Personnel: Jason Ricci (harmonica, nose flute, vocals) Shawn Starsky (guita… Read Full Bio ↴Personnel:
Jason Ricci (harmonica, nose flute, vocals)
Shawn Starsky (guitar, backup vocals)
Todd 'Buck Weed' Edmunds (bass, backup vocals)
Ron Sutton (drums, backup vocals)
Additional personnel:
Michael Peloquin (tenor saxophone)
Jeff Fleenor (sequencer)
Living Blues (p.36) - "Fans of funk, jazz, punk, jam rock, even classical and world music, will find something to love on his album."
Product Description
Jason Ricci is that rare individual that only comes along once in a generation - an artist with the unique ability to help shape and redefine the sound of his chosen instrument and forever change the course of music history. His style is varied and his influences are far reaching, spanning through countless musical genres including blues, jazz, funk, rock, punk and even drawing inspiration from the current crop of jam bands, all while still retaining the stamp of his own inimitable style. Together with guitarist Shawn Starsky, who brings with him an arsenal of creative talent and fresh ideas, Jason Ricci & New Blood have created a visionary and sonically explosive masterpiece that is sure to shake your foundations.
The Rocker
Rocket Number 9 opens with "The Rocker," a song about the wages of drug addiction. A guitar riff reminiscent of primo James Gang opens the door; then Ricci's squealing harp kicks in and you know that you're in for one helluva trip. The tune bobs-and-weaves like a championship boxer, driven by Ricci's imaginative harp playing and Shawn Starsky's extraordinary guitar work. Ricci's naturally coarse vocals spit out the sordid tale of the addict's relationship to the poison he craves. It's a potent song, a powerful lyrical statement, and a rocking tune....
In much the same vein as the opener, "I'm A New Man" is a bit of a letdown after "The Rocker," but it's a cool, soulful number that reminds of Blues Traveler with some jazzy fretwork and funky vocals that belie the junkie's lament of the lyrics.
Loving Eyes
The epic "Loving Eyes" ventures into all kinds of undiscovered blues territory. The song's eleven-anna-quarter minutes encompass emotions ranging from an understated opening, with fallow vocals and sparse instrumentation, to the gentle evolution of a funky beat and swaggering riffs approximately half-way through, to the song's explosive conclusion with chiming modal six-string leads and crashing rhythms leading into Ricci's manic closing harpwork. By the time that the song drops back into its opening lethargy, the listener is wrung out and wasted by the experience.
The remaining fifty or so minutes of Rocket Number 9 provide an equally unpredictable, albeit wildly enjoyable ride, the music running the gamut from the funky, jazzbo, sax-driven big band shuffle of "Dodecahedron" to the Chicago-styled "Mr. Satan," a tribute to bluesman Sterling "Satan" McGhee (of Satan & Adam fame).
"Deliver Us" is a more traditionally-styled blues number with swinging harp/guitar interplay, "The Blow Zone Layer" hits your ears like vintage Sonny Boy roaring through the airwaves on KFFA, and "Snow Flakes And Horses," influenced by the Kimbrough family's contributions to the blues, is a down-and-dirty Hill Country-styled rave-up.
The Reverend's Bottom Line
Ricci's New Blood band is vastly underrated as a blues outfit. In traditional blues (especially the Chicago variety), the harp and the guitar are lead instruments and everybody else kind of gets out of the way and plays supporting rhythms. From Little Walter and James Cotton to George Smith, Muddy Waters' bands always had a monster mouthpiece on hand to parry with Muddy's or Jimmy Rogers' axe.
Shawn Starsky is the perfect foil for Ricci, an inventive guitarist who achieves great tone, has a long reach, and can express a number of styles, from psychedelic and funk to rocking or blue.
Although Ricci is a life-long fan of traditional blues, an acolyte of harp masters like Little Walter and Sonny Boy Williamson, and vetted in the Mississippi Hill Country style by no less than Junior and R.L. themselves, Jason is also part punk-rocker at heart, and it's this dichotomy that drives his unique sound.
