(Blues) Harmonica Buzz - Long Way To Memphis

mp3 320kbps


Label: Blues & Twang
Styles: Acoustic blues, Roots, Harmonica blues
Year: 2002
Art: Front



[4:12] 1. But It Helps
[4:08] 2. The Blues Are Better
[4:47] 3. If I Find A Bell
[3:28] 4. The Colin Shuffle (Inst)
[2:06] 5. Makin' Whoopee (Inst)
[4:27] 6. The Cornbread Jinx
[1:10] 7. Trev Mo (Inst)
[4:18] 8. Home (The Carpenter's Song)
[2:39] 9. Fomoco (Inst)
[3:27] 10. The Black And White
[2:40] 11. That Rhyming Phrase
[2:15] 12. Lucy's Feet
[4:15] 13. Carol & The Keeper (Inst)
[6:00] 14. I Need An Angel
[0:18] 15. Let Me Get Real
[3:45] 16. Long Way To Memphis
[4:32] 17. Deford's Train
[2:38] 18. The Bell Song
[3:08] 19. The Miracle Stop (Inst)
[2:43] 20. Jimmy And Darla


Harmonica Buzz is J.T. Sunden, a Michigan roots and blues harmonica player whose reverence for the form doesn't prevent him from having a whole lot of fun on Long Way to Memphis, his debut album. There is a wonderful, back-porch feel on this disc, but its seemingly loose style actually belies some crisp ensemble playing, and what may appear haphazard here is actually calculatingly exact. This is a hard road to walk, between casual and precise, but it works here, and Long Way to Memphis has charm to burn. Highlights include "The Colin Shuffle," which features some fine guitar from Alonzo Pennington and the marvelous vocal interplay between Michigan Mark DePree and Sara Q on "The Cornbread Jinx." A paean to songwriter Lucy Webster's feet called, amazingly enough, "Lucy's Feet," works surprisingly well, given the odds. A sample of harmonica wizard DeFord Bailey "doing his train" opens "The Miracle Stop," which is perhaps the most impressive track here. There are harmonicas everywhere on these songs, of course, but it would be wrong to call this a harmonica album. It really feels like a personal journey through American roots music with a man who just happens to always carry his harps, just in case.