34892 all of the SHN files have a 2-second TAO gap at the end. Otherwise, this is a great show! TAO Gaps dorrcoq 2005-03-13 21:58:15 2005-03-13 21:58:15 4 35431 the TAO gaps originally present on the recording i received have been removed. sorry for missing this originally. TAO gaps are fixed snarkus 2005-03-19 08:08:08 2005-03-19 08:08:08 5 36754 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. If you need some blues tonight..... Ringo 2005-03-29 20:41:09 2005-03-29 20:41:09 4 37704 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 it’s a change of gears into Slim Harpo’s “Scratch My Back”, trading licks and chicken-squawks with guitarist Shawn Starski until those chickens come home to boogie. Jason doesn’t 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, “It’s 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 weren’t sure about this trip through harmonica past, present, and future, the next stop is Paul Butterfield’s “Driftin’ and Driftin” (with an introductory tease of   “Blues in the Night” that appears again during Jason’s 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 it’s 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 it’s 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 it’s 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 influences…through this show and others I’ve heard, I keep thinking that Jason treats his harmonica like a saxophone and that’s 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”, Jason’s 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 can’t help but take a lesson in life from Jason’s 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.  Remember Little Walter? steve messenger 2005-04-06 13:42:51 2005-04-06 13:42:51 5 66443 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. new band for me hyperboy 2006-04-12 07:20:28 2006-04-12 07:20:28 5 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 With Respect DaveBalantine 2008-01-03 22:57:04 2008-01-03 22:57:04 3 6 4.33