Peter Karp – Jersey Town
This set pays a blues homage to Peter Karp’s home state: New Jersey. Land of Sinatra, Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, Nancy Sinatra, Young Rascals, Billy Falcon, Al DiMeola, Count Basie, Tim Bogert (Vanilla Fudge), Bon Jovi, Donald Fagan, Pat DiNizio (Smithereens), Connie Francis, Cissy & Whitney Houston, Ricky Nelson, Joe Lynn Turner, Sarah Vaughn, Tom Verlaine, Dionne Warwick, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Paul Simon, a guy named Springsteen, Debbie Harry (Blondie) by way of FL & Patti Smith by way of Chicago. My point?
Karp is in good company. He has hard acts to follow. Let him toss the dice. His 11 tracks on his 13th LP, Jersey Town (Drops April 17/Rose Cottage Records/42:05), explore loss, love, faith, fate, murder, hope & desperation, with support from guitarists Rick Vito, Sue Foley, & Mark Johnson & an endorsement from Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor.
I know Jersey. Born in the same hospital as Nancy Sinatra (Margaret Hague Hospital, named after a Jersey City mayor’s daughter, an obscure figure). Peter’s CD includes a picture of a stagecoach stop, The Stanhope House (1790–2025). It was also a great musical venue for decades & hosted renowned blues artists. Closed now, just like New York’s Bottom Line, Wetlands & Chumley’s.
Jersey, despite its Turnpike exits, has talent that rivals California. They have Laurel Canyon, we have Alpine. They have the Pacific Palisades; we have the real Hudson Palisades. They have In-and-Out Burgers; we have Hiram’s & Rutt’s Hut. They have Disneyland; we had Palisades Amusement Park. They don’t have Peter Karp.
The music is the whiter blues hybrid with tight horns, a little commercialized for consumption, since it’s not the melancholy, down-and-out, hard-luck life tales of Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, John Lee Hooker, or Blind Willie McTell. However, “House Full of Love” has a blues trajectory that’s acute. This is creative with a basic blues drive & the instrumentation is no cliché. Tight guitars, steady beat & a wall of sound constructed by Karp with skill.
“The Man I Used To Be” is disquieting & superb. The guitars are noirish, dark & relentless with a Z.Z. Top-type predatory note stalking the listener’s ears. Karp weaves a shadowy tale with compelling performances. His vocals tend to go raw within Tom Waits boundaries with “Faith” – the backup singers add cool atmosphere. Powerful.
Karp goes J.J. Cale-like with narrative expertise on “Fate Is a Train.” Excellent groove. “…fate is a train that you can’t stop.” Indeed. Can Peter rock? He’ll have Springsteen looking over his shoulder with “What Has Happened Here?”
Highlights – “Mojo Jam,” “House Full of Love,” “The Man I Used To Be,” “Faith,” “Tooth & Nail,” “Fate Is a Train,” “This Road,” & “What Has Happened Here?”
Musicians – Dennis Gruenling (harmonica), John Ginty & Dave Keyes (keyboards).
Color image courtesy of Andreas Behrends. CD @ https://www.peterkarp.com/
Enjoy some of our previous coverage here: Video Premiere: Peter Karp “Tooth and Nail”