Jae Sinnett: “The Blur The Lines Project” (2025) CD Review

I grew up listening to a lot of what they called “classic rock.” Even in the early 1980s, they were already using that term, and it encompassed a whole lot of music. Classic rock included psychedelic rock, country rock, blues rock, soul, funk, hard rock, progressive rock, and really basically anything else that came out in the 1960s and 1970s (except for disco, punk and soft rock). And I still love that music (I also enjoy disco, punk and soft rock).  And when I started playing drums, those were the songs that my friends and I first learned. It was great fun playing John Bonham’s parts to Zeppelin songs, and kind of a thrill when we nailed those tunes. Now drummer and composer Jae Sinnett gives his own special treatment to some of those songs, including one Led Zeppelin song, on his album The Blur The Lines Project. Here he combines rock and jazz, creating his own type of fusion, somehow both taking us back and moving us into the future. If you grew up with these songs, you’re going to dig how Jae Sinnett handles them. And if you didn’t, I’m guessing you’ll still find plenty within these tracks to grab hold of. Maybe they’ll hit you the way they did for me when I first heard the original renditions in my childhood. Joining Jae Sinnett on this release are Allen Farnham on organ and piano, Ada Rovatti on tenor saxophone, Terry Burrell on bass, and Jason Cale on guitar. The arrangements are by Jae Sinnett and Allen Farnham.

He chooses to open this album with “Tom Sawyer,” that monster song by Rush, which features the tremendous drum work of Neil Peart. This song was included on Rush’s 1981 LP Moving Pictures, and got a whole lot of airplay in central Massachusetts when I was a kid. In 1986, when I was learning to play the drums, I had a hard time with this song. I saw Rush in concert in 1987, and tried to pay particular attention to how Peart tackled each song, especially this one. Seeing him play was truly awesome; that is to say, I was in awe. So this is a fantastic choice of openers for this disc. It takes me back to those important moments of my youth. And Jae Sinnett does an excellent job with it. This version has all the power you’d want, and, of course, plenty of great drumming. The saxophone takes on what would be the vocal line, and then gets a chance to cut loose toward the end. As I mentioned, it’s a combination of rock and jazz, but I would say it greatly favors the rock side of things.

Jae Sinnett then moves back a decade for “I Just Want To Celebrate,” a song that Rare Earth released as a single and also included on the One World album. There is a great energy to this track, the saxophone again delivering what would be the vocal line. I love it when the band gets into the jam, the guitar then getting a chance to move outside the lines. Though for me it is the drumming that is the heart of the piece. This is a fun track, one to groove to. That’s followed by “Frankenstein,” a tune by The Edgar Winter Group, one that was released as a single and also included on They Only Come Out At Night, released in 1972. Unlike the other songs on The Blur The Lines Project, this one was originally an instrumental. So there is no need by any instrument to tackle the vocal line. And if you know the tune, you know that there is a drum solo in it, coming almost exactly halfway through the track. That is reason enough for us to be excited about this tune’s inclusion here. And that section is particularly good on this version, and actually it leads into an incredibly exciting and delicious section, and then slides into more of a jazz realm, which is wonderful. This rendition is approximately three minutes longer than the original Edgar Winter recording, and those extra minutes are what make this rendition something special. I love what Jae Sinnett and the other musicians do with this tune. There is even a cool piano section.

“Magic Carpet Ride” is one of the coolest songs from the late 1960s. Steppenwolf released it on a single and on the 1968 LP The Second. That song, while including lyrics, also has a somewhat lengthy instrumental section, and it was that section that was always the highlight of the song for me. This rendition by Jae Sinnett is great fun, with that wonderful groove, and, as I expected, it is during that jam in the middle that it really shines. That section features some excellent work on guitar, as well as some cool work on organ. That’s followed by “Hush,” a song originally recorded by Billy Joe Royal, who put out his version in 1967. But the version I first heard was that by Deep Purple, which came out a year later. And it is that version that inspired Jae Sinnett’s version here. He even includes that brief howling at the beginning. He delivers some great work on drums. And in the middle, these musicians take the song in a different direction, that part featuring some wonderful work on saxophone. Yes, that section is what makes this rendition stand out. These guys deliver a really good jam. The album then concludes with Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song,” a song from the band’s third album, released in 1970. It was also released as a single. I was curious how this would work as an instrumental, because it is Robert Plant’s vocal wail at the beginning and throughout the track that is the song’s defining characteristic for me. But of course there is also that great, relentless rhythm. Well, the saxophone handles that wail pretty well here, and Jae Sinnett delivers a really good rendition. There is a section featuring vocals nearly two minutes in, and it caught me totally by surprise. And from there, the band goes into a great jam featuring some outstanding work on guitar and saxophone. This is a wonderfully fresh look at this song.

