Tag: Mascot Label Group

Quinn Sullivan — All Around The World

Quinn Sullivan — All Around The World

by | Jan 23, 2021

Singer-songwriter and guitarist Quinn Sullivan first appeared on our radar in 2015 when he was opening for the legendary Buddy Guy at Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith, London, United Kingdom. The crowd was absolutely blown away with his immense guitar skills and his catchy songs including ‘Midnight Highway’. Buddy told the audience “Someone should give this kid a record deal!” and sure enough Provogue Records/Mascot Label Group did.

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George Benson — Weekend In London

George Benson — Weekend In London

by | Nov 13, 2020

In the music world you have certain artists and musicians who through years of releasing albums, extensive global touring and overall hard work are able to reach a moment of their career where they are fortunate enough to be able to perform live at a venue of any size anywhere in the world whether it be The Sydney Opera House in Australia, Madison Square Gardens in New York City or in the case of Mr George Benson’s latest live offering the 250-capacity Ronnie Scotts Jazz Club in London, United Kingdom.

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Kenny Wayne Shepherd – On The Move

Kenny Wayne Shepherd – On The Move

by | Aug 4, 2019

Kenny has a brand new album out on Provogue/Mascot called The Traveler and it typically finds him and the band moving along with a sense of purpose, great variety and immense musical competence, never swamping pure feel. Pete caught up with
Shepherd to talk about the new record…

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Robert Randolph (Robert Randolph And The Family Band) – Steelin’ The Spotlight

Robert Randolph (Robert Randolph And The Family Band) – Steelin’ The Spotlight

by | Jun 5, 2019

It is some sixteen years now that steel guitar ace and singer Robert Randolph met up with Pete the afternoon before he and The Family Band played their London debut at Dingwalls in Camden. Now older and wiser, Randolph does not seem to have lost any of his zest for life – indeed with a brand new album Brighter Days coming out on Mascot, the musician appears ready to rock out once more…

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Robin Trower – In Real Time

Robin Trower – In Real Time

by | Apr 13, 2019

Robin and Pete discuss the new album Coming Closer To The Day, out on Mascot / Provogue as Trower prepares for US dates with his trio. Robin’s creative approach produces a fresh set of compositions, soaked and strewn with his distinctive guitar stylings. He surely remains music’s own Monet or Turner…

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Reese Wynans – Let Loose

Reese Wynans – Let Loose

by | Apr 8, 2019

With his very own Sweet Release album being released on Provogue/Mascot Label Group, produced by Joe Bonamassa no less, it seems a good time to meet up with the veteran keyboard ace. It’s a bitterly cold morning in London, so I stop off to buy Reese a woolly hat for his stay and over tea we talk about his record…

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Robin Trower – Coming Closer To The Day

Robin Trower – Coming Closer To The Day

by | Apr 5, 2019

So here is the latest in the series of albums where Robin multi-tasks on the instruments and the vocals as part of what I call his New Testament. And he digs deep, with his musical roots on display and his imagination scraping the sky. The lyrics can bite or prompt reflection and the guitar mastery reigns but with no pomp rock bluster.

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Reese Wynans & Friends -Sweet Release

Reese Wynans & Friends -Sweet Release

by | Apr 5, 2019

Keys man of choice for many great artists, Wynans in conversation seems softly chuffed with having his own album out. On it he mixes styles, tempo’s and instrumentation and to be frank listening to it you might not assume it was a keys player’s oeuvre..which is my way of saying you will likely just enjoy the tunes and performances.

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Eric Gales – The Bookends

Eric Gales – The Bookends

by | Feb 6, 2019

A release from the loose cannon Eric Gales always turns out to be intriguing. I reckon this is because he will listen to Holst, Howlin’ Wolf, Herbie Hancock..to Blues, bluegrass, Brahms and Billie Holiday – and that could be one of my record shelves.

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Doyle Bramhall II – Tea, Tones And Tunes

Doyle Bramhall II – Tea, Tones And Tunes

by | Dec 25, 2018

With a new album coming out on Mascot and titled Shades it seems a good time to catch up again with the artist as he flies in from sunny California to overcast Shoreditch for press sessions. Pete and fellow guitarist Colin Howell grab a beverage and join Doyle at his hotel this morning to talk about the new record:

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The Magpie Salute – High Water I

The Magpie Salute – High Water I

by | Aug 12, 2018

In conversation, Rich Robinson is a thoughtful, considered and focussed character. If he decides to make a project work out, it probably will. Not because he strikes one as egocentric, rather he seems to believe in the potency of an aggregation that is well-chosen to create and excite.

