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Mike Zito "Today" (Electro Groove)
Blues singer/songwriter/guitarist Mike Zito's life story reads as if
it were a Behind the Music script. Growing up on the southside of St.
Louis, Zito took to the city's music scene at an early age. By his
teen years he was working in a guitar shop and meeting city luminaries
like Chuck Berry and Bennie Smith. He developed his guitar playing,
gigged at local clubs, released an independent album, and toured the
country. Success lead to drug and alcohol abuse, a stern lecture from
an elder statesman, a period of reconsideration, love, marriage and
eventually, sobriety and a new focus on his career. His inkwell
stocked with life experience, Zito began writing, formed a new band
and rededicated himself to touring. His new professional experiences,
in turn, provided additional material for his music.
"Today" is Zito's fifth album and his first for Electro Groove. His
latest batch of songs offer up soulful blues in the contemporary vein
of Robert Cray, Eric Clapton and John Mayer, topped by rough-but-
melodic vocals that are both intense and inviting, and underpinned by
music that's adult-contemporary ready without losing its edge. "Love
Like This" opens the album with a powerful lyric of burning love,
pushed along by electric guitars and soulful background vocals. The
rock vibe returns on Lenny Kravitz-styled "Universe," and on "No Big
City" Zito's guitar and strong drumming support a clear-eyed view of
the big city's darker side. A similar appraisal provides the
inspiration for the horn-lined blues-rock "Hollywood."
Zito slows down for the album's adult contemporary title track,
finding a lighter groove for his lyrical appreciation of living in the
here and now, and his restrained take on Prince's "Little Red
Corvette" is surprisingly effective in its combination of mellow tempo
and a quietly emotional vocal. The mood turns heavy and blue for "Slow
It Down," and the horns and howling guitar return for "Deep Down in
Love." The album closes with the soulful "Time to Go Home," featuring
bass and acoustic guitar accompaniment to a lyric of wits end.
There's a lot of variety in Zito's songwriting, and though his voice
and guitar dominate the arrangements, there's still room for bassist
James Hutchinson (Bonnie Raitt, Boz Scaggs), keyboardist Benmont Tench
(Tom Petty), and drummer Tony Braunagel (Eric Burden, Taj Mahal) to
add their musical voices. Fans of contemporary blues should check this
out. [(c)2008 redtunictroll at hotmail dot com] |
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