CD Track List

1. Tom Sawyer
2. I Just Want To Celebrate
3. Frankenstein
4. Magic Carpet Ride
5. Hush
6. Immigrant Song

The Blur The Lines Project was released on January 6, 2025.

Debi Derryberry: “Gotta Go Green” (2024) CD Review

There is a good chance that if we instill a sense of environmental responsibility in children, it will stay with them throughout their lives, and real change will come as a result. So I think children’s albums with environmental messages are important. Debi Derryberry’s latest children’s album, Gotta Go Green, is all about making kids aware of environmental subjects, and it’s also a lot of fun. It features all original material, written or co-written by Debi Derryberry.

Gotta Go Green opens with its title track, which begins with a bit on cow bell, something that always makes folks smile. There is a strong pop sound to this song. It’s catchy, and with lyrics that children can easily memorize and sing too. “Let’s clean the world up/Let’s clean the world up/Let’s clean the world up, clean it up/Let’s make it better/And fix the weather.” And it has a cha cha cha ending. Perfect. That’s followed by “My Electric Car,” which has a delicious 1980s pop sound. Seriously, adults around my age are going to love this as much as the kids will, maybe more. One of my best friends recently bought an electric car and loves it. I have to remember to play this for him. Also, I’m learning a few things. “The freeways are busy but you can’t complain/Because electrics can always use the carpool lane.” I didn’t know that. That is particularly handy here in Los Angeles. But the most important thing about this song is that it is totally fun. Seriously, I’m loving this track.

Debi Derryberry takes us in a totally different direction with “Oodle The Orangutan,” a song with a cool old-time jazzy feel. This is a sweet, playful number about an orangutan, and it is a delight. “With her big round eyes and her fuzzy orange hair/Oodle’s just as cute as she can be.” This song is as adorable as it can be. “Swing it, Oodle,” Debi says, and we get the feeling the orangutan might be doing her tap-dancing routine. Because of course she has one. This is another of the disc’s highlights. Debi Derryberry then returns to a modern pop sound with “Recycle!” “Recycle, cycle, cycle/Do it again,” she sings. I love that “Do it again,” because it refers to both repeating the line and recycling. I would love to hear this song at a dance club. It would work. I’m not kidding. “Pick it up, break it down, flatten it on the ground.” I wish the other folks in my apartment building would remember to do that with their cardboard boxes before tossing them in the recycling bin. Perhaps I should play this song for them. That’s followed by another song about recycling, “I’m A Great Recycler.” It’s about donating clothes and other items, and not wasting things. “You can help to save the Earth/When you recycle too.” It was written by Debi Derryberry and Michael A. Levine.

“Don’t Can The Can, Man!” is another song with a good dance beat. It too is about recycling, specifically cans this time. And it has a good funky element. What I also appreciate about this song is it mentions how aluminum is better than plastic: “Cans aren’t bad, they’re better than plastic/The things you can do with them border on fantastic/These plastic bottles hurt our friends, the fish/And end up in the birdies’ bellies, not what I would wish.” That’s followed by “Carbon Footprint.” If you think that might be too much for the very young ones to understand, don’t worry, for these are the first lines: “You can make a smaller carbon footprint/But what does that even mean? (What does it mean?)/Does making a smaller carbon footprint mean having little feet? (No, no)/So what is a carbon footprint?” And she goes on to explain it, and offers examples of what people can do. “You can do it!”

She keeps the fun pop vibes going with “Little Tiny Molecules Of H2O.” “Where do they come from, where do they go/It’s a little mystery that I want to know/Where do they come from, where do they go/Those little tiny molecules of H2O.” That chorus is catchy, there’s no denying it. And the verses teach us a few things about rain and clouds. The album then concludes with “Earth Day’s My Birthday,” a song from the perspective of a tree. “I want to take all of your CO2/And turn it into oxygen for you/I want to be that shady climbing tree/And share my leafy canopy.” It has such a cheerful, optimistic sound, and even includes a little whistling. And the line “I want to meet another evergreen named Marge” makes me laugh each time I listen to this track.

CD Track List

1. Gotta Go Green
2. My Electric Car
3. Oodle The Orangutan
4. Recycle!
5. I’m A Great Recycler
6. Don’t Can The Can, Man!
7. Carbon Footprint
8. Little Tony Molecules Of H2O
9. Earth Day’s My Birthday

Gotta Go Green was released on March 8, 2024.

