CHRIS JAMES/PATRICK RYNN

Gonna Boogie Anyway

2010-09-08

This duo has been around forever, but they never seem to drift far from their blues roots – be it hard-driving electric Chicago blues (“Little Girl”), Delta blues (“Headed Out West”, “You Can't Trust Nobody”), get-down Texas blues (“H.M. Stomp”), or swinging jump blues (“Life Couldn't Be Sweeter”, “Can't Stand to See You Go”, and the title cut, “Gonna Boogie Anyway”). This cd of (mostly) original music and a few covers is another example of their tight music (“Dearest Darling”) and hot licks , at times reminiscent of Buddy Guy, other times a rough-edged Stevie Ray Vaughan. There are a few cuts that grind a little more slowly (“Black Spider Blues”, “The Tables Have Turned”), but guitarist Chris James still manages to make them his own. His partner, bassist Patrick Rynn seems to be connected to him at the hip – the way they play so well together. They should, though, because they were both members of the Blue Four band, and have played backup for fellow blues musicians for the past quarter century. This is their sophomore effort as a duo, and they kick it off in high gear right out of the box with with a smokin' hot “Money Don't Like Me” (also, part 2). With backing pianists Henry Gray and David Maxwell, harp masters Rob Stone and Bob Corritore, as well as a pair of saxophonists in Johnny Viau and Allen Ortiz, and drummers Eddie Kobeck and Sam Lay sharing beats, this group cannot miss, and I know they will be around for some time to come. Steven “Nick” Nickelson