Mike Zito has put together an excellent CD of mostly self penned music. Out of the 13 songs on the CD, Mike Zito wrote 12 of them. The only non original song is 'Little Red Corvette' written by Prince.
Some samples from the CD:
'Love Like This' echos John Hiatt in vocal and guitar style, with a choppy rhythm and slightly overdriven guitar fills throughout the song. 'Superman' has a funky feel and a slight Motown edge to it. 'Holding Out For Love' continues in the soulful vein with a style that reminds me of Bernard Allison. 'Universe' leans towards a refined Hendrix feel from the Are You Experienced era. It's not quite over the top like Hendrix but it has a similar drone in the guitar backing. 'Blinded' reminds me a bit of mid 70's rock similar to Foreigner or Journey but a little laid back. 'Slow It Down' does just that, as it's a slow blues, leaning towards Texas Blues, but again rounding off the edges and smoothing the sound out a bit. 'Today' has a little Tex-Mex sound in a style similar to Los Lonely Boys more commercial songs. 'Deep Down In Love' gets into a funky Texas blues type of feel. 'Hollywood' gets into the funky Tex-Mex sound and gets rockin with a Texas blues feel.
Bottom Line: This is a good to excellent CD which reminds me a lot of John Hiatt in vocal and musical style. The production is excellent throughout and this is a solid release. If your a John Hiatt or Bernard Allison fan, then you should like this CD. If your tastes run in that direction, then this might be a CD for you. If you are looking for rockin SRV style blues, then you might want to look elsewhere. In any case this is a very good CD with some really good music with various styles and feel. I would certainly make it a point to go see him if he was in the area. I give it four out of five stars.
Musicians:
Guitar and vocals - Mike Zito
Bass - Hutch Hutchinson
Drums & Percussion - Tony Braunagel
Background Vocals - Teresa James
Saxophone - Joe Sublett
Trumpet - Darrell Leonard
www.electogroove.com
www.mikezito.com