Guitarist Ronnie Earl is an oddity in the blues world - a skilled technician and passionate player equally conversant in several styles of blues and jazz instrumentation, but capable of rocking the house when the moment calls for such. Earl made his bones as a guitarist with the legendary Rhode Island outfit Roomful Of Blues, spending eight years on the road with the band and recording a pair of excellent albums during his tenure. The itch to record his own stuff led to a parallel career as a solo artist and as frontman for the largely instrumental Broadcasters.
Now My Soul
Twenty years after leaving Roomful of Blues, and almost as many albums later, Earl has delivered one of his best efforts with Now My Soul. The album features what I call "big band blues," the kind of one-size-fits-all R&B revue popularized by the Blues Brothers films. Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters easily blend Chicago-styled blues with swinging R&B, jump-blues, and red-hot jazz licks influenced more by John Coltrane than by Muddy Waters, creating a free-wheeling instant party atmosphere.
For the most part, the songs on Now My Soul are strictly instrumental, focusing on Earl’s amazingly fluid fretwork and on a top-notch band that includes keyboardist Dave Limina and a rock-solid rhythm section in bassist Jimmy Mouradian and drummer Lorne Entress. When Earl does enlist the help of a guest vocalist, he doesn’t shop the bargain basement, with Kim Wilson of the Fabulous Thunderbirds and former Roomful Of Blues frontman Greg Piccolo lending their talents to the album.
Unique and Eloquent
With the energy and experience brought to the task, Now My Soul is one of the most lively and distinctive blues albums that you’ll hear this or any other year. The instrumental pieces hit the bulls-eye dead on; Earl’s unique guitar phrasing and eloquent fretwork complimented by a slightly funky rhythmic undercurrent and keyboardist Limina’s subtle flourishes. "The Magic of Sam" evokes the memory of legendary Chicago guitarslinger Magic Sam while the lengthy "Kay My Dear" brilliantly tells an entire story without a single word sung or spoken.
Of the vocal tracks, Piccolo’s reading of Earl’s autobiographical "Feel Like Goin On" cuts the deepest, Piccolo’s resonant baritone sounding a lot like B.B. King’s while Earl’s guitar ranges from fiery riffs to delicate notes and everything in between. Kim Wilson's take on the Otis Rush standard "Double Trouble" is bolstered by his genius harmonica work and haunting vocals while Earl spits out notes like a craftsman, deliberately and with meaning.
The Reverend's Bottom Line
The blues don’t get any better than this, folks, Now My Soul an instant classic from a true gentleman and artist, Mr. Ronnie Earl, and his excellent band the Broadcasters. (Stony Plain Records)
