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‘Happy Broke And Free’ has some entertaining lyrics whilst ‘Skylight’ has a more country feel along
with some nice cello. ‘Kitchen Boogie’ is a great old style instrumental boogie with some great harp
work. ‘Lazy Sunday’ as the name suggests has a nice lazy feel, one to chill out to. The album closes
with ‘Amazing Grace (In Memorium)’ a slide guitar instrumental which sadly does not offer
anything new. But all is not lost as there are two bonus tracks; ‘Country Walk’ a slide instrumental
and ‘Too Much Choice Blues’ which is a great boogie with a message and some first class harp work
too. I could imagine Rick Estrin doing this one, this is my album favourite.
Eddie Martin is a master of his craft. He is a great multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and has the
voice too. More importantly he knows how to put it all together and deliver the blues.
Ged Wilson
Mark Cameron—Back From The Edge—Cop Records LPM 1680
Minnesota based Mark and the band have spent the last 18
months at Boom Island Studios, Minneapolis and Closet Studios,
Owatonna, Minnesota putting together this, their latest album of
10 numbers. The band are; Mark Cameron; lead vocals, guitar
and piano, with Sheri Cameron providing saxophone, washboard,
congas, shaker and flute, with Scott Lundberg 0n bass guitar and
Rick Miller on harmonica and melodica with Dan Schroeder on
drums.
On ‘This Is The Blues’, the band utilise an enjoyable mixture of
shuffling guitar and horns with Zack Lozier supplying a sweet
trumpet and trombone to emphasise the swing in blues, Mark’s gruff vocals are imbued with a
warmly inviting soulful resonance and the wailing harmonica tops it all off for good measure. An
enticing, bubbling and burbling harmonica melds nicely with a tight low ringing guitar on ‘2nd Job’,
which is in turn underpinned by a hypnotically persistent percussion. An enticing mixture of greasy
guitar and lonesome low level wailing harmonica drives ‘All There Is To It’, and then the funk filled
enveloping saxophone lets rip, inviting guitar and harmonica to rise, together they create a fiercely
enjoyable combination of sound.
A floating ephemeral sounding flute and gently strummed guitar emphasises the laid back, sixties
feel on ‘Lost And Found’, the gently struck percussion only adds to the warming cosy feel. On the
other hand ‘Back From The Edge’, is a warning that the abyss is not far away, if we continue as we
are, the mournful harmonica meets a growling guitar and the dour organ work from Tommy
Barbarella only adds to the sombre warning. The bass and percussion deliver a slow brooding feel
on ‘All Dressed Up’, which is apt for this snapshot of access denied in present day life. Here, the
gently rolling guitar is punctuated by a wearily mournful harmonica. This number pretty well sums
up life at the moment.
Most impressive!
Brian Harman.