(Blues/Harp/Funk) Jason Ricci & New Blood - Rocket Number 9 - 2007, FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

With his pink hair, sullen, expressionless face, and black clothes, harp blower Jason Ricci looks more art damaged emo kid than bluesman, but looks can be deceiving. Ricci tours relentlessly and has brought plenty of new fans to the genre with an approach that combines spacy, jam band meandering, the almost metallic guitar attack of Shawn Starski, and wide open arrangements that touch on jazz, rock, funk, Arab, punk, and, of course, blues. The album combines heavy, bluesy tunes and unexpectedly mellow soul outings. The title track, a Sun Ra tune, shows off the resourcefulness of Ricci and his bandmates -- Starski on guitar, Todd Edmunds on acoustic and electric bass, keys, and percussion, and Ron Sutton on drums. The arrangement opens with a sinister harp interlude, and switches throughout from a straightforward blues-rock vamp to brief solo breaks featuring quiet, jazzy guitar breaks full of swinging comped chords, measured single-note runs and odd effects, hushed bass ruminations, nose flute work from Ricci in the style of Rahsaan Roland Kirk, and harp that often sounds as much like a horn section as a harmonica. Guest Michael Peloquin brings a bit of sax in to add an extra flavor. It clocks in at over ten minutes but never loses focus. "The Blow Zone Layer" is a Chicago style jumper with distorted harp and an aerobic rhythm track. Sutton rushes the beat to keep the energy high. "The Rocker" is metal-blues with plenty of meat on the bone, but Ricci's vocal is over the top and somewhat embarrassing. His harp, however, and Sutton's shredding guitar work, full of humorously tossed off arena rock clichés, is impressive. "Loving Eyes" has a vaguely Eastern sound -- Ricci calls it his Junior Kimbrough-meets-Byrds piece -- while Sutton's guitar chimes and shimmers with long sustained notes that match Ricci's restrained blowing. "Sonja," written by Starski and Ricci, is melodic and meditative, with a Beatlesque melody, some hushed non-blues, almost country, harp, and delicate chiming guitar work. Sutton's trap drum is almost invisible, adding just the suggestion of a beat. "Deliver Us" is a funky, gospel tinged tune, with a more subdued vocal from Ricci and some uncredited churchy organ, and brief emotion drenched solos from Ricci and Starski. Vocally there are times that Ricci tries too hard to sound black, or like a young Mick Jagger, which can be embarrassing, but there's no denying his versatility on the harmonica, or Starski's guitar prowess.

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In just a few short years, Jason Ricci has compiled a musical resume and Blues credibility that most musicians don’t achieve in a lifetime. By the time he was 21, he had won the Sonny Boy Blues Society contest, had performed on the main stage at the King Biscuit Blues Festival, been featured on the Memphis evening news, and had worked with Susan Tedeschi, Billy Gibson, and Bobby Little.

Before you knew it, Jason was gigging with Jr. Kimbrough’s son, David, and frequently performed with Junior himself as well as with R.L Burnside in clubs throughout the South. During this period Jason recorded Down at the Juke with Kinney Kimbrough.
After Junior’s death, Jason returned home to Portland, ME and formed a band with guitarist Nick Curran. A year later, Jason won the Mars National Harmonica Contest, beating out over 1,000 contestants, and earned himself the opportunity to perform with the Fabulous Thunderbirds. Hohner harmonicas quickly signed Jason on as an endorsee.
After touring nationally with Big Al and the Heavyweights, Jason released a solo album, Feel Good Funk, but he needed new blood to take his music where he wanted it to go. Jason joined with young guitar phenom Shawn Starski, flamboyant Argentine drummer Maki Bergara, and veteran first Beale St. bassist Slim Louis to form, appropriately, Jason Ricci and New Blood.
JRNB has been on a rigorous, 300 gig-a-year schedule for a couple years now, thrilling audiences, defying musical genre labeling, and constantly evolving. No two JRNB shows are alike. After one deportation and one retirement, Steve Johnson now supplies an infectious swing on drums, and Todd “Buckweed” Edmunds brings a jazzy funky groove on bass that adds a whole new dimension to the band’s sound.
The band has released two albums – Live at Checkers and Blood on the Road, and the awards and accolades have flowed in – including the coveted “Muddy Waters Award” for most promising new talent.

However, Jason Ricci is no flash in the pan. He is a seasoned, road-tested and proven musician with a fire and passion to take his music to unheard of heights and innovations. He is an inspiration, a rare talent, and is a performer not to be missed.

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#777#777

Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 4 from 23. January 2008

EAC extraction logfile from 13. June 2009, 11:48

Jason Ricci & New Blood / Rocket Number 9

Used drive : CDRW 52X32X Adapter: 6 ID: 0

Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No

Combined read/write offset correction : 0
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Gap handling : Not detected, thus appended to previous track

Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 768 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files\Exact Audio Copy\FLAC\FLAC.EXE
Additional command line options : -6 -V -T "ARTIST=%a" -T "TITLE=%t" -T "ALBUM=%g" -T "DATE=%y" -T "TRACKNUMBER=%n" -T "GENRE=%m" -T "COMMENT=%e" %s -o %d

