Cascade Blues Music Reviews

Heavy Rotation

Paul deLay Band

Music Review Index    

Music Review Reprint from the
September, 2001 BluesNotes
by Greg Johnson

Heavy Rotation by Paul deLay

    Paul deLay's latest release is a return home.  There is no Rockin' Johnny Burgin or special Chicago Blues legends guesting on this CD.  For the first time since the 1998 recording, "Nice & Strong", Paul is reunited with his regular performing band on disc.  And, what a joyful homecoming it is.  This unit has been together for the past decade plus, with the exception of drummer Kelly Dunn, who joins the band in the studio for the first time, and who certainly holds his own.  It takes an extremely tight grouping to blend as well as these musicians do, somewhat a rarity these days when most bands seem to have a revolving door line-up.  But, they've built a second sense when it comes to playing with one another and just may be one of the finest Blues ensembles to be found anywhere today.

    "Heavy Rotation" is the deLay Band's fifth release on the Evidence label and, as has been true with the best of Paul's writing over the past 10 years, he is composing lyrics and music straight from his heart.  His life experiences play a heavy hand and the selections on this CD contain some of his most poignant yet. Though the music may have an upbeat move to it, the lyrics often lay open some serious emotional overtones.

    This can easily be heard when listening closely to the words on "I'll Quit You Tomorrow", a song with a light-hearted bounce that one can feel while partaking in the exhilarating temporary high of substance abuse: "I know that it's wrong, but it feels good today, so I'll quit you tomorrow instead."  A tune that strikes deeply with Paul's personal past and one that he dedicates to all those striving to recover themselves.

    Or, on the song, "It Isn't Easy Being Big".  It may sound like a good-natured, laughing-at-myself number, but in reality, it delivers the message on just how tough life can be when the world is not adapted to your size, or as Paul casually calls it, an alternative body weight.  The music itself on the number almost sounds like the soundtrack to a surreal. avant-garde movie, led by ring-leader Dan Fincher's punchy, carnival-like barking sax.

    Clearly, one of the highlights has to be "Wealthy Man". Opening with a Chicago Blues-like feel that focuses on Peter Dammann's guitar lines and some of Paul's finest diatonic harp work, it progresses the fact that being a full-time musician does not always have its financial rewards, "I'm not a wealthy man, if you don't believe me ask my band." Paul credits inspiration from Johnny Young in the liner notes for the song, but it's easy to note the harp chops coming directly from his mentors, Big Walter Horton and Sonny Boy Williamson II with just enough of the Paul deLay panache to take it one step further.

    Louis Pain's Hammond organ and work on the bass pedals are center stage on the entire CD.  Next to Paul's harmonica and lyrics, he is probably the most identifiable musician on this latest outing, building the groundwork for the band's easy-flow manner, a fact that pops up in the opening number and continues right to the end, capped by the short-run, quirky studio jam, "Cat's Away", featuring Pain and drummer Dunn.

    All of the tunes feature first-rate playing from each of the band members, alternating from one another throughout with catchy leads and rhythmic phrases that are distinctively the trademark of the Paul deLay Band. It's a concoction of West Coast Jump with a dash of Chicago Blues and Soul, all blended together into the depths of the Willamette River which creates perhaps the most unique sound in Portland's Blues, if not the Blues everywhere.

 

© 2001 Cascade Blues Association