#777
#777
Continental Blue Heaven CBHCD 2016
This new album features compositions ranging from soulful ballads with heartfelt lyrics, to full on guitar driven blues rockers. There are eight new Danny Bryant compositions as well as a superb and unique cover of the John Hiatt song “Master Of Disaster”. From the title track with it’s pleading vocal and soaring guitar solo, through to rockers such as “Every Time The Devil Smiles” and “Blues For Buddy” by way of the epic eight minute closer “Alone in the Dark”, this really is an album that brings everything Danny has learned in the last 10 years and two thousand shows onto one electrifying and career- defining album, The album was produced by Danny Bryant and recording legend Dave Williams and was recorded at the prestigious all-analogue Grange Studios in Norfolk and features stellar back up from Danny’s long time band of Ken Bryant on Bass and Trevor Barr on drums.Monday, February 01, 2010 - 11:02 AM
Tien jaar op de baan, meer dan 2.000 optredens, door circa dertien verschillende landen getourd, reeds zes albums uitgebracht, dat alles maakt van de nog net geen dertiger Danny Bryant, oorspronkelijk wonderkind, nu al een bluesveteraan. Zoon van Heather en Ken Bryant, was Danny nog vóór zijn eenentwintigste al vastbesloten om bluesrocker te worden. Met zijn RedEyeBand slaagde hij er in korte tijd in om een grote naam te worden, op dezelfde hoogte als bijvoorbeeld Walter Trout, Gary Moore of Alvin Lee. De jonge Brit uit Hertfortshire kijkt aan tegen een schitterende toekomst.
In dit nu zevende album blijft Danny verder de blues exploreren met respect voor de traditie en een gedrevenheid die in elke song tot uiting komt. Danny beperkt zich niet tot covers. Met uitzondering van John Hiatt’s ‘Master Of Disaster’ creëert hij hier acht songs, waarin de karakteristieke bluesthema’s opduiken, identiek aan deze van de blueshelden die hem vooraf gingen. De teloorgang van de liefde, afgebroken dromen, nachtelijke eenzaamheid, op drift geraken, je vindt het allemaal terug in zijn eigen beleveniswereld. ‘Just As I Am’ lijkt wel een uitgeschreeuwde wanhoopskreet, zich hier voor de gelegenheid begeleidend met een Flying V.
Danny blijft natuurlijk in de eerste plaats een overweldigende gitarist die zijn elektrische gitaren laat schreeuwen en kermen. Maar hij varieert van soulvol tot wild rockend. In de bluesballads ‘For The Last Time’ en ‘Day By Day’ zingt hij bijzonder soulvol. In ‘Just As I Am’ onthult hij de kwetsbaarheid van een gevoelsmens. ‘Master of Disaster’ past hem alsof hij het zelf schreef. En in het hunkerende ‘Alone In The Dark’ lijkt hij te verdrinken in een meer van tranen ‘high water rising everywhere’.
Zijn muziekmaten van de RedEyeBand staan hem terzijde met bas en drum. Geen betere reisgezellen dan zijn vader, bassist Ken Bryant, en drummer Trevor Barr. Bryant zelf producete dit album samen met Dave Williams. De songteksten werden bij ingesloten, vandaag een zeldzaamheid bij bluesgitaristen. Die teksten zijn zeker de moeite waard qua beeldtaal en metaforen. Zelf hield ik daarom nog het meest van het onheilssuggestieve ‘Every Time The Devil Smiles’ dat tot de verbeelding spreekt. Alles zit erin: de ‘deal done’, ‘mojo hand’ en de ‘black cat bone’, waaruit eens te meer blijkt dat Bryant met de blues is vergroeid, zowel met de ontstaansgeschiedenis als met de inherente soul.
Marcie
Blues/Rock guitarist Danny Bryant roars into the New Year with his best effort yet. ‘Just As I Am’ is an apt title for the big toned guitarist who leads his powerful trio through nine tracks that incorporate powerful licks, soulful grooves, mellifluous ballads and of course Danny’s undiminished fiery passion.
