Errol Linton - Break The Seal

Album: Break The Seal
Size: 76,4 MB
Time: 33:12
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2024
Styles: Blues, harmonica blues, roots
Art: Front

1. January Day (3:16)
2. Break The Seal (3:25)
3. Country Girl (3:57)
4. Bo Diddit (3:00)
5. Love Gone Cold (3:24)
6. Shake 'Em Down (3:11)
7. Kisses Sweet (3:37)
8. Neck Bone Soup (2:21)
9. Man Shot Down (3:39)
10. City Blues (3:16)

Three times winner of the British Best Harmonica Player of the Year Blues Awards and ‘Best International Blues Act’ nominee at the Jazz FM Awards, singer and songwriter Errol Linton is variously described as: “a harmonica wizard from Brixton (of Jamaican descent), “a painter” and “the hero of the London Underground” where he has played “his unique and highly original blend of blues with hints of reggae with jazz flavors” for 30 years.

Linton’s new album Break The Seal on Brassdog Records, is dedicated to his mother Ruby Naomi Linton whose sudden passing in 2003 gave Errol the deepest blues he has ever had to deal with. It comprises 10 tunes that reflect the struggles and joy of life in Britain today. As Errol says, “At least I’ve got the music to express my pain. Pain and joy – we play a lot of happy blues.”

The title track showcases five musicians at the top of their game, a combination of innovative harp attacks, keyboard flourishes, tasteful lead guitar interludes and Errol’s trademark silky, impassioned vocals. The listener is transported to an intimate late night jazz or blues bar on a warm summer evening. /American Blues Scene

Personnel: Errol Linton (vocals, harmonica); Richie Green (guitar); Petar Zivkovic (piano); Lance Rose (bass); Gary Williams (drums).

Break The Seal mc
Break The Seal gofile

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Errol Linton - No Entry

Size: 84,4 MB
Time: 36:15
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2020
Styles: Harmonica Blues, Blues Reggae
Art: Front

01. No Entry Blues (4:14)
02. Fools For Love (4:10)
03. Sad & Lonesome (3:40)
04. Rain In Your Life (3:39)
05. So Many Women (2:41)
06. Excerpt From Brixton Rush Hour Boogaloo (1:07)
07. Speak Easy (3:00)
08. Howlin' For My Darlin' (3:22)
09. Love You True (3:25)
10. Got To Move (3:40)
11. Big Man's Gone (I'm On My Way) (3:12)

Three times winner of the British Best Harmonica Player of the Year Blues Awards, Errol Linton is a harmonica wizard from Brixton (of Jamaican descent), a singer, a songwriter, a painter and the hero of the London Underground, where he has played his unique and highly original blend of blues with hints of reggae for 30 years!

Following the release of his critically acclaimed 5th album, Packing My Bags in 2018, his songs can now be heard on national and regional BBC radio and Jazz FM. Brixton born and bred, Errol blends Chicago style blues with his Jamaican and London roots. On the road he has supported Dr John and Screaming Jay Hawkins, among many others, and he can regularly be found performing with his exceptional band around the capital.

No Entry MP3
No Entry FLAC

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Errol Linton - Packing My Bags

Size: 89,7 MB
Time: 38:35
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2018
Styles: Blues
Art: Front

01. Break Em' Down (4:01)
02. Got Me Running (2:56)
03. Love Is Strong (3:36)
04. Wish You Would (4:18)
05. Hoodoo Man (4:54)
06. Packing My Bags (4:25)
07. Drink Up Your Last Dollar (4:02)
08. 3.44 In The Morning (4:42)
09. Through My Veins (5:38)

‘Packing My Bags’ is that rare thing, a blues related album that pushes the stylistic envelope while still making an essential emotional connection.

Errol Linton has long carved out his own niche in the roots and blues field, but this is his best produced and most disciplined album.

He is as happy playing blues as he is reggae, singing ballads or leaning into deep shuffles. His warm vocal and expressive harp gives him the rudimentary tools with which to explore his unique blues vibe, but he also has a wonderful band who lock into the grooves with some exhilarating interplay. They are at their best on the deep blues of ‘Through My Veins’, which closes the album with a wonderful exercise in restraint.

The key to the album’s success is the band’s use of space and time. They strike a perfect balance between beautiful tone colour and intricate dynamics, before shining their collective light on a unique take on the blues.

Errol Linton has made his name as an esteemed harp playing a unique version of reggae and blues. But on the evidence of this album that’s a lazy description as his music digs far deeper. He’s best described as a cross genre bluesman player who brings variety to his vocals to his vocals as he slips from warm close-to-the-mic excursions into falsetto when required.

