Handsome Jack - Get Humble

Timeless American rock 'n' soul stew. No reinvention of the wheel but they sure can roll it!

It's a well trodden musical path but damn it still sound good. Handsome Jack are a trio based in Lockport NY whose music is an timeless amalgam of southern rock, soul, gospel, blues, R&B, with a little bit of funky country thrown in for good measure. Their latest album Get Humble was released last month by the always reliable label Alive Records. Gutsy locked-in grooves and raspy vocals are the order of the day, delivered with aplomb and conviction. The addition of harmony vocals, a touch of brass here and there and the party is good to go. It may only be rock and roll, but Handsome Jack avoid the trap many bands make – with these guys the emphasis is on the roll, not the rock. A massively important point here.

There are highlights aplenty - the slide guitar solo and tasty drum fills on 'High Class Man', the call and response vocal lines on 'Get Humble', the low bass rumble of 'New Home In The Sky'. It all makes for a compelling feelgood listen, one that's suere to bring a little bit of sunshine and warmth in these dark winter weeks. If the likes of The Black Crowes, The Allman Brothers Band, and the rootsier side of ZZ TOP are your bag, this will be too. Good times guaranteed.

Handsome Jack are:-

Jamison Passuite (guitar/vocals)

Joey Verdonselli (bass/vocals)

Bennie Hayes (drums/vocals)

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Handsome Jack - Do What Comes Naturally

The latest torch carriers for gritty, soulful blues release their debut LP.

The Blues is a wheel that keeps on turning, a gift that keeps on giving. The recent popularity of The White Stripes, The Black Keys, Seasick Steve et al, have made the blues newly accessible to mainstream ears. Unlike jazz it seems to have avoided becoming a dead form, ironically by not changing that much. The same three chords, same subject matter and same delivery have served it pretty well.

The latest band to breathe new life into this old form is Handsome Jack, a quartet from Buffalo, NY. Their debut album Do What Comes Naturally doesn't serve up anything particularly revolutionary but as the title suggests they make music that feels right, and feels good, from the blue-eyed soul burr of the vocals to the in-the-pocket funky rhythm section.

Unlike the White Stripes' punked-up take on the blues, or the Black Keys indie-funk makeover, Handsome Jack have opted for a more organic blues/soul reunification, one with it's roots in the deep southern states of Mississippi and Tennessee as opposed to the NY zip-code that Handsome Jack call home.

Much like the LPs Albert King made for Stax Records, the music here is laid-back, groove-laden and soulful. The band's roots in garage rock are betrayed by the record's bourbon-soaked rawness, but it's a blues record at heart, albeit one that owes as much to '70s funk and late '60s blues rockers Canned Heat as it does to the electrified Chicago blues of John Lee, Muddy and Wolf.

Produced by Zachary Gabbard of label-mates The Buffalo Killers, the record essentially captures the band's live sound with some subtle additions - sumptuous Hammond organ (courtesy of The Lemon Pipers' Bob Nave), the occasional harmonica solo, and some Sweet Inspirations-esque backing vocals. Do What Comes Naturally is a fine addition to the contemporary blues cannon and a disc that'll nicely soundtrack any blues house party.

Click here for more on Handsome Jack.