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| From the
opening jangly chords of “Beggars, Rogues & Thieves”, this album
started to evoke the Texas blues stylings of Stevie Ray Vaughan, thanks
to a scratchy, naked Strat sound. But it was a pleasant surprise
to find out that it soon veered off that path and into a whole other
direction – that of funky fried blues. Jeff Scheetz Band’s
reputation brings them sellout crowds all over Kansas, Missouri,
Arkansas, Iowa…and Jeff has fans as far away as Switzerland!
This CD will surely please all those folks, and ‘wow’ a few more.
While there are comparisons to be made with SRV’s Double Trouble at
times, songs like “Beautiful Day” and “Free My Soul” take Texas
blues somewhere into the neighborhood of Jeff Beck and latter day Rory
Gallagher territory. And there’s some fluid, groovy extended
soloing that hints at Scheetz’ shred-guitar past. Of greatest
interest for guitar enthusiasts will be the sublime instrumental
“Buffalo Jam”, which smokes up until a sinewy Native American flute
break, then builds back up into a steady burn to the end. It’s
those moments - when Jeff and the band stray away from the relative
confines of the blues – when the music really soars.
The Fuze |
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