It is hard to measure in
actual quantitative levels the amount of joy one gets from playing music with
great friends, but every ounce of that emotion comes ringing through on the latest
release from Teresa James and the Rhythm Tramps simply titled LIVE! The
new tracks are a baker’s dozen of six original tunes and seven favorite cover
songs from her two decades as a recording artist, including songs from her most
recent Grammy-nominated album Here In Babylon.
The album is a compilation
of performances from four different shows at one of their favorite haunts,
Bogie’s, with four different lineups of her touring band, thus creating a true representation
of their live show. Anchored around her main partners in crime, Terry Wilson on
bass and guitarist Billy Watts, the band is augmented by an amazing horn
section featuring Lee Thornburg and Darrell Leonard on trumpet and Joe Sublett,
Paulie Cerra, and Ron Dziubla on saxophone. Three award-winning drummers round
out the Rhythm Tramps – Herman Matthews, Jay Bellarose and Tony Braunagel –
each adding their own distinctive groove to the collection.
The album opens with the
horn infused track “In The Pink” from their 2007 album Bottom Line with
James name checking several of her heroes and how they guided her to find her
calling in life. James then swings into the 1964 jump boogie from The Five
Royals, “I Like It Like That,” leading the band with her hot barrelhouse piano.
The horns sweeten the changes of the dancehall R&B favorite “Put The
Squeeze On Me.” The greasy soul tune with a Bill Withers feel, “Easier Said
Than Done,” written by Terry Wilson For the 2008 album Oh Yeah, features
a blazing sax solo from Dzuibla. James pours her heart out on the tender blues
ballad “Forgetting You” that won second place in the 2019 Unsigned Only blues
category. James trades barbs with the horns on the Motown fueled, “She’s Got A
Way With Men,” from the 2012 release Come On Home, and then is very
tender on the sweet soul burner written by Terry Wilson “Don’t Make A Habit Of
It.”
Billy Watts steps up to
the plate and joins James for the fiery duet, “If I Can’t Have You,” blazing their
way through a loving cover of the chart-topping hit from Etta James recorded
for her Chess Records debut in 1960. Tony Braunagel gets the nod to deliver
some New Orleans funk on the Allen Toussaint classic “Shoorah Shoorah.” James
shows off her depth as a singer and songwriter and proves why she is worthy of
Grammy consideration on the haunting tome “The Day The Blues Came To Call,”
from their acclaimed 2018 album Here In Babylon that earned a Contemporary
Blues Album of the Year nomination. William Bell’s sentimental favorite, “Everyday
Will Be Like A Holiday,” is given the all-star treatment and the deep cut from
fellow Delbert
McClinton co-conspirator
Glen Clark, “I Want It All,” is a jaunty Tex-Mex romp. The set ends with what
has no doubt become the theme song for Teresa James & The Rhythm Tramps, “Long
Way From Texas.” The Houston-born gal sings about her home state on a tune that
exemplifies how the band plays its own brand of “roadhouse music” that is a
blend of blues, roots and soul.
If anyone was lucky enough
to attend all four nights of these concerts, they bore witness to something
amazing. This live album from Teresa James and the Rhythm Tramps is a lasting testament
and a fine souvenir keepsake.