General Description of Music: Rocking Blues. This CD will appeal to a wide audience base because it encompasses
traditional blues with a great rocking feel and a taste of Latin beat as well.
The material is a mix of mostly Cabrera originals and a few well chosen covers.
The musicianship is really excellent
Guitar and harp are the dominant instruments throughout this album.
Felix has a great voice and a really excellent singing techniques, good
projection and injects a lot of feeling into his vocals.
Felix's writing song writing skill is very good. I particularly liked track
9, which has a funky, swinging feel to it and showcases the excellent
skills of the band.
What I specially like about this CD is that although it is clearly a blues
CD, Felix always seems to manage to sneak in a little of that Latin flavor
so that even on the covers, he gets his own take on things. To me this
differentiates Pressure Cooker from tons of other CD's A cut that really
stands out for me is number 4 "Listen Here" By E. Harris, Felix really
outdoes himself on harmonica on this instrumental track, and I love the
groove. Another thing that I like is his choice of cover material - not
your usual blues standards!
The cover art is nice and simple, using black and white inside and colour
for front and back to very good effect.
Arriving in the U.S. from his native Cuba in the late 1960's, Felix Cabrera
is a singer/songwriter and harmonica player who as been a part of the New
York blues scene since the early '70's.
Felix gradually fused his Cuban musical background with the blues, rock,
and R&B influences found in his new home. Felix led his first band The A
Train, into various engagements backing up such blues legends as Honeyboy
Edwards, Victoria Spivey, Tarheel Slim and Sunnyland Slim.
Felix was involved with The Internationals, and later in the '80'she formed
his group Felix and the Havanas. During this time they opened for high
profile artists such as James Brown, Buddy Guy, Wilson Picket, James Cotton
and others in venues around the New York Metropolitan area.
Felix released his first album "Next" which received accolades in the New
York and College press, and was released in Europe in 1991. His second
album "Cu-Bop, Cu-Blues" released in the late '90's also received good
press and continues to sell well today.
With this newest album released in Summer of 2001, Felix seemed poised to
bring his unique blend of talents to a new level.
CD can be obtained from Fountainblue Entertainment, Inc. 91-38 114th
Street, Richmond Hill, NY 11418, USA
Tel: 718-847-3281, Fax 718-805-8502 email: fountainbue@mindspring.com Web
site: www.fountainblue.com
Louise Peacock
ONYX Canada - Music Publicity, Promotions and Management
email: wezel@wezel.com
email: onyxcan@wezel.com
WEB page: http://www.wezel.com/onyx
This review is copyright © 2001 by Louise Peacock, and Blues On Stage, all rights reserved. Copy, duplication or download prohibited without written permission. For permission to use this review please send an E-mail to Ray Stiles.