Blue To The Bone

blue-to-the-bone-out-of-stockIf I hear a better British CD than this one during the next 12 months I’ll be very surprised indeed”

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Genre: Blues/Blues-Rock Release Date 1/5/1997

Catalogue Number – CD BB003

Release Notes

Eddie’s first Band Studio Album is brimming with rich sounds across the blues /blues soul/ blues rock and jazzy blues spectrum. On some tracks it is pared-down to his tight three-piece for punchy blues-rock (like “You Thrill Me” or the funny, super-fast swing tune “The Birds n The Bees”), featuring fluid guitar runs and virtuosic simultaneous harp and slide solos. The rhythm section of Tony Caddle and Mike Hoddinott came to Eddie from winning the Best British Blues Band award the previous year with Innis Sibun. They rise to the challenge of Eddie’s eclectic songwriting with virtuosity and vital groove-centredness.

Elsewhere the bigger band blossoms into rich soulful blues with dynamic builds and cathartic releases. “Autumn Blues” is one such track starting with solo piano from the great John Baggott (ex Portishead, Larry Garner, Robert Plant) before the slow-burn blues builds and bubbles over with lifts from the Lttle Big Horns and gritty, plaintive vocals and blistering guitar runs.

The Late Dick Heckstall-Smith, who co-founded John Mayalls Blues Incorporated and played and hung-out with all the greats of the British Blues Boom of the 1960s, sat in with Eddie for the whole recording session, playing his killer sax and advising on the soundscape. Listen to his solos on “No Place To Go” and “Sad Times”.

The album received multiple nominations in the 1997 British Blues Awards (for Best Album,Best Band, Guitarist, and Instrumentalists) .

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Reviews

“Multi instrumentalist Eddie Martin is the most remarkable blues musician of his generation. And what a team he’s assembled – his regular rhythm section consists of bassist Tony Caddle and drummer Mike Hoddinott, names which, like that of Eddie’s occasional piano man here John Baggott, will be familiar to many as former members of the much missed award winning Innis Sibun Blues Explosion. Guesting saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith needs no introduction of course, and around half the tracks.

Caddle’s bass playing too is sensational, especially riding the changes of the Freddie King-like “The Fumble”, and during the ultra-funky “Edge of the line”. Baggott, as ever, coats the whole proceedings with several thick layers of class: he really is the best piano player this country has produced in years.

All the tracks work very well indeed and I’m pleased that Eddie’s social and political concerns are still to the fore throughout several of his lyrics. It certainly makes for a far more contemporary, believable and personal approach to the blues that that adapted by many of our practicing songsmiths.

In short, if I hear a better British CD than this one during the next 12 months I’ll be very surprised indeedBlueprint Magazine

Musicians: Musicians: Eddie Martin, vocals, guitars and harmonica; John Baggott, Piano, Gary Baldwin Hammond B3: Tony Caddle Bass, Mike Hoddinott Drums, Little Big Horns. Special Guests: Dick Heckstall-Smith, Saxophones.

 

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