Another Shade of Blue(s)

Album Review

On Another Shade of Blue(s) Bobby Manriquez takes the listener on a magical musical journey into sounds that are sometimes familiar and at other times are very new exciting explorations of the art. Manriquez provides the vocals and plays most of the instruments on this album himself, and pulling it all together with the quality that this album shows is simply unimaginable, but one spin on the deck will make anyone a believer .On the first track of the album, "The Boogie Man's Comin'," the blast that strikes the listener is the use of blues master's riffs being played with a forceful confidence. "Family Traditions" features a very funky drum beat with some nice accents from the twangy lead electric guitar. The use of effects on the vocal track lends "Family Traditions" a hip-hop groove seldom found linked to the blues genre"Evocation" is a very short piece of work that seems to be calling out to the Guitar God...whoever that could be, perhaps Hendrix, Vaughan or it just may be a display of Bobby Manriquez' talent. "Smokehouse (live)" is where Bobby Manriquez opens his magical bag of lead guitar riffs and gives the listener a small taste of what a "live" show would consist of. Leaning slightly toward the Jimi Hendrix school of psychedelic guitar works, "B2K" uses accents from electric blues licks as the magnetic formula that makes the whole song structure work so well. Bobby Manriquez is an amazing musician that has given all the people that search CD bins in hope of finding some original and vibrant guitar rooted music, proof that some great music is still being made. All should be thankful that this guitarist has graced us with a gem to add to the collection of blues guitar albums that never sit on the shelf long enough to gather dust.