{"id":25761,"date":"2023-08-02T05:30:53","date_gmt":"2023-08-02T09:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=25761"},"modified":"2023-08-02T08:35:15","modified_gmt":"2023-08-02T12:35:15","slug":"album-review-d-k-harrell-the-right-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2023\/08\/02\/album-review-d-k-harrell-the-right-man\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: D.K. Harrell \u2013 The Right Man"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-25762\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/dk_harrell.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"312\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/dk_harrell.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/dk_harrell-300x267.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/>Some albums take a slow-build approach. They start modestly, with some subtlety, drawing the listener in. On his debut release <i>The Right Man<\/i>, D.K. Harrell takes a very different path. From the opening notes of the opening\/title track, he makes it clear that\u2019s he\u2019s an assertive artist. After the briefest of intros, Harrell starts laying out his sinewy lead guitar licks. One phrase in, he starts singing. Yes, it\u2019s an approach that has been employed by countless artists from B.B. King on down, but Harrell demonstrates that he owns the style, too.<\/p>\n<p>The band is the perfect balance of power and taste. Legendary ace bassist Jerry Jemmott is on hand, as are Jim Pugh (keys) and Kid Andersen (on rhythm guitar and production). But Harrell is at the center and front of things. A mere 25 years old, the singer-guitarist displays talent and assuredness far beyond what one might expect of such a young artist. He swaggers on \u201cYou\u2019re a Queen,\u201d a shot out to the ladies that sidesteps clich\u00e9.<\/p>\n<p>The superb \u201cGet These Blues Out of Me\u201d draws from \u201870s soul with its widescreen string arrangements; the song is reminiscent of Albert King\u2019s Stax-era work. \u201cYou\u2019d Be Amazed\u201d lays down some busy funk foundations atop which Harrell lays tasty leads. \u201cWhile I\u2019m Young\u201d doesn\u2019t break any new ground, but it deftly stirs a bit of classic country texture (via Pugh\u2019s piano work) into the mix.<\/p>\n<p>A rock-solid deep groove, \u201cNot Here for a Long Time\u201d skillfully mixes a Hendrix-style rock arrangement with funk, soul and blues. The hypnotic riff at the song\u2019s core never wears out its welcome. With its unadorned production vibe, \u201cHello Trouble\u201d is a slab of classic blues. It\u2019s followed by a reprise of \u201cNot Here for a Long Time,\u201d a looser take on the song featuring off-the-cuff spoken vocals, a biting clavinet solo, a Jemmott spotlight and lively crowd noises.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHoney Ain\u2019t So Sweet\u201d breathes new life into a familiar blues form. The uptempo \u201cLeave it at the Door\u201d is made even better with spirited gang backing vocals and Tony Coleman\u2019s hard-hitting drum work. And the album ends in live-show fashion, with a late-night last round \u201cOne for the Road.\u201d Pugh\u2019s swirling organ work draws the listener in, and the band \u2013 again, with Harrell\u2019s lean \u2018n\u2019 mean guitar out front \u2013 takes things home with what may well be an extemporaneous jam.<\/p>\n<p>All told, <i>The Right Man<\/i> is a tasty slice of timeless blues. Expect great things from D.K. Harrell in the future, but don\u2019t overlook this, his fully accomplished opening salvo. It\u2019s a brilliant debut.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some albums take a slow-build approach. They start modestly, with some subtlety, drawing the listener in. On his debut release The Right Man, D.K. Harrell takes a very different path. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25762,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,49,65],"tags":[5209],"class_list":["post-25761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blues","category-new-release","category-review","tag-d-k-harrell","cat-9-id","cat-49-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25761"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25763,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25761\/revisions\/25763"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}