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MITCH
KASHMAR "WAKE UP & WORRY"
Source: All Music
Guide
Date: 10/2006
Writer: Hal Horowitz
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Kashmar
is an established West Coast harmonica veteran
who has been knocking around for several decades
but first made a dent on the international blues
scene with his 2005 Delta Groove debut, Nickels
& Dimes . As if to make up for lost time,
he followed it up a year later with Wake Up &
Worry , another solid blast of left coast swinging
blues. Ignore the cartoonish and rather garish
cover of a groggy Kashmar in a bathrobe surrounded
by scantily clad models and dive into the disc
for a rollicking jump blues party. Kashmar has
a surprisingly compelling and distinctive voice,
but it's his astounding harp work that propels
this music. Sure, there is plenty of Little Walter
's overdriven electrified blowing in his style--he
covers both "Dead Presidents" and Walter's
"Up the Line"--but Kashmar puts his
individual stamp on this sizzling music. Blues
fans familiar with Little Charlie & the Nightcats
will want to own this as well, since Kashmar works
comparable territory. The harpist/singer takes
a break from his jaunty style for "I'm Sorry,"
a jazzy R&B ballad with female backing singers
and some tasty guitar lines from John Marx . Elsewhere
Rusty Zinn and Junior Watson , two of the finest
West Coast guitarists, add their energy and talent
to an album that has no low points. Those who
remember the late William Clarke will also gravitate
to this as Kashmar works a similar groove and
possesses the same combination of nimbleness and
attitude that characterized Clarke at his finest.
The album's closing instrumental shuffle of "The
Waddle" will leave any blues fan impressed
with its thick, gooey solos but the entire disc
is one of the finest contemporary blues harp albums
of the year. If Kashmar can maintain the quality
and pace of this output, he should find belated
fame as the master of the instrument he obviously
is. |
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