Sunny Bleau & The Moons: “Passion & Regrets” (2025) CD Review

This country is about to get a serious case of the blues, no question about it. And one way to combat that on a personal level is to listen to some great blues music. For, as we know, the blues can alleviate the blues. Sunny Bleau & The Moons have just the album for you, Passion & Regrets, which contains a mix of original material and covers. The band is led by vocalist Kelly Brock (who uses the name Sunny Bleau here) and guitarist Nicholas A. Cocco, the two of them having written the album’s original songs. Bill Ruffino is on bass, Rick Steff is on keys, and James Cunningham is on drums. There are also a few special guests on certain tracks. The album was produced by the great Mick Kolassa.

The album opens with “Two Glasses Of Whiskey On Ice,” which right away features some cool work on both guitar and organ. When Sunny Bleau begins to sing, there is a smooth quality to her delivery, just like the whiskey she sings of. The song tells the tale of a woman who goes out to have an encounter with a musician, this taking place on Beale Street. “He plays every evening/For nickels and dimes/She’s seen him before/Underneath the blue Beale Street sign.” And after those lines, there is a good lead on guitar, and we get the sense that it could be this musician she is meeting who is playing. “They spend the night down by the tracks/When morning comes, he’s up and gone.” I love how this woman has planned this encounter, putting on her best dress and everything. We feel she is in control, even if he’s gone in the morning. That’s followed by “You Better Put The Coffee On.” Sunny Bleau takes quite a different vocal approach to this one. There is plenty of great attitude in her voice, that first section delivered as sort of spoken word, as she tells of waking up to find her man gone from her bed. “His keys were gone/Hell, that man even took my dog with him.” And then this: “The part that really made me angry was that he didn’t put the coffee on before he left.” I love it, and in her delivery we hear the possibility, the capability of something approaching murder for that offense. Then when she begins to sing, the first line is that classic blues opening line, “I woke up this morning.” And, unlike that first section, now she is addressing the man directly. Soon she begins to belt out certain lines. There is a totally delicious moment where the musicians drop out while Sunny Bleau delivers a description of the woman her man was with. There is another playful moment when she tells the band, “Now grind some beans, boys,” just before a good instrumental section featuring guitar, that line delivered with the attitude of, say, Joan Jett. This track also features some great stuff on harmonica. That is Kiersi Joli on harmonica.

There is some totally delightful work on keys at the beginning of “Low-Down-Middle-Aged Blues,” a tune with more of an easygoing rhythm. This song is an adaptation of Peter Stephenson’s “Helpless Blues,” which was released in 2022, and Peter Stephenson joins the group on keys. Here Sunny Bleau sings, “I look back upon those days, the good ones and the bad/Today there’s nothing I can do to stop the hour glass/Oh, I’m sitting here all alone with nothing left to lose/Yeah, I got them low-down can’t-do-nothing-‘bout-them middle-aged blues.” You bet this song is speaking to me. It’s frustrating to find so much time has passed, but there is nothing we can do about it, so we’d better take the reins and enjoy the time we have left. One way to do that is to listen to some good music, right? There is wonderful stuff on keys throughout this track. That’s followed by “Peacock Strut.” With a title like that, the music can be expected to strut about the place with a good deal of confidence and attitude. This is fun. She sings of a guy who “makes his way from chick to chick/Stroking his mustache and licking his lips.” And, oh no, he’s making his way to her, and that guitar has some strut to its movement too. “Just keep your mouth shut,” she instructs the guy, “I ain’t falling for that peacock strut.”

I think it’s clear that we are in need of some strong female energy these days. Hell, we should be celebrating the inauguration of our first female president next week, instead of letting a damn rapist back into the White House. Well, “S-H-E-E-E W-O-M-A-N” has a classic blues rhythm, with a delicious, strong feminist bent, but with a good sense of humor as well. You can hear that humor in lines like these: “When a man takes me out, well, I’ll make him pay/And when he shows up on time, I’m gonna make him wait/And I’ll order the lobster or filet mignon/And I’ll wash it down with a bottle of Dom Perignon.” And the energy to that instrumental section is fantastic. This track features Kiersi Joli killing it on harmonica, and special guest Jeff Jenson joining the group on guitar. In the second instrumental section, the two guitars engage in a little back-and-forth, which is great. This is a very cool track. The band then delivers a totally delicious rendition of “Why Don’t You Do Right?” I am digging that work on keys in particular. And Sunny Bleau’s vocal performance is absolutely wonderful. Her voice is the heart of the track, and she varies her approach here, her delivery growing in power.

