Band Box Boogie
From October 2004
Instead of jumping on the jump-blues bandwagon a few years ago, guitar ace
Rick Vito waited until all the finger-poppin' voodoo bands with "Daddy"
in their name faded to the lounge circuit, and recorded an album that sheds
the nostalgic shtick and shows the range that genre encompasses, and then
stretches its limits even further.
If you're not familiar with Vito by name, trust me, you've heard him. 'The
fat-toned slide on Bob Seger's "Like A Rock" (and the Chevy pickup
commercial synonymous with it)? That's Rick. He's also an alumnus of John
Mayall, Bonnie Raitt, Roger McGuinn, Jackson Browne, and Fleetwood Mac,
among others. But, thankfully, he's no one's sideman these days.
This is without doubt one of the best guitar albums of the year –
or best albums, period, for that matter. Its nine originals, one collaboration
and three covers demonstrate Vito's mastery in several modes without sounding
like a sampler/resume. His distorted swing lines on "Blues Town"
are in a league with Junior Watson or the late Hollywood Fats. "The
Ways Of Sin" wraps staccato Django lines, electric slide, and a horn
line reminiscent of "Sixteen Tons" into a hip little package.
Meanwhile, "Can't Stop Rockin" is an instant classic - barreling
forward like a freight train.
The title instrumental, with a simple but infectious up-and-down melody,
would sound at home in a classic Warner Brothers cartoon - sort of Raymond
Scott meets Bireli Lagrene. Vito's sense of whimsy surfaces on tributes
to Louis Jordan and '50s pinup Bettie Page, while "Gypsy Serenade"
sounds like a beautiful new Django ballad - no mean feat. And whether on
acoustic or electric, clean or distorted, the array of tones Vito extracts
from various six-strings is as cool as the licks themselves.
If you're not curious by now, go to rickvito.com and prepare to be blown
away - DF
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Band Box Boogie
(From September 2004)
In this swinging release, jumpblues and slide ace Rick Vito revisits the
sounds he heard booming from Rock-ola and Seeburg jukeboxes while growing
up on the East Coast. Whether paying tribute to Django Reinhardt, Charlie
Christian, Les Paul, B.B. King, or Earl Hooker, Vito has the tone and vibe
wired. Distorted P-90 blues licks, snarling bottleneck fills, and jivey,
slapback-drenched riffs abound, and Vito sings about Cadillacs, loose women,
jail, and gambling-essential rockin' topics-with humor and verve. Plucked
on an acoustic, Vito's snappy Gypsy-jazz lines add a Continental flair to
this toneful outing. Streamliner. -Andy Ellis |
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