Blogs
  • Post-Dispatch and STLtoday.com Drop "Mamalogues" Columnist Dana Loesch
    05:55PM 03/14/08
  • Dead Confederate at Stubb's, SXSW, Wednesday, March 12
    02:38AM 03/14/08
  • Gut Check's Hibernation Almost Over
    04:30PM 03/14/08
  • This Is Hawkwind -- Do Not Panic
    06:08PM 11/09/07
Recent Articles

Recent Articles By Dean C. Minderman

  • B.B. King
    7:30 p.m. Wednesday February 13. Family Arena, 2002 Arena Parkway, St. Charles.
  • Chris Botti
    8 p.m. Friday January 18 and Saturday January 19. Touhill Performing Arts Center at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, One University Boulevard.
  • Smooth Operators
    Schoolhouse Rock's songwriter celebrates a few special birthdays in St. Louis while we pit Kenny G vs. Trans-Siberian Orchestra in a fight to the holiday death.
  • Preservation Blues

    Local niche labels keep the music coming.

  • Backstoppers Benefit
    7 p.m. Sunday November 4. The Pageant, 6161 Delmar Boulevard.

National Features

  • Phoenix New Times
    Canine Crusaders

    That drug-sniffing dog up ahead? He may not be your best friend.

    By Ray Stern
  • Broward-Palm Beach New Times
    The Muscle Men

    Thanks to a string of Florida "anti-aging clinics," baseball's steroid scandal isn't limited to superstars.

    By Michael J. Mooney
  • Miami New Times
    Picked On

    Farm workers earn nada in America's green-bean capital.

    By Janine Zeitlin
  • Village Voice
    "Why I'm No Longer a Brain-Dead Liberal"

    An election-season essay from one of America's greatest playwrights.

    By David Mamet

Big George Brock is in fine form on this set, which was recorded in May 2007 at the Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Alive brings the electric style defined in 1950s Chicago back to its rural roots to create a hybrid combining aspects of both country and city blues. Mixing original songs with a handful of covers, Brock sings with authority and depth, evoking (rather than imitating) the sound of his musical heroes Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, and he blows a spare yet eloquent blues harp that says more with one note than lesser players can say with a hundred. He's ably abetted here by a highly sympathetic band, starting with drummer Riley Coatie Jr., and bass player Barry Bays — both of whom provide an unflagging and powerful pulse, but yet can also turn on a dime to follow Brock's sometimes idiosyncratic improvisations (which alternately compress and stretch the twelve-bar blues form). Meanwhile, guitarists Riley Coatie Sr. and Bill Abel carry on an energetic dialogue with Brock, the rhythm section and each other, serving up both chattering commentary and cacophonous crosstalk. It all adds up to a satisfying hour of real-deal roots music that should delight blues lovers everywhere.

About Us | Work for Riverfront Times | Esubscribe | Free St. Louis Classifieds | National Advertising | Privacy Policy
Problem With the Site? | RSS | Site Map
©2008 Village Voice Media All rights reserved.

Riverfront Times Insiders

  • Local food, music and news blasts
  • Free Stuff

buy, sell, trade (3,807)
musician (464)
rentals (4,399)
jobs (2,960)
adult entertainment (1,104)
Personal of the Day


More Personals >>
NOW CLICK THIS
  • - SXSW Showdown!
  • - Ultra Music Festival
  • - Cocktails for a Cause!
  • - Virtual Career Fair
  • - St. Louis Home Search
  • - Iron Fork 2008!
  • - Digital Jukebox
  • - St. Louis Spaces
  • - 2008 RFT Restaurant Guide Poll, Vote Now!
  • - RENTstlouis