CD Woodbury Trio : Bulldog
CD Woodbury Trio
Bulldog
For his latest release ‘Bulldog,’ the Pacific Northwest guitarist and Blues Hall of Fame member chose to go with the simplified moniker “The CD Woodbury Trio,” as that is the band format that suits his expansive playing style the best. Backed by the stalwart rhythm section of co-producer and engineer Robert Baker on Bass and uber hired gun Bill Ray on drums, Woodbury is free to stretch out his mighty chops that have earned him seven ‘Best of the Blues Awards for Electric Blues Guitar from the Washington Blues Society. The eleven song album features three new original tracks and a collection of reimagined Blues classics. Woodbury unearths the obscure sinister blues “Wicked Grin,” for the opening track then delivers a precise reading of Albert King standard “Born Under A Bad Sign.” The trio smooth out the rockabilly prototype “Little Sister,” and honor another Memphis icon, running down Bobby “Blue’ Bland’s “ I Wouldn’t Treat A Dog,” with dynamic flair. The topical “Gaslight Road,” highlights our current cultural climate and Cream’s power trio phantasm “Politician,” has long been considered controversial, here the Woodbury trio dig even deeper into it’s slinky groove. The solo acoustic number “Dollar Store Readers,” sits nicely on the middle of the set as sardonic pallet cleanser. The transformation of James Brown Funk standard “I Feel Good,” into a swinging blues shuffle is the ultimate middle finger to Blues music critics. Old friend Mike Marinig adds dulcet Flute to “Spoonful,” and harmonica man Joel Astley stands in for Mark Dufresne on cover of his “There’s A Song In There.” Title track “Bulldog,” closes the set, a fun and funky run down of a character we all know and love.
Rick J Bowen