Review 0f Barnbard Boogie by Diane Wells From
"PATCHWORK BLUES" RADIO SHOW

"This recording is one of the most unusual and appealing I’ve come across since discovering the music of the now deceased Aylie Sparkes. Equally important, the sum of the parts is sonically balanced throughout - the mark of an excellent producer and engineer, in this case, one Lari Peterson.

Guitarist and lead vocalist Chris Morda utilizes a variety of tools - electric, electric slide, lap slide guitar and 12-tone ultra plus guitar - to convey a powerful element of excitement, despite the overall mellowness of the majority of these tracks. When they do rock up the blues (on “Motherless Children” and “Slow Down”), they get raunchy enough but without being frantic (with the exception of the instrumental title track), so their self-reference as a “high energy” band is a curious thing.

The opening instrumental, “The Freeze” (a tribute to Albert Collins), engages the listener right off the bat. It could just as well have been called “The Frisson”, as its hypnotic but funky melody is partnered by the splendidly delicious glide of special guest keyboardist Joe Doria on Hammond organ (also appearing on the original composition, “Think of You”) and the bluesadelic electric guitar wailing of Morda. The rhythm section is held down in equal strength by bassist Forrest Giberson and drummer Lorne Watson.

Drawing an analogy to the female-directed lyrics in “1/2 Steppin’ Chicken” - “if they ain’t steppin’ to the full effect, then they best not be steppin’ at all” – I would say this project displays a serious amount of musical commitment by this stellar team of players. Lorne Watson contributes his own sensually gruff vocals on this equally hypnotic, swaggering strut, as well as on the similarly patterned “Workin’ Blues”, featuring a 12-tone ultra plus guitar. This type of guitar is characterized as featuring 36 notes per octave, and you’d have to contact Chris about how it produces such a “heavy metal” sound. You can also visit www.microtones.com for a more technical explanation.

Morda’s vocals have a mid-weight, nasal tone to them, not unlike those of Oklahoman superstar, Leon Russell, of whom I’m a big fan. There are a slew of sexy originals and inspired covers by Willie Dixon (“Little Red Rooster”), Sonny Boy Williamson, et al. (“Help Me”), Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee (“Trouble in Mind”) and the Eric Clapton-Carl Radle arrangement of the traditional “Motherless Children”, also recorded by the Reverend Gary Davis and Blind Willie Johnson, as well as multi-genre musician Tim O’Brien. Because of Morda’s “take no prisoners” approach on guitar, these renditions get new and improved “makeovers”.

The classic slow-blues showcase is not forgotten on this recording, either. Attributed to the band as a whole (as are most of the originals), “Think of You” is memorable for the dynamically pleading Santana-like guitar work by Morda, underscored by Doria’s exquisite Hammond strains. Unlike Giberson’s consistently tasteful bass walking, the double-tapped timekeeping here was a distraction during the beautiful guitar and organ breaks, especially due to its almost eight-minute duration, but Watson’s work elsewhere on the CD is impeccable, and this is an otherwise excellent instrumental composition.

The CD closes with a shorter East Indian instrumental called “Introspect”, performed in a wistful, ’60s psychedelia fashion on lap slide guitar, accompanied by an ominous bass line and dramatic percussion. This is the song that reminded me of Aylie Sparkes’ sinuously intriguing slide guitar style, notably on his “Gypsy’s Lament”.

Chris Morda’s cover of Willie Dixon’s “Little Red Rooster” occasionally infuses a “saw” effect (a la Reggie Miles) on lap slide guitar that was just too cool! I’ve heard many slide versions of this classic, but none that sounded quite this damned sleazy, except perhaps for slide guitarist Paul Fenton’s version. Speaking of which, the Stone Crazy Blues Band’s original instrumental, “Slow Down”, also reminded me of “Way Down in Georgia” (P. Fenton-J. Cohen), both rockin’ country-blues songs played on electric slide."

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