Barrelhouse Blues

Music Review : Barrelhouse Blues (RMR 105) Barrelhouse Blues is Frederick Nighthawk's fifth release for Red Mountain Records. In his liner notes for the CD Nighthawk says, ' For years friends and fans have encouraged me to make a recording capturing the spirit of my live solo performance. It's been a long time coming, but here it is : stripped down to the nitty gritty with just piano, vocals, and my friend and special guest Jimmy Hobson on drums.' Working out of his home studio in the fall of 2002 to the spring of 2003 Nighthawk recorded the live tracks for Barrelhouse Blues, and later recorded additional tracks with Jimmy Hobson on drums. The twelve new original songs draw from a breadth of inspirations from the country blues of 'Get It Up And Go', and 'Midnight Train' to the echoes of old Appalachian melodies found in a tune like 'Running On The Highway Now' featuring Nighthawk on guitar. To get you rocking and rolling there are a couple of barrelhouse burners such as the title tune 'Barrelhouse' and 'Fireball', and you can sit a spell and catch your breath with the 'Big Easy' stroll of 'Creole Flame' and 'Memories Of You'.There is a beautiful ballad called 'Cajun Dancer', a couple of Gulf Coast rockers called 'Coming Back Home' and 'Gulf Coast Line', a Louis Armstrong inspired Storyville tune titled 'Come On Down', and the second line revelry of 'Touch The Sky'. The songs on Barrelhouse Blues will have you rocking from start to finish. They are certified hipshakers and a recipe to soothe the soul. Take a listen and let the good times roll! Bio : Frederick Nighthawk Frederick Nighthawk is a rising talent in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a pianist, singer and songwriter drawing from a background rich in the blues, country, and jazz traditions he has forged an exciting and unique style. His original compositions on his latest Red Mountain Records release Barrelhouse Blues (2004) and Brand New Day (1999) echo the inspirations of many diverse voices and styles such as Van Morrison, Louis Jordan, and Delbert McClinton, to the blues of B.B. King, Big Maceo, and Muddy Waters, and the fertile New Orleans rhythm and blues of Professor Longhair, Dr. John, and James Booker. Frederick has been a sideman to Southern rocker Jimmy Van Zant (Lynyrd Skynyrd family), Bluegrass great Peter Rowan, Beat poet Allen Ginsberg (jazz poetics), Chuck Berry, Grammy award winners Zydeco squeezebox man Al Rapone, and Tex Mex legend Flaco Jimenez. Currently Frederick Nighthawk plays over 250 solo and band dates a year in the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California region, including being a featured performer for four seasons (1999-2002) at the 'New Orleans By The Bay' festival held each June at The Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA. He has appeared on the International stage at festival dates in Nice on the French Riviera. Nighthawk was a featured artist in Domaine Chandon's 2003 spring and summer concert series in the Napa Valley, and also a guest artist in solo performances at the historic Napa Valley Opera House. Frederick Nighthawk has one of the longest running blues shows on the West Coast. He has been performing weekly at Mama's Royal Café in Mill Valley for over twenty years, keeping alive the flame of the barrelhouse, blues, and boogie piano, and since February 2006 has been the full time house pianist at the Villagio Inn and Spa in Yountville, California.