Brazilian Fernando Noronha confirms blues is an international language. He may be across the pond. You never know it. With his road-battered Stratocaster, Noronha revels in the Texas Traditions. With axe master Chris Duarte producing Fernando's cd Changes, does this come as a surprise?
Fernando wrote all but one of the songs on the cd. Having Duarte work behind the board might have proven a godsend in Noronha's case. The sounds of bassist Xico Pretto, drummer Ronie Martinez and keyboardist Luciano Leaes are heard upfront and in your face in the mix.
Changes won't score high grades in the originality department. Painfully obvious is Fernando tipping his hat a few times too many to Stevie Ray Vaughn. Others suffer this disease as well.
If the listener is open-minded, these blemishes stand a chance of being ignored. "Nothing But Her Love" and "Driftin" rock with Noronha pouring it on with note ripping gusto. He pulls out a T-Bone Walker bag of licks in "White Trash" that shoots notes out of a geyser finally blowing its cork. Like many lovers of those Texas shuffles, Noronha goes into that familiar terrain with the instrumental "Pig Foot" that features keyboardist Leaes adding his sense of jazz.
Noronha does his best not to follow to closely in his hero's footsteps. "Changes" is a hard-driving rocker driven by stomp box effects. "Blues for Jimmy King" sees Fernando attempting to deliver a eulogy that just doesn't get off the ground. The soloing might be a highlight. Noronha's heart was in the right place. It just wasn't in line with his musical mindset. The remaining tracks may grow on some ears over time. Basically they're just Fernando doing shuffles and mainstream rockers. But even the best of those can get stale if heard more then often. No matter how well a blues riffer shakes the boards.
The final cut "House of Blues" was needed to end this cd. Noronha is one of those musician's who knows how important it is to save the best for last. With this blues rocker, Fernando's heart and mind were both in the right place.
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