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On the surface, little about Pierre LaCoque\u2019s background would have foreshadowed the musical path he would pursue. Born in Israel to Belgian parents, he grew up in France, Germany and Belgium. But encouraged by his parents, he developed an interest in music at a very early age. That interest truly blossomed when his family moved to the U.S. during his teenage years. Coming of age in Chicago, LaCoque was inspired by the city\u2019s rich blues tradition. He developed his skills on harmonica, but didn\u2019t pursue music full time until completing college.<\/p>\n
In 1991 LaCoque put together Mississippi Heat, and the band self-released its debut, Straight from the Heart<\/i> in 1992. Three decades and twelve albums later \u2013 and after a run that included a string of albums on Delmark \u2013 Mississippi Heat returns with Madeleine<\/i>, again released on the band\u2019s own label.<\/p>\n
And while some things have changed in the thirty years since the group\u2019s recorded debut, many of the important qualities and characteristics remain firmly in place. LaCoque writes nearly all of the material, wails soulfully on harmonica, and leads the band. On Madeleine<\/i>, the foundation of the music is supplied by the rhythm section of bassist Brian Quinn and (on most of the record\u2019s 12 tunes) drummer Terrence Williams.<\/p>\n
Save for its leader, the group\u2019s lineup is completely different from that first disc, but Madeleine<\/i> does feature a number of guests and Mississippi Heat alumni, including Lurrie Bell (vocals and guitar), drummer Kenny \u201cBeedy Eyes\u201d Smith and Carl Weathersby (guitar and vocals). Vocalist Inetta Visor and guitarist Michael Dotson \u2013 both longtime members of the group \u2013 each contribute an original song, and ace pianist Johnny Iguana guests on three tracks.<\/p>\n
The energy level is high throughout Madeline<\/i>. The rollicking \u201cSilent Too Long\u201d (featuring Weathersby on lead vocal) sets the tone for the album. LaCoque chugs along on blues harp right alongside the singer, but does so in comparatively understated fashion. Then, after Dotson peels off a sharp solo, the band leader blows with abandon. As the song races toward its conclusion, it\u2019s all-in instrumentally, with a break for Christoper \u201cHambone\u201d Cameron to tear things up a bit on the B3.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s a fine formula, one that serves the band well throughout the set. Elsewhere, LaCoque trades phrases in musical conversation with the lead vocalist, as he does when joined by Daneshia Hamilton on \u201cBatty Crazy.\u201d LaCoque\u2019s wonderfully overdriven harmonica solo on that tune is a highlight of this new collection.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a rocking, reggae feel to \u201cHavana En Mi Alma,\u201d a tune dedicated to the bandleader\u2019s Cuban-born spouse. Stylistically, though, that song is an outlier on Madeleine<\/i>; most of the tracks are straightforward blues, generally informed by the urban Chicago style. \u201cNothin\u2019 I Can Do\u201d is a sprightly jump blues, with LaCoque\u2019s harmonica out front. A horn section adds texture to several tunes, including the New Orleans-flavored \u201cEmpty Nest\u201d and \u201cRidin\u2019 on a Hit.\u201d Reminiscent of NRBQ, the latter showcases fleet-fingered keyboard work from Iguana.<\/p>\n
The album\u2019s most subtle and heartfelt moments come during the title track, an instrumental showpiece dedicated to the memory of LaCoque\u2019s grandmother. There are no weak moments on this consistently entertaining, thoughtfully produced release; creating it is a fitting way to mark the 30th<\/sup> anniversary of the group, and listening to it adds to that celebration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On the surface, little about Pierre LaCoque\u2019s background would have foreshadowed the musical path he would pursue. Born in Israel to Belgian parents, he grew up in France, Germany and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23311,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,49,65],"tags":[1491,4881],"class_list":["post-23310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blues","category-new-release","category-review","tag-mississippi-heat","tag-pierre-lacoque","cat-9-id","cat-49-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23310"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23310\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23312,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23310\/revisions\/23312"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}