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CD REVIEWS – Wasted Youth
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The reviews are coming in…
Blues Matters!
Now here we have a guy who truly puts his whole life into the blues. A former director of The Blues Foundation based in Memphis all profits from all of his album sales go towards the support of two of the Foundations projects. Mick “Mississippi Mick” Kolassa is back with just such a new release. Twelve tracks just oozing blues from every bar. Eleven originals and one cover segueing together three tunes. However, should you go trawling through his catalogue, and you will find that Wasted Youth is not actually his latest. He has also just released mid October a new Christmas album as well. If we put that off to the side what we have here is a very fine collection of tuneage reeking of Memphis and the Blues. Mick has managed to create a thoroughly modern album which, somehow, sits very comfortably alongside the sounds from former times. For example the aching love song about separation, Touching Bass, rolls along with a steady gait redolent of some smoky club from the forties. This is quickly followed up by the trio of songs combined under Darkness To Light. So you get a medley of War’s Slipping Into Darkness, The Youngbloods’ Darkness Darkness and finally Wayfaring Stranger. Set to an almost Reggae rhythm, and with unusual but exquisite violin solos, they all work really well together. Throwing Away These Blues and the title track open the album up. The former implores us to not let life get us down whilst the rougher Wasted Youth shows us that we can really only appreciate youth with the benefit of hindsight. Edge Of A Razor rounds things off with three simple acoustic guitars with guest Albert Castiglia on slide. A very tasty album indeed! ~ Graeme Scott, Blues Matters!
BluesBlast
Veteran bluesman Mick Kolassa delivers a little joy and releases immeasurable pain as he joins forces once again with producer/guitarist Jeff Jensen and kicks 2020 to the curb with CD, an album that bears witness to a year of sorrow in which he lost his beloved wife, several close friends and relocated from Mississippi to Memphis, too… No matter what the medium, Mick Kolassa delivers heartfelt messages from the heart, and serves up a jewel with Wasted Youth. I loved it, and think you will, too! MORE>>
Bluebird Reviews
In these days and age, it is very gratifying for a writer to review a Blues album that encapsulates the original values of the genre so well like Wasted Youth, the brand new album from American singer/songwriter and guitarist Mick Kolassa.
Written largely during the height of the pandemic in 2020, Wasted Youth is a heartwarming, disarmingly sincere and incredibly well structured record in all its aspects, in a year particularly difficult for the veteran American Blues artist, from a personal level… MORE >>
Reflections In Blue
Cutting to the chase, Wasted Youth is one of those recordings that offers more than simply a background for our dancing and polite conversation. Like diamonds, which are formed under conditions of extreme heat and pressure, great blues tunes do not come easily. It has been a rough year and a half, but Mick put these trying times to good use. This is some of the best songwriting I’ve heard, and Kolassa is surrounded by some of the greatest performers in Memphis. While the tunes here are very much able to be danced to, it is the furthest thing from a party album. Like the works of the masters of old, there is a profound honesty here. I found myself taking council and examining my own heart, mind, and soul. This is Mick’s finest work to date…a bona fide blues album in every sense of the word. I’d feel comfortable recommending this one to everyone, from the hardcore traditionalist to lover of the more contemporary styles. Mick Kolassa and company knock this one out of the park. – Bill Wilson, Reflections In Blue
Downatthecrossroads
Raised in Michigan but resident in Mississippi, “Michissippi Mick” has been playing the blues a long time with a style he likes to call “Free Range Blues”. He’s not tied down to one style, be it Delta blues, country blues, Chicago blues, or Memphis style soul blues.
