By Kyle M. Palarino is a contributing editor at BluesWax
A BluesWax Reprint
This review originally ran in BluesWax on March 29, 2007
Arsen Shomakhov Dangerous
BluesWax Rating: 9 out of 10
Russian Blues? Take A Listen, It’s Worth It
Welcome to one of the most interesting albums I've come across in a bit. Russian Blues? Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, Blues music is now accessible to the Russian public. From the music on this disc, Arsen Shomakhov has done his homework and can hang out with many of the North Americans I know and his vocals are very clear and strong. By listening you would never know where he was from.
Now let's get off the geography lesson and onto the music. The album kicks off with a guitar riff that sounds like it has some serious Texas twang on it. The song, "Dangerous," is an instrumental that showcases, at the same time, the control and over-exuberance that Shomakhov has developed. This song could have been composed in the barrooms of Dallas just as easily and it works. "Too Hot" has a 1950s Rock 'n' Roll feel with a little hint of Chuck Berry at times. For this song he gets a fatter guitar tone goin' on; this song cooks like a Cajun gumbo.
If you like some Swing in your Blues then you'll love "Let Me Be Your Romeo." The walking bass line and bouncing piano keys make way for Shomakhov. This song has an early Fabulous Thunderbirds sound. Then we turn into a Country vein with some sugar-sweet vocals on "You're The One." Adding to the song's Junior Brown-feel is the upright bass and snare drum beat.
"Low Down Shakin' Chill," "Troublemaker," and "Use What You Got" all have a contemporary Blues sound. They have some hints of the Chicago influence advanced through to the present-day Blues of Tommy Castro and Coco Montoya.
Now, if all the styles he plays very well don't convince you, maybe you need something else? How about a cool Jazz number like "Rainy Drive"? Again, the upright bass is used with great vibe to add to the song. This is straight-ahead Jazz played with feeling and tone.
The T-Bird style comes out again with a little more bass in his guitar tone on "The Arsonist." "Don't Miss Your Train" has a fast guitar lick that runs fluidly up the neck before he eases up and uses all the strings to his benefit to push out a great instrumental to boogie down. If you prefer not to ride the rails you can take the Jazz side again on "Highway Cruise." I would have liked the upright bass on this track over the electric. The upright added to "Rainy Drive" so well it just would have worked better here too.
The album closes with the "Beale Street Boogie." This is a loose affair goin' down to the juke joints. The guitar is clean and under-played. When he wants to burn he can, but when he holds back he can do that too. On this song he goes for the feel and mixes up all the styles to boogie along.
Shomakhov has an album that should grab plenty of attention this side of the Atlantic. He has studied the older styles and created sounds and feels of his own. He wrote every song on the album and some really have a sound that goes back decades. This is a fresh voice from an up-and-coming artist who has developed into a skilled professional. Hop the pond and play here whenever ya like, man.
Kyle M. Palarino is a contributing editor at BluesWax
Article Credits and References
Copyright Visionation, Ltd 2007. All Rights Reserved with limited rights offered to artist and their agents for publicity purposes only with proper citation to BluesWax, BluesWax.com, or www.blueswax.com.
