Nocturnal

Coldsweat

reviewed by Bill Majkut

Besides the musicianship of Pat Travers and Rush, Toronto Canada has got something else to be grateful for. Their local band Coldsweat has released a new CD titled “Nocturnal”. This recording is on equal footing with anything that the so-called national recording artists have been putting out in recent years. It also surpasses about 95% of the garbage that has been pushed on to us listeners in the last few years as blues-music from the major labels.

This CD contains 9 cuts of seven originals and two covers. The original material is written by vocalist extrordinaire Anthony Salvatore and bluesmate/guitarist Robert Anthony. The CD artwork includes the words to all the songs and should be read by every listener. They reflect a depth of blues experience and poetry that only those that have “been there, done that” can express.

The recording also shows a production quality equal to anything to come out of the major-labels. The musicianship is excellent. (They actually have a rhythm section that can play and play well) The bassist and drummer are solid groovers that can kick a soloist and add all the subtle inflections that actually make music…, well, MUSIC! Anthony Salvatore has a blues voice that can make B.B. King cry and there is plenty of brilliant guitar work from Robert Anthony. There are three things that make this recording stand out: The voice quality and emotion of Anthony Salvatore, The clean guitar work of Robert Anthony and the unlimited drummimg qualities of Rob Randazzo.

There are many great cuts on this CD but due to size limitations for this review, I will expand on only two tracks.

The CD starts off with an original face-ripper titled: “Tradesman”. The groove is a well-known standard hard-drivin’ shuffle but the words tell an original story. Drummer Rob Randazzo plays this feel using what Stevie Ray Vaughan called a Texas-drag-stick-shuffle. Rob’s feel coupled with the raspy gut-wrenching vocals of Mr. Salvatore and the progressive blues-rock tone and execution of Robert Anthony’s guitar work bring this shuffle to a place few others can duplicate.

The 2nd track: “3:00 AM” should be renamed “Real Love Only Happens One time” This refrain is repeated several times during the course of the song and sums up what the song is truly about. This is a classic conscience-shaking blues tune that really showcases Coldsweat’s song writing abilities and Robert Anthony’s guitar talents. Mr. Anthony does to Robert Cray’s guitar style what Gary Moore did to Eric Claptons. He ate ‘em up, digested ‘em and re-birthed it into a whole other dimension. Robert Cray should learn Robert’s Anthony’s solo on this cut.

“Gona Love You” is a medium tempo jump swing tune with a predominant Hammond B-3 sound with jazzy chord changes. The great vocals and story writing throughout transform these otherwise musically unoriginal chord changes into a convicted piece of work.

“See See Baby” is a medium shuffle with fuzz box guitar work. The guitar work is overdone and he never lets it breath.

“Everytime You Go” Nice B-3 work and chord changes. It has GREAT vocals and outstanding drumming! Admirable guitar solo too.

“Dance With Me” Is what is called by bass players: “a finger-style funk tune”. Once again, superb drumming and vocals. The rhythm section milks the groove skillfully during the guitar solo –VERY, VERY NICE!

“Some Kind of Lady” Bass player has good walking bass lines in this tune that make sense and go somewhere. It has more VERY tasty drumming and the vocals stand out – AGAIN! Superb guitar solo too, ala Robert Cray.

“Cadillac” Roadhouse shuffle I have no idea where the song title came from. This is a total filler tune

“How Many More Years” Is a “Rock Me Baby” type groove with fuzz box guitar. It has some very good guitar work that becomes EXCELLENT at the volume break. Robert makes Rory Gallagher smile down from heaven on this one.

Since I am a “True-believer” when it comes to blues and my favorite: blues-rock, I have to be totally honest when asked to review music. Therefore I need to include my negatives thoughts also. They are as follows:

The artwork is too simple and doesn’t do the music production justice. It’s not bad but doesn’t live up to the recording. There are two guitar tones that Robert Anthony uses. One is with distortion and the other is super clean. He does his most inspiring work with the super-clean tone. The guitar playing with fuzz box sounds a little thin and at times doesn’t breath. It has a “processor” type distortion sound. I prefer the vintage Marshall Plexi’s cranked to 11 kind of distortion. All of his guitar work contains an abundance of outstanding licks but he looses the effect at times by constantly running them together. He needs to include the “music in the silence”.

After reflecting over this CD, my thoughts go back three decades and to Albert Collins. My heart aches to bring the back the ‘70s so musicians like these could actually make a living. Coldsweat is the REAL thing and they deserve success!