L.ittle A.lbert

Reviews Seance time: L.A. Jones & the Blues Messengers come close to conjuring Albert King on their self-released tribute L.ittle A.lbert. Jones, who claims King showed him his secret tuning, strings his guitar upside down and, like Albert, bends strings into the stratosphere. The phrasing, the lines, even the edge-of-breakup tone is here. Its uncanny. Of course, such a talent wouldn't amount to more than a curiosity without excellent music, ably provided by Gigi Todesca (bass) and Vincenzo Barattin (drums), with keyboards (great Hammond work from Loris De Checchi), sax, and trumpet fleshing out the sonics. Songs include lovingly re-created or reinterpreted staples of the King repertoire such as "I've Made Nights by Myself," "Natural Ball," "I'll Play the Blues for You," and "Crosscut Saw," as well as the fine originals "Long Distance Love" and "Too Scared To Sleep." Jones' dedication to King's style is apparent, as is his intent to share the master's music. His singing is excellent, though his voice, unlike his playing, is distinguishable from King's. Tom Hyslop - BLUES REVUE Jun/Jul 2007 ********************************************************************** L.A. JONES & THE BLUES MESSENGERS Little Albert: Albert King Tribute - Barking Blues Music From one left-handed guitarist to another, this tribute album was recorded in Italy by L.A. Jones with a band of Italian blues musicians. Ever since meeting Albert King backstage in 1985, Jones had adopted the veteran's unusual guitar tuning with a right-handed guitar held upside down. What's important, however, is the sound that he gets out of his instrument. Jones breathes the same blues as Albert King, convincingly with an authentic band backing up his vibrant guitar strokes. Bass, drums, piano, organ and horns give him an incredibly vibrant feel as the leader interprets six of King's songs as well as several of his own. Swing numbers, such as "Let's Have a Natural Ball" and "I've Made Nights by Myself," provide the kind of audience-pleasure that King brought to his audiences for over 40 years. The more dramatic numbers on the program, such as "I'll Play the Blues For You," "Flood-in' in California" and "Crosscut Saw," bring more authenticity with clearer memories of the veteran bluesman who passed away not too long after his last appearance in the Southland. Like King, Jones concentrates on tone and intensity more than flash. Those guitar strings bend appropriately in giving meaning to each lyric. Jones adds "The Very Thought of You" to the program with a sincere appreciation for the memories that King left us. It's a natural gesture that goes a long way in explaining our appreciation for the departed bluesman. As he closes the session with his own "Long Distance Love," played nice and slow with plenty of guitar expression, Jones ensures that we're all able to join in on this fitting tribute. — Jim Santella (writing for Southland Blues Magazine, 9-2007) ********************************************************************** L.A. Jones& The Blues Messengers “Little Albert” I ain´t got no big name / and I ain´t no big star / but I´I'll play the blues for you / on my guitar". L.A. Jones starts his homage to Albert King with a standard of the blues history - and he does well! He is backed up - as usual - by the Blues Messengers, Vincenzo Barattin on drums and co-producer and Gigi Todesca on Bass - also fat horn and Hammond B3. As does Albert King, Jones plays his Flying V left handed. Jones' sound is sharp and the sound is soulful bluesy with Hammond in the background and also sharp horns. Most of the songs are compositions of A. King, but also originals like "Too Scared to Sleep - fits well. "Let´s Have a Natural Ball" treats us to Swing- Tradition. Jones sounds like a bar-crooner in "The Very Thought of You" - a piece of American Songbook. Jones is a traveler between several blues styles - you should follow him!! (meaning listen to the album, gigs etc....) Dietmar Hoscher Head of Blues Department CONCERTO Matthias Wagner Gasse 1 / RH 5 A-1210 Vienna Austria (Europe) www.concerto.at ********************************************************************** L.A. Jones & the Blues Messengers - "Little Albert (Albert King Tribute)": Full-cd - US Albert King (1923-1992), one of the "three Kings" (with B.B. and Freddie), played a large role in introducing Memphis style soul music to the blues. His relaxed singing and heavily string-bending guitar style was an intoxicating mix that would bring the blues to a much wider audience. His style would later be copied by a lot of blues men. Even nowadays some of them feel the need to honor this blues legend. L.A. Jones & the Blues Messengers is a band like that and they have just released the tribute album "Little Albert". Two tracks out of nine are originals: 'Too Scared To Sleep' and 'Long Distance Love', both gripping slow blues songs. The jazzy 'The Very Thought Of You' by Ray Noble has a distinctly sensitive touch to it, but I feel this song is the odd one out on this album. The remaining songs are Albert King covers. 