Customer Reviews

House of Cards

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Long-time Bay area sideman Michael Peloquin steps out into the limelight on this, his debut solo CD. Featuring a cast of some of San Francisco's to musicians, including Tommy Castro and Stve Freund, Peloquin absolutely blows the listener away with amazingly tight horn arrangements and a blistering hot rhythm section.

Peloquin shows us unequivacobly that he can sing as well as he plays sax and harmonica. He never overdoes it and any of the songs. The songwriting is worthy of any of the great R&B masters. If you haven't had the chance to tune into Michael Peloquin yet, I definitely suggest that you give this CD a listen.

you do not have to be a 20 year veteran San Francisco Bay area
music scene to able tell Michael"Grumpy"Peloquins planet is far
from flat. It's well rounded and filled with intelligent life.
You'll be getting out the "air harmonica" after the first tune.

This is a fine,fine collection tunes by one San Francisco's
premier musicians. Michael"Grumpy" Peloquin is a player whose experience shows. I enjoyed his first solo effort throughly.
Rare skills are on display.

With the many new young guitarists on the scene its easy to overlook other talented blues musicians that have emerged such as the harp players and the sax players. Peloquin is one of those overlooked players deserving some attention.

On House of Cards, Peloquin shows his mastery of both the blues harp as well as both tenor and baritone sax. Peloquin's debut CD features some very good tunes such as the opener, "24 Hours in a Day", some very smooth vocals and a couple of guest stars such as Tommy Castro and Steve Freund.

Overall, this is a pretty good debut featuring 9 originals and 2 little used covers, Robert Palmer's "So Close" and Delbert McClinton's "Maybe Someday Baby". If you are looking for a break from all the SRV wannabies, this CD features lead instruments other than the guitar and represents a nice change of pace.

This CD is a tasty combination of all of Michaels abilities as a
writer, arranger, player and vocalist. His 20 plus years of experience in R&B meld into a CD where every track is fresh, different and exciting.
His harmonica playing especially sets him apart. One listen and you'll see why he earned the title of Hohner World Champion in 1997. Combining a very advanced technique called overblowing, he takes the instrument to new heights.
I would urge everyone to make this CD a part of their collection.
It is always on the top of mine.

Steve Malerbi

This is a such a good disk I do not know where to begin other than this disk has been played nearly everyday for the past four months. The only other recordings to have this distinction are Miles' Kind of Blue and Coltrane's A Love Supreme.

This recording shows why Michael is considered one of the top harmonica players in the world today. Michael Peloquin's harp technique and musicianship is rivaled by maybe one other harmonica player in the history of the instrument. This guy is definately one of my favorites and that's only part of what he does....his song writing, vocals and sax playing is equally stellar.

From funk to deeply moving blues this disk has it all and I after months of owning this disk I STILL get goosebumps everytime I have it on.

Michael, you simply rock!