BluesMix

“Cool, retro and a whole lot of fun” - The Press Association

“Cool, retro and a whole lot of fun” - The Press Association

See http://www.bluesmix.com
under 'REVIEWS' for a scan of the full review - Classic Rock Magazine

See http://www.bluesmix.com
under 'REVIEWS' for a scan of the full review - Classic Rock Magazine

“A terrific album by a talented group carving out their own impressive niche….an innovative sound and fine musicianship. There really isn’t a bad song on the album” - Blues in Britain Magazine

Bluesmix have been around for a few years now and they do their ‘thing’ better than most on the Blues and R&B circuit. That ‘Thing’ is understated Blues with easy rolling groove, great to dance to and good enough to listen to when you can’t shake that thang – trust me that that combination is pretty rare today.

This is their third album and it shows that they are developing as a band. Rob Fleming’s guitar is fine and set against Bob Morgan’s keyboards and sax it enables them to set up a funky groove that could get a corpse twitching: ‘Well Well’ is a case in point, an insidious little groover that sneaks up on you with a N’Orleans gait and fonk so that you suddenly find yourself boogying across the room (not good while in the bath!).
Emil Engstrom lays down some soft but powerful bass and Ivan Komanak’s drumming is subtle but insistent in the background.

You might guess from all this that I have been enjoying the heck out of this album and you would not be wrong. They are not earthmovers and they aren’t trying to redevelop their genre and I like that. They are playing fine Blues and definitely have a sound that is both distinctive and comfortably familiar – tracks like ‘I Really Want You Around’ hark right back to bands like Spencer Davis and Chris Farlowe in the sixties while ‘Heartbreaker’ has a fifties feel with touches of Louis Jourdan from the forties but ‘Time Was On My Side’ has a timeless quality that chills to the bone. Best number here is probably ‘Running Through Rain’ with a strong jazzy feel to it and a dark edge – this is a band of the city streets and they do their best stuff there.

I’ve seen the band live cooking up a fine groove there and this is a pretty fair representation of what they do – like every band they are hotter live but this is a fine groove daddy-o. - Music News.com

Bluesmix have been around for a few years now and they do their ‘thing’ better than most on the Blues and R&B circuit. That ‘Thing’ is understated Blues with easy rolling groove, great to dance to and good enough to listen to when you can’t shake that thang – trust me that that combination is pretty rare today.

This is their third album and it shows that they are developing as a band. Rob Fleming’s guitar is fine and set against Bob Morgan’s keyboards and sax it enables them to set up a funky groove that could get a corpse twitching: ‘Well Well’ is a case in point, an insidious little groover that sneaks up on you with a N’Orleans gait and fonk so that you suddenly find yourself boogying across the room (not good while in the bath!).
Emil Engstrom lays down some soft but powerful bass and Ivan Komanak’s drumming is subtle but insistent in the background.

You might guess from all this that I have been enjoying the heck out of this album and you would not be wrong. They are not earthmovers and they aren’t trying to redevelop their genre and I like that. They are playing fine Blues and definitely have a sound that is both distinctive and comfortably familiar – tracks like ‘I Really Want You Around’ hark right back to bands like Spencer Davis and Chris Farlowe in the sixties while ‘Heartbreaker’ has a fifties feel with touches of Louis Jourdan from the forties but ‘Time Was On My Side’ has a timeless quality that chills to the bone. Best number here is probably ‘Running Through Rain’ with a strong jazzy feel to it and a dark edge – this is a band of the city streets and they do their best stuff there.

I’ve seen the band live cooking up a fine groove there and this is a pretty fair representation of what they do – like every band they are hotter live but this is a fine groove daddy-o. - Music News.com

“The third album from London’s BluesMix melds funk with forward looking blues, featuring waspish-vibrato’d guitar breaks, expressive sax and barking Hammond riding on a tight rhythm section. Many tracks chase a funky flavour reminiscent of Average White Band and Dr John, with jazzier diversions sprinkled throughout. If you’re partial to the loping, musically tight backbeats of bands such as The Meters you’ll enjoy what’s on offer here” . - Guitarist Magazine

“The third album from London’s BluesMix melds funk with forward looking blues, featuring waspish-vibrato’d guitar breaks, expressive sax and barking Hammond riding on a tight rhythm section. Many tracks chase a funky flavour reminiscent of Average White Band and Dr John, with jazzier diversions sprinkled throughout. If you’re partial to the loping, musically tight backbeats of bands such as The Meters you’ll enjoy what’s on offer here” . - Guitarist Magazine

"Excellent. A good mix...for those wanting somthing a bit different"

"Bob Morgan is a mean player on all his chosen instruments" - BluesMatters Magazine

August 2006 Review of BluesMix album 'London Nights'.