His new album, Wasted Youth, sees him teamed up with Jeff Jensen, and playing with a group that includes sixteen top notch musicians, including the fine vocals of Tullie Brae. It’s a terrific set of 14 songs, eleven of them Kolassa originals, some of them inspired by his dreadful 2020, in which he lost his wife and a number of friends. All proceeds from the album are going to The Blues Foundation, where Kolassa is a former board member… MORE >>
Hot Wax Album Review
Any day a new Mick Kolassa CD shows up in my mailbox is a very good day, because I know I‘m in for a deep and tasty dive into the blues. I picked this up on my way to work this morning, but had to wait till after supper to give a spin- well, 3 or 4 to be honest. Wasted Youth is a spirited collection tunes that are bound… MORE >>
La Hora Del Blues
After the acclaimed success of his previous release “If You Can’t Be Good”, singer and guitar player Mick Kolassa publishes now a fourteen song new album, with eleven Kolassa’s own compositions, which have been inspired by all the bad things pandemic has brought and the misfortunes he has suffered in 2020, where he lost his wife and several friends. As he previously did, in the album Kolassa teams again with guitar player Jeff Jensen, which provides strength and energy to all songs, but he has also counted with the collaboration of different amazing musicians, all gifted with fine subtle skills, like Bill Rufino, Rick Steff, James Cunningham, Brandon Santini, Brad Webb, Kirk Smothers, Albert Castiglia or Victor Wainwright among others. As he always does, all the album sales benefits will go to the programs ‘Hart Fund’ and ‘Generation Blues’, promoted by the Blues Foundation in Memphis. Once again Mick Kolassa shows all his special powerful sensitivity and musical knowledge, as well as an undeniable good taste when he steadily walks along the most genuine and vigorous blues landscapes. GREAT. ~ La Hora Del Blues
MORE >>CD REVIEWS – If You Can’t Be Good, Be Good At It!
The reviews are coming in…
Living Blues
Kolassa’s title track scurries along at a frenetic pace, driven by Jeff Jensen’s scalding lead guitar and floating over a chorus of heavenly doo-wop style background vocals. It’s a good-time song with a nod-and-a-wink message that illustrates Kolassa’s canny ability to match a romping tune with an inspirational message. The song also contains the promise of the remainder of the album, which showcases Kolassa and his band’s meandering journey through a variety of musical styles.
Piercing and soulful lead guitar lines weave around a B3 in the slow-burning, minor chord A Good Day for the Blues, a reflection on the blues being just the right musical vehicle for a day when everything has gone wrong. We Gotta swings brightly with a New Orleans jazz vibe, riding along Marc Franklin’s blaring trumpet and Kirk Smothers’ swaggering sax, while the country blues I’ve Seen rides a shimmering harmonica wrapped around a sprightly violin. The jazz lounge romp Sweet Tea pays tribute to a long, tall glass of the southern drink, and the singer of the languorous Slow and Easy Love makes a promise to his lover of a night she’ll never forget. The album opens with the bright Memphis soul swayer I Can’t Help Myself, while the album closes with the poignant She Kept Her Head Up, Kolassa’s moving tribute to his daughter, Kassi, who’s been fighting breast cancer.
If You Can’t Be Good, Be Good at It! demonstrates that Kolassa has nothing to worry about: he’s both a good musician and songwriter and good at it, too! The songs on the album display his passion for the blues, illustrate the breadth of his musical range, and prove that any time is a good time for a Mick Kolassa album.
~ Henry L. Carrigan Jr.
Living Blues
January 2020, Issue#270
Reflections In Blue
Mick Kolassa is, without question, one of the finest songwriters in the business. He is also a fine guitarist, with a voice that suggests years of marinating his vocal cords in bourbon and fine cigars. His latest release, If You Can’t Be Good, Be Good At It, is powerful, soulful, poignant, and decidedly blues. With the exception of two well-chosen covers, he has written all of the tunes on the album… MORE >>
Jazz Weekly
I love those blindfold tests when the listener is asked if the artist is black or white. Mick Kolassa, who plays guitar and sings, would have stumped me. He sounds like he came out of a STAX session of the 60s with a rough and tumble voice, particularly when teamed with the horns of Marc Franklin/tp and Kirk Smothers/ts on the funky “I Can’t Help Myself”, the blues jumping “We Gotta” and boogaloo-ing “Sweet Tea”. John Blackmon supplies a 60s drum… MORE >>
The Rock Doctor *****
If You Can’t Be Good was recorded in the middle of the pandemic- doing an album that sounds this together is no easy feat. Mick and Jensen gathered some musical friends from Memphis and surrounding areas and the results I daresay are pure magic… a blues album for today that also carries a sense of blues history with it… MORE >>
MORE >>CD REVIEWS – Blind Lemon Sessions
The reviews are coming in for Blind Lemon Sessions — Mick Kolassa’s January 2020 Album
