Link: http://www.carlosdeljunco.com/

Carlos Del Junco
Steady Movin'
Northern blues Music
www.northernbluesmusic.com
www.carlosdeljunco.com

If you are a fan of blues harmonica (as I am), I am confident that you will enjoy the new CD by Carlos Del Junco, Steady Movin'. Steady Movin' opens with the decidedly upbeat instrumental “Diddle It”, which just plain smokes. It is easy to see why Carlos is a four time Maple Award winner from the Toronto Blues Society, and I think the Maple may be the Canadian equivalent of the BMA. He's a double Gold Medal winner of the Hohner Harmonica Championship in both the Blues and Jazz categories, and a Juno Award nominee (the Canadian Grammy) for his excellent CD Big Boy. Two more instrumentals follow “Diddle It”, including “Dull Blade,” Which sounds straight out of The Strangetones songbook, “Mashed Potatoes Canada”, described in the song notes on four of the 11 tracks as “A Canuck tribute to the Godfather of Soul,” with vocals by John Dickie is full of vibrant energy, and Movin' Down the Rhine”, is Carlos favorite Sonny Boy Williamson Song, as he says in the liner notes. Yes, there is a train, a big river, a boat, and a woman; now that's what I call a blues song! Of the 11 tracks, Del Junco penned five, with Kevin Breit authoring two, Kevin plays guitar and banjo and has long been a sideman for Norah Hones and Cassandra Wilson. Even though I think that this CD is uneven at times, there's no denying that Steady Movin' has plenty of blues entertainment value.

Review by Malcolm Kennedy of The Washington Blues Society