He plays like the masters of yore, yet comes up with imaginative phrasing and new ways of expression that take the blues into an aggressive and entertaining new universe.~By Reverend Keith A. Gordon, About.com
Jason Ricci (harmonica, nose flute, vocals)
Shawn Starsky (guitar, backup vocals)
Todd 'Buck Weed' Edmunds (bass, backup vocals)
Ron Sutton (drums, backup vocals)
Additional personnel:
Michael Peloquin (tenor saxophone)
Jeff Fleenor (sequencer)
Living Blues (p.36) - "Fans of funk, jazz, punk, jam rock, even classical and world music, will find something to love on his album."
Product Description
Jason Ricci is that rare individual that only comes along once in a generation - an artist with the unique ability to help shape and redefine the sound of his chosen instrument and forever change the course of music history. His style is varied and his influences are far reaching, spanning through countless musical genres including blues, jazz, funk, rock, punk and even drawing inspiration from the current crop of jam bands, all while still retaining the stamp of his own inimitable style. Together with guitarist Shawn Starsky, who brings with him an arsenal of creative talent and fresh ideas, Jason Ricci & New Blood have created a visionary and sonically explosive masterpiece that is sure to shake your foundations.
The Rocker
Rocket Number 9 opens with "The Rocker," a song about the wages of drug addiction. A guitar riff reminiscent of primo James Gang opens the door; then Ricci's squealing harp kicks in and you know that you're in for one helluva trip. The tune bobs-and-weaves like a championship boxer, driven by Ricci's imaginative harp playing and Shawn Starsky's extraordinary guitar work. Ricci's naturally coarse vocals spit out the sordid tale of the addict's relationship to the poison he craves. It's a potent song, a powerful lyrical statement, and a rocking tune....
In much the same vein as the opener, "I'm A New Man" is a bit of a letdown after "The Rocker," but it's a cool, soulful number that reminds of Blues Traveler with some jazzy fretwork and funky vocals that belie the junkie's lament of the lyrics.
Loving Eyes
The epic "Loving Eyes" ventures into all kinds of undiscovered blues territory. The song's eleven-anna-quarter minutes encompass emotions ranging from an understated opening, with fallow vocals and sparse instrumentation, to the gentle evolution of a funky beat and swaggering riffs approximately half-way through, to the song's explosive conclusion with chiming modal six-string leads and crashing rhythms leading into Ricci's manic closing harpwork. By the time that the song drops back into its opening lethargy, the listener is wrung out and wasted by the experience.
The remaining fifty or so minutes of Rocket Number 9 provide an equally unpredictable, albeit wildly enjoyable ride, the music running the gamut from the funky, jazzbo, sax-driven big band shuffle of "Dodecahedron" to the Chicago-styled "Mr. Satan," a tribute to bluesman Sterling "Satan" McGhee (of Satan & Adam fame).
"Deliver Us" is a more traditionally-styled blues number with swinging harp/guitar interplay, "The Blow Zone Layer" hits your ears like vintage Sonny Boy roaring through the airwaves on KFFA, and "Snow Flakes And Horses," influenced by the Kimbrough family's contributions to the blues, is a down-and-dirty Hill Country-styled rave-up.
The Reverend's Bottom Line
Ricci's New Blood band is vastly underrated as a blues outfit. In traditional blues (especially the Chicago variety), the harp and the guitar are lead instruments and everybody else kind of gets out of the way and plays supporting rhythms. From Little Walter and James Cotton to George Smith, Muddy Waters' bands always had a monster mouthpiece on hand to parry with Muddy's or Jimmy Rogers' axe.
Shawn Starsky is the perfect foil for Ricci, an inventive guitarist who achieves great tone, has a long reach, and can express a number of styles, from psychedelic and funk to rocking or blue.
Although Ricci is a life-long fan of traditional blues, an acolyte of harp masters like Little Walter and Sonny Boy Williamson, and vetted in the Mississippi Hill Country style by no less than Junior and R.L. themselves, Jason is also part punk-rocker at heart, and it's this dichotomy that drives his unique sound.
He plays like the masters of yore, yet comes up with imaginative phrasing and new ways of expression that take the blues into an aggressive and entertaining new universe.~By Reverend Keith A. Gordon, About.com
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Rocket Number 9
Jason Ricci & New Blood Lyrics
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