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Tommy Emmanuel

Tommy Emmanuel

by | May 4, 2018

The Australian guitar stylist is back in the UK for some shows. Ahead of these, we were able to run some questions past the prince of the Fretboard…

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DeWolff – Thrust

DeWolff – Thrust

by | Mar 18, 2018

A power trio from the southern part of The Netherlands, the personnel of this outfit comprises guitarist and singer Pablo and drummer Luka van de Poel with the brothers joined by Robin Piso on Hammond. The group name comes from a character in the film Pulp Fiction.

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Lance Lopez – Owning Up

Lance Lopez – Owning Up

by | Mar 4, 2018

What’s the inspiration behind the songs on Lance’s new album? What’s The Lopez Road Diet? What does he think of Eric Gales’ axe style? It’s all here in this cool exchange with us on ‘Tell The Truth’ – Thank you, Lance and keep rockin’ out…

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Sterling Ball – Mutual Admiration Society

Sterling Ball – Mutual Admiration Society

by | Feb 3, 2018

Intrigued by the work by Ball and his trio on the Mutual Appreciation Society release, we asked Sterling to enlarge upon the album content and array of guests by way of a set of customised questions. Enjoy this veteran’s responses and thoughts in this piece, which is free of Ball puns and references, you may be pleased to learn….

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Sterling Ball, John Ferraro and Jim Cox – The Mutual Admiration Society

Sterling Ball, John Ferraro and Jim Cox – The Mutual Admiration Society

by | Jan 21, 2018

In which these three gentlemen – BFC as I am now naming them, to save time – create an album called The Mutual Admiration Society. Tongue in cheek title? Or straight? A lot of familiar numbers, a lot of familiar guests. The collection turns out to be a set of instrumentals of quite staggering variety, on which BFC make everybody sound fine. Skill of this strength is always going to make for an entertaining listen.

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The Koch Marshall Trio – Toby Arrives

The Koch Marshall Trio – Toby Arrives

by | Jan 10, 2018

Under the label’s The Players Club imprint, this collection immediately rolls into earshot with a Medeski-meets-Jimmy Smith groove in the shape of Toby Arrives. I’d be very surprised if Milwaukee guitarist wasn’t a fan of Harvey Mandel.

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Michael Landau – Rock Bottom

Michael Landau – Rock Bottom

by | Jan 10, 2018

Ace guitar man has played on a ton of albums, for all sorts of people. For this effort he has decided to put together a four-piece with him on guitar and vocal, drummer Alan Hertz, son Teddy Landau on bass and singer David Frazee. Great players, so as ever it’s down to the strength of the material to assess the record’s desirability.

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2017 In Review

2017 In Review

by | Dec 30, 2017

Maybe it is because we know about them, but yet again this year we seem to have lost so many creative and entertaining characters. And yet again we can be inspired to remember them and keep their music alive…

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Kyle Shutt – Doom Side Of The Moon

Kyle Shutt – Doom Side Of The Moon

by | Dec 30, 2017

The Sword guitar player Kyle Shutt tackles the popular Pink Floyd album Dark Side Of The Moon. Fab idea or folly? Gov’t Mule got there first but in dub style, of course. He says he wanted to do a heavy version of Time and it all went from there…

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Project Mama Earth – Project Mama Earth

Project Mama Earth – Project Mama Earth

by | Dec 10, 2017

This release really has an interesting list of participants – Joss Stone, Nitin Sawhney, Jonathan Joseph, Etienne M’Bappe, Jonathan Shorten. I really liked a previous gathering including Mick Jagger and Dave Stewart and called SuperHeavy but how does this fare ?

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Supersonic Blues Machine – Californisoul

Supersonic Blues Machine – Californisoul

by | Nov 6, 2017

This second SBM release consolidates their reputation as a recording outfit of great skill and versatility and the group has undoubtedly benefited from recent live forays. Totally at ease in the company of any musician, the trio put everyone’s contribution in a great dynamic setting and this means each track has its own atmosphere. No wonder that star artists queue to get into the studio with these chaps.

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Bootsy Collins – World Wide Funk

Bootsy Collins – World Wide Funk

by | Nov 5, 2017

I have fond memories of that exciting show at Hammersmith, Mothership descending and all and featuring Parliament, Funkadelic, Bootsy’s Rubber Band with Mudbone Cooper AND a spliff-riding standup guy…so this new Bootsy and guests set is pretty welcome. Even for a guy who cannot dance..and never could.

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Fabrizio Grossi (Supersonic Blues Machine)

Fabrizio Grossi (Supersonic Blues Machine)

by | Oct 27, 2017

When SBM released their first album, showcasing their skills and their ability to squeeze great performances out of their pals guesting on the set, we secured an interesting chat with Fabrizio in which we went into the start of the group and his passions.

