Today<\/i><\/a> finds Zito backed by an all-star lineup of supporting players.\u00a0 Far from resisting the inevitable SRV comparisons, Zito went and enlisted Double Trouble keyboardist Reese Wynans, who delivers typically inspired work on Hammond and piano. \u00a0The great Cyril Neville trades lead vocals with Zito on the title track, a slow, swampy blues that he co-composed with Zito.\u00a0 Z joins forces with New Orleans singer-songwriter Anders Osborne on the latter\u2019s sweet, rather gospel-folky \u201cOne Step At A Time,\u201d and Susan Cowsill stops in for an inspired duet on the lilting \u201cShoes Blues.\u201d<\/p>\nStill, on this star-studded album of five covers and eight originals, it\u2019s Zito\u2019s own solo compositions — \u201cShoes Blues\u201d included — that consistently make the biggest impression, from strutting opener \u201cDirty Blonde\u201d to the sassy, finger-snapping \u201cBig Mouth\u201d and \u201cNatural Born Lover,\u201d to the gripping, slow-burning \u201cChange My Ways\u201d (complete with blistering total-emotional-release closing solo).<\/p>\n
What\u2019s wonderful about Zito — besides the genuineness and flair he puts into every phrase that leaps from his mouth and fretboard, is the deep respect and affection he evidences for the genre he works within.\u00a0 Take \u201c39 Days,\u201d which opens with a grinding, slightly menacing funk riff that settles back into a deep groove as Zito declares — in an opening line that arguably encapsulates the entire blues genre in a single phrase — \u201cIt\u2019s been 39 days \/ Since you walked out on me.\u201d\u00a0 <\/p>\n
As with many classic blues songs, once you\u2019ve heard that line you can pretty much guess the rest of the song; at that point it becomes all about the execution.\u00a0 And that\u2019s where Zito really shines, because his execution is not just flawless, it\u2019s exceptional. \u00a0As Wynans\u2019 organ looms and flares underneath, Zito strums and riffs with exquisite precision while singing like a man possessed.\u00a0 (To his credit, Zito does throw in a curveball or two as well, making it clear in \u201c39 Days\u201d that the relationship he\u2019s lamenting the end of was not all wine and roses \u2013 more like a pitched battle, and yet he\u2019s still heartbroken when she leaves.)<\/p>\n
Zito\u2019s sound can turn gritty in places, but that grit is balanced by consistently superb musical decision-making.\u00a0 For example, the otherwise rather standard bar-blues ghost story \u201cIn The Dead Of Night\u201d features a guitar solo so powerful and precise and tasteful, you\u2019d be hard-pressed to identify a wasted note.\u00a0 When he finally bends one near the end, it\u2019s like the perfect flourish on a piece of fine calligraphy, that little something extra that elevates it from fine craftsmanship into the realm of art.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
Having complimented Zito\u2019s homegrown songs, it\u2019s only right to give a nod to the best of the covers found here. \u00a0Mel London\u2019s \u201cSugar Never Was So Sweet\u201d — a hit for Muddy Waters back in 1955 — has one of those classic blues double entendre choruses that Zito complements beautifully with the smoky sweetness of his playing, and his romping, giddy cover of the Sonny Boy Williamson classic \u201cEyesight To The Blind\u201d is pure musical joy to behold.<\/p>\n
Historical footnotes and facile comparisons aside, the simple fact remains — Pearl River<\/i> isn\u2019t just a terrific modern blues album, it\u2019s one of the best independent releases of the year.\u00a0 Don\u2019t miss it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":30120,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[8198],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-41759","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-mike-zito","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41759\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41759"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}