TOC of the extracted CD

Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
---------------------------------------------------------
1 | 0:00.00 | 6:59.68 | 0 | 31492
2 | 6:59.68 | 5:11.67 | 31493 | 54884
3 | 12:11.60 | 11:15.14 | 54885 | 105523
4 | 23:26.74 | 5:16.43 | 105524 | 129266
5 | 28:43.42 | 3:23.13 | 129267 | 144504
6 | 32:06.55 | 4:39.22 | 144505 | 165451
7 | 36:46.02 | 3:49.73 | 165452 | 182699
8 | 40:36.00 | 6:30.38 | 182700 | 211987
9 | 47:06.38 | 5:29.62 | 211988 | 236724
10 | 52:36.25 | 4:36.20 | 236725 | 257444
11 | 57:12.45 | 6:19.59 | 257445 | 285928
12 | 63:32.29 | 10:37.02 | 285929 | 333705

Track 1

Filename H:\1 HARP\Jason Ricci\Rocket Number 9\01 - The Rocker.wav

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Track quality 100.0 %
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Track 2

Filename H:\1 HARP\Jason Ricci\Rocket Number 9\02 - I'm A New Man.wav

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Track 3

Filename H:\1 HARP\Jason Ricci\Rocket Number 9\03 - Loving Eyes.wav

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Track quality 100.0 %
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Track 4

Filename H:\1 HARP\Jason Ricci\Rocket Number 9\04 - Dodecahedron.wav

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Track 5

Filename H:\1 HARP\Jason Ricci\Rocket Number 9\05 - Mr.Satan.wav

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Track quality 100.0 %
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Track 6

Filename H:\1 HARP\Jason Ricci\Rocket Number 9\06 - Deliver Us.wav

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Track 7

Filename H:\1 HARP\Jason Ricci\Rocket Number 9\07 - The Blow Zone Layer.wav

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Track 8

Filename H:\1 HARP\Jason Ricci\Rocket Number 9\08 - The Way I Hurt Myself.wav

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Track 9

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Track 10

Filename H:\1 HARP\Jason Ricci\Rocket Number 9\10 - Snowflakes and Horses.wav

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Track 11

Filename H:\1 HARP\Jason Ricci\Rocket Number 9\11 - Sonja.wav

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Track 12

Filename H:\1 HARP\Jason Ricci\Rocket Number 9\12 - Rocket Number 9.wav

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No errors occurred

End of status report

REM GENRE Blues
REM DATE 2007
REM DISCID A611610C
REM COMMENT "ExactAudioCopy v0.99pb4"
PERFORMER "Jason Ricci & New Blood"
TITLE "Rocket Number 9"
FILE "01 - The Rocker.wav" WAVE
TRACK 01 AUDIO
TITLE "The Rocker"
PERFORMER "Jason Ricci & New Blood"
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TRACK 02 AUDIO
TITLE "I'm A New Man"
PERFORMER "Jason Ricci & New Blood"
INDEX 00 06:59:54
FILE "02 - I'm A New Man.wav" WAVE
INDEX 01 00:00:00
FILE "03 - Loving Eyes.wav" WAVE
TRACK 03 AUDIO
TITLE "Loving Eyes"
PERFORMER "Jason Ricci & New Blood"
INDEX 01 00:00:00
TRACK 04 AUDIO
TITLE "Dodecahedron"
PERFORMER "Jason Ricci & New Blood"
INDEX 00 11:14:65
FILE "04 - Dodecahedron.wav" WAVE
INDEX 01 00:00:00
TRACK 05 AUDIO
TITLE "Mr.Satan"
PERFORMER "Jason Ricci & New Blood"
INDEX 00 05:15:47
FILE "05 - Mr.Satan.wav" WAVE
INDEX 01 00:00:00
TRACK 06 AUDIO
TITLE "Deliver Us"
PERFORMER "Jason Ricci & New Blood"
INDEX 00 03:21:73
FILE "06 - Deliver Us.wav" WAVE
INDEX 01 00:00:00
TRACK 07 AUDIO
TITLE "The Blow Zone Layer"
PERFORMER "Jason Ricci & New Blood"
INDEX 00 04:38:66
FILE "07 - The Blow Zone Layer.wav" WAVE
INDEX 01 00:00:00
TRACK 08 AUDIO
TITLE "The Way I Hurt Myself"
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INDEX 00 03:49:21
FILE "08 - The Way I Hurt Myself.wav" WAVE
INDEX 01 00:00:00
TRACK 09 AUDIO
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PERFORMER "Jason Ricci & New Blood"
INDEX 00 06:30:14
FILE "09 - The Eternal Is.wav" WAVE
INDEX 01 00:00:00
TRACK 10 AUDIO
TITLE "Snowflakes and Horses"
PERFORMER "Jason Ricci & New Blood"
INDEX 00 05:28:40
FILE "10 - Snowflakes and Horses.wav" WAVE
INDEX 01 00:00:00
TRACK 11 AUDIO
TITLE "Sonja"
PERFORMER "Jason Ricci & New Blood"
INDEX 00 04:35:12
FILE "11 - Sonja.wav" WAVE
INDEX 01 00:00:00
TRACK 12 AUDIO
TITLE "Rocket Number 9"
PERFORMER "Jason Ricci & New Blood"
INDEX 00 06:19:56
FILE "12 - Rocket Number 9.wav" WAVE
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PERFORMER: auCDtect Task Manager, ver. 1.0.3 B1 build 1.0.3.0
Copyright (c) 2008, 2009 y-soft. All rights reserved
http://y-soft.110mb.com

ANALYZER: auCDtect: CD records authenticity detector, version 0.8.2
Copyright (c) 2004 Oleg Berngardt. All rights reserved.
Copyright (c) 2004 Alexander Djourik. All rights reserved.

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