'Born Under A Bad Sign' (from King's Stax period) is not one of them, but 'Cross Cut Saw', 'I'll Play The blues For You' and 'Let's Have A Natural Ball' are. Jones and his band deliver the goods, that's the least you can say. L.A. Jones provides splendid guitar play, equivalent to Albert and his singing is equally sound. The band is solid and each track is a delightful experience. The must have of the month. Reviewed by: Bobtje Blues - Belgium Copyright (c): Bobtjes Blues Pages - www.bobtjeblues.com ********************************************************************** Now listening to it and you can rest assure that this CD will get airplay in my program as from coming Tuesday and weeks to come because I think it is a great collection of tracks with great musical skills, a fine production that's for sure! - Joost van Steen , Jazz & blues Tour with Alphen Stad FM (short; ASFM105.4), a local radio station in the Green Heart of Holland in Alphen aan den Rijn in The Netherlands ********************************************************************** L.A. Jones & The Blues Messengers L.ittle A.lbert Barking Blues Music BB08 The artier among us will know the Venetian outpost of Dolo largely from etchings by Canaletto. Here however we have another cultural artifact crafted and created in that very location - albeit one which is spiritually American in most other respects. It's both a tribute to the late Albert King and a showcase for the Connecticut-born, California-based guitarist L.A. Jones. More precisely it's a demonstration that Jones has, in Lucky Peterson's words, 'got that Albert King **** down!'. Quite why he's also gone all Italian on your ass is not explained. When I reviewed Jones' last CD, Birthday Suit, some five years ago, the names of his Blues Messengers sounded convincingly American for the most part. Here his rhythm section is Gigi Todesca and Vincenzo Barattin, and his record sports a supporting cast that includes Marco Ponchiroli. Francesco Boldini and Loris de Checchi. Still, I know from experience that the Venetians love their blues as much as everybody else, and for the most part this is a decent and impressive homage to the old pipe sucker. It's naturally a less jazz-inflected set than Jones' last and it contains a couple of original compositions which sit perfectly well alongside seven songs written or recorded by King. The cover of Ray Noble's "The Very Thought Of You" is good, although I know lots of people who can't stand Albert's version, so the weaker-voiced Jones is unlikely to appeal either. Nevertheless, his counterfeiting of King's guitar sound and style is more than convincing, and this musician - with his oft-quoted ability to play both left- and right-handed guitars - seems a name we should be watching out for. Rating: 7 - Paul Lewis - bluesinbritain ********************************************************************** L.A. JONES & THE BLUES MESSENGERS L.ittle A.lbert - Albert King Tribute Independent Release I remember the last outing by these (three) guys was pretty damn good and here we get a tribute to one of the late great Kings, here Albert who he admired so much and met one night at a concert in The Lone Star Café in NYC. Sitting in a broom closet he was asking how Albert tuned up, he said, "I dunno !" Later on stage he turned toward L.A. Jones and retuned facing him and said, "You got it, you can see it you can do it?" He did! And ever since has been paying homage to his hero. Now L.A. Jones is no slouch I can assure you. If you haven't tried any of his discs to date then you ARE missing something. We got nine tracks here, two are L.A.'s own 'Too Scared To Sleep' and 'Long Distance Love' which is a slow number with each note again spark, while the rest bar 'The Very Thought Of You' (not sure on this one) are Albert's own. 'I've Made Nights By Myself' struts along in fine fashion, fine guitar breaks - very Albert King. 'Too Scared To Sleep' has a burning start and fine tone as every note is like a spark loaded with a potential of it's own to ignite something next to it. 'Let's Have A Ball' really swings with the added horns, gosh it feels like Albert is here. The very catchy ' Floodin ' in California' gets you up and about, 'Crosscut Saw' is here and L.A. closes out the set with 'Overall Junction' - he swings his way out of here in fine form indeed. Darren Howells Editor-in-Chief/Art-Director Blues Matters! Blues Matters! has been recognized with the receipt of The Blues Foundation's KBA (Keeping the Blues Alive) Award in Print Media, for 2007! ********************************************************************** Label: Barking Blues Music We received 2 cds at the same time from L. A Jones and both are no longer quite recent. "Little Albert", is the most recent before that is a CD named "Birthday Suit". "Little Albert is naturally a tribute-cd dedicated at the work of Albert King. Razor-sharp guitar solos and better known Albert King numbers such as "I "I'll Play The Blues For You" and "Crosscut Saw" are naturally present, but fortunately also lesser known works such as "Let's Have A Natural Ball" with a nice T-Bone Walker tribute and a especially nice surprise "The Very Thought Or You". This cd was recorded for some reason or other in the Venice area, the Italian musicians sound very respectful. Also an original composition, "Long Distance Call" only totally in the style of the maestro himself. "Overall Junction" is an instrumental boogie that sizzles like fat in the frying pan. Good cd for the lovers of the razor-sharp guitar work this "Little Albert". From: Freddy Celis / ROOTSTIME.be