Chris Duarte & Bluestone Company - 396 (2009) [FLAC] torrent

Chris Duarte And Bluestone Co. - 396
Label: Irond - IROND CD 09-DD735
Format: CD, Album
Country: Russia
Released: 2009
Genre: Blues
Style: Blues Rock, Modern Electric Blues, Texas Blues


Tracklist:

1 Back In Town 4:54
2 Put Up Or Shut Up 4:34
3 Chattahoochee Side 7:12
4 396 4:16
5 Give It Back To Me 6:08
6 Silverspoon 4:51
7 Funky Mama 6:51
8 Mad As I Can Be 11:01
9 Angelina 5:29
10 Still I Think Of You 4:31
11 The Ballad Of Kohima Ridge 4:26
12 H 2 K 3 4:21


Personnel:

Chris Duarte - Guitar, Vocals
Jesse Bradman - Vocals (Background)
Yoshihiri Ogasahara - Bass
Toshihiro Sumitomo - Guitar, Slide Guitar
Taizo Takafuji - Drums
Taro Takagi - Percussion


Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, allmusic.com

Proving that the blues not only sees no color but also no country, Chris Duarte unites with Bluestone Company, the biggest blues band in Japan, for a collaboration called 396. Of course, duet albums have a long, storied tradition within the blues -- Junior Wells played with Buddy Guy, Johnny Winter revived Muddy Waters' career, British bands like the Yardbirds supported their hero Sonny Boy Williamson -- so this doesn't feel opportunistic, although it's clearly a way for Duarte to consolidate his Japanese following and get Bluestone Company some exposure stateside. In that regard, 396 isn't a particularly free-flowing jam session, but the album suggests that Bluestone Company aren't really about loose-limbed jams anyway. They're a tight, efficient outfit, working precision rhythms that never lose sight of the pocket, and they show a peculiar fondness for funkifying their groove, which makes them feel less like a blues band than a blues-inflected bar band. This doesn't give Duarte a whole lot of room to roam -- this is hardly a showcase for his guitar the way 2008's Vantage Point or 2007's Blue Velocity were and his vocals are too close-miked for comfort -- but it does speak well for him as a collaborator and for Bluestone Company as a supporting band that they could find a comfortable common ground, one that's partway between their two strengths. Granted, this common ground can sound like a weird, stiff jam from Jeff Beck and Stevie Ray Vaughan's co-headlining tour from 1990 -- only with less complicated polyrhythms -- but hardcore fans of either artist will find something to enjoy in this cross-pollination