MITCH KASHMAR "LIVE AT LABATT" Source: Let The Good Times Roll Date: 07/2010 Writer: John Valenteyn

With Delta Groove Music winning a Keeping The Blues Alive Award from The Blues Foundation this year, it’s timely that its new release should have Canadian content. Edmonton’s Labatt Blues Festival has long been recognized as one of the best-programmed events of the summer, a status also recognized by the Blues Foundation with it’s own KBA Award last year. This CBC recording from the 2007 Festival could be submitted as proof. Mitch Kashmar is a veteran of the Los Angeles scene that produces so many fantastic harp players and he too has Blues Award nominations under his belt for his work. He has also filled Lee Oskar’s position in the latest touring incarnation of the group, War. The music here is firmly in the Chicago/West Coast school. The superb band includes John Marx on guitar from the late William Clarke’s band and Jimmy Calire on piano. “Dirty Deal” has a couple of excellent harp solos and “Whisky Drinkin’ Woman” some excellent singing. That last song is a slow blues written by Lou Donaldson and with Horace Silver’s, “Song For My Father” the band and especially Kashmar on chromatic, get to show their chops in a jazz mode. Muddy’s “Sugar Sweet” gets things back to the blues in a most enjoyable fashion. Jimmy Rogers’ “You’re The One”, Roy Brown’s “Lollipop Mama” (A tribute to William Clarke), “Wake Up & Worry”, the title song his 2nd CD, and set closer “Castle Rock” bring the program to a fine conclusion. As with many live recordings, the songs are on the long side but the musicianship here is of such high caliber, you’ll appreciate the chance the players had to stretch out.