Blues Matters - Issue 75, December-January2014

The opening track I Believe In You, immediately engages the listener with its powerful vocals, intricate guitar backing and wonderfully crafted Hammond organ solos, all beautifully arranged. Liberated Woman is up tempo blues which showcases the immense talents of the Schwarz-Koral songwriting team that permeate this album. “He doesn’t care, he puts you down. He makes you look a fool, he plays around. Girl pack your bags, get out of town.” The title track confirms that Schwarz can sing low down dirty blues with pain, passion and integrity whilst the mellifluous I’ll Be Yours Tonight highlights the other extreme of her amazing vocal range. On We’ll Find A Way, Rob Koral affirms his status as a gifted instrumentalist with a jazz-influenced guitar interlude of technical brilliance. The dark and powerful Lucifer Is Blue with torrential drumming from Paul Robinson and a climactic harp solo from Si Genaro demonstrates the band’s versatility. My favourites include Come Home Sweet Baby with Si’s backing rap, and the memorable riffs of Your Sun Shines Rain. Although excellent, Holiday’s Billie’s Blues does not stand out from the original compositions and this represents a significant milestone for Blue Commotion. Zoe and her band have reached the point where they cannot be ignored and are poised to make the international breakthrough they deserve. The Blues Don’t Scare Me will undoubtedly accelerate this process.