Juraj Schweigert & The Groove Time - Spin-Off

Size: 120.6 MB
Time: 51:29
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2021
Styles: Blues, Jazz, Funk, Soul
Art: Front

01. Nobody's Talkin' (5:22)
02. Spin-Off (4:07)
03. Every Four Seconds (3:57)
04. Stay With Me (4:50)
05. She's Right (4:52)
06. Straight Back (4:20)
07. Gruvgrass (5:24)
08. Shoelaced (4:55)
09. Fix Me Up (5:36)
10. Miss Chief (4:34)
11. Drivin' Home (3:26)

Juraj Schweigert & The Groove Time is Bratislava-based and the band features top musicians in the region (Juraj Schweigert-harmonica/vocals, Zsolt Szitási -guitar, Matej Štubniak - bass, and Juraj Raši - drums). The band started as a jump blues band and slowly developed a character of its own. While rooted in blues we like mixing in all kinds of genres like jazz, funk, latin, or rock so that we keep the music fresh and cultivate our own sound. The material we are currently working on mostly explores the common ground of blues and genres like funk, soul, and groove.

The band has won several awards at home and abroad and played a number of blues and jazz festivals. In 2015, we released our debut album Novelty Shop (finalist of the Blues Foundation Best Self-produced CD competition) and in 2016 we represented Slovakia at the European Blues Challenge in Torrita. As an instrumentalist, Juraj was awarded 2nd place at the World Harmonica Festival in the Blues category in 2017.

Spin-Off MP3
Spin-Off FLAC

---

Juraj Schweigert - Novelty Shop

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:55
Size: 91.4 MB
Styles: Harmonica blues
Year: 2015
Art: Front

[4:01] 1. Tropospheric
[4:05] 2. Is The Driver Ready Yet
[5:01] 3. Russian Mob
[3:13] 4. Harold The Squirrel
[2:53] 5. She's The No-Sleepin'est Woman
[4:05] 6. Novelty Shop
[4:16] 7. Bald Joe
[3:27] 8. Intresque
[2:42] 9. The Bluest Blues
[6:07] 10. Let The Hammer Ring

Juraj Schweigert is a Slovakian harmonica player and singer who has released a fascinating album in Novelty Shop. With elements of blues, swing, jazz, rock and even the old prison work song, “Let Your Hammer Ring”, there is much to enjoy in the ensemble playing of Schweigert’s band and his own stellar harmonica playing.

The majority of the songs on the album are instrumentals, nearly always led by Schweigert’s harp. Russian Mob” blends a swinging mix of jazz, ska and even some a hint of Latin music, while “Harold The Squirrel” has a jazz-rockabilly edge to it. The title track, meanwhile, starts with a discordant, almost heavy rock edge featuring over-driven guitars, before subtly moving to the head played by Schweigert and Szitasi in tandem, harmonising off one another and then reverting back to the discondant and disquieting opening. “Bald Joe” is a gentle ballad with acoustic guitars backing Schweiger’s harp and a lovely solo from Kapusnik. “Intresque” has something of a ragtime feel, particularly in the drumming of Juraj Rasi. When he does sing, however, Schweigert does a fine job, particularly on the old T-Bone classic, “She’s The No-Sleepin’est Woman” and Dizzy Gillespie’s “The Bluest Blues”.

One of the most interesting (and to this reviewer’s ear, enjoyable) tracks on the album is the final song, listed as a bonus track. Featuring Schweigert’s voice and harp, backing vocals from Juraj Rasi, L’ubos Brtan, Juraj Varga, Michal Varga, David Szabo and Peter Nosik, the keyboards of Valer Miko and wood cutting from Juraj Rasi, Tamas Belicza, Schweigert and Co. take the traditional “Let Your Hammer Ring”, retain the original melody but layer fascinating organ over the top as Schweigert’s harp imitates fujara (a traditional Sloval national instrument) and pipes at the same time as singing an old Sloval highwayman tune. It really shouldn’t work, but it does, and it makes hypnotic listening. ~Rhys Williams

Novelty Shop

---