Wildcat O’Halloran Band recently released another of their very strong blues CDs. Titled New York City Chill, it’s loaded with tasty blues songs composed, arranged, and performed by O’Halloran and his usual suspects Emily Duff, Kathy Peterson, and Mark Chouinard. Its variety of blues styles is only one of its strengths. Each tune, well fleshed out by each band member, has a distinct color, tone, and personality that sets this disc apart from many other blues offerings.
Opening cut “Van Wyck Expressway” finds O’Halloran pressing out a lean, mean, but heartfelt guitar line. His melody moves with edge but carries within a powerful feeling, a longing, a crying out for something to satisfy his soul. Next thing you, saxophonist Emily Duff chimes in with a puff of brass, a line that sounds hip while augmenting the lead guitar, dancing around it with a vibrant sound. Duff steps out on her own for a bit and her line struts with a fine rhythmic bounce.
“High Cost,” originally by Junior Jones, focuses on the premiums we put on our relationships. Its amusing lyrics about spending money on a greedy woman sound real and raw coming from O’Halloran’s raspy timbre. Lead guitar eruptions spiraling around during the break emphasize the stormy state of this man’s situation and both guitar and vocal have a good home amidst the jumpy groove laid down by the rhythm section.
“Can’t Get It Like That” lets the band showcase more of their groove feeling. Beginning with and occasionally returning to O’Halloran cool croon over a knobby groove, this tune will make you want to tap your toes or bob your head. O’Halloran wraps a greasy lead guitar phrase around its bossy pulse and makes it into something you cannot get enough of. A piano line from David Bartley bobs and weaves, carving out its own territory, giving this piece a Chicago flavoring.
O’Halloran and company take things down tempo on the smoldering, emotive Al Kooper piece “More Than You’ Know.” Here, O’Halloran shows what his voice can do when he takes his time, letting his every man vocal flow with this universal experience. His smooth croon makes you feel what he cannot obtain as Emily Duff’s tuft of sax notes caress even more feeling out of this piece with its forlorn melody line. O’Halloran augments Duff with his considerate phrase, a lead guitar line that expresses much within its tight sound.
Title track “New York City Chill” offers more of the Chicago blues flavor, a bluesy piano laying gravy over O’Halloran’s hearty vocal and Duff’s puffs of sax. O’Halloran eventually chimes in with a thin, brittle, but smoking hot guitar phase, releasing just enough of it to punctuate his nostalgic lyrics about having a Big Apple soul. A barrelhouse shuffle carries all of the above like a warm, friend drive with friends. Duff eventually dominates the melody with a sax thing that moves light like a feather in the wind yet with a jaunty purpose.
O’Halloran’s comic send up of a woman who’s hot in the kitchen, “Cookin’ Mama,” gets a bouncy push from harmonica man Wally Greany. His harmonica lines stab in lithe motions to flavor the tune while also motoring it. O’Halloran’s brightens his vocal timbre a bit to keep this a sunny affair, a tune that bops around with springs in the groove, a nudge from bass and drums that keep things hoppin’ in the kitchen.
“$50” is a string of metaphors for the love of the songwriter’s life. While this is not a new twist in blues, O’Halloran has a lot of fun stretching his imagination to describe a good love. O’Halloran uses his natural charm, sustaining, briefly, some of his lyrics to make others snappier. His bits of guitar notes are just the right touch beneath his warm vocal. Simplicity is brilliant here.
“Gettin’ Old” picks up the pace with a mid-tempo bounce. O’Halloran coasts vocally over the waves of sound beneath his vocal while contributing a snappy, rhythmical guitar line. Duff shadows his guitar strut with brief blows of twisty sax parts. Together, they create plenty of motion inside of this joy ride. Speaking of joy, the Wildcat O’Halloran Band get a rockin’ party vibe going on with “Saturday Night Fish Fry.” Similar to how the previous title is constructed around riffy guitar and bopping sax, this tune bleats out its old fashioned anthem of having a grand old time.
“Dumb” plays as a fun juke joint number. Greany returns with sweet bits of lilting harmonica melody alongside O’Halloran’s warm amicable vocal delivery. This warm delivery, including a spirited guitar phrase, pokes fun at the dumb things performed every day by high placed members of society. The songwriter looks at political farce with a tolerant understanding of human ego. Making the song more palatable than an angry condemnation, O’Halloran draws in all listeners who can relate to his theme. He also plays really cool lead guitar here too.
Turning to acoustic front porch blues, O’Halloran offers his take on Willie Dixon’s “Don’t Go No Further.” This new version captures the twisty lyrics, O’Halloran’s husky vocals fleshing them out. His acoustic six string work finds him coaxing all of those little, tender, slippery notes into a line both melodic and rhythmic, augmenting well his traveling vocal approach.
O’Halloran and his merry band close out with his original “Waiting Awhile,” a slow grooving blues number injected with plenty of harmonica and guitar grit. O’Halloran graces it with an easeful vocal, taking his time to milk the emotion out of each note, pressing the importance of patience, enjoying life’s ironic moments. The groove manufactured by bassist Kathy Peterson and drummer Mark Chouinard keeps the ears glued to its infectious movements.
O’Halloran has done it again, coming up with this strong effort in traditional blues songs and in creating his own tradition influenced originals. Blues musicians, like fine wine, only get better with age, and New York City Chill is this outfits best effort yet. They have got to take their band as far as it can travel because this CD will make people want to hear them live.
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