Brian Stoltz

It is a terrific CD…it's good to know there are sane, decent, gutsy and talented people like you on the frontlines of fighting for truth and a better world. - , The Nation Magazine - Katrina Vanden Heuvel / The Nation Magazine

Roots music hasn’t been politically relevant for far too long…Did the whole Dixie Chicks radio ban (and ensuing record-trashing frenzy) that resulted from their critical comments make musicians gun shy? Possibly, but not if the musician’s name is Brian Stoltz. - Jimmy Leslie, Guitar Player Magazine

Remember when Neil Young released that album Living With War and he said he did it because no one else had? The truth is, Brian Stoltz had. He is a tremendous lyricist and a heckuva guitarist. - Gary Schwind, Route 66, rocknworld.com

2008-01-25
Long Overdue Records 0003

On his latest, Up All Night…Brian Stoltz proves his worth among the ghosts and current spirits roaming the halls of the blues world…a tight and surprisingly effective band capable of loose and explosive flourishes and seriously deep grooves. Stoltz proves to be among the more accomplished and masterful blues guitarists in America, exhibiting the affecting integrity and intensity required to be wandering the sacred halls of the blues with pride and grit. - Glenn Alexander / Jambands.com

He's been labeled as just a funk guitarist. This recording will change your mind. , - www.Dustmybroom.com

Brian thankfully concentrates on the groove first, then attacks the ears with his hot, electric solos. 7 out of these 13 cuts would get any street party off to a good start! - Derek Halsey - Gritz Magazine

Guitarist Brian Stoltz: INFECTED With Funk
Brian Stoltz
East of Rampart Street
(Long Overdue Recordings)

In April 1991 Brian Stoltz and Leo Nocentelli appeared at the Vintage Guitar shop on Magazine Street giving a tutorial on New Orleans funk guitar. The two guitarists traded licks for over an hour-Mr. Stoltz, formerly of the Neville Brothers and Mr. Nocentelli, a founding member of the Meters. As they performed Meters and Neville Brothers standards they could not know that Mr. Nocentelli would soon be leaving the Meters to be replaced by Mr. Stoltz in 1992 and that the band would be renamed the "funky Meters."

Between songs Mr. Stoltz and Mr. Nocentelli took questions from the audience. Asked by an eager Tulane law student how one can learn to "play the funk," the response was instantaneous, "You have to feel it inside you," Mr. Stoltz and Mr. Nocentelli said.
On Brian Stolz's new solo CD, East of Rampart Street, he feels the funk deeply, and it's infectious. Funky Meters fans will revel in the grooves laid down here and those searching for lagniappe will dig Mr. Stoltz's virtuosity through the CD's 13 tracks.

Beginning with "Jungle Funk" and "Funky Forever," Mr. Stoltz gets heavy duty assistance from "Poppa Funk" himself, Meter man Art Neville who plays organ and adroitly raps lyrics penned by Mr. Stoltz.
"Art's like a second father to me," Mr. Stoltz said in an interview from his home in Slidell.

Mr. Neville, who's recovering from back surgery, recorded his contributions to "Jungle Funk" and "Funky Forever" from his Uptown residence accompanied by his son Ian on guitar. For those who are familiar with Mr. Neville's "Poppa Funkness," Mr. Stoltz has underscored it in "Funky Forever," as the lyrics could have been culled from Mr. Neville's funk superhero-like manner of speaking: "Stealin' thunder is the name of the game-I'm funky forever from the cradle to the grave."
In addition to Art and Ian Neville, several other "Uptown Rulers" grace the CD: funky Meters bassist George Porter, Jr., Ivan Neville, Peter V, John Gros and Irene Sage among others. But it's Mr. Stoltz's guitar that ignites the disc.

On "Seven Desires," Mr. Stoltz's guitar builds on each riff laid down to culminate with a heavy, fuzzy Daniel Lanois-like jam that fades out at just the right moment, leaving the listener wanting more and longing to hear the song performed live.

"Norma's House," is a fine, funky shuffle and Mr. Stoltz's lyrics create a cascade of visual images about the last New Orleans high-class brothel run by Norma Wallace, the subject of Christine Wiltz's 2000 book, The Last Madam: A Life in the New Orleans Underworld.

"Take Your Heart Away" is a memorable funk-pop song inspired by Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire and "This Old World," is pure voodoo honky-tonk-Mr. Stoltz's acoustic guitar sounds crystal clear and makes a beautiful song out of sad, haunting lyrics: "Gonna swim in a sea where eternity knows no bounds-Never see anything to cause me to wear a frown."

The surprise of the record is Mr. Stoltz's vocals. Like Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards who periodically produces solo recordings, Mr. Stolz's isn't a lead singer but doesn't let this hold him back. Mr. Stoltz gets the job done with his cool New Orleans twang.

Above all East of Rampart Street is a fundamentally funky CD with smart, catchy songs that will last, a groovy disc that will sound good today, tomorrow and ten years from now.


-H. Andrew Schwartz
- Offbeat Magazine Jan '03

" And, though it may be sacrilegious in some circles to compare anyone's lyrics with Mr. Zimmerman, the title track (which is divided into two parts and bookends the album) deserves a place next to Dylan's greatest protest songs -- or any other American's, for that matter.


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- Karl Kukta

There are two tracks on Preachin' the Blues that are worth the price of the entire album. The first of these is a surprisingly naturalistic cover of "You Gotta Move" by Brian Stoltz. His creaky acoustic and smokehouse voice sound as if they were taken from a Lomax field recording. Stoltz's guitar work here is definitive -- I urge anyone interested in playing Delta slide to pay close attention to this effort. You can hear the ghostly "wwweeeeshhh" of the unfretted strings as the slide moves up the neck. His vibrato is brown and greasy; his bass notes are smacked and choked. He makes all the right dissonant connections -- in short, one of the most chilling covers of a raw Delta style I've ever heard. As I've said in other reviews, it's not all about musicianship, and while Stoltz may not be the most technically-gifted performer on this collection, he excels his peers in getting the right feeling into his performance. I believe Charley Patton would be very proud of Stoltz.

- Pop Matters

BRIAN STOLTZ
EAST OF RAMPART STREET
(Long Overdue Recordings)
Brian Stoltz has more to offer than just the funk. East of Rampart Street succeeds because of Stoltz's versatility as a songwriter. Slow burning ruminations on love ("Hoodoo Thing," Seven Desires," "Been Up All Night") dominate the bunch, and he balances the album well with party hymns such as "Norma's House" and uplifiting numbers like "Fearless" that smack of Peter Gabriel. The record is heavily steeped in the blues, with Stoltz’s crying guitar tone running through most of it. He does well not to let too much soloing fill the record, instead letting friends like Dave Easley, Art and Ivan Neville and John Gros steal some of the spotlight. The best track on the CD is "This Old World," which manages to keep a funky sway despite the hopeless cry of a pedal steel guitar and pensive and depressed lyrics. Stoltz's masterful meanderings on the acoustic guitar are much welcome here. With his new CD, Brian Stoltz has made it clear he's much more than just a producer of great songs for The Funky Meters. We now know he's got some great ones of his own.
–Jason Songe

- Where Y'at Magazine March '03