Cards on the Table
Editorial Reviews
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Unfortunately, on Cards on the Table, the usually restrained James Harman is a little too understated. In his quest for the subtlety of his favorite blues classics, the bandleader has fallen prey to a certain blandness. Harman and his righthand man, multi-instrumental whiz Jeff Turmes, wrote 12 of the album's 13 tunes. None of them match the concise catchiness of the other song, Leiber & Stoller's "Last Clean Shirt," but numbers like "Sparks" and "Crazy by Degrees" describe relationships gone wrong with sly wit and striking guitar riffs. Friend-of-the-band Anson Funderburgh adds some guitar to "Temporary Blues," and "Where's My Thang" and "Black Under Black" get the full-blown R&B treatment of female backup singers and a horn section. All these songs should be much more vivid in live performance. --Geoffrey Himes
Cards on the Table, Music, James Harman Band, Blues, Blues Music, Modern Electric Blues, Pop
Music:
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