JASON RICCI & NEW BLOOD "DONE WITH THE DEVIL" Source: The Ripple Effect Date: 09/2009 Writer: n/a

Holy crap! Where'd the heck this come from? To be honest, I'd never heard of Jason Ricci before. I'd noticed that our good buddy The Nightwatcher had made this disc his album of the month but still, I wasn't prepared for the fire that erupted from my speakers the second I popped this baby in. Lulled in by a false moment of calm, "Done with the Devil," just burst across the sky like some flaming supernova. Big guitar, massive drums and some of the most electrifying harmonica playing I've ever heard. I'm going to expose my blues ignorance here. . . I have no idea what a Diatonic Harmonica is, but damn, can Jason play it. And the tone it produces is mind-boggling, not sounding like any harmonica I've heard before. It resonates against its own notes, sound remarkably full and fluid, wailing like some wildly distorted guitar. It's a fantastic sound and a great introduction to one of the best blues albums I've heard all year.

Jason's voice is just as strong, deep and mournful, troubled and emotive. This is the voice of a man that has been through it, lived it, and breathed it. A big voice that seems to be totally at home with itself, yet a total contradiction to the relatively baby-faced blond from which it comes. The band behind Jason is just as strong. Shawn Starski is a guitar player of note, his playing filled with nuance and passion, and Todd Edmunds and Ed Michaels keep that all important rhythm fully locked in. "Done with the Devil," simply rocks, tearing it up in all its blues swagger. It's a song I'd play for anyone who ever claims they don't like the blues. Guess what? They will now.

The album doesn't stop there. As the name implies "Sweet Loving," is a gentler tune with some gorgeous harp playing and some nice harp/guitar harmony passages, while "Holler for Craig Lawler," drops down into some neo-jazz fusion territory, with huge, looping guitar/harp dual playing. Jason's voice shines again as does the bass breakdown mid-way through. And I suppose no review of the disc could finish without the mention of the struggles that befell Jason as he came out as the first openly gay man in the overly-macho world of blues music. Not that his sexual identity matters one whit in describing his musical performance, but that it's a topic he handles with stunning effect on the penetrating "Broken Toy." As mournful a blues number as you're likely to hear, Jason's harp almost seems to cry through the intro. Jason's voice digs down into his most sensitive singing as he lays down his burden. "I'm an outsider; I'm a misfit/not a girl nor a boy/I feel like a broken toy." His pain is real. His performance beautiful. His voice way too old for his age, weary from the tribulation. His diatonic harp wailing with tears.

Don't miss it.