JASON RICCI & NEW BLOOD Source: Dr. Blues Date: 01/2008 Writer: Dr. Blues

This kid had me before he blew 4 notes.  Only true pain can generate kyperkinesis, only drugs, hard time and bottoming out can shape a soul, only a loner gay kid from rural Maine can pour out the alienation with such directness.  Jason Ricci does all that with a grunge jazz blues rock approach that pays tribute, but goes on so much farther.  New Blood is one of the tightest and Rocket Number 9 simply tears out your being and rearranges it.  This man will change the way you hear Blues.  Popper speed, Fleck lyricism, Cobain lyrics combine in a cataclysmic blast of style and heart.  Step by step, Shawn Starsky blasts universes of guitar right there with Jason and the rhythm of Buck Weed Edmunds and Ron Sutton are the gravitation of this cosmos.  Ricci uses his harp like and expanding Big Bang with supernovae of sound and dark matter dynamics.  The CD is a stellar treat of strange contrasts and brilliant playing.  Adam Gussow (Satan & Adam) specifically talks about Jason in his new book Journeyman , and he knows a thing or two about music, harp playing and men.  Ricci creates forces that dredge the infinitum of Sun Ra, Rod Piazza, Blues Project and Pearl Jam while collapsing and colliding them into a new celestium.  Be prepared to open yo’ mind.  9.5 snaves