MITCH KASHMAR "NICKELS & DIMES" Source: Living Blues Date: 05/2005 Issue No.178 Writer: Lee Hildegrand

There are few singers and songwriters on the Southern California blues scene better than Kashmar, who made his initial mark in the 1980s as frontman of the Pontiax. The Santa Barbara combo cut one little-noticed LP in 1989 before breaking up, and Kashmar recorded a similarly obscure solo CD in 1999, but he remains better known among fellow musicians than the blues-loving public. Nickel and Dimes is so musically rich- due not only to the leader’s consistently strong singing, harmonica playing, and original songs but also to the brilliant guitar work of Jr. Watson-that it should move Kashmar to the front ranks of the blues world.

Kashmar wrote seven of the disc’s 13 selections, filling them with clever turns of phrase true to the blues tradition and delivering them with authority in richly resonant, remarkably flexible tenor tones. His harmonica lines may lick the melodic virtuosity associated with such California contemporaries as Rod Piazza and Mark Hummel, but his more downhome harp approach packs much rhythmic punch and upper-register flights are especially chilling. Watson burns throughout, mixing raw blues phraseology with bob-derived asides in solos that sparkle with surprise and ingenuity. Rounding pit Kashmar’s crew are pianist Bob Welsh, bassist Ronnie James Weber, and drummer Richard Innes, who supply firmly locking support, whether playing shuffles, swing, slow blues, of the soul groove of the title track.

Sitting in on guitar, and joining Kashmar for spirited vocal duet on one number, is L.A. studio stalwart Arthur Adams. The disc’s big surprise, however, is a haunting country blues titled Lizzy Mae rendered without rhythm section by the tune’s composer, singing guitarist Abu Talib, with Kashmar backing him on harmonica. Formerly known as Freddy Robinson, Talib was a studio musician at Chess in the ‘60s, and then relocated to Southern California and worked with Ray Charles and John Mayall, among many others, before fading into obscurity. [See LB #144.] His return to action is most welcome, and his brief contribution to this already solid set of blues makes it all the more indispensable.