Artist: Bob Corritore and Friends
Title: Harmonica Blues
Genre: Blues
Label: Delta Groove Music
Website: http://bobcorritore.com
ECard: http://www.deltagrooveproductions.com/music/releases/harmonicablues/ecard
Source Link: http://www.muzikreviews.com/reviews.php?ID=1191

Buying a good harmonica Blues album is like buying a cow that provides you with fresh sweet milk every morning. Buying a great harmonica blues album like Bob Corritore and Friends, Harmonica Blues, is like buying a cow that not only provides you with fresh sweet milk but also comes with a deed to a South African diamond mine. Harmonica Blues is priceless. The line-up of talent that has been put together here is like an all-star team of Blues legends. From the opening song with Koko Taylor singing like only Koko can on "What Kind of Man is This?" to Pinetop Perkins talking about a "Big Fat Mama" to Little Milton singing "6 Bits in Your Dollar", this album offers you a history of the blues tutorial in only one hour.

Bob Corritore's harmonica acts as the tour guide on this walk through his newly built blues neighborhood. There aren't any houses in this neighborhood though; only juke joints and step inside any one and you're going to be blown away by the down-home blues being crafted by professionals. Every musician present here knows exactly what to play and say. Legends always seem to know when it's time to shut up and let others shine. A perfect example is "Tin Pan Alley" featuring Big Pete Pearson on vocals. The band on this song functions as a perfect machine fading in and out when needed and play so beautifully they damn near take ownership of the legendary song.

Blues music has a formula that anyone can play. But playing the blues with your hands and playing the blues with your soul are as different as Cubic Zorconia and Diamonds. The second song on the album "Tell Me 'Bout It" features one of the most widely known and used blues riffs ever, but it's played as though it is the very first time those notes have been played in that order. Louisiana Red handles the vocals here like only a seasoned Bluesman can, with class. He tells his story like he is one of the Brothers Grimm that has given up on nursery rhymes and moved onto something more important, the Blues. The elder Delta Statesman, Pinetop Perkins, makes an appearance and sounds better than ever singing "Big Fat Mama". His trademark voice and piano speed the blues along with a bit of the Delta boogie that would make a dead man tap his toe. This song, like the others, sounds like it was recorded 50 years ago and just found last week in someone's basement next to some old paint cans thanks to the brilliant production by Mr. Corritore. Bob has shown that after 40 years of playing the harp and producing, he still has not only has "it" but he is also the definition of "it".

This album is simply great Blues. Bob Corritore and his friends provide the listener with a solid hour of some of the best Roots and Blues music I've heard in a long time. Every "Friend" on Harmonica Blues has brought their "A" game and together they have made a beautiful argument against sitting in silence. With "Friends" like these, who needs any other CD�s?

5/5 Stars

Key Tracks: Tin Pan Alley, Tell Me 'Bout It, Big Fat Mama

Doug Morrissey- MuzikReviews.com Staff

August 11, 2010

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Tracks:
1.What Kind Of Man Is This?
2.Tell Me 'Bout It
3.Things You Do
4.Baby Don't You Tear My Clothes
5.1815 West Roosevelt
6.That's Allright
7.Tin Pan Alley
8.Sundown San Diego
9.That's My Baby
10.Things Have Changed
11.Big Fat Mama
12.No More Doggin'
13.Bumble Bee
14.I Need To Be Be'd with
15.6 Bits In Your Dollar