way the riffing horn, stinging lead
guitar, wailing blues harp and tough rhythm section on opening cut “Bank
Robber” set out the stall for the wares to follow; the opening riff and amazing
tune of “I Just Can’t Go On” (K.02
Sessions’ equivalent of the indelible “The Same Way Too” from Urban Crossroads); the soul pop
insouciance, powered by Tom Moerenhout’s horn and organ, of the chorus of
“Inside of Me”; the cool jazz swing of “Got Me Going”; the guitar riff, horns
(again) and stone groove of “Thrill Seeker”; the slow blues bravura of “Storm
Rolling In” (which seems meant to be the centre piece of the album both in its
positioning in the set and in the emotional impact); the ‘Booker T & The
MGs fronted by Elmore James’ locomotion of “Ride That Lonesome Train”; the
delicious interplay between the almost heavy guitar riff, keyboards, the horns
and the backing vocals of “Superficial Love” (yet another smart soul-pop
groove); the slide guitar filigrees of “Get Up And Go There”; the delicate yet
driving piano and blues harp of “Down In Mexico”; the Stax soul power of “Go,
Baby, Go” (probably the weakest track on the album because it has the feel of a
jam rather than as a proper song, with only the punchy performance to carry it);
and, finally, the New Orleans-influenced string band sound of “March for
Peace” with the horns playing a swinging
counterpoint against Dobro bottleneck.
And I’m
just mentioning some highlights. As I’ve said, each track has plenty more to
offer. The band is on top of its game, with particular emphasis on Tom
Moerenhout, Leo Birza and old comrade-in-arms Rob Nagel as the soloists
alongside John Frick himself. There is a hard edged, whip smart toughness on
display that can only be achieved by a group of musicians that play well
together, have years of experience and the chops to show for it and are not
afraid to just play the damn blues without restrictions. The rhythm section is
so on point it is a subtle and sassy sum of its parts. The lyrics are good and
John Frick sings unrestrainedly, more so than on the previous album, as if he
has finally discovered his voice and is letting it speak, so to speak, for
itself.
I am
really enthralled by this album of modern blues with plenty of gutsy innovation
and yet with deep roots in various genres I love. It’s an album to listen to with wonderment,
admiration and joy. It’s an album that proves that blues can bring a smile to
one’s face from the sheer thrill of being a spectator to masters of the form
doing what they do extremely well.
Yeah, I kinda
like this record.
No comments:
Post a Comment