Reflections In Blue
The roles of the songster, singer/songwriter, storyteller, bard, minstrel, bluesman, griot, etc. is one of the most important positions in the business of making music. One major purpose behind having a band performing was to allow patrons to cut loose, have a few drinks and to lay down all the burdens of a week on the job. That was true in the 1920s, when recorded music was in its infancy and it is true today. The Blind Lemon Sessions fits that bill in every sense possible way. It is easy on the ear, entertaining, easy to dance to (if that’s your thing), easy to get lost in, gives lots of food for thought, and is just plain fun. Even in these trying times, this album makes it possible to lay all the BS aside and simply relax. No musician could ask for anything more. Mick Kolassa shows what he is truly made of…and I am impressed. This album hits all the right buttons, then turns around to hit them a second time. There will always be those who will say “It’s not Blues”, but that’s just fine…they said the same thing about Muddy Waters and countless others as well. This recording is loaded with timeless classics, original tunes that hone right in on life in the here and now and a cover of the Beatles’ “Help” that makes more sense than the original. The cherry on top is that all net proceeds from album sales go to charity. Kick, who plays 6 & 12 string guitars, baritone guitar, baritone ukulele, banjolele & percussion on the album as well as doing vocals, is joined by David Dunavent (guitar, slide guitar, banjo & percussion), Seth Hill & Bill Ruffino (bass), Eric Hughes (harmonica) and Alice Hasen (violin). This one might not feature screaming guitars and high-tech pyrotechnics, but the content is solid, the performance is superb, and it is done in a time-honored tradition. Mick Kolassa is a songster of the highest order. Even the hardcore headbanger deserves a moment now and then to regroup. This one’s a no-brainer. Give it a listen. You won’t regret it.
Bill Wilson, Reflections In Blue
MORE >>
CD REVIEWS – 149 Delta Ave
The reviews are coming in for 149 Delta Ave — Mick Kolassa and the Taylor Made Blues Band’s September 2018 CD release…
Reflections In Blue
Mick Kolassa surpassed my expectations, for which I owe him and the band an apology. 149 Delta Avenue is one of the finest pieces of blues and deep Southern soul I have heard in a while I have heard in a while. Primarily original tunes, with a few great covers thrown in for good measure, 149 Delta Avenue is a near-religious experience… MORE->>
Don and Sheryls Blues Blog
Mick Kolassa has become one of our favorite players in contemporary blues. On his last two albums, he recorded other folks’ material, and it is great to see him back in his element dropping some cool originals on his latest set, “149 Delta.”… MORE->>
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CD REVIEWS — Double Standards
The reviews are coming in on the February 2018 release Double Standards!
Elmore Magazine
Mississippi-based guitarist and vocalist Mick Kolassa gathers a bunch of his friends for duets in this set of blues standards. Blues is often rowdy and raucous but here Kolassa and friends demonstrate how the idiom can be played with finesse and class… MORE
Making A Scene
Mick Kolassa is a very likable guy and therefore as a musician he has acquired a lot of talented friends. When he decided to do an album of duets of blues standards to be called Double Standards, of course, he collected 12 of them to sing with him…MORE
American Blues Scene
Double Standards is a simple concept: singer Mick Kolassa duets on blues standards with talented colleagues. The result is a deceptively complex album of compelling takes on great blues songs, with Kolassa’s raspy tone surprising the listener with a jazzy delivery…MORE
donandsherylsbluesblog
Over the last few years, bluesman Mick Kolassa has become one of our favorite performers. Never afraid to express what’s on his mind, that attitude carries over into his music, and it always leads to some fresh, old-school, down-home blues…MORE
Professor Johnny P’s Juke Joint
I’ve always enjoyed albums in which one artist explores music with several other artists in order to see what direction that collaboration takes…MORE
Michael Doherty’s Music Log
Last year, Mick Kolassa and Mark Telesca released You Can’t Do That!, an album of blues renditions of Beatles songs. Now Mick Kolassa is teaming up with several vocalists on his new release, Double Standards, a collection of covers of well-known blues tunes…MORE
Blues Bytes
Mick Kolassa’s latest release is Double Standards (Swing Suit Records), a baker’s dozen classic blues songs performed by Kolassa and a few of his friends, including such blues luminaries as Sugaray Rayford, Heather Crosse, Victor Wainwright, Annika Chambers, Tas Cru, Tullie Brae, Eric Hughes, Erica Brown, Patti Parks, David Dunavent, Gracie Curran, and Jeff Jensen. It’s a warm and intimate, seemingly loose affair covering a wide range of blues styles… MORE
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