Blue Odyssey Reviewed…..

My last solo release “Blue Odyssey” has recently been reviewed by Martin Leedham over at HIS REVIEW BLOG

Martin’s blog is a treasure store of insightful reviews of a host of classic albums from way back when up to the present day, and I’m happy and honoured to be in such good company. Below is a snippet from the review, but just click on the link to read the whole thing, and take some time to check out some of his other excellent reviews, too.

“….The most recent and ambitious of those releases is “Blue Odyssey”, an album which tells the story of his road trip across the southern states of America undertaken in early 2010. During the 75 minute opus Moore manages to contribute vocals, bass, electric, acoustic and slide guitars, keyboard, drums and mouth organ. Making it a true solo album in the real sense of the word. However, there is still room for some talented guests and friends to join in throughout the eighteen track affair which, although obviously predominantly blues based, manages to encompass many a style and mood.………………….“Blue Odyssey” is fundamentally a blues album from a highly talented musician that has a great love of old school blues music and musicians. However it covers many other styles of music and although steeped in delta blues feeling and lyrical imagery it is much more than just a blues album. Gospel, funk, rock, soul and even a bit of old time boogie woogie are all thrown in the mix at one point or another and help to make the musical journey for the listener as enjoyable as the actual physical journey was for Moore. The only negatives for me are the slight over use of sampled soundbites and a slight concern that the length of the album may lead to attention wandering issues for some listeners. They don’t, however, prevent this from being an excellent and highly recommended album. Moore’s lengthy career in rock and pop music is evident throughout and the clever use of comedy in some of the lyrics add to the all round good feel of the album. This is not your doom and gloom woe is me blues offering by any stretch of the imagination but a celebration of cultures brought together under the banner of a Blue Odyssey……..”

If you want to order a copy of Blue Odyssey, just click on the link in the sidebar >>>>>>>>>>

Kev Moore

Lessons from the Master

Meeting the Master

Some days ago, I flew to the UK to attend a long-overdue concert on Monday night in York by one of my greatest musical inspirations. He goes by many names: The Voice of Rock, The Funkmeister, Big Daddy, even Glenn Hughes…..but for me, he is simply the Master.  Backed by a superb band, he owns the stage, stomping around with an energy that belies his years, delivering his bass lines and sublime vocals with an effortless grace.

He played two songs on Monday that drove right to the heart of the passion he ignited in me to become a bass-player/singer. “Sail Away” – one of my favourites from the classic “Burn” album by Deep Purple – perhaps one of the first bass riffs I ever learned, and “Keepin’ Time” – the blockbusting opener from Trapeze’s third album “You are the Music….we’re just the band.”

When these songs came out, I was an impressionable, awkward youth, stumbling through my early teens. I was already a drummer in a band, occasionally singing, but when I heard Glenn’s breathtaking vocals, and pounding funk-laden rock bass, I just knew what I was going to be.

Unbelievably, that was forty years ago. He strides onto the stage at the Grand Opera House in York, a legend undiminished, and as I remarked to him in the chill of the night outside the stage door as the band left to continue the tour, he is like a fine wine, getting better and better with age. Slaying his demons, he has become a testament to belief in the music, and boy, does the music do the talking for him. In an age where kids have role models that it seems effortless to surpass, Glenn Hughes is from a different era, where aspiring musicians could draw inspiration by capturing just a fraction of the talents of these guys that wandered across the rock landscape of the early 70’s. Punctuating his set with snatches of self-deprecating, wry humour, I sense a man totally at ease with his stage persona, a man who has come home.

It speaks volumes that his playing and singing has exactly the same effect on my now, as in the early 70’s. It fires me. It makes me want to go home and practice, and play, just make music.

The guy sat next to me had brought his young teenage daughter along. As the last notes faded into the shadows of the old auditorium and the audience headed out into the night, he turned to her and said: “You can revise for your A levels tomorrow. This is all the education you need.”

It’s certainly been enough for me. Glenn, I salute you – you’re still The Master.

Kev Moore