Harrell Davenport – Young Rell
The voice is ideal for the blues & the harmonica is accentuated with skill by Harrell Davenport (guitar), but he needs to keep his finger on the true blues thread rather than on entertainment. Track 1 has wonderful blues instrumentation on “Tomorrow,” but the vocals are too ambitiously smooth to be real blues. John Lee Hooker, Robert Johnson, & Muddy Waters would never get that enthusiastic. “Fatherless Child” is closer to the real deal. It has a pinch of desperation & with fanciful playing that’s worthy of keeping the modern-day ear interested. It doesn’t have to be all gloom & doom.
12 tunes produced by Matthew Skoller for Young Rell (Drops June 5/Little Village/47:08) provide the debut of freshly minted blues from a young interpreter of a genre that’s seen changes through the decades. I’m a stalwart. Blues aren’t a happy medium. It’s serious. There’s supposed to be a degree of intensity behind the tales, a hard day, troubles being mulled over, jealousy, deceit, suspicion, or a love loss.
“Spinning” is good, but it’s more funk than blues. Funk is actually the opposite of the blues. You can dance, get down & be happy with it. Harrell delivers, but it’s not necessarily something B.B. King would sink his teeth into, but maybe James Brown. Right now, it’s all a blues recipe & it needs a Davenport signature. Convince people he’s lived it, not heard about it.
Harrell has a cool Delta blues tone, somewhere between Robert Cray & the late Jeff Healy with a determined country-blues finesse & Chicago blues muscle. On “I Hear Some Blues Downstairs,” he tackles a Keb’ Mo’ rural depth style. A Mississippi native, Harrell has enough fire in his performance to intrigue audiences & has all the tools to be either a true blues artist or a gourmet player. I think he’s closer to a true blues purveyor since his talent rises like cream to the top on songs like “Giving Me The Blues,” which would be more convincing if Harrell injected a little anger, pain & frustration into his voice with phrasing & intonation.
Surprisingly, it’s “Richland Swing” that swings with energy & verve; the sax bellows & the drums thunder across the speakers. If this doesn’t get you dancing, you’re dead. Mr. Davenport returns to the traditional with “Hurt People, Hurt People,” & “Nite Creepin.” Good grooves & played with authority. The blues course through Harrell & expel with each breath he breathes through his harmonica.
Highlights – “Fatherless Child,” “Spinning,” “Giving Me The Blues,” “Richland Swing,” “Masters of War,” “I Hear Some Blues Downstairs,” & “Nite Creepin.’”
Musicians – Jim Pugh (organ/piano), Endre Tarczy & DaQuantre Johnson (bass), Christoffer “Kid” Andersen (guitar/rhythm guitar), June Core (drums), Larry Baptiste (horn arrangements/bgv), Aaron Lington (tenor & baritone saxes) & Niel Levonius (trumpet).
CD image by Paul Natkin. CD @ Bandcamp & https://youngrell.com/