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Yet widespread
recognition has eluded Frankie Lee over five decades. He's still managed to
work with the likes of
Johnny
'Guitar' Watson (his
cousin), Ike Turner, and Albert Collins. Nothing can
detract from the power and majesty of his earth-deep tenor. Partner,
Dan Treanor, meanwhile is a Colorado-based Bluesman (harmonica,
acoustic guitar, keyboard, bass) who also plays African-based
percussive and stringed instruments that he builds in his spare time,
such as diddley bow, ngoni, djembe, surdo, khalam, cane flute.
Coincidentally, the diddley bow was the instrument that lent
Ellas
McDaniel its name, and my ears haven't heard a piece of
Blues-based music as fully permeated with such trance-like rhythms
since the heyday of
Bo Diddley himself. You can probably add in
a few mystical ingredients as well, such as black magic, voodoo, and
mojo aplenty. This is Blues stripped to its bare essentials, so all 15
groove-alicious tracks are virtually devoid of all traces of Rock and
Funk. It's the next best thing to having a front table at a North
Mississippi juke joint. Fred Litwin of NorthernBlues
must have the most highly developed instincts of any Blues label owner
around. He certainly gets hundreds of recordings to listen to, yet
immediately he realized that this one was something unique and
special. I truly believe that African Wind is the best release
ever on his label, and that's no small testimonial, given that he's
had such super talents as Otis Taylor, Kevin Breit,
John Dickie, Janiva Magness,
Danny Brooks, J-W
Jones, David Jacobs-Strain, and Toni Lynn Washington
featured on his imprimatur. This African Wind will blow you away! MP3 -
African Wind |
Who's Playin' Who | |
