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Jason Ricci and New BloodJason Ricci and New Blood Live at Sweeney's Station Saloon on 2005-02-25 (February 25, 2005)

Collection: : JasonRicciandNewBlood
Band/Artist: Jason Ricci and New Blood
Date: February 25, 2005 (check for other copies)
Venue: Sweeney's Station Saloon
Location: Philadelphia, PA

Source: Sony Minidisc recorder, front of stage RHS
Lineage: cdr > cdda2wav > shorten
Taped by: Larry Hinkel
Transferred by: Garry Hodgson
Keywords: Live concert

Description

Baked Potato
Scratch My Back
Hip Shake
Driftin' and Driftin'
I Wish You Would
Rollin' And Tumblin'
Same Thing
Doin' Time In The Blues Penitentiary
I'm A New Man
Snowflakes And Horses
Goenopheny
Wake County Stomp
Blue And Lonesome
Sweet Home Chicago
Give It Up Or Let Me Go
Walkin' Through The Park
Put Shoes On Your Feet
Mean Mistreater
Adam and Jason Boogie

Individual Files

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Reviewer: DaveBalantine - - January 3, 2008
Subject: With Respect
Two qualities demonstrated by the greatest players (such as Adam Gussow) are economy and phrasing; speed doesn't compensate and much as I admire Jason Ricci, the strident quality of his playing can be irritating. The last number showcases the artistic divide; the mellow ease of delivery by Gussow and the frantic response by Ricci. However, time is on his side (just)
I'd love to hear him playing on some numbers where he was limited to a few brief lyrical licks

Reviewer: hyperboy - - April 12, 2006
Subject: new band for me
Damn! These guys are hot! I've never heard of them. This is a great show and a sweet recording....sounds like you are sitting at the table directly in front of the band. If you like your blues stripped down, mean and dirty, then this is for you.

Reviewer: steve messenger - - April 6, 2005
Subject: Remember Little Walter?
2/25/205 was a party for Tom Lawton, a friend of the band.  Garry Hodgson was sitting for most of the second set right along the front of the stage, on Maki's drum case.  The mics and minidisk recorder were sitting directly over his head, and if you are lucky enough to have a copy of this stunning show, you get to hear exactly what Garry heard.

With a nod to Toots Thielman, Jason fades in, bopping a cool blues, Baked Potato, and sounding like some sort of Watermelon Man hipster.

Then its a change of gears into Slim Harpos Scratch My Back, trading licks and chicken-squawks with guitarist Shawn Starski until those chickens come home to boogie. Jason doesnt play an extraneous or gratuitous note.  The mark of his playing is that every note is there for a purpose, building on the melody, improvising off the harmony, conversing with the other instruments.

Then, Its time to Rock n Roll with another Harpo gem, Hip Shake (you might know it as something the Stones covered).  As Jason exhorts the crowd, Shawn frames the hip-shakin with sinuous guitar lines that come to the front like a boogie-fied rip tide, building variation upon variation that will have you head-shakin, too.   After that first guitar crescendo, the volume goes down and the song metamorphoses into Wang Dang Doodle, and here comes Jason.  Starting with long full chords, the boogie breaks down into sharp flurries of notes flying from all over the scale that dare you to sit down. 

And if you werent sure about this trip through harmonica past, present, and future, the next stop is Paul Butterfields Driftin and Driftin (with an introductory tease of   Blues in the Night that appears again during Jasons solo).  While the Butterfield original (from the transcendent Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw) wailed the blues with a monstrous horn section, Shawn comps chords until he lets fly with a stinging, sad, single-note lead.  Then Jason sings the chorus and its time for another cathedral of harmonica.  Jason builds the foundation and then returns to add melodic statements that create another melody on top of Driftin, and then switches gears into Too Close together, a New-Orleansian rhythm that the listener has no choice but to fall into, grinning like a zealot.

Then its off to the races with a heavily funkified version of the Yardbirds I Wish You Would.  Damn!  Jason gives the drummer (Maki Bergara) some and Maki takes it and then some!  Then its back to Jason, playing fast and precise with his ears open and offering up cascades of notes that are woven into glittering strings of well-thought out phrases.

Muddy Waters? Jason and New Blood make Rollin and Tumblin their own.  Maybe here is where Jason really shows off his influencesthrough this show and others Ive heard, I keep thinking that Jason treats his harmonica like a saxophone and thats it! Little Walter!!! Jason has obviously listened to a lot of Blues, R&B, and Jazz, and has found, like Little Walter before him, that a harmonica can wail and sing like a tenor sax.

In Snowflakes and Horses, a powerful story about going down the road that the Devil paved, Jasons heartfelt and stunning narrative in the middle of the song negates the need for any harp, but he adds just the right touch of seduction, regret, and salvation, so the listener cant help but take a lesson in life from Jasons blues.
 
The third disk features Adam Gussow, one of Jason's mentors, on harp and vocals on Sweet Home Chicago, and both of them trading leads for the last song, Adam and Jason Boogie  Whew!   
 
This is some heady stuff!  Jason Ricci and New Blood are tight, talented, and terrific! There is not a wasted note in this virtuoso performance.  Get out to see these musicians (yes, they are musicians!!!), and get their shows.  You will find that Jason and New Blood will be seldom absent from your CD player. 

Reviewer: Ringo - - March 29, 2005
Subject: If you need some blues tonight.....
you'd better to download this show. This is it.

I don't know well about these guys, but their blues are something. "Driftin' And Driftin'" and "Blue And Lonesome" are my favorites.

Reviewer: snarkus - - March 19, 2005
Subject: TAO gaps are fixed
the TAO gaps originally present on the recording i received have been removed. sorry for missing this originally.

Reviewer: dorrcoq - - March 13, 2005
Subject: TAO Gaps
all of the SHN files have a 2-second TAO gap at the end. Otherwise, this is a great show!

Notes

Jason Ricci - Harp (Harmonica) and vocals
Shawn Starski - Guitar
Tom "Slim" Louis - Bass
Maki Bergara - Drums

This show was a birthday bash for Tom Weston.
Shawn on vocals on "Same Thing"

Adam Gussow on Harp and vocals disk 3.
Last track features Adam and Jason trading leads.