Steve Azar - Delta Soul Volume One (2011)





_{Time: 37:16
Released: 2011
Styles: Blues Country
Label: Dang/Ride Records}



Tracks:

01. Highway 61 (3:35)
02. Flatlands (5:00)
03. Mississippi Minute (3:11)
04. Gonna Be Good Lovin' U (3:42)
05. Bluestune (4:11)
06. Indianola (4:24)
07. Doin' It Right (2:50)
08. Goin' To Beat The Devil (4:19)
09. The River's Workin' (6:01)

Steve Azar’s got Mississippi in his blood. He’s a Greenville boy, and his mama was born and reared in Clarksdale, near the Highway 61/Route 49 intersection made popular in Robert Johnson’s “Cross Road Blues,” where legend has it Johnson sold his soul to the devil so he could play the blues. He grew up on roots music of the delta region.

His first love may be Mississippi blues, but Azar has had a country career in Nashville, a stint that culminated in his #2 hit in 2002, “I Don’t Have to Be Me Til’ Monday.” Throat surgery set him back some, causing him to release his next records in 2006 and in 2009; the artist hasn’t not found himself on the top of the charts since. All of that could change with his latest release on his Ride Records label, “Delta Soul Volume One.” With its contrasting combination of tightly written lyrics, loosey-goosey arrangements and Azar’s winning, warm country-pop voice singing soulful blues, the album is embraceable for being something a little different.

Azar has a hand in penning all nine tracks, and it could be said that he sounds right at home here. In an interview with Suite 101 a few months back, Azar describes his then up-coming project: “It’s going to be my first real rock blues record. This is a very personal album. Every song tells a story. If you listen to it from start to finish, it’s going to take you down that journey where I grew up.”

This record certainly does just that with stand-outs like “Flatlands”: “September fields white as snow/A thousand acres of cotton rows/Sweet gospel preachin’ in the air/Amazing Grace is everywhere/So down to earth here in the palm of heaven’s hand/Baby, that’s the Flatlands.” This track is blues rock at its best; it’s got shimmy and tumble, solos of blaring-hot electric guitar, in-the-frying-pan piano, and galloping percussion, and is a plain ol’ devil-be-damned good listen.

“Mississippi Minute” has irresistible, syncopated verses about the big city, set against the shuffling beat of the rural south in the choruses, and “Doin’ It Right” has got a catchy, soulful and poppy groove. Final track “The River’s Workin’” is a six-minute, piano-driven stunner with a Jackson Browne vibe and string arrangement. While much of this record isn’t blowing with a commercial-country wind, it should rumble in and clear the air at radio with its refreshing rootsy sound and Azar’s honey-toned vocals.
_{Quelle by Janet Goodman}

Remi