This is such a wide ranging album that when the band turn to the Chicago blues of ‘Hoodoo Man’ it feels like a ship coming into harbour after being tossed around on undulating waves. And having explored some exciting highs the band comes back to Chicago blues – their spiritual musical home – to re-ignite a favourite Junior Wells track.

Errol makes an immediate impact with his superb harp playing on the opening cover of Snooky Pryor’s ‘Break ‘Em On Down’. He’s a feel player with a warm vocal and a tight band that gives him the platform to blow at his hearts content.

The album contains 6 self penned tracks (including 2 co-writes) and 3 covers, of which ‘Break ‘Em Down’ is the best. You’d be hard pushed to spot the join as they shape the material to their own end with a signature sound.

Linton is a British harp player with all the feel and poise of his American counterparts. He’s a mature player with a lived in feel and a band that supports him all the way.

‘Got Me Running’ could be a slice of British 60's R&B on a jump arrangement with a repeated harp riff and a vocal not too far removed from Canned Heat’s ‘Blind Owl Wilson’.

He further emphasizes the Latino beat of Billy Boy Arnold’s ‘I Wish You Would’. It may be a bit of an obvious cover, but the band transform it with their vim and vigour. Linton adds a warm vocal and expressive harp phasing, while Kenrick Rowe’s ebullient cymbal work rings out loud and clear on a song with plenty of stop-time moments and lots of space.

‘Packing My Bag’ is an album on which the harp takes precedence, and when guitarist Adam Blake solos on ‘I Wish You Would’, he’s short, sharp and to the point, as he revels in his role as an accompanist who supports the song.

Linton extends the R&B feel on the stop-time ‘Love Is Strong’ on which he indulges in some vocal and harp, call and response. He adds a solo with deep breaths leading to long drawn out notes and then the opposite, before the band coalesces superbly on a jumping double bass line.

The title track is the jewel in the crown. It’s a celebratory shuffle with a noticeably different vocal attack and a repeated reggae inflection that works perfectly and brings contrast as the number returns to its shuffle based anchor.

The band’s intricate interplay featuring pianist/co-producer Pete Zivkovic’s subtly voiced notes all perfectly illuminate the track, as Linton borrows Bob Marley’s ‘Concrete Jungle’ line.

Each track builds on its predecessor to give the set an essential flow as it rolls mellifluously towards an emotive finish.

Linton extends the reggae feel on ‘Drink Up Your Last Dollar’ which is a rock steady drinking song that is pleasant rather than essential, though it’s simplicity does envelope us before a somewhat perfunctory ending.

’3.44 In The Morning’ is another album highlight built on a funky backbeat, harp squals, crisp cymbal work and Errol’s faux falsetto.

It has an insistent funky rhythm underpinned by Lance Rose’s throbbing bass on a beautifully nuanced track. He vocal line also cleverly mimics the bass line that is keeping him awake at night.

The track straddles blues, reggae and funk to cleverly evoke the restless sleepy night of the lyrics and is a great example of contemporary urban blues without any hint of cliché. The tension breaking wah-wah sounding harp riff feels like a musical sculpture as the band teases out the deepest groove.

The beautifully crafted ‘Through My Veins’ provides a suitable counterbalance to the above and perfectly bookends an album that drips with feel and emotion.

Linton’s vocal on this ballad is closer to Nick Drake than any major blues artist, as the gentle accompaniment evokes the lyrics. He hovers over the gentlest of brush strokes and dappled paino notes, while adding his own gentle harp retorts. Its a lovely love song that expresses so much: “Through my veins is where you run.”

‘Packing My Bags’ comes close to being a masterpiece. It’s a mature piece of work that sparkles with subtle band interplay, an array of colourful tones and brief but significant solos. Then there’s Linton vocal, which draws the listener into an album you immediately want to play again. There can be no better recommendation than that. ****½ ~by Pete Feenstra

Packing My Bags

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Errol Linton's Blues Vibe - Vibing It

Size: 147,2 MB
Time: 63:04
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1998
Styles: Blues Reggae, Harmonica Blues
Art: Booklet

01. Packin' My Bags (3:45)
02. Shake For Me (3:34)
03. Howlin' For My Darling (5:09)
04. Wine, Whisky And Women (4:25)
05. You Know I Love You (5:04)
06. Walking With Errol (4:32)
07. Love Is True (3:34)
08. Love Is Strong (2:38)
09. Got Me Running (3:23)
10. Live My Life (4:25)
11. City Blues/Eisenhower Blues (3:50)
12. Champagne (4:32)
13. Shake 'em On Down (4:13)
14. She's Gone (5:27)
15. Honey Dripper (4:29)

Reggae and Blues are unlikely bedfellows, but Errol Linton's Blues Vibe bring the two together on "Vibing it!" their first CD, and manage to pull it off very successfully. The result is a highly original sound, which is strongly Blues-based, but mixes in lilting reggae rhythms as a backdrop for several of the tracks. Even though nine of the tracks are cover versions, each one is re-interpreted to give it a new lease of life. Who would have thought that you could take Howlin' Wolf's "Howlin' for my darling," for example, and give it a reggae makeover? The choice of covers is interesting too: it's nice to see Papa Lightfoot, J.B. Hutto, J.B. Lenoir, and Frankie Lee Sims all getting a name check alongside the better known Willie Dixon, Howlin' Wolf, and Big Joe Liggins.

