J.C. SMITH BAND

DEFINING COOL

2009-04-01

Hailing from the San Francisco Bay area, the J.C. Smith Band is a versatile six piece outfit (J.C. Smith on guitar and vocals, Donnie Green on drums, Paul Smith on B3 and keys, Robert Green on bass, Tommy Maitland on trumpet and Abraham Vasquez on tenor, alto and baritone sax) that can handle everything from straight guitar driven blues, "Bluezeman", to saxophone and b3 fueled funk, "Rite on Time", to jump/swing on the Roy Brown classic, "She Walks Right In", to mid-tempo scorchers care of Duke Robillard, "Lonesome Blues/Duke’s Blues" and Louis Jordan, "Outskirts of Town", to groove heavy reworks of the oft covered Don Nix tune, "Going Down", to a guitar and piano driven version of Albert King’s "I Walked All Night Long" to a slide laden version of Muddy Water’s "Satisfied". What holds this wide ranging set together is Smith’s powerfully elastic voice that swoops and glides with ease through not only the low down gritty numbers but also the ones that push the high end of his vocal chords. While this set is heavy on covers there are a couple of well done originals and the band adds enough new instrumental spark to the rest to make it an enjoyable listen. Smitty

More reviews tagged #Blues

  • reviewed 09/2017

    Dudley Taft
    Summer Rain

  • reviewed 04/2010

    JOHNNY MOELLER
    BLOO GA LOO

  • reviewed 06/2014

    Janiva Magness
    Original

  • reviewed 10/2009

    IRMA THOMAS
    THE SOUL QUEEN OF NEW ORLEANS 50 Th ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION

  • reviewed 06/2011

    TRAMPLED UNDER FOOT
    Wrong Side of the Blues

  • reviewed 12/2007

    HOPE WAITS
    HOPE WAITS

Compiled by the WYCE Journalism Club

The opinions expressed in these reviews are those of the individual volunteers that submitted the article and do not necessarily reflect the views of WYCE or GRCMC; nor its staff, donors, or affiliates.