This is Danny’s 7th album and easily his best. The songs are strong, his guitar playing is imposing and his band comprising dad Ken Bryant on bass and drummer Trevor Barr, provide rock solid support; while the Dave Williams co-production brings out the best in his singing. But more than that there’s a fast growing maturity to Danny’s work as evidenced by his impressive vocal phrasing and his unhurried heavy duty solos.
Opening with the big tone and solid groove of ‘Shut Out the Light’ Danny quickly slips into rock ballad format on ‘Blues for Buddy’ - an ode to Buddy Guy full of guttural enunciations, staccato notes, repeated riffs and overall fiery guitar work - while the following ballad ‘For The Last Time’ offers more expansive guitar work.
And while the tough but cluttered ‘Every Time The Devil Smiles’ borrows some well worn lyrics including, ‘staring down the barrel of a loaded gun, wicked grin and the deal’s done’ and ‘Mojo hand and a black cat bone, track of tears and a heart of stone’, the combination of a big drum sound and incisive soloing provides a suitable resolution
But it is to the overriding strengths of ‘Just As I Am’ that we should look, for this is a very good album. The title track is a tub thumping slow burner with a chiming rhythm track and some impressive searing solos. You could almost summarise Danny’s climactic power ballad style as steering a measured course through big chords, tough riffs and angst filled vocals. It’s a style further exemplified on the equally impressive ‘Day By Day’. The latter employs a deep tone a la Robin Trower to bring real presence to an emotive ballad. The acoustic/electric double tracking nicely fills out the tone leaving Danny to do all the talking with a meandering solo. Only a rather perfunctory fade detracts from a mesmerising outing. But as if paying attention to the dynamics of the album’s sequencing, he quickly juxtaposes that with a Walter Trout style rocking blues ‘The Hard Way’ and saves his best for last on the closing ‘Alone in the Dark’, a delicious wah wah inflected climactic ballad.
‘Just As I Am’ has enough radio friendly outings - helped in no small way by the surprising but effective inclusion of John Hiatt’s ‘Master of Disaster’ - to surely help Danny pick up more fans at home. At present his rock /blues style has served him well on the hard gigging Euro circuit, but given a fair wind he might just finally crack his home market with an album that will surely turn a few heads.
****1/2 (4 and a half out of 5)©
Pete Feenstra (
www.getreadytorock.com)
BLUES MATTERS Feb. 2010
DANNY BRYANT'S REDEYE BAND Just As I Am
Two years down the road from "Black And White" and having played countless gigs along the way Danny and his stalwarts release their seventh CD at the start of February. With the same production team, the excellent and intuitive Dave Williams at the helm, father Ken on bass and drummer Trevor Barr at the back you could be forgiven if you asked has anything changed? Well the answer has to be no and yes. The CD again sounds crisp and clear throughout whether being driven hard or at more usual listening levels. The rhythm section gel together like the seasoned professionals they are. This time around you get eight original cuts and one John Hiatt cover. So what has changed? I think, overall, it comes down to that difficult to define thing called maturity of confidence. Danny's playing is more measured and his solos appear to have just the right amount of notes to do the job, rather than cramming in more than necessary. Danny's writing deals with love slipping away and the general hardships that life can throw at us. Don't think that this makes for depressing listening, oh no. The Blues has that weird ability to lift you up your spirits even when the subject matter may not be the happiest. Good examples from this set are 'Slipping Away', 'Blues For Buddy', 'Just As I Am' or the brilliant closer 'Alone In The Dark'. This is good, very good indeed.
Graeme Scott BLUES MATTERS
MAVERICK MAGAZINE
Danny Bryant’s RedEyeBand
JUST AS I AM * * * * ½
Pulsating and powerful blues album.
This guy just seems to get better and better with every new album release. After his great debut album WATCHING YOU! from 2002 was re-released last year by Roots Collectables he then goes and releases this blistering blues CD to follow it.