After being discovered busking on the London Underground by a BBC producer, Eazy Errol Linton was included in a World Music TV series, alongside the music of Big Bill Broonzy. Errol is a fine harp player, which he amply demonstrates on a version of "Shake for me" which Willie Dixon would have approved of. It has a raucous jug band feel to it, with Jean-Pierre Lampe pounding away on the double bass for all he's worth, while in the percussion section Sam Kelly taps out the rhythm on the bottle, and Tyrone Balkissoon plays washboard.

Linton's harp playing reflects a range of influences including Sonny Boy Williamson II -- he learned to play by listening to his records -- and there are detectable tinges of reggae melodeon players in there too. As well as being a mean harp player, Eazy Errol is a talented songwriter too. The topics of his songs may be fairly standard Blues fare -- love and life -- but he knows how to wrap the lyrics up in an infectiously catchy tune. I found myself continually humming "Packin' my bags" after just one listen, and the driving beat of "Live the life" is simply irresistible.

The tracks on "Vibing it!" were cut live in the studio by the band which has a fairly fluid line-up but is usually a six or seven piece combo here. The outcome is very good indeed, which is testament to the togetherness of the members of the band. The idea to cut it live seems to be part of a growing trend of trying to recapture the live feel of Blues on CD. Check out B.B. King's "Blues from the Bayou," and Snooky Pryor's "Can't Stop Blowin'" for two other fine examples.

"Vibing it!" is just the tonic for the winter months because there's a vibrant warm feel to the music, possibly a result of the Caribbean influences shining through. The end product is a perfect illustration of just how flexible the Blues can be, given half a chance, and should silence any doubters who think the Blues has nowhere left to go. If I owned a record company, I'd sign these boys up on the strength of this highly impressive debut.

Thanks to DrPeak.
Vibing It

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Errol Linton - Mama Said

Size: 111,0 MB
Time: 48:14
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2011
Styles: Modern Electric Blues, Acoustic Blues, Harmonica Blues
Art: Front

01. Roll On Tomorrow (4:58)
02. Hooked On Your Love (3:49)
03. Mama Said (4:00)
04. J.Y's (4:22)
05. You're Gonna Miss Me (3:41)
06. Through My Veins (4:22)
07. Boogie Disease (4:23)
08. Stressed Out (3:11)
09. Sunrise (3:15)
10. Honey Dripper (4:28)
11. Kisses Sweet (3:16)
12. J.Y's Dub (4:23)

Personnel: Errol Linton (vocals, harmonica, rhythm guitar, melodica, percussion), Adam Blake (guitar, bass, piano), Jean-Pierre Lampe (double bass), Kenrick Rowe (drums), Pete Zivkovic (piano, Hammond organ, keys), Abram Wilson (trumpet), Phil Myers (drums, washboard)

Three time winner of the British Best Harmonica Player of the Year, Errol’s Jamaican-bred blend of Blues has won his latest album’s presence in MOJO’s top ten. Also featuring multi-award winning trumpeter and vocalist Abram Wilson.

Seen by thousands of Londoners busking his harmonica in the great acoustic atmosphere of many an underground station, Errol Linton won't be one of the capitols best kept (and hidden) treasures for much longer as his brand of Jamaican and London inspired blues gets the recognition it deserves on stages and radio stations across the country.

Many Londoners over the past 15 years, as they rushed through tube stations such as Oxford Circus, may well have clocked a busker who sounded a cut above the usual street musician and been struck by how good the man with the harmonica and small amplifier sounded.

Brixton musician Errol Linton is not your average busker. On trips above ground, he's played on bills with Dr John and Screaming Jay Hawkins and has now released Mama Said - his third album and first since 2002. "I had to gather enough money to pay for these new recordings. Mama Said was paid for by busking," he said.

There is one pleasant instrumental - Sunrise - which features his fine 'harp' playing but most songs showcase Linton's soft spoken vocals. Hooked On Your Love is a tribute to his wife Maggie (a London bus driver for many years) and Through My Veins is a celebration of London. Both work well.

The capital's harsher side is dealt with in the contemporary London blues Stressed Out ("looking for work, making gold out of dirt") with fine interplay between electric guitar and harmonica. JY's (with a Reggae lilt) and Mama Said also impress. He's no amateur.

Mama Said

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