Monday Night

CD Woodbury Band - Monday Night! The great Northwest has produced great musicians from the Kingsmen to Jimi Hendrix. Now add the blues busting CD Woodbury Band to the list as the pride of Washington state. After years of paying his dues in a variety of genres, Woodbury founded his group in 2009 and released Sunbanks Live! (2010) while earning a rep as quot;the Northwest's best-kept secret.quot; Their rump-kicking studio debut will lay that distinction to rest as they break out to wide acclaim. Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Woodbury; along with Chris Kliemann (keyboards), Mike Fish (bass), Don Montana (drums, lead vocals) and Mike Marinig (sax, lead vocals) power up the blues on ten original compositions. The bopping shuffle quot;These Blues Keep Me Right Herequot; opens dramatically with the sinewy electric guitar of Woodbury as he declares with stone blues expression quot;Yeah...she left me to weep and moan. When my head says go and get her, my heart sinks like a stone.quot; quot;Mean Jennyquot; virtually re-invents the boogie with unusual, off-beat syncopation and a hooky, hypnotic chorus of quot;Down on the bayouquot; surrounding the chilling tale of a fearsome backwoods woman who could give quot;Poke Salad Anniequot; a run for her money. Nursing their quot;boogie woogie flu,quot; the band crackles on quot;Been So Long,quot; a spine-snapping ruckus sung yearningly by Marinig with Woodbury sublimating his passion by bending the frets of his Telecaster while the saxist honks lustily in sympathy. The dance ready title track presents hard funk that lesser bands only experience on vicariously as Fish and Montana lock in like the JBs of yore, quot;funkateerquot; Woodbury quot;skanksquot; on his rhythm guitar, Kliemann attempts to punch through the keys of his organ patch and Marinig channels Maceo Parker. A dynamic change to the autobiographical, lowdown slow blues quot;Pawn Shopquot; has Woodbury pining about pawning his prized instruments to put food on his table and pay rent, his heart-rending solo speaking wordless volumes about his pain as he pours out every ounce of his soul. Flaunting more versatility, quot;Pleasure's All Minequot; is jazzy big beat R&B with clever, quot;inside jokequot; lyrics about being in a band composed by Marinig, and showcasing his hip delivery and hot horn. Montana beats the skins like Gene Krupa on the rapturously jumping, jiving, wailing quot;Ring-A-Dingquot; as Woodbury boasts quot;I got a little woman, she moves like jello on a spring, she's got my heart clangin', she's my little ring-a-dingquot; pumped by the rollicking 88s of Klieman and the leader's fleet-fingered, cool man jazz solo. quot;Burn the Bridgequot; salutes Motown funk with Montana soulfully lamenting a bad marriage via the scalding quot;Not a blessing but an evil curse, I took your hand for better or worsequot; intensified by bruising tenor and a flaming, string-torturing guitar solo. On the percolating funk of quot;Two Wheelsquot; the beat is turned every which way but loose while Montana growls a hip biker story involving his generous gambling baby and the sly reference quot;And I'll take her out on the town cause The CD Woodbury Band is gonna burn the house down.quot; Ending the set with a moody, late night quot;nourishquot; ambience, the evocative minor key quot;SauBall Bluesquot; humorously refers to a sausage/meatball sandwich featuring Woodbury pleading quot;... just give me the soup of the day, and two or three cold, cold brewsquot; as he and Marinig plumb the emotional depths with deep, searing solos. CD Woodbury has attained an enviable goal for guitarists: A personal, muscular, expressive style wi