ADRIANNA MARIE
AND HER ROOMFUL OF ALL STARS
KINGDOM OF SWING
VIZZTONE VT-AM625
KINGDOM OF SWING–BETTER BEWARE–SIDECAR MAMA–MOOD INDIGO–3 AM BLUES–GIMME A ROOMFUL–MEMPHIS BOOGIE–DRIVE ME DADDY–BABY I GOT YOU–JUMP WITH YOU BABY–THE BLUES ARE BREWIN–ONE SWEET LETTER–T-BONE BOOGIE–BLUES AFTER HOURS
Adrianna Marie takes us back to a time when the bands were big, the singers were the thing, and the airwaves and turntables were ruled by the Count, the Duke and Goodman, the kings of swing. Adrianna has a big, bold voice tailor-made to front a modern-day big band, and, on her sophomore release, “Kingdom Of Swing,” for Vizztone Records, she struts her considerable chops over fourteen cuts of originals and well-chosen covers that run the gamut from jump blues to torch songs, to straight, no-chaser blues. And what a mighty big band sets up behind her. Her Roomful Of All-Stars include that “other” Duke, Robillard, who produces and adds guitar and vocals on one cut, Bob Corritore, Junior Watson, Brian Fahey, Al Copley, Kedar Roy, L. A. Jones, and all the usual suspects of that great Roomful horn section.
Another plus on this set is the fact that all the songs are arranged for every player to get in some serious solo time, built around Adrianna’s vocals. She kicks off with one of her originals, a biography of sorts of this music, “Kingdom Of Swing,” where she name-checks all the legends while the horns keep things cookin’. Want some jump-blues? Then, “pick me up, Daddy, and take me for a ride,” the whimsical romp that is “Sidecar Mama,” punctuated by Al’s straight 88’s!
Adrianna can get into a “starry-eyed and dreamy” torch-song mood, too, as evidenced with the sweet and sultry “3 AM Blues,” “The Blues Are Brewin,” and a stylish read of the rarely-covered “Mood Indigo.” And, a band of this magnitude simply HAS to show what they’re all about, so they close the set with a killer instrumental, the classic “Blues After Hours,’ with L. A. Jones on guitar.
We had two favorites, too, at the opposite ends of the blues rainbow. First up, Adrianna and the boys take us on a little trip westward, to get a taste of that good ‘ol “Memphis Boogie,” and it jumps double-time throughout! And, on the set’s most traditional blues cut, Adrianna’s vocal and Bob Corritore’s harp transform Helen Humes’ double-entendre’-filled, sly-and-sexy “Drive Me Daddy” into a showcase for our “high-powered mama, with plenty of octane to burn!”
Adrianna Marie has got it all–sass, brass, and a whole lotta class, with a voice that makes the grooves on “Kimgdom Of Swing” literally come to life! Until next time…Sheryl and Don Crow, The Nashville Blues Society.
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