The Essential Coco Montoya

Coco Montoya | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 20, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Blind Pig
• ASIN: B002MWSK6K
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #30,886 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

The Essential Coco Montoya presents tracks from the guitarist's initial solo recordings released by Blind Pig in the mid-90's. Montoya, who honed his signature chops as a prot g of modern blues forefathers Albert Collins and John Mayall, personally selected the tracks for this compilation. They document his post-Bluesbreakers entry into the limelight and the beginning of a still running ascendency in the Blues-Rock realm. These recordings, now a decade old, evoke a highly creative place and time in this world-class guitarist's career as he came into his own.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars GOOD DEAL, October 20, 2009

By 

dickydo "Richie D" (Warwick, RI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Essential Coco Montoya (Audio CD)

Essential packages or Greatest Hits often times aren't the best way of becoming familiar with an artists work. However when the tracks are personally selected by the man himself it thankfully provides an excellent primer for Montoya's percolating brand of R&B and soul/ blues. The Albert Collins and John Mayall protege is a master showman who can fire off tight leads with the best. The opening track, a cover of Robert Ward's "Fear No Evil" starts things off beautifully. "Am I Losing You", and "Sending Me Angels" are mid tempo gems showcasing warm expressive vocals in Montoya's signature rich deep baritone. Hopefully this will lead you to all his Blind Pig recordings from the 90's which are all still in print and without question his best work.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars RICK ""SHAQ" GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "TOE-TAPPING BLUES-ROCK & MESMERIZING BALLADS.", October 31, 2009

By 

Rick Shaq Goldstein "*SHAQ*" (Danville, Ca, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: The Essential Coco Montoya (Audio CD)

I'm an electric-blues fanatic and my all-time favorites are Albert King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Guy, Otis Rush, Luther Allison and Albert Collins. And when you think of these string bending blues-men you think of down and dirty... growling... rough and tumble blues. This CD of early Coco Montoya songs is a combination of blues... blues rock... and blues ballads. Coco's music doesn't emanate the kind of blues that takes you down dark alleys... jail cells... gun battles and painful physical destruction. At least not like the other fella's I just mentioned. And that isn't necessarily a bad thing. With Albert... Stevie... Buddy... and the boys... you know going in you're going to be tumbling in the mud and if you're wearing a new suit it's going to be a filthy mess. But what Coco presents on this CD is such a beautiful... velvety voice... that it seems almost too beautiful to be singing the blues. The imagery that his "blues" voice creates is one where Coco is wearing a brand new white suit... and as he jumps into muddy water... he comes out on the other side without a spec of dirt on his clothes. His guitar work is in a different category than my favorite "six". Where Stevie and Buddy can bend thick "steel-girders" with their magical blues fingers... and your ears can literally "see" the mystical reshaping of those strings... Montoya's strings are like *SILK-ON-POLISHED-STEEL*. This CD contains twelve songs that total fifty-seven-minutes-and-thirty-six-seconds... and everyone of them... rock and ballad alike are flawless.

Coco Montoya on this CD delivers a combination of voice and guitar that is absolutely pristine.

5.0 out of 5 stars WoW(!) Essential indeed..., January 9, 2012

By 

Bruce A. Walker - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: The Essential Coco Montoya (Audio CD)

I rotate CDs in and out of the car from a collection of about 350. Somehow this album always makes the cut of the dozen or so albums I stash in the visor. I've had it something like 3 years now, and so the review isn't an initial impression. The album is one that becomes a favorite, and stays that way even after the 2,000th time it's been played.