Dave Fields review…January 30, 2017…

DAVE FIELDS

UNLEASHED

FMI RECORDS

ANTICIPATING YOU–GOING DOWN–CHILD OF THE WORLD–MY MAMA’S GOT THE BLUES–THE BOY WANTS TO PLAY–JAGGED LINE PART 1–JAGGED LINE PART 2–BETTER BE GOOD–HOW AM I DOING?–POCKET FULL OF DUST–HEY JOE–THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER/HEY JOE (REPRISE)–NEW YORK CITY NIGHTS–L. E. S. HOEDOWN

New York-raised blues-rocker Dave Fields is a perennial favorite of ours, because you never know in which unique direction his music may take you.  His latest set, “Unleashed,” is no different, boasting fourteen cuts, a Duke’s mix of strong originals and ultra-cool covers.

Dave is the son of famed composer, producer, and arranger Sammy “Forever” Fields, and young Dave was influenced by the steady stream of big names that frequented dad’s studio.  Dave studied at Berklee College of Music, and is proficient on numerous instruments.  Natch’l fact is, on Dave’s ode to all things good about the Big Apple, the jazzy “New York City Nights,” Dave plays EVERY instrument except for violin, courtesy of Gary Oleyar!

That’s the fun of “Unleashed,” folks.  The set starts with a jazzed-up instrumental, “Anticipating You,” and closes with another one that might best be described as “blues-grass.”  It’s a rapid-fire twang fest entitled “L. E. S. Hoedown,” with Vlad Barsky on piano.

In between, it’s blues as blues can get.  Check out the autobiographical “The Boy Who Wants To Play,” full of blistering buzzsaw runs and an extended solo.  Dave’s favorites on the set were the two parts of “Jagged Edge,” the perfect blend of blues and rock, mirroring how Dave has grown as an artist.

We had a spate of favorites as well.  He blisters the strings into submission on fantastic covers of Don Nix’s “Going Down,” Jimi’s “Hey Joe,,” and a Woodstock-ish “Star Spangled Banner,” all done in various live settings.  On his studio cuts, you simply cannot go wrong with the seven minutes of slow-blues bliss that is “Pocket Full Of Dust,” and the humorous “My Mama’s Got The Blues, and I’m about to get ’em, too.”  Everybody has a lotta fun with this one, and it features JT Lauritsen on harp.

Dave Fields and “Unleashed” also sends a universal message of love in the form of “Child Of The World,” written in response to the Paris terrorist attacks, and he’s truly on “a love crusade!”  Until next time…Sheryl and Don Crow, The Nashville Blues Society.