Steve Kozak's Westcoast Blues Revue - Hoot 'n Holler

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:21
Size: 119.9 MB
Styles: West Coast blues
Year: 2007
Art: Front

[4:59] 1. Hoot 'n Holler
[4:13] 2. Come By Baby
[4:42] 3. Girl Of My Dreams
[2:50] 4. It Didn't Happen That Way
[3:31] 5. I Just Wanna Be With You
[3:45] 6. You Got Love For Me
[3:24] 7. Rollin' With Brother D
[6:04] 8. Almost Bought The Farm
[2:52] 9. Juiced
[4:24] 10. Right On Time
[3:27] 11. Don't Go No Further
[4:46] 12. You Got To Lose
[3:17] 13. Leavin' Time

In a sea of endless white boy blues bands and tired old riffs, there is one cat who stands out from the crowd. Vancouver based Steve Kozak is that man. Harkening back to sound of the juke joint, traditonalist Kozak has been raisin' the roof with some smokin' vintage equipment all along the west coast for a long time. The long awaited follow up to his 2003 offering is fittingly called Hoot 'n' Holler, because that's what he seems to cause audiences to do. As opposed to mundane blues riffers who seem to make seemingly normal people do strange dances, The West Coast Blues Revue just grooves along and make people just wanna dig the show. That groove of the live shows has been captured and laid down on a CD with excellent production values laid down by local veteran, Jack Lavin, at the helm. (Why do Canadian CD's always sound so good?).

Kozak, a bluesman's bluesman, has surrounded himself with a stellar array of blues veterans. there is some crazy piano pounding by Dave Webb that is reminiscent of Amos Milburn. The general feel of the album leans towards the jump blues of the late 40's and R&B of the early fifties, while Steve's playing has echoes of the tasty licks produced by T-Bone Walker.There is even a Jackie Brenston cover called Juiced. Backed by the hard drivin' rhythm of the meanest stand up bass player in the business (so mean he uses steel strings) , Ken Wilson, this track is a real mean jumper. Like the R&B cats, Steve likes to sing about cars, chicks, and havin' a good time, evoking images of some cinder block shack by the side of the road. Steve and the boys always make the good times roll. It has been said that roots musicians should have lived what they play, which is the only way to make it convincing. Booze, bar fights, lost love; it's all in there somewhere. Track 8 is a case in point. Called "Almost bought the farm" this is not a hackneyed blues cliché that is all too familiar these days. This is literal and autobiographical. Steve recently had contracted a life threatening medical condition and did indeed almost buy the farm. The line "17 days in the hospital " is earnest and comes from actual experience, you believe the man. The resilient and always jovial Kozak thankfully pulled through and eventually got back to playing. A lot of the tracks on this album are a metaphor for Steve's recovery and joy of life, and that comes through clearly in the playing.

A solid, hard driving offering this time round. Hoot 'N' Holler and get juiced and give a listen to Steve Kozak's brand of blues. ~Serge Lotosky

Hoot 'n Holler mc
Hoot 'n Holler zippy

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