“Waitin’ On A Man” also features some really good stuff on keys, and has a kind of sweeter blues vibe. “Waiting on a man/Can drive a woman crazy,” Sunny Bleau sings at the beginning, her voice smooth at this point. She is in control, even as she sings how “Waiting on man/Is enough to make a woman lose her mind.” But then a little bit of frustration enters her voice as she sings, “I was sitting around, waiting for him to call/Wondering what he’s doing, who he’s doing it with/And hoping he’s all right.” I love how she gets it under control again for the end of that line, when she says she’s “hoping he’s all right.” She gives a remarkable vocal performance, sometimes smooth, sometimes with a raw edge. “I’m older now and wiser/And I’ll never wait on any man again.” Then in “You Put Me Out” she uses the fishing analogy to great effect: “You threw me a line/Then you reeled me in/And pulled out the hook/Gave me that look/And threw me back in.” I suppose most of us have been in that position of being fully committed to a relationship when the other person isn’t at all committed. And in that situation, we can only hope the other person will one day recognize his or her mistake. “I may not be your anything right now/I may never ever be your everything/But I might be your one regret.” Her voice expresses the ache so well.

“Deep Regretful Blues” was adapted from Michael Hishon’s “Regret Blues,” a song included on the Big Leg Woman album. It comes at us at a good pace. On this song, it seems we get the other side, with Sunny Bleau singing, “Did I break your heart/I got the deep regretful blues.” And then, “I’d do anything, anything to get you back/I’d give you my very soul.” This song has more of a rock sound. Jeff Jenson again joins the group on guitar. The album concludes with an adaptation of “It Is Well With My Soul,” here titled “Memphis Bound (It Is Well With My Soul).” It is a powerful track. Sunny Bleau sings, “I hear Beale Street is hallowed ground.” The album opened with a song about Beale Street, and wraps up with another. Toward the end, the song suddenly picks up its pace, and we get some wonderful backing vocal work that gives the track a gospel flavor. Kiersi Joli provides backing vocals, and Jeff Jenson plays baritone guitar. “When I die, I won’t be going to heaven/Because my soul is Memphis bound.”

CD Track List

1. Two Glasses Of Whiskey On Ice
2. You Better Put The Coffee On
3. Low-Down-Middle-Aged Blues
4. Peacock Strut
5. S-H-E-E-E W-O-M-A-N
6. Why Don’t You Do Right?
7. Waitin’ On A Man
8. You Put Me Out
9. Deep Regretful Blues
10. Memphis Bound (It Is Well With My Soul)

Passion & Regrets is scheduled to be released on January 31, 2025.

The Mike Jacoby Electric Trio: “Rocket Fuel Logic” (2024) CD Review

For a while, singer and songwriter Mike Jacoby was doing it all himself – writing, singing, and playing all, or most of, the instruments on his recordings. He released several solo albums, starting with 2013’s The Big 5-0 and also including 2016’s NorthEastSouthWest and 2019’s Long Beach Calling (the title and cover for that last one a play on The Clash’s London Calling). Then in 2023 he put out The Long Haul, this album by The Mike Jacoby Electric Trio, where the vocalist and guitarist was joined by Don Read on bass and backing vocals, and Mike Levin on drums and backing vocals. And last year, the trio followed that with Rocket Fuel Logic. Interestingly, on this album Mike Jacoby revisits songs that he had included on his solo albums. As with Long Haul, there are a couple of special guests on this album, including Ann De Jarnett on violin.

The album opens with “There Oughta Be A Law,” a good solid rock number that Mike Jacoby previously included on The Big 5-0. “Try getting with the program/It’s politically correct/And pretty soon you end up/One more nasty nervous wreck.” These days, I think a lot of us are nervous wrecks, anticipating the descent into derangement this country is about to experience. “The slightest push shouldn’t make you fall,” Mike Jacoby sings here. Indeed. This track also gives the album its title in the lines, “It’s rocket fuel logic/It’s ignorance is bliss.” There is some really nice work on guitar. “Stomp The Gas” follows “There Oughta Be A Law” on The Big 5-0, and so it does here. This song has a great energy, like a boogie, and features more good guitar work. It’s a song that urges, “Get off your ass while you’re still alive.” Some folks are lazy, and some folks put off pursuing their dreams for other reasons, but whatever the case may be, life is short, it’s over before we know it, before we’re ready. “How many last chances do you think you get?” Mike Jacoby expresses the idea in several ways, often with humor, as in this line: “You just got up, you don’t need a nap.” This is a great song, one of my personal favorites from this album.

