In many ways, Hot Flash is the definitive Saffire album. Racy and sassy -- and to some tastes cutesy -- the album is a fun, free-thinking update of classic female blues, performed with gusto and verve. The instrumentation is sparse -- a piano, guitar, bass, harmonica, and kazoo provide the foundation of the music -- but the focus of these songs is ...
There is plenty of fire in Saffire -- The Uppity Blues Women, a trio of feisty multiracial middle-aged acoustic blues femmes who, rather surprisingly, were one of the top sellers from Alligator's male-dominated, plugged-in roster. This generous 20-track, 75-minute compilation collects highlights from the threesome's previous seven Alligator albums ...
The first studio album in five years from the band finds them for the most part, having a rocking good time and placing an emphasis on the boogie-woogie end of the blues. Instrumentally and vocally they keep getting better and better, with pianist Ann Rabson a particular standout for her vibrant keyboard work. While they live up to their image of ...
Saffire has been bringing their "uppity" brand of blues to stages from quite some time, and it was inevitable that a live album would rear its head sooner or later. But recording this one over a three-night stand at the Barns of Wolf Trap is a class-A affair all the way. With the ladies in top form, playing to an adoring audience cheering them on ...
The second volume in Thump's freestyle series includes classics by the Cover Girls, Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam, Stevie B, Exposé, Trinere and Collage, among others. ~ Keith Farley, All Music Guide
This is a specially priced, two-CDs-for-the-price-of-one photo-cube set, loaded with great stuff from Charlie Musselwhite, Koko Taylor, Lonnie Brooks, Johnny Winter, Billy Boy Arnold, Lonnie Mack, and a host of others who have trotted their wares on the label over the years. Besides giving the novice one great introduction to the label (as the ...
Another generally likable album from Saffire, Cleaning House contains plenty of the bold, sassy material (e.g., "Hungry Woman's Blues," "If Love Hurts, You're Not Doing It Right," "Tomorrow Ain't Promised") listeners have come to expect from the band that half seriously, half tongue-in-cheek, bills itself as the Uppity Blues Women. All three women ...
After 25 years, constant traveling, nine albums, and various solo projects, Saffire are calling it quits with one last tour and Havin' the Last Word, a collection of new tunes, covers of favorites, and songs that define their dissolution. It sounds as though it's a happy-sad decision, gratified for all the success and love accrued from their fans, ...
This two-disc set draws on music from the 1920s to the 1990s, and includes songs from Bessie Smith ("Do Your Duty"), Etta James ("Good Rockin' Daddy"), Alberta Hunter ("I Got Myself a Working Man"), Koko Taylor ("Jump for Joy") Sippie Wallace, and Hadda Brooks. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
Barbecue Blues relies on a cutesy concept -- it contains nothing but blues and R&B songs about food, barbeques and appetites -- but it works surprsingly well, mainly because most of the featured artists are excellent. Surprisingly, the compilers decided to bypass modern electric blues for classic female blues, jump blues, classic R&B and country ...
This entertaining CD serves a dual purpose, introducing listeners to many of the blues artists who have recorded for Alligator and giving consumers a rare Christmas blues record. The performers include Koko Taylor, Kenny Neal, Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials, Katie Webster (on a rollicking "Deck the Halls With Boogie Woogie"), William Clarke, ...
Old, New, Borrowed & Blue finds Saffire's sound bordering on the formulaic. Songs like "Bitch with a Bad Attitude" and "There's Lighting in These Thunder Thighs" are simply too cutesy and too predictable -- but there is still plenty for their fans to treasure on the record. ~ Thom Owens, All Music Guide
Between Hot Flash and Broadcasting, Saffire lost a bassist, but added a mandolinist, fiddler, organist, and electric guitarist, which gives Broadcasting a fuller, richer sound. Fortunately, that hasn't distracted attention from the bawdy, sassy vocals of Ann Rabson and Gaye Adegbalola, who still exhibit a raw, natural charisma. And the material -- ...
In 1984, three middle-aged women (guitarist Gaye Adegbalola, bassist Earlene Lewis and pianist Ann Rabson) came together to play blues as Saffire. Their 1990 Alligator CD is still Saffire's best all-around recording. Even overlooking the novelty of three women giving a female and middle-aged slant to the blues, this is a highly enjoyable and ...
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