ERIC SOMMER
BROOKLYN BOLERO
CLYDE IS THINKING RECORDS
RED DRESS–CEREAL SONG–BEST FOOT FORWARD–DOIN’ WRONG–COVER MY SOUL–WHAT A DAY I HAD–DEATH RAY CATACLYSM–HOLD YOUR HAND
Eric Sommer is an astounding guitar player, a virtuoso on acoustic and electric, and is a killer slide player and master of the finger-picking style. popularized by many of the Delta blues legends. His songwriting might best be described as “out of the box,” to say the least, and his deep well of musical experience is the thread that runs through his latest album, “Brooklyn Bolero.” These eight cuts are all-originals, and finds Eric on guitars, stomp box, and harp, with Jim Oakley on percussion, and Zach Smith on bass.
Eric has worked with everybody who is anybody–Dr. John, Mayall, David Bromberg, and even logged a stint in Europe with Nick Lowe. His resume’ reads like a musical encyclopedia, and this set finds him in a true comfort zone within the trio setting, and they just rare back and let the bon temps commence to roulet-ing.
His slide cuts a wide swath thru the Mississippi Hill Country on the stomping burn of the leadoff track, with “honey, put that Red Dress on!” “Doin’ Wrong” has a jangly, Sixties-pop feel, as does perhaps the set’s quirkiest cut. It’s the story of a man lost in “a black-and-white movie that got outta hand,” “Death Ray Cataclysm.”
Our favorite was easy. Eric busts out his harp and blows a mean stop-time blues that name-checks virtually every menu item from the Kellogg’s and General Mills breakfast list, “Cereal Song!” Yep–he tastes ’em all, from Froot Loops to Chocula to Frankenberry!
If you want to get a good grip on the style and sound of Eric Sommer, you gotta use your imagination and picture Son House and Dylan at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge playing for tips and bouncing song threads off each other. Excellent guitar work and material make “Brooklyn Bolero” a must-listen! Until next time…Sheryl and Don Crow.
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