Howard Glazer and the EL 34’s – Wired For Sound

Blue Skunk Music

www.howardglazer.com

Howard Glazer and the EL 34’s latest release is a Detroit Blues Party distributed by Blue Skunk Music. Howard and his brother Steve produce the 14 Tracks. All were composed by Howard except Detroit Blues Party and Goodbye which are credited to John Sinclair.

This CD jumps right off with a Blackfoot sound and slide that would make Duane Allman smile. “Touch My Heart” ends with a cool click/clack fade. “Happy in My Arms” introduces the horn section of; Ralph Koziarski (sax), Dave Kocbus (trumpet) and Mike Dziekan (trombone). The background vocals of Maggie McCabe and Stephanie Johnson augment the Motown groove. They could go All Night Long! “Living on the Edge” has a Credence Clearwater sound. The 1st round of “Detroit Blues Party” is cool with party sounds (glasses clinking) in the background. David “Honeyboy” Edwards plays amplified acoustic and Lady T shows off her fine “pipes”. “Hurt so Bad” reminds of Albert Collins with added effects. “Waiting for the Train” rolls through with jaunty slide resonator and a Johnny Cash beat. Steve Kohn is wicked on the skins.

“Wall Street Bailout” is poignant with a back beat that’s hard to master. Foreclosure, unemployment and homelessness with wah wah licks scorching in. Slide resonator taunts “I’ve got a Good Girl” w/drumsticks on the rims and harmonica. Bassist Bob Goodwin is strong throughout this disc and kills here! “Get Me out Of Here” is swampy with a Tommy gun drum that rat-a-tat-tats. “Reel Me In” has funky bass slappin’, shredding in the middle and horns. Kind of like Shaft meets Chicago (the band). “Half Empty” tackles the age old conundrum; half empty or half full. It is acoustic yet spacey with voice effects. A strong Motown beat drives “No Regrets”. There are plenty of bass frenetics and more of Howard shredding. Howard laments: “You can take my body but, you can’t take my soul.”

Drums kick off the Hound Dog Taylor tribute “Goodbye”. John Sinclair recites and Howard wails on slide throughout. There is unique phrasing of slide and trumpet feedback. (Yep, trumpet feedback) The 2nd visit to the “Detroit Blues Party” (reprise) finds the party still going strong. Emanuel Young adds to the Mississippi Fred McDowell sound. It makes you want to go to Detroit and party all night long!