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R E V I E W S

Dennis Jones—Soft Hard & Loud—Blue Rock Records

Originally from Baltimore County Maryland, Dennis who has been

a Los Angeles resident for over thirty years now went straight into
the Matai studios in Los Angeles after his recent European tour had
finished, to craft and record, this, his seventh album of 10 original
numbers. Dennis who takes lead vocals and guitar is backed by
Cornelius Mims; bass, percussion and keyboards with Raymond

Johnson providing drums. Dennis also shares production credits
with Cornelius Mims. Work on the album began in February, but
was interrupted by the current medical climate, so a winter release
was chosen.

Dennis is primarily known as a bluesman with hard rocking tendencies, but his sublime and tender
guitar work here is matched with a mellifluous vocal on numbers such as the opener ‘Revolves

Around You’, a tale of complete and utter self-centredness, that contains an enticingly gentle rhythm
delivered by Dennis, his guitar slowly and angrily rises matching the obvious frustration in his voice
as he tells the tale. The autobiographical slow blues of ‘I love The Blues', allows Dennis to again
delightfully stretch out his gentle vocals and lyrically expansive and exquisite guitar work, while a
simmering B3 courtesy of Bennett Paysinger lingers hauntingly in the background. On ‘Like Sheep',

Dennis thrillingly arcs, dives and weaves his raucous guitar into AC/DC territory on the subject of
thoughtless conformity. ‘Nothin’ On You', is a gentle sweet R&B ballad that has Allison August and
Michael Turner delivering gossamer-like backing vocals, while Dennis delivers an equally
shimmering vocal that matches his crisp, sparkling guitar. Dennis returns to his hard and heavy
trademark guitar playing on ‘When I Wake Up', a tale of love, lust and desire, while guitar, bass and
drums grind out their raucous musical offering, Dennis provides a rip-roaring vocal. The epic blues

of ‘I’m Not', has the trio rising and falling like a ship in a storm, with a burning B3 added for good
measure, courtesy of Jason Freeman. The album finishes with the snarling, gnarled ‘Burn The
Plantation Down', a heavy and hard response to age old, racial ‘Southern Charm’.

Greatly endorsed!

Brian Harman.

David Rotundo—So Much Trouble Dreams We Share—
DSWCD0002

Toronto based, Canadian harmonica player David’s first release

‘Blowin’ For Broke', was nominated ‘Blues Album’ of the year in
2001 by the Canadian Independent Artist Association, but was
unsuccessful, although the following year 2002, he won the Maple
Blues Award ‘Best New Artist of the year’. In 2007 he won the
‘Maple Blues Award for Harmonica player of the year’ and in 2009
‘The CBC/ Galaxie Rising Star Award’. His first band was The Blue

Canadians then in 2003 he formed The David Rotundo Band. Since