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Black Stone Cherry – Black To Blues EP

Black Stone Cherry – Black To Blues EP

by | Oct 15, 2017

As anyone who has seen Black Stone Cherry perform will know, these Kentucky lads are never far from the Blues. The clues are the way they play off each other, the use of dynamics, the occasional slide guitar but moreover the raspy vocal stylings of Chris Robertson.

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Simo – Rise & Shine

Simo – Rise & Shine

by | Sep 3, 2017

‘Rise & Shine’ …a phrase I heard many a time from my late father, too early in the morning ! But his military background as a Sergeant Major never left him, we his hapless offspring his platoon…but the phrase also heralds the return of funky psych-rock trio from Nashville.

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Shaman’s Harvest – Red Hands Black Deeds

Shaman’s Harvest – Red Hands Black Deeds

by | Aug 16, 2017

The title track is quite tribal as Matt Fisher (bass) lays down the bassline and Adam Zemanek (drums) provide a hypnotic beat which goes straight into ‘Broken Ones’ which is a real head banger with a classic rock approach (The band used analogue effect pedals and vintage amps as they simply did not want to use anything digital.)

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Triggerfinger – Colossus

Triggerfinger – Colossus

by | Aug 13, 2017

I’m fairly familiar with this band’s previous output and I was fortunate enough to see their first headline London show at a packed sweaty Barfly in Camden. The band have now returned with a new musical approach with Ruben Block (vocalist/guitarist) commenting “Anything goes’, that was our motto.”

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Jonny Lang – Signs

Jonny Lang – Signs

by | Aug 12, 2017

Well dear reader, I have to start this review by being completely honest and say that I have been patiently waiting four years for a new Jonny Lang album.

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Joe Bonamassa – Back To The Wood

Joe Bonamassa – Back To The Wood

by | Aug 5, 2017

It’s acoustic album time once more for the American guitar man, as his Live At Carnegie Hall – An Acoustic Evening set is released. Pete and Joe discuss the material, personnel and everything else. But how long this time before the conversation descends into pure guitar nerdery? Read on to find out…

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Stanton Moore – With You In Mind

Stanton Moore – With You In Mind

by | Jul 4, 2017

The subtitle of this release is The Songs Of Allen Toussaint. You have likely heard more Toussaint numbers than you realise. Santana and Little Feat regarded him as a major writer and arranger. Towards the end of his life he made appearances in the UK and by luck or skill or a mixture of both, he had plenty of material to draw upon.

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Quinn Sullivan – Driving Forward

Quinn Sullivan – Driving Forward

by | Apr 1, 2017

Glenn and Quinn met at Buddy Guy’s London show last Summer – here they catch up and talk about the young guitar star’s forthcoming Mascot label album release Midnight Highway. The record covers a lot of styles and moods, enjoy his conversation about it…

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Quinn Sullivan – Midnight Highway

Quinn Sullivan – Midnight Highway

by | Apr 1, 2017

You want the best news about this label’s latest signing? – You’d hire him as a vocalist ! not to downplay his dextrous and very wide-ranging guitar skills but quite how he has attained such a rich and authoritative voice in his teens is pretty remarkable.

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Eric Gales – Middle Of The Road

Eric Gales – Middle Of The Road

by | Feb 24, 2017

Now if there is one label you could NEVER put on guitarist and singer Eric Gales, it is ‘middle of the road’…other musicians I meet speak of Gales in hushed tones, as ‘out there’, ‘inspired’ and ‘a mighty figure’.

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Aaron Keylock – Cut Against The Grain

Aaron Keylock – Cut Against The Grain

by | Feb 2, 2017

At last the debut album from the thin but lively blues-rock firebrand is available. Whilst the record has been coming together, Aaron has been touring with the likes of Wilko Johnson, Simo, Dan Patlansky, Cadillac Three. Supersonic BM’s Fabrizio Grossi produced the record.

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Eric Johnson – EJ

Eric Johnson – EJ

by | Jan 2, 2017

Texas guitar slinger Eric Johnson can pump out blues-rock riffs and solo’s soaked with delay with the best of them BUT on this release the ambience is pastoral and reflective to show another side to his skills.

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Beth Hart Announces April 2018 Royal Albert Hall Show

Beth Hart Announces April 2018 Royal Albert Hall Show

by | Nov 24, 2016

Following her SOLD-OUT and critically acclaimed November 2016 UK tour, and the overwhelming response to her latest studio album, Fire On The Floor, Grammy nominated singer-songwriter, Beth Hart and her band will embark on what is going to be her biggest UK concert of her career – London’s prestigious Royal Albert Hall

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