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Kelly's Lot—The Blues Remind Me—Independent

Kelly Zirbes (Zir-bees) has fronted Kelly’s Lot for thirty years.
She is a prolific writer of songs, often using social media to ask
her followers for one word, inspirational responses to a theme-
cue (What word comes to mind when you think of the word
‘loss’?) while seeking to formulate and hone her lyrics.

Over the years, Kelly’s Lot have made sixteen albums, but this
is only the third to have blues as its core theme.

The opener, ‘I Gotta Sing The Blues’, features Mo Beakes, who
is the keys player in the band and a fine job he does on the 88’s
and on the vocal lead too, supported by Ms Zirbes. ‘Boogie Bus’ is a cracking song, “Get On Board
the Boogie Bus” with vocal by Kelly, and some excellent work by the band including key harpwork
by Croatian, Tomislav Goluban. Sax men Bill Johnson and Paulie Cerra added to Didier Reyes,
Chip Tingle and Aviva Maloney, who also played flute, round out the horn section. Add to that
mix, bandmates, Rob Zucca, Gary Bivona, and Frank Hinojosa on guitar, flugel horn, and harp.
Add again Mike Sauer on Drums and Matt McFadden on Bass and you have a band that wil give
anyone a run for their money.

The complete recording of the ten songs here, written by Zirbes and he life partner Perry
Robertson, is a delight to listen to.

Ian K. McKenzie

Aisha Kahn and Friends—The Magnificent Twelve—FOLC
RECORDS/ Bandcamp

The strapline at the foot of the cover reads, “A dozen dazzling
duets from contemporary roots music heros”, which is a pretty
good description on this album, even if it’s only partly true.

The ‘heros’ include: Big Joe Louis, Big Sandy, Paul Ansell,
Madeleine Rose Witney, The Hey Las, Paul-Ronney Angel,
Gelato, Carl Sonny Leyland, Deke Dickerson, Carlos Bandido
& Tony Diavolo, Howlin’ Ric and Jackson Sloan. Not exactly a
bunch of names that will fill a concert hall.

The opener ‘Good Morning Midnight’ is a song based melodically
around ‘Good Morning Little School Girl’ and has the terrific Big Joe Louis guesting, as well as a
seriously good horn section. Ms Khan has a fine contralto voice and carries the song well.

On the other hand, although expertly done, ‘Shake It For Your Mama’ comes with the support of
the Hey Las, an all-round, vintage vocal-harmony trio amounting to a tribute band lauding the
likes of The Shangri-Las, The Ronettes, The Chordettes and The Chiffons. Fine vocals to a pop
song by Ms Kahn, but the backup singing could be any one. The same with ‘guests’ on many other
tracks.

BUT—if you want a real treat, seek out ‘Transatlantic Boogie’ with guest Carl Sonny Leyland. Its
the best thing on the album. It is a stunning boogie piano piece delivered by a master of his craft.
Not only British but from Southampton, he is here telling the story of his move to the USA after
time working with bands in the BiTS area, including Bob Pearce. This one is worth the cost of the
album alone.

Ian K. McKenzie