Time: 36:33
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2013
Styles: Blues Soul, R&B
Art: Front
01. You Can't Save Her (4:23)
02. I Just Want To Make Love To You (3:43)
03. I'd Rather Go Blind (3:08)
04. All Of Us (3:48)
05. Something's Got A Hold On Me (2:46)
06. At Last (2:38)
07. Tell Mama (2:51)
08. The Road (3:25)
09. Whisper (4:34)
10. House Of The Rising Sun (5:11)
The Ria Reece Band is a Rhythm and Blues combo out of Montreal. They have just released their self-titled debut, and it is a startling and beautiful tribute to some of the greatest soul music ever record. The band featuring Andre Chevarie (guitar), Martin Laporte (drums), and Sylvain Lamothe (bass) is just as equally of a match for Ria Reece’s fantastic vocals. More restrained and classically-influenced than many other modern R&B bands today, they not only manage to capture but also unlock some of the long-kept secrets of artists like Etta James and Al Green.
The backing band is fantastic. Just like Reece’s vocals, they are never flashy but highly proficient; more interested in substance than style. They are capable of switching sounds and slipping effortlessly and unnoticed into any style. Reece and the band is even capable of sneaking up on you occasionally and surprising you with an interesting re-imagining, like “At Last” made famous by Etta James. It’s a gentler beast, but it’s brilliant. They turn it into something more reminiscent of doo wop or something from the Brill Building while the reverb-washed guitars and powerhouse vocals still conjure the romanticism of the original classic.
Occasionally, the album is so stylistically different track to track, at times emulating the easy-going stroll of Jimmy Reed, the barely-contained bottled emotion of Otis Redding, or even doing for something decidedly modern, that it’s hard to guess what their true sound is. However, they pull off everything so well, that it ends up playing like a well-read history lesson of the blues, R&B, and soul. Their covers are well chosen, and the interpretations are wonderfully fresh. Their cover of “The Rising Sun” is even more ghostly and haunting than other famous covers. It’s instantly recognizable that The Ria Reece Band is a great, tight act, and I can only speculate their live show is just as or even more entertaining, because their eponymous debut is a thrill ride. ~Review by Cody Conard
The backing band is fantastic. Just like Reece’s vocals, they are never flashy but highly proficient; more interested in substance than style. They are capable of switching sounds and slipping effortlessly and unnoticed into any style. Reece and the band is even capable of sneaking up on you occasionally and surprising you with an interesting re-imagining, like “At Last” made famous by Etta James. It’s a gentler beast, but it’s brilliant. They turn it into something more reminiscent of doo wop or something from the Brill Building while the reverb-washed guitars and powerhouse vocals still conjure the romanticism of the original classic.
Occasionally, the album is so stylistically different track to track, at times emulating the easy-going stroll of Jimmy Reed, the barely-contained bottled emotion of Otis Redding, or even doing for something decidedly modern, that it’s hard to guess what their true sound is. However, they pull off everything so well, that it ends up playing like a well-read history lesson of the blues, R&B, and soul. Their covers are well chosen, and the interpretations are wonderfully fresh. Their cover of “The Rising Sun” is even more ghostly and haunting than other famous covers. It’s instantly recognizable that The Ria Reece Band is a great, tight act, and I can only speculate their live show is just as or even more entertaining, because their eponymous debut is a thrill ride. ~Review by Cody Conard
The Ria Reece Band