01. Yea My Baby
02. Old Soul
03. Up All Night Blues
04. Riding The Rails
05. Old Dodie
06. Moving Soon
07. Lazy River
08. Big Fat Mama
09. Gateway To The Blues
10. Cone-A-Phone-A-Boogie
11. Midnight Blues
12. Cattle Car Blues
13. John Henry
14. Brocton Straight
15. Mad Dog 20/20

Deak Harp solo performer – vocals, harmonica, guitar

Thankfully, I finally get to review an actual Blues album. So many of the "Blues" CDs that we get are not really Blues albums. Instead, they are Rock albums marketed towards an aging population of white middle-class Baby Boomers who miss the sounds of the Sixties, but can't find anything in the wasteland of commercial radio that bears resemblance in tone, texture, soul, or feel.

As expected with a name like "Deak Harp," you get a blues album featuring lead harmonica with 17 studio-recorded songs that cover three main areas. First, some songs could easily be used for harmonica instruction. Secondly, harp fans will thoroughly enjoy Deak's inspired playing. Finally, there are some great Chicago Blues numbers when joined by the band: Tom Holland – guitar, Eddie Clark – drums, and T Bone Tom on Bass.

From Central Illinois, Deak started playing harmonica at age 12. He listened to British blues until he learned about a harp master named James Cotton. Possessing all the Cotton material he could find, Deak finally met Cotton in person. At that first meeting, Deak helped Cotton by trading harmonica cases with his future mentor as James' case was damaged at the airport. It started a long-lasting friendship to this day. James asked Deak to drive for him on the east coast tours. Deak learned directly from Cotton who helped him with his tone on the harp. By February of 1992, Deak and Cotton were two of the featured harp players at a show at the Berkeley Carteret Hotel in Asbury Park, New Jersey.

Today, Deak does guest gigs - some of which with the legendary John Primer, performs solo, and appears with the Deak Harp Blues Band all the while promoting this CD. All songs were either written or arranged by Deak Harp; "John Henry" and "Davidson County Blues" being traditional. Deak uses only Hohner Marine Band Harmonicas including a Big C 364 and a Super 64 Chromatic.

Recorded at Twist Turners House of Sound Chicago IL, and produced by Twist Turner and Deak Harp, this CD contains solo acoustic and electric harmonica. It travels through time up to the present Chicago Blues sound starting with the train "hollers" of the 1930s. For example, tracks one and two, "Riding The Rails" and "John Henry" are solo numbers heavy with a train rhythm and train sounds. The next four keep the train a-rollin,' nicely adding drums here and bass there.

Starting with the seventh track instrumental, "Old Soul," the band gets more involved in the mix with some 12 bar blues that is just wonderful. The full-band Chicago Blues shuffles continue through track 17. Most of the tracks are instrumentals including the unique patterns in the title track. ,/

Track 10, "Yeah My Baby," gives us the first listen to Deak's sharp register vocals and road-lesson lyrics. Tom Holland plays a tasty lead slide guitar bridge half way through on top of his double tracked steady rhythm guitar. More well-crafted slide is found mid way through "Brocton Straight." ,/

Other standouts include the break neck tempo on "Moving Soon," a burn-the-house-down slow blues, "Midnight Blues" with magnificent interplay between Deak's chromatic harp and Holland's electric guitar, and "Cone-A-Phone-A-Boogie" which uses a Gi Joe Communicator Helmet with a cheerleader megaphone duct-taped to it. Deak says, "I call it a Cone-A-Phone; it runs on a 9 volt battery and has got such a cool crunchy sound."

So, if you, too, are looking for some real blues content, and you just happen to love harmonica, look no further. Let this CD show you the "Gateway To The Blues." --- James "Skyy Dobro" Walker, bluzkat.com

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01. Mad Dog 2020 (Feat. Bill Abel) 06:32
02. If You’re Ever In Clarksdale 05:13
03. Juke Jump (Feat. Bill Abel) 04:25
04. That’s Alright 02:23
05. Delta Wind (Feat. Randy Da Bones Man Seppala) 03:17
06. Dirty Rosie (Feat. Bill Abel) 05:41
07. Up All Night 05:40
08. Bubba Blue (Feat. Randy Da Bones Man Seppela & Bill Abel) 06:00
09. Under The Bridge 05:16
10. No Hurry 04:46
11. Clarksdale Breakdown 03:31
12. It’s Ok To Smile 04:34
13. Yellowhammer Breakdown 03:49
14. Ridin’ The Rails 03:02

Deak Harp - one man blues band (one string cigar box guitar, harp, drum, vocals)
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Bill Abel (guitar)
Randy “Da Bones Man” Seppala (drums)

Deak Harp pays tribute to his newly adopted hometown after his move to the Delta last year with this collection of 14 original tunes recorded in one take without overdubs at Big Toe Studios in Duncan, Mississippi.

A former member of the Kilborn Alley Blues Band in central Illinois, where he formerly resided, he’s a powerful harmonica player who’s toured extensively as a one-man band, accompanying himself on guitar and percussion. He comes by his harp chops honestly, having spent six years on the road as driver for Mr. Superharp himself, James Cotton, and he’s also making a name for himself as a harmonica builder, working out of the shop he’s opened in downtown Clarksdale, Deak’s Mississippi Saxophones and Blues Emporium, where you can frequently find him busking on the sidewalk outside the store.

Guitarist Bill Abel co-produced the album and accompanies Deak on four tunes with Randy “Da Bones Man” Seppala adding drums on two numbers. Deak’s warm, full-bodied tones are evident from the first notes of “Mad Dog 20/20,” which kicks off the disc. Previously released in another version on a disc promoting Big City Rhythm And Blues magazine, for whom he also works, it recounts Deak’s time down on his luck, living in his car in Chicago, where he eased his pain with the cheap wine mentioned in the title. He and Abel trade dark licks that bring the suffering home.

The mood brightens dramatically for “If You’re Ever In Clarksdale.” Deak hits the reeds with a steady, sweet driving pattern, accompanying himself on percussion, as he sings praises of Red’s, “the finest juke joint in the whole land,” after having growing up in a city in the East where the streets “were a cage.” The pace slows for “It’s Alright,” a straight-ahead blues about a relationship gone stale, before “Juke Jump,” an instrumental that provides a wall of sound.

Deak’s skill as a left-handed electric guitarist is on display for the instrumental “Delta Wind,” accompanied by Seppala. Abel keeps the Delta going as Deak sings “Dirty Rosie,” filling in the vocal holes with a rock-solid run of harp licks. “Up All Night” is a slow grinder about having the blues in one’s soul. It remains interesting for the better part of six minutes, driven home by another bit of rhythmic circular breathing on the reeds, before giving way to “Bubba Blue,” with Deak singing about having a mean woman who doesn’t like his dog. Like many of the other tunes here, it delivers the hypnotic feel you’ll experience in a back-country North Mississippi juke — like you’ll find in “Under The Bridge,” in which Deak’s still living in his wheels in New York City playing on the street to raise enough change to have a few drinks in a bar.

“No Hurry” takes its time delivering a message about not being in a rush before giving way to “Clarksdale Breakdown” in which Deak abandons vocals for guitar and rhythm with harp accents. The Chicago-style “It’s OK To Smile” precedes “Yellowhammer Breakdown,” an instrumental, before Deak’s “Ridin’ The Rails” takes him home.

If you like barebones, in-your-face harp blowing in a traditional Chicago or Delta vein, you’ll definitely like this one. It’s a major pleaser, and available through any of the major online retailers or directly from the artist’s website. ---Marthy Gunther, bluesblastmagazine.com

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