Jose Ramirez - Major League Blues

Album: Major League Blues
Size: 118,5 MB
Time: 51:25
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2022
Styles: Electric blues
Art: Front, back

1. Major League Blues (w. Jimmy Johnson) (4:18)
2. I Saw It Coming (6:38)
3. Bad Boy (4:20)
4. My Love Is Your Love (6:50)
5. Whatever She Wants (4:08)
6. Here In The Delta (5:20)
7. Forbidden Funk (3:33)
8. Are We Really Different (5:55)
9. Gotta Let You Go (5:45)
10. After All This Time (4:34)

During the historical sessions that took place in the summer of 2021 at Delmark Records Riverside Studio, Jose received blessings from 93-year-old Jimmy Johnson and 91-year-old Bob Stroger, two of the most well-respected elders of the blues world. Those sessions with the Delmark All-Star Band confirmed that Jose is a 100% Major League Blues player. Witnesses of this session were moved to tears listening to the young Costa Rican trading electrifying phrases with the one and only Jimmy Johnson. The album presents eight original songs and two classic tunes by masters of Chicago blues, Magic Sam (“My Love is Your Love”) and Eddie Taylor (“Bad Boy”).

The recording sessions were done in a most unique way as well. Tracks 1-4 were recorded August 23rd, 2021 with the Delmark All-Star Band made up of Bob Stroger on bass; Willie “The Touch” Hayes on drums; Roosevelt Purifoy on the 1956 Hammond B3 Organ that was once at Chess Studios; Billy Flynn on guitar; and special guest Jimmy Johnson adding guitar to the title track. Johnson’s addition to “Major League Blues,” would be his final recording. Track 5-10 were actually recorded earlier, during the first week of September, 2020. That band was made up of drummer Antonio Reyes; bassist Kenny Watson; keyboardist Andre Reyes, Jr.; percussionist Evan Hoffman and vocalist Shelly Bonet (who also shares songwriting credit on two tracks).

Ramirez was recently nominated for a Blues Music Award 2021 for his debut album Here I Come, produced by blues guitar legend Anson Funderburgh. The Jose Ramirez Band won second place at The Blues Foundation 2020 International Blues Challenge in Memphis, performing in the finals at the Orpheum Theater in Memphis after advancing to the quarter and semi-finals against over 230 bands from around the world. In the past couple of years, Jose has traveled the globe playing the blues. His two European tours included more than 45 concerts in England, Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium. His U.S.A. tour included shows around the Midwest and the South.

Highlights included shows at legendary clubs such as Buddy Guy’s Legends, where Buddy himself joined Jose on stage. Ramirez’ Major League Blues tour kicks off on Thursday, March 3rd, at the BB King Museum in Indianola, Mississippi and continues the next night at Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale. After that the tour takes to the Midwest hitting major blues hot spots such as The Zoo Bar in Lincoln, Nebraska, House of Blues and Buddy Guy’s Legends in Chicago, and Mojo’s Boneyard in Evansville, Indiana before hitting the East Coast where he will perform from Maine to Florida.

Major League Blues mc
Major League Blues zippy

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Jose Ramirez - Here I Come

Size: 128,2 MB
Time: 54:47
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2020
Styles: Electric Blues
Art: Full

01. Here I Come (4:46)
02. I Miss You Baby (4:40)
03. Gasoline And Matches (3:33)
04. One Woman Man (5:19)
05. Goodbye Letter (7:39)
06. The Way You Make Me Feel (5:58)
07. Three Years (4:17)
08. As You Can See (5:19)
09. Waiting For Your Call (5:27)
10. Traveling Riverside Blues (4:10)
11. Stop Teasing Me (3:34)

Speaking about his debut album, “Here I Come,” guitarist Jose Ramirez explained, “I wanted to make a blues album influenced by both soul and R&B musicians such as Ray Charles, Teddy Pendergrass and Al Green, with a Little Johnny Guitar Watson in there as well.”

Capitalizing on the momentum he acquired after his second-place finish at the 2020 International Blues Challenge in Memphis, where he was representing The D.C Blues Society (Ramirez has since relocated to Florida) and his home country of Costa Rica, Ramirez teamed up with blues guitar legend & producer Anson Funderburgh to record this studio album. Funderburgh brought Ramirez to Wire studios in Austin Texas teaming up with Grammy-winning engineer Stuart Sullivan. They assembled the crack team of studio players for the sessions including Jim Pugh on piano and organ, drummer Wes Starr and bass man Nate Rowe, and the legendary Texas Horns, with Funderburgh lending his guitar skills on a couple of tracks. The nine original compositions showcase Ramirez’s songwriting ability as well as his personal style on two select covers.

Ramirez opens the set by going to the source on the title track, ‘Here I Come,’ a hard-driving blues shuffle, in which he name checks the heroes who showed him where his place in the world should be. The horn section steps in on the sweet swinging ballad, ‘I Miss You Baby,’ forming a melodic bed that allows him to stretch out with his voice and his guitar on the T-Bone Walker classic from the early ‘50s. Funderburgh delivers some icepick lead guitar on the saucy ‘Gasoline And Matches.’ Ramirez plays the tough guy on the edgy ‘One Woman Man’ and delivers some fine guitar playing of his own on the radio ready track with Pugh sneaking in a tribute to Cuban piano legend, Chucho Valdés, on the outro.

Stellar piano opens the slinky ‘Goodbye Letter’ and the horn-driven love song, ‘The Way You Make Me Feel,’ is a sweet dish of Memphis soul stew, while the slow-burning drag shuffle, ‘Three Years,’ is a tasty helping of deep blues. The fine articulate horn arrangement helps Ramirez ramp up the drama on the soul ballad, ‘As You Can See,’ and Pugh layers in lush Hammond B3 on the Hi Records styled R&B groover ‘Waiting For Your Call.’

The genius of Robert Johnson songs is that they allow for limitless interpretations. Ramirez takes full advantage of this on his funky, slow, and soulful rendition of ‘Traveling Riverside Blues,’ giving new emphasis to several lyrical phrases, thus creating a new point of view for an 80-year old tune. He bookends the album by closing with another driving shuffle, ‘Stop Teasing Me,’ showing us that this young man from Central America knows how to play the blues.

Ramirez is a dynamic performer and “Here I Come” will solidify him as a recording artist with a future in the world of blues.

Here I Come

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