Down in the Mood Room

Down in the Mood Room

Editorial Reviews
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Harmonica hero Jerry Portnoy successfully takes his signature sound beyond the blues on the eclectic Down in the Mood Room. Portnoy leads the listener down several intriguing musical paths, the most fully realized being a selection of jazz standards reinvented and re-energized in a harmonica context. With horn reinforcement and a forceful yet flexible band led by Duke Robillard behind him, Portnoy digs deep into the classic jazz repertoire to deliver a lilting "Lullaby of Birdland," a marvelously moody "Stormy Weather," and a rumbling, lower-register "Sentimental Journey."

The sessions, which open with jazz pianist-composer Horace Silver's "Doodlin'," were produced by Robillard, who plays guitar throughout and sings on a couple of selections, including the vintage swinger "You Rascal You." His jazz-inflected guitar work sparkles in every situation, just as Portnoy's expansive expertise consistently surprises. The jazz mood may dominate, but Portnoy also gets folksy, bringing in fiddle and mandolin on "Jug Band Waltz." And he blows through some scorching blues, spiced by an excellent Robillard guitar solo, on "So Slow." Portnoy, best known for his extended employment with Muddy Waters and Eric Clapton, also sings on two songs, both originals, and provides a few more basic blues tunes. But it is his bold appropriation of jazz for the blues harmonica that makes this such a fascinating exercise in musical imagination. --Michael Point

Down in the Mood Room, Music, Jerry Portnoy, Blues, Blues Music, Blues Traditional, Harmonica Blues, Pop

Down in the Mood Room

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