Customer Reviews

My Hearts in Texas

5 star:		(5)
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3 star:		(1)
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Finally after a long waiting the first live album of Joe Kubek and Bnois King. Having been their fan for long time I never had the chance to see them playing live as I live in Europe. If their gigs are all like this I must have missed out a lot! What a fantastic performance! Recorded at Ft. Worth, Texas on December the 31st 2005, this is a marvellous CD. Full of energy from start to finish, this live act of powerful Texas style blues shows once again how well the two different styles of Joe and Bnois blend together. I would like to say that from my point of view they are one of the few bands out there with a very personal sound, a sound that makes them immediately recognisable. Their interpretation of Texas blues is very original and very personal too. Joe's guitar playing is surely very close to the giants of the past such as Freddie King, Bnois's sound is very much jazz infected. In a set packed wall to wall with excellence, I particularly like the fantastic version of "Where I want to be" a nine minutes plus burning slow blues in which both of them have the chance to display their qualities as guitar players. If you like Texas Blues I believe you shouldn't miss this one. Very highly recommended.

As a fan of mountain folk music, blues is ususally not my first choice. It's often too predictable because so many aging musicians have played this genre ragged. Having said that, this album was impressive. Fans of this genre will love the dynamic guitar of English cap-wearing Smokin' Joe Kubek and black-leathered Bnois King, reinforced by background percussion from their bespectacled drummer.

Recording since 1989, the guitarists' albums now run into double digits. This album was recorded live at the J&J Blues Bar and presents a couple of fresh original tracks along with a mixture of previous songs. King brings sweet countryish blues, accentuated by Kubek's jazz-rock instrumentation. This is one rock jazz jam that listeners are sure to feel. I definitely was feeling it. Kubek and King are not afraid to push the parameters.

THIS CD IS OUTSTANDING. GREAT BLUES, ROCK, JAZZ ALL BLENDED TOGETHER INTO ONE BIG GUMBO POT. THE ONLY THING BETTER THAN THIS IS THE DVD. I SAW THE DVD FIRST AND THEN BOUGHT THE CD. I LIKE THE DVD BETTER BECAUSE YOU CAN SEE THE INTERACTION THAT RUNS THROUGH THE WHOLE SHOW.BUY THEM BOTH. THE SET LISTS ARE A LITTLE DIFFERENT BUT WHO CARES WHEN THE MUSIC IS THIS GOOD !!!!!!!!!!!!!

There is no individual or group, past or present, better than the Smokin' Joe Kubek Band, featuring Bnois King!! Pure musical and vocal talent heard here is unsurpassed. This set is AWESOME!! I have seen them live, and, trust me, they really are smokin'. Newcomer or long time fan, this one is a must have!!

A great great great live performance and a great Blues music worth every cent of the price and even more. Heaven await those who listen to this cd.

Let me start this review, by saying, I have 7 other CD's by this combo, and this will probably be my last. In my constant search for some string bending, voice growling, blues, I keep getting disappointed by this combo. I got hooked by the first CD of theirs I bought "Road House Research", which had some potential, but things never got better, either by buying all their older ones OR all their new ones. I will admit Smoking Joe shows a little stronger guitar on this CD as compared to the others. Bnois, just has a voice with no growl, it's too placid, tranquil... like white noise. It never resurrects, images of "da blues".