superb<\/a> 2008 Eclecto Groove debut Today<\/i>. It\u2019s also the second he\u2019s released on his in-house label Gulf Coast Records, after solid runs with both Eclecto Groove and Ruf Records. Composed and recorded during the COVID pandemic, its often dark and searching tone ultimately reveals a resilient spirit determined to make it through to the other side. (And if that sounds like an addiction-and-recovery narrative, well, Zito\u2019s been there, too, though that part of his story is now long in the past.)<\/p>\nGrammy winner David Z (Prince) returns to produce as he has several times before, and the two old friends waste no time framing these songs around Zito\u2019s gritty, soulful voice and stinging guitar. Opener \u201cI\u2019ll Make Love To You\u201d leads with searing slide and a tasty sax solo from Eric Demmer, an upbeat, rumbly JJ Cale cover that fits Zito like a glove. It\u2019s followed by a Zito original, \u201cDon\u2019t Bring Me Down,\u201d that has him half-pleading, half-demanding to the negative forces around him: \u201cI just want to live, live my life \/ Don\u2019t bring me down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Warm Hammond organ from Lewis Stephens helps brighten the mood as \u201cDreaming Of You\u201d rides a steady r&b groove, a style that suits Zito\u2019s smoky, impassioned vocals. Things get spookier with the subdued, echo-drenched blues shuffle \u201cIn My Blood,\u201d featuring silky-smooth harmony vocals from Lisa Leuschner Andersen. Next up Zito covers a guy who was famous for, among other things, covering JJ Cale\u2014Mr. Eric Clapton. Producer Z goes for it, layering Matthew Johnson\u2019s drums with echo and bringing the Hammond up in the mix as Zito delivers an impassioned performance on both vocals and guitar, culminating in a genuinely epic solo full of whammy-bar phlanginess and sustain. <\/p>\n
The Clapton nod feels all the more genuine when Zito segues right into \u201cWhen It Rains,\u201d an original that smacks of \u201980s-era old Slowhand, an atmospheric blues ballad with horns. The Texas hard blues feel returns with the sassy \u201cYou Don\u2019t Have Me,\u201d especially when he dots the swaggering woman-done-me-wrong verses with flashy little mini-solos in classic SRV style. Next, \u201cDamned If I Do\u201d offers an album highlight: a slow, urgent blues featuring superb tone and a horn section, building to a sky-hugging, ecstatic solo. <\/p>\n
The album closes out with a genuinely odd trio. \u201cRunning Man\u201d is a playful takedown of politicians that earns points for enthusiasm and sizzling guitar work, but none for the lyric, which feels like not just a clich\u00e9, but a lazy, counterproductive one. The American public is cynical enough already; what we need right now is people who are willing step up and try to change things for the better rather than just clowning on the sidelines. The good news is that Zito follows this misstep with a tasty, emphatic cover of Willie Dixon\u2019s slow grinder \u201cEvil,\u201d before finishing up with the expansive title track, a slow, purposeful electric blues about \u201csearching for the truth,\u201d persevering until you achieve redemption and a kind of rebirth. <\/p>\n
There\u2019s an earthiness to Mike Zito\u2019s music that\u2019s reflexively appealing; he brings abundant skill and craft to his music, but no artificiality or pretense, affectation or gimmicks. Resurrection<\/i> is another winning release for Zito, eleven tracks of raw, genuine, heartfelt performances designed to guide you through the darkness and back out into the light.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":34349,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[8198],"rating":[5615],"class_list":["post-46184","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-mike-zito","rating-rating-b"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/46184","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=46184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/46184\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=46184"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=46184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}