With long-time band members Ken Bryant (bass) and Trevor Barr (drums) forming the perfect foundation for Danny’s all guns blazing guitar solos, this is a super blues album to get 2010 underway with even more fireworks than were let off at the stroke of midnight on News Years Eve.
With just one cover on the album, a fine version of the John Hyatt song Master Of Disaster featuring a wonderfully soaring guitar solo to close, Danny has penned all the other tracks including the moving Day By Day with some amazingly atmospheric guitar playing and grittily emotive vocals. He also ends the album with the eight minute plus marathon Alone In The Dark, a gorgeous blues ballad with his passionately moving vocals supported by scintillating guitar that builds up to a long magnificent solo that brings the track and this fabulous album to a powerful and enjoyable climax.
Recorded and mixed by Dave Williams at the impressive Grange Studios in Norfolk, this is a fantastic CD that true blues fans will love.
DK MAVERICK MAGAZINE
Just As I Am is the seventh CD by Danny Bryant's Redeye Band. Like the previous six, it remains proof that the band is still one of the best blues/rock outfits on the scene. While the guitar is still front and center, there is now a shifted emphasis to the vocals. Fortunately, Bryant's voice is up to the task. He has always had a gritty, intense approach to his vocals and that is still the case here.
The first track, Shut Out the Light, begins with a great hook and is a good example of a call-and-response approach to guitar and vocals. I always wait for the guitar solo and was not disappointed. Although brief by Bryant's standards, it fits the song structure perfectly.
Blues for Buddy is vintage Danny Bryant. A song serving as a
tribute to Buddy Guy should contain a piercing, rapid-fire guitar sound and that is exactly what we get.
For the Last Time is a ballad that initially makes you think that there will be no guitar solo, but you don't care because the vocals and lyrics are so strong. However, about three minutes into the song, there is an excellent solo that lasts almost two minutes.
The next track, Every Time the Devil Smiles, is a tough, aggressive mid-tempo blues and is one of my favorites on the CD. The absence of the wah pedal on the first three tracks seemed to indicate that Bryant had decided to abandon the effect, but it makes its first appearance on the CD on this track.
Next up is Just As I Am. It is clear why this song is the title track. A slow, powerful, heartfelt song that encapsulates all that is impressive about this band: songwriting, vocals, intense guitar solos, and band cohesiveness are all on display. Ken Bryant (Danny's father) on bass guitar and Trevor Barr on drums once again provide firm, but never intrusive, in-the-pocket support.
Master of Disaster, a John Hiatt song, is the only non-original on the CD. It is taken from Hiatt's 2005 CD of the same name and is a surprising, interesting choice for a cover song. Hiatt is one of the more underappreciated artists that we have and I would like to see Bryant cover more of his songs, particularly such rockers as Paper Thin or Tennessee Plates.
Day by Day is one of the slower tracks on the CD. As Bryant has proved throughout his career, slow does not have to coincide with a lack of intensity. The wah pedal makes another appearance on this track and it is perfectly utilized.
The Hard Way is a track that perhaps comes closest to the definition of blues/rock. It has a chugging rhythm to it that he has used several times before on his previous CDs and I never tire of it.
Alone in the Dark, at well over eight minutes, is the longest track on the CD. It serves as a perfect example of Danny Bryant's song dynamics where he starts the song with a slow, ballad-like approach for the first two-thirds of the song, but the last third consists of a jaw-dropping guitar solo. It reminds me of his performance of Always with Me from two of his previous CDs.
Let me conclude by saying that I have been listening to blues and rock music for 45 years. Never in my experience have I enjoyed and been impressed by a band over the span of seven consecutive releases as I have with Danny Bryant's Redeye Band. They never forget what made them great to begin with, yet always manage to introduce new wrinkles with every release.
Now, where's that DVD so I can see them in concert without having to go through YouTube to do it?
Al Kaplan (
www.bluesrockers.ws)
