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MITCH
KASHMAR "NICKELS & DIMES"
Source: Blues Wax
Date: 04/14/2005
Writer: Mark Hummel |
BluesWax
Rating: 8
Reader Rating: 6
One Of The Best Of The
West
Mitch Kashmar may not be a household name in the Blues,
but in the inner circle his name commands respect of
the highest order. A great singer and a monster harmonica
player with serious tone and chops to spare, plus a
fine songwriter, Mitch has mainly worked the Southern
California region the last ten years. In the late 1980s
he started a Blues band, the Pontiax , in his native
Santa Barbara. They became a legendary act up and down
the West Coast, traveling as far as Europe and Canada
on a steady touring basis before serious personnel changes
sidelined their traveling efforts. They recorded one
LP during this time, which Mitch has reissued. Mitch,
at that time, was a disciple of Kim Wilson and William
Clarke , both South California harp legends. Since then,
Kashmar has really honed his craft to a very serious
level, producing a sound, both as vocalist and harp
player, that is very much his own. Unfortunately, about
eight years ago he was much more in the spotlight for
being Marcia Clark's beau (on the heels of the O.J.
Simpson trial) than as a great singer/harpman.
Kashmar made a killer Jazz CD a couple years ago that
really should have made some noise, but didn't even
make it into commercial release and he hasn't made a
CD on a real label with real distribution in quite some
time, so the release of Nickels & Dimes is cause
to celebrate. Kashmar's newest is on the up-and-coming
Delta Groove label, harp man Randy Chortkoff 's newest
project. It features an all-star cast of California
musicians, including the great Junior Watson on guitar,
Richard Innes on drums, Ronnie James Weber on upright
and electric bass, and Bob Welsh on keys. An added bonus
on this CD is special guests Abu Talib (formally Freddie
Robinson of Little Walter fame on guitar and vocals
on one song) and Arthur Adams (a stunning vocalist/guitarist,
as well). You can't go wrong with this cast of characters!
The disc starts off with "Dirty Deal," a romping
shuffle with Mitch blowing first position harp while
the band swings like mad behind him. Watson kicks off
the first lead of the disc in a thoroughly original
way, as only Junior can, by mixing Albert King licks
with Eddie Taylor licks and making it all work seamlessly
into his own bag. Watson's given plenty of room here
to shine. Mitch definitely gets the message across in
his vocal delivery that this woman has done him wrong
and there ain't no coming back.
"Nickels & Dimes" is in a funky groove
with Kashmar letting the world know his economic state.
Mitch blows some groovin' harp on this one, a clever
original he penned himself.
On "New York Woman" Mitch starts the song
with some jazzy third position harmonica played into
the studio microphone, giving a different feel to the
sound of this tune. There is a definite West Coast sound
to this one.
"Just Show It To Me" jumps along reminding
me a little of William Clarke 's kinda style, between
the style of the songwriting and the harp playing. There
is some great boogie-woogie piano playing by Welsh on
this cut and check out the killer upright bass playing
by Weber as well.
Abu Talib guests on his own "Lizzy Mae," singing
about his first girlfriend with just Mitch (blowing
3rd position again) and his guitar accompanying him.
A nice change of pace to the CD, lending another style
of Blues to the mix.
"Gettin Drunk" tells a swinging tale of woe
with Watson once again playing a wild Johnny Guitar
Watson -style solo. "Becky Ann" is pure Blues
and shows off Mitch's vocal phrasing to big advantage,
singing in a baritone voice lower then what he would
normally. Cool feel on this, with nice Little Walter-style
harp, plus original ideas thrown in to boot.
The next cut is the kind of tune that only someone who
is confident of his voice could pull off while going
on tape with a singer like Arthur Adams. These guys
are tearing it up vocally at the end of "Knock
Em Dead."
Also included here are a couple Walter numbers, "I
Don't Play" (with Innes doing an interesting shuffle
while the rest of the band rumbas over the solo) and
"Who." The CD ends with a cool harp instrumental,
"Runnin Off At The Mouth," with interesting
ideas spilling forth. The head reminded me of the "Had
My Fun" intro by Little Walter.
Hopefully this CD can bring Kashmar more recognition
in the Blues world, he's certainly up there with the
best of them! Check Kashmar's CD out at Delta Groove
Productions.com. |
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