BBE dropped this new album into their receptive music scene and it couldn’t be a better album. BBE, the anagram for Jon Butcher, Sal Baglio, and Allen Estes, is the name of their combo. Gypsy Caravan is the name of their debut album. As can be expected from this gathering of talent, songwriting, musicianship, and song craft come together as one unstoppable force, as only such a teaming can suggest.
“Long Player,” written by Baglio, is a stomping rocker, complete with growling rock and roll guitar and a pulsating rhythm section. The lead vocal, gritty and raw, emotes as much as the growling guitars. This voice, coolly restrained, swaggers with assurance, only needing to release as much as necessary in each verse. It’s the singers restraint contrasting with the eruptive guitar and pulsating groove that keeps the ears glued.
“Sunny Day” moves with a bright, breezy swoop, coming down from the sky, offering a street wise vocal appeal. A fetching lead guitar cries out before rolling into the drawing groove and soulful keys. This one just bops it way forward, bursting with bossy groove and percolating with perky guitar notes.
Title track “Gypsy Caravan,” written by the world weary Allen Estes, plucks a lot of melodic fineness from a multitude of guitars and a good handful of vocal harmonies. This tune benefits from a 1960s style motion, a emotional ride that suggests the caravan of the title while connoting camaraderie among fellow travelers, with plenty of emotive mandolin and violin tossed into this work.
“Still Runnin,” written by Baglio and Butcher, is a low key, down tempo piece. It’s pared down approach lets the vocals roam freely around the landscape, letting their soulful power emerge without a lot of hard charging music to compete. Also, piano and violin play loose and free, contributing to this song’s sweeping qualities. A lilting lead guitar saunters through and we feel lifted, carried along, as we listen intently to this rootsy, bluesy mood piece.
Feeling inspired by Beatles melodies and gypsy mandolin, “Look Up” is a jovial upbeat work. Warm vocal harmonies, pretty guitar melodies, and a jaunty groove keep this one in the listener’s sweet spot. This is another lead guitar line that carries one through like a candy maker turning it into a more sugary confection. Each time verse turns into chorus the piece widens into even bright ear candy. The lead and harmony vocals are perfect and catchy.
“Long Gone” feels like pure roots music from its opening. Picking salty, bluesy guitar notes, it creates a platform for an earthy vocal to roll on about a descriptive train station. Those snappy guitar notes and some harmony vocals buttressing the lead singer make this a tasty tune, authentic, soulful, and loaded with a lonesome, longing vibe. Written by Estes, his vocals carry this with tenderness, a crisp vocal that looks back with great feeling. Eventually, violin swipes and lead guitar perkiness combine into perfect formation that keeps this one good to final note.
“Railroad Line Revisited” features gritty vocals, thick, juicy acoustic guitar chords, and a tasteful lead guitar phrase cruising in and out. With a swampy groove beneath the upper registers, this one carries itself with an authoritarian stomp. Estes’ train whistle harmonica line swings into action and it matches the blade bolt of that icy cold lead guitar. This one is as authentic in its roots heritage as it is in its bossy, get out of the this train’s way attitude.
“Home Again” conveys much emotion with merely an acoustic guitar line supporting three part harmonies. A Baglio vocal is infused with tender feelings, but it’s when the other two vocalists chime in on the chorus and specific verses that that magic of voice just happens.
A rolling groove and a buzzing lead guitar phrase turn “Voodoo Moon” into a bossy, pushy rocker. Moving with a persistent gait, the guitar grind following the rhythm section means business. A Baglio-Butcher collaboration, it combines swampy vibes with a restless lead guitar, a hint of something happening in the jungle tonight. If spears were as sharp and traveled like the lead guitar here, everyone would stay out of the jungle.
A shuffling cowboy vibe inhabits “Who Has More Fun Than Us.” It feels like a 1920s summertime hit, something that once it comes on the old fashioned turntable, everyone dances a waltz. An acoustic guitar line dances, tossing off its heavily accented notes with a carefree abandon as a lead singer coos and sings gleefully. It’s a fun singalong that compels the listen to grab onto a partner so both can dance to this amusing, rhythmic treat.
Close out track “Angel Rider” is a mellow, drawling affair. Featuring the duo vocal work of Butcher and Baglio, this piece, coated by their soft smooth timbres, pours their dark voices over snappy soulful organ and perfectly accented guitars. Contrasting smooth voices with more biting instrumentation creates a perfect feeling of longing, departure, and sorrow.
Putting Baglio, Butcher, and Estes in the same Cadillac insures a fine, smooth ride. These three are the Cadillac of the New England music scene. With their combined talents, especially at songwriting, it was genetically impossible for them to not come up with such a strong album. Like a fine wine or aged whiskey, BBE have only gotten stronger with time and it’s resulted in the ability to come up with such tastefully good material. Having others along in their Cadillac, Dave MMattacks, Kevin Rapillo, Richard Gates, Wolf Ginandes, Brad Hallen, Danny Borgers, Sandy Mac, and Matt Leavenworth, makes for an interesting ride. It all came together at Bang A Song in Gloucester, Massachusetts with Warren Babson turning the knobs. Download or buy a copy of their CD a.s.a.p.
