The mandolin just doesn’t look cool. It’s so small, and you hold it so high, and in order to play it well you almost have to hunch over the thing and look as though you’re burping a particularly recalcitrant and sideways baby. One should never say never, of course, but the odds are that mandolin players are way down on the list of musicians who score the most sexual partners from their stage presence.
But that doesn’t mean the instrument doesn’t sound great when you hear it. Most of the best mandolin players migrate to bluegrass, where that high-pitched, thickly-chorded sound is so appropriate with other acoustic strings. Blues scholars are likely to cite the great Yank Rachell, and then dig deeper into their discographies to maybe mention Johnny Young. Googling blues mandolin now, however, brings you pretty quickly to Texas and one Rich DelGrosso, who released Time Slips On By with the talented guitarist Jonn Del Toro Richardson as co-leader.
DelGrosso & Del Toro Richardson's Time Slips On By
DelGrosso writes and sings seven of the fourteen songs here, with Del Toro contributing six and both collaborating on the other. With a nicely varied palette of blues styles, and a rock solid band accompanying them, the duo proves to be a highly adaptable and enjoyable partnership.
“Baby Do Wrong” kicks the record off with a menacing boogie sound combining slide acoustic guitar, possible slide mandolin, and Richardson’s viciously biting electric guitar tone. The vocal is a bit muddled through the use of a megaphone effect, but once Richardson and DelGrosso start trading furious licks at the end, building to a fast-paced release of the song’s tension, there is nothing left to worry about. We’re off on a trip of blues delights.
Blues Traditionalists
DelGrosso’s songs are perhaps slightly more traditional in a partnership of blues traditionalists. “Mandolin Man” gives him a chance to shout out to the influences he’s had on his instrument – the aforementioned Rachell and Young, as well as a later player named Charlie McCoy. “People ask me how does a big man like you play a little thing like that/I say it’s all in my touch, ask my baby about that.” Well, perhaps it is possible for a mandolin player to score. “Shotgun Blues” is a compelling, slow, drowsy groove with chattering mandolin bits dropped around and in between tough horns, fluid organ, and a minimalist, clipped guitar part. Even with all these instruments, the cut has a wide-open spaces sound to it.
“Hard to Live With” gives the big, burly voice of DelGrosso a chance to tenderly admit his flaws. “I know I’m hard to live with, but I’m easy to love/don’t walk away baby, 'cause you’re the one I’m thinking of.” His solo mandolin opening builds up to a sharp, bluesy big band feel, and Richardson provides a cottony-tender guitar solo that floats down from the speakers. The roadhouse chugger “A Gig Is A Gig” gives some extra solo space to Nick Connolly on piano, and offers some laughs with an ironic reference to the famed “Smoke On the Water” riff.
Simmering Blues
“I Wish I’d Heard” is a beautiful slow, loping groove in which DelGrosso runs down his regrets over his poor personal choices. These guys don’t play hot so much as simmering, keeping the musical mood warm and tender; this cut is a perfect example. “She’s Sweet” is an enjoyable Elmore James-styled cut, and “Good Rockin’ Johnny” is a lively instrumental shuffle featuring an extra tight-and-high pitched harp-like mandolin solo.
Richardson’s songs hint at aspirations beyond just blues into other roots pop approaches. “Time Slips On By” is a soulful minor-key blues ballad featuring his vocals, which sound more than a little like those of David Hidalgo of Los Lobos. An old love has passed away, setting the stage for ruminations on the reasons he didn’t get to see her again, and giving him an excuse for an expressively gorgeous guitar solo featuring his most distinctively crying tone. “Katalin” shows off his Texas blues classicist skills, and brings Joel Guzman’s accordion on board for extra authenticity. Richardson also rips off an extra snarling bit on guitar at the end.
Jazz Influences
To judge from “Where’s Laura,” a short and exuberant instrumental, Richardson is also more than a little interested in jazz. Here, his guitar tone sounds like an organ, and DelGrosso, trumpeter Al Gomez, and Richardson himself take turns dancing around the ideas expressed in the short head.
“Summertime Is Here” again brings Los Lobos to mind, with a sweet accordion part set against Richardson’s dark guitar and rhythmic pulses. DelGrosso’s mandolin evokes misty memories of summers past as Richardson sings of the special feeling the season brings.
Richardson nails a soulful vocal on “The Real Deal,” fueled by a jagged rhythm feel. The lines “I love my baby, she always has sex appeal/Somewhere between Ginger and Mary Ann and I know she’s the real deal” leads to a guitar part that sounds like a boxer dodging a retaliatory blow after being hit by the image. The album ends with a fine slow instrumental, “Baby Please,” with a bit of a John Lee Hooker feel. Here, DelGrosso steals Richardson’s tune with a percussive, slapping solo that provides the final satisfaction on a record of fine material.
Steve's Bottom Line
Time Slips On By has almost no flaws to note. Richardson and DelGrosso have a rich rapport, and they employ highly talented players to help present their blues ideas. DelGrosso had only released one previous album as a leader, and Richardson has always recorded as a side-man, but these are two musicians with long careers ahead of them. (Mandolin Blues, released January 18, 2011)
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