Mike Kindred's Handstand is the best single disc of blues piano I've ever heard. This collection of mostly self-penned songs, with Kindred playing and singing and backed only by Dexter Walker on drums, satisfies on every level.
The fact that most of us haven't heard of Mike Kindred is not his problem—it's ours. He's worked as a session musician for Texas artists like Gatemouth Brown, Joe Ely, and Lou Ann Barton and also co-wrote the Stevie Ray Vaughn hit "Cold Shot" from Can't Stand the Weather. Handstand, his first solo effort, is probably better than just about all of the albums on which he's guested.
Comparing Handstand to an acknowledged classic like Otis Spann's Walking the Blues from 1972 shows just how good Kindred's album really is. On Spann's set, great as it is, you get eleven cuts of vintage Chicago piano blues, but they all chug along the same 12-bar tracks. Handstand mixes it up with different arrangements and songs full of stoptime breaks, interludes, and key shifts. Plus, it's not exactly Chicago blues that Kindred's turning out. I'd categorize it as blues piano with a bottom story of Texas boogie-woogie and jazz flourishes on top. For the bottom, Kindred's left hand is the strongest and most steady-rolling you'll hear, and his super-fast right hand continually incorporates jazz intervals that go beyond the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th's of typical blues. Listen to the introduction to "Cover Story," and you'll think you're hearing a jazz set, at least until the rolling bass boogies through town. Color and variation also come from Kindred's incorporation of New Orleans, second-line rhythms into many of the songs, like on "Liz Ann" and "If I Still," which gives more than a wink to Professor Longhair.
Vocally, Kindred sings with a combination of gravel and gurgle. His type of singing won't land him a spot on American Idol, but it fits the music perfectly. In addition to Kindred, Dexter Walker's drumming deserves mention. He compliments the piano with punch and panache, and you can tell that he's not just going through the motions—the drumming on every song is sympathetic to that particular song, and not on autopilot.
Who knows whether Mike Kindred will gain more recognition as the years go by? (He apparently turned heads at SXSW in Austin this past March.) If there were justice in the sales charts, this disc would sail to the top. Move over, Martin Scorcese: if you want a primer in blues piano, or if you're just looking for a blues disc to rock the house, look no further.
www.loudhousemusic.com
Buy this CD NOW:
Your purchase through the Amazon.com links at the end of each review, or by simply clicking on this banner (below) to order this or many other products from Amazon, helps to support this website as well as the featured blues artist.
"This review is copyright © 2004 by Jim Angehr, and Blues On Stage at: www.mnblues.com, all rights reserved. Copy, duplication or download prohibited without permission."
Copyright reuse notice: If you would like to reprint or use this review please include the above copyright notice, contained within the quotation marks, PLUS this statement: "Used with permission." Then send an email to Ray at: mnblues@aol.com indicating how you are using the review or the website page address it will be appearing on. Thanks!
Your purchase through the Amazon.com links at the end of each review, or by simply clicking on this banner (below) to order this or many other products from Amazon, helps to support this website as well as the featured blues artist.
Click on this banner to get you new low percent credit card:
THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT! You can help support this blues website by making a contribution (click on the banner below for details).
Or mail a donation to: Ray Stiles % Blues On Stage, PO Box 582983, Mpls, MN 55458. Thanks!
Web Hosting & Design:
CLICK HERE for Web Design SPECIAL, get your own website for just $75.
The most affordable web hosting and design services available. Click Here
to find out how you can host your current site at Blues On Stage, or how I can help you design your own website!
If you would like your CD reviewed, please send TWO (2) copies, along with promotional material to:
Blues On Stage
PO Box 582983
Minneapolis, MN 55458-2983
E-mail Ray Stiles @ mnblues@aol.com with any questions.
We build websites