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REVIEWS

Ben Tyzack—Blues To The River—Self Release

Ben Tyzack is well known on the British blues cir-
cuit particularly through his work with the Spike-

drivers but here we have his first solo album, “Blues
To The River”.

‘Morning Train’ opens the album with some nice

and gentle guitar picking that gels so well with his
soft voice. ‘Such A Southern Place’ has a gentle jazz
feel with a hint of ‘St. James Infirmary’ type vibes.

‘Midnight Mademoiselle’ is more up tempo with
hints of jazz blues carried along with some nice understated piano.

‘Hold Me Still’ has some nice touches but just doesn’t quite get going for me. There

is a great rootsy opening riff on ‘Layin’ Down Lincolns’ that leads into a great Delta
blues tale that references the story of laying a penny on a railroad track and making
a wish, took me back to my childhood! The album closes with the title track ‘Blues

To The River’ which has some nice slide guitar infused in this bluesy tale which I
found to be similar in style to Martin Harley no less.

Ben’s vocals are solid, relaxed and assured and in fact the same can be said of his
guitar playing too, someone who is on top of his game. The piano from Roger Askew
on a couple of tracks really adds to the music in a cool understated way.

This album is well produced and has a nice chilled out vibe to it. Ben mentioned in
his notes trying to bring out a sort of cinematic quality to this album and I get that
and I think he has managed to achieve that aim. This is a great album, go give it a

spin.

Ged Wilson

David Ronaldo & The Dice—Six String Preacher
—Fandango Music

David Ronaldo & The Dice are a blues rock band

from Belgium formed in 2019 and “Six String
Preacher” is their fifth album release.

‘Southbound Again’ is a good solid opener with
hints of Tom Petty in there. ‘Too Blind To See’ is

another blues rocker as is ‘Too Old To Die At 27’
which has a Status Quo feel to it. There is more high