“Your Love Song” is a fun country rock number about divorce. “Our divorce is almost over, and the news is all over town/But there’s a little thing that might just bring the whole deal crashing down/That was your love song/And you can keep it on your stack/That was your love song/‘Cause I sure don’t want it back.” I also love these lines: “Now it might make you uneasy, and it just might make you sad/A bit of human emotion that I’m not sure you ever had.”  I dig that work on keys. Special guest Art Bailey is on piano for this one. This song was originally on Long Beach Calling. That’s followed by another fun song, “Explaining To Do,” which was originally on NorthEastSouthWest. There is a wonderfully cheerful energy to this track, even as it describes a couple that has some troubles. Their questionable behaviors all seem to occur because of alcohol: “It was just one stupid drunken night.” And check out these lines: “Heaven knows we love each other still/It makes us crazy in the head/And maybe we should stop picking at the sores/And take a sedative instead.” Wonderful! It began with him having some explaining to do, moved to her having the same, but it ends with “We got some explaining to do,” which in a way is strangely romantic, right? So at the end these guys are still together. Whether they should be or not is a whole other matter.

“Lie In Bed” is a song about dishonesty in a relationship. It contains some really good lines, such as “We’re both alone, and now it’s all we share” and “Shed our skin and left it on the floor/No one talks about it anymore.” Here Mike Jacoby also sings, “I count the hours as they move too slow,” and this song itself moves at a slower pace, which works well for the subject, helping to immerse us in its atmosphere. Still, it builds in power in the second half. This song was also originally on NorthEastSouthWest. “Ready When You Are” is another track that was on NorthEastSouthWest. The guitar intro reminds me a bit of The Band’s “The Weight.” Then the song comes in with a good power. It turns out there is trouble in this song’s relationship too, with Mike Jacoby singing, “There’s a wall between us, something went wrong/There has to be more to this than just getting along.” But perhaps there is still something there, though maybe only one of them sees it. “I’m ready for the ride, ready for some kind of trust/I’m ready for the rain to come damp down the dust/Or maybe there’s sunshine or big skies of blue/I’m ready for the life I was meant for with you.” Ultimately it’s an optimistic, hopeful song, with some seriously catchy elements, and it features some good guitar work.

“Lay Of The Land” is also from NorthEastSouthWest. It has kind of a sweet, thoughtful vibe as it begins, and features some nice work on harmonica. Its first line mentions that “New Year’s Day is finally here.” So we are immediately put in mind of a time of change, of new beginnings, new opportunities, or at least promises of such. Soon we learn the character of this song is at a crossroads, realizing “Life ain’t going quite the way you planned.” And what will this person do to change things? Anything? And what will we do? Because of course we find ourselves in this song, at least in some lines. “The highway stretches on and on/Don’t count the days that you’ll be gone/Out searching for a solid place to stand.” Then “Here And Now” opens with a delightful, bright energy. As this seriously good rock song begins, Mike Jacoby tell us, “The bones get brittle past a certain age/I need big letters just to read the page/My back’s getting worse, my hair’s turning grey/There’s no going back to yesterday.” But he is not lamenting anything. Instead, he announces, “I’m here in the here and now.” Oh yes! We might be older, but we’re not quite dead, so let’s get on with it. This track is another of my personal favorites. There is a bit of a punk rock energy to it, which is great. “I know I screwed up, I know what went wrong/I remember every place I didn’t belong/But at the end of the day, with the setting sun/I won’t lose sleep over what I’ve done.” This song was on Long Beach Calling.

“Resume Speed, Texas” was included on The Big 5-0. This new recording is quite a bit different from that earlier version, right from the start. It opens with its title line, which the original recording did not, and it has more of a rocking thing happening here, sort of along the lines of something Reverend Horton Heat might do. It’s fantastic and a whole lot of fun. I imagine this song must be a highlight of the trio’s live performances. The album concludes with “Try,” which was also included on The Big 5-0. Mike Jacoby’s delivery of that first word, “Hey,” is quite a bit different from the original recording, and so it puts us in a different frame of mind when receiving the rest of each line. It’s an interesting effect. There is something more intimate about it, like this is a one-on-one conversation. “Hey, try not to notice/Hey, try feeling cold/Hey, try tired and lonely/Hey, try growing old.” And then in the second half, it kicks into higher gear, in a way that the original recording did not, and becomes more positive, more hopeful. “Hey, try even harder/Hey, try pushing through/Hey, try all around us/Hey, try I love you.” That last line is repeated, and its final delivery is a cappella. What better way to end an album in these trying times than with “I love you”?

CD Track List

1. There Oughta Be A Law
2. Stomp The Gas
3. Your Love Song
4. Explaining To Do
5. Lie In Bed
6. Ready When You Are
7. Lay Of The Land
8. Here And Now
9. Resume Speed, Texas
10. Try

Rocket Fuel Logic was released on June 21, 2024.