[Harp-L] Review of JJ Milteau's Blue 3rd

["Planet Harmonica" <lists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

JJ released his album Blue 3rd last year and I have only now found the time 
to translate the review I had written at the time. It is now available on my 
weblog at http://harmonica.typepad.com. Here are first two paragraphs : 

"Blue 3rd is the most recent release of French harmonica player Jean-Jacques 
Milteau. JJ's approach on this album is similar to the one taken on the 
excellent Memphis released in 2001: recorded in the states, with a mix of 
local musicians and some of the talented crew that normally accompanies 
Milteau in France. The album features 13 tracks including 8 instrumentals 
and, as on Memphis, not only is the backing band partially native, but four 
guests enhance the record with their vocals and/or instruments. 

This time, it?s not in Memphis that Milteau decided to drop his harmonica 
case but in New York. Memphis was clearly aiming for a ?Memphis Sound? 
whereas Blue 3rd is not so much preoccupied with a context as it is with 
sound in general. It's a quest for a particular grain, a particular growl, 
the one, specifically, that we often associate with black singers. 
Unsurprisingly, the three vocal guests are therefore soul-blues songster 
Terry Callier, Nu Soul diva N?dambi and grandfather of protest hip-hop Gil 
Scott-Heron. The fourth guest, Howard Johnson, does not sing, but he brings 
with him that growling timbre of baritone sax and trombone that fits 
perfectly with the  album?s concept." 

Ben FELTEN
http://harmonica.typepad.com