Thursday, January 16, 2025

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.

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