Rating 8 / 10. Highly Recommended.

"An impressive debut. Opening with 'Smokestack Lightning' London Nights is a highly respectable rendition of a blues standard....There follows a couple of interesting funky songs, illuminated by the fiery sax of Bob Morgan.
And then you reach 'Why Did You Have To Go?' Instantly, you are transported back to the first time you heard the blues cracking through a tinny radio, trembling in fear of your parents catching your illicit doings yet powerless to resist the brutal honesty.
The song is an epic. It commences with an emotional outpouring from Morgan's compelling minimalist sax then glides into some call and response that would make even Page and Plant envious, between the horn and Rob Fleming's vocals. There follows a Hammond organ solo that stirs such deep waters within that the listener risks staring directly into their own soul. The knockout blow arrives when Fleming concludes with a few carefully chosen licks on his guitar.
The beauty is in the pace - slow. It is this rare languidness that gives the music its real impact. It takes a strong character to endure something so moving and a fool not to appreciate it. And it is but one song on an impressive debut.
- Jonathon Blackstaffe, Blues In Britain magazine. - Blues In Britain

Top class funky blues with real guts and a rollicking feel. This is one hell of an accomplished album from BluesMix, and deserves repeat playing.

Between Rob Fleming's chiming and fuzz laden guitar work, Bob Morgan's rolling keys and funky sax, Costa Tancredi's jazzy basslines and Mimi Hajime's right-there drumming, this band kicks ass! 'Heart and Soul' seems to sum up what is happening here, with a sound that gets richer until you realise that all of your senses seem to be involved with the song - you are lost in the grrove!

'Got My Eye On You' sounds like a walk down a Soho back street on a wet night in February, and then you slink into the soft focus jazzy Blues of 'All Gone', with its lazy sounding sax line and understated Hammond. BluesMix are a proper band, playing for and with each other and every track reeks of the clubs they have played and the stars they have worked with.

The production by Joe Leach (Geno Washington) is integral to this band's sound and he has helped produce an album of standouts. If I had to pick an album to keep warm with on a wet weeknight - so far this year, this is the one.

Blues Matters magazine May 2008 - Blues Matters Magazine

Bluedust Records
PRESS RELEASE -
BluesMix : New Album Release
Contact:
rpflemin@yahoo.com. www.bluesmix.com

June 17th 2006 – On June 23rd popular London based band BluesMix release their debut album ‘London Nights’ on independent label Bluedust Records. Catalogue Number BD001.
The album is available in UK record stores through Proper Music Distribution. It is also available through CDBaby.com and iMusicstage.com. In the coming weeks it will be available on Amazon.com and iTunes.

BluesMix play a blend of funky, soulful Blues, mixed with tinges of Jazz. Their sound is fresh and yet deeply connected to a classic blues feel. The band regularly gigs around the UK and has built a strong following in a relatively short space of time. Their audiences include not only Blues fans but they also have cross-over appeal to people new to the genre. Particularly many younger people. Here is what has been said about them:

"BluesMix play with a heap of soul..incorporating a wealth of skill and sincerity."
-- 'Blues in London'
"Excellent.and Sax player Bob Morgan honks away like Bud Freeman, a great exponent of the art". – The Guardian newspaper
““Great! Nice feel ..really liked the piano and sax…a very distinctive voice."
BBC Radio, True Blues Show

The album comprises 12 tracks recorded at Cowshed Recording Studios in North London. 8 are original songs, 4 are covers. The album was produced by Joe Leach. Joe is a well-respected figure in the industry having recorded the likes of The Blues Band, Ian Shaw, Carol Grimes, Jamie Cullum, Geno Washington, Midnight Special.

BluesMix comprises: Rob Fleming - Vocals and Guitar, Bob Morgan - Keyboards and Saxophone, Costa Tancredi – Bass, Mimi Hajime – Drums. The band members’ previous credentials include a wealth of experience playing around the UK blues scene. This has included: supporting Jools Holland, touring and recording with Giles Headley, various recording and touring projects.

Regular gigs and residencies include venues such as The Troubadour Club, GreenNote, Aint Nothin But the Blues, Jazz After Dark, various pubs/bars/functions. Later this year these will be supplemented with gigs further abroad including – at the Bardies Blues Festival in France, a tour of the San Francisco Bay Area, gigs in South Africa. ###
- Various Music Magazines

"An absolute treat - well crafted quality" 4 out of 5 stars

(see full scan of review at http://www.bluesmix.com under 'Reviews') - Rock n Reel

"An absolute treat - well crafted quality" 4 out of 5 stars

(see full scan of review at http://www.bluesmix.com under 'Reviews') - Rock n Reel