Lois Greco intros her new CD Takin’ Hold Of Your Heart with the standard “Tobacco Road.” She rushes in with an incredibly dynamic vocal interpretation, her gutsy, raspy wail pulling the listener right into the CD as she also pulls her backing band in with the force of her voice, forcing them to match her intensity. An onslaught of edgy guitar, aggressive drums, and buzz saw direct organ turn this into one hell of an attention-getting opener.
Greco controls the jumpy beat and cool tones with her commanding vocal presence. She belts at the end like a singer possessed by the frenzied divas of yesteryear. And this is just the first song. “Love Me Just Right” is a bopping piece of lightning strike guitar notes as Greco rides this one mellow and solid, her band unleashing a heavy blues sound beneath her. Drummer Skip Fischer pounds all the skins on this CD and he proves to be the kind of drummer needed to back such a rangy, dynamic vocalist.
“Help Me Find My Way” charms the ear with a mellow organ groove from Mark Gilroy(who passed shortly after this CD was recorded) and Greco’s gentle, sweeping vocals. She practically takes the listener by the hand and walks him through all the abundance of dynamic sounds surrounding her. Her song is actually a prayer to the higher power and she belts it at the end with all the conviction of a southern revival choir soloist. A former Broadway performer, Greco has the vocal chops to deliver.
Title track “Takin’ Hold Of Your Heart” is a rhythm guitar plunge into aggressive blues-rock. Greco belts well in the double track chorus, strutting her tough girl delivery in this hard rocking rave up, complete with screaming guitar and knobby bass lines.
A barn-burning guitar intro brings us into Greco’s stirring rendition of Big Mama Thornton’s “Ball And Chain.” You can feel the force of nature that is Greco’s voice as she delivers the dynamics with rare ability for a local artist. Henry Cox walks his hurricane guitar phrase all over this number like a rich man walking his guard dog around his estate. Greco, after generously letting her band strut, takes the reigns with a belt that will surely remind of Janis Joplin and all of those serious heavy hitters before.
“Ain’t No Kinda Love” is simply a romping, stomping action-packed guitar and keyboard driven work. JJ Cale’s “Cajun Moon,” arranged by Greco’s brother and bass player, Earl Greco, has a special groove in Hank Walter’s organ phrases. Guitarist Henry Cox chimes in with a mean monster phrase. Guitar and keys weave a perfect texture for Greco to sing over.
“I’m A Good Woman” has drama in Greco’s vocal performance in this incredibly durable anthem that’s directed more at men in general than the antagonist in the song. Greco’s voice blares like a powerful horn and she packs an emotional wallop here. Her band has a tightness that makes for the most palpable groove possible. Mark Gilroy turns in another strong studio performance on this tune.
Greco gives us more of an idea of who has influenced her over the years in her hard-hitting delivery of “Damn Your Eyes,” which gets an extra boost from an ebullient saxophone line played by Bruce McGrath. Greco stretches her timbre a bit to become less raspy and more icy cool when she nails each crucial, emotional lyric. Greco throws a little more old school blues into her CD with Willie Dixon’s “Let Me Love You, Baby.” Her vocal rides up beautifully over that bass driven beat that sounds simple but is actually robust enough to carry every instrument. Jody Briggs’s stellar organ work gives an extra layer of gravy over the meat and potatoes.
Greco closes out with a breezy rendition of John Prine’s “Angel From Montgomery.” Fortunately, guitarist Scott Tarulli brings some spiritual uplift with his melodic phrasing and organist Briggs keeps a rich, thick, atmosphere of organ chords going. Otherwise, the song would be another version of a song that has overstayed its welcome in bars in studios.
Greco, who recently made it into the finals in the Boston Blues Challenge, will surely take her career to a higher level with this CD. Takin’ Hold Of Your Heart is an appropriate title for her album. For that is exactly what Greco does for her listeners.
www.loisgreco.com
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