Major League Blues<\/i><\/a>; that album\u2019s title signaled the guitarist’s debut on the prestigious Delmark label. Benefiting from a more pared-back production aesthetic, the record helped focus attention on instrumentation rather than arrangements. Ramirez\u2019s talents are significant in both areas, but the change was a well-considered one.<\/p>\nNow in 2024 comes Bad Hombre<\/i>. Released on a Brazilian label, 34-year-old Ramirez\u2019s third long player dispenses with the studio aesthetic altogether, instead capturing him live onstage. Drawing upon all of the power, energy and give-and-take that a concert can afford, Bad Hombre<\/i> captures that excitement.<\/p>\n
The set opens with the band vamping in solid fashion; an emcee introduces the guitarist, and right on cue he launches into a tasty lick. After a minute filled with lead runs, he cajoles the Sarasota, Florida audience into more applause. He responds to their cheers by leaning into the mic and delivering a soulful vocal. Written by the members of Booker T & the MGs and first cut by Albert King, \u201cThe Hunter\u201d is filled with sassy lyrics that include repeated references to the singer\u2019s \u201clove gun.\u201d It\u2019s fair to say that the assembled audience knows what Ramirez is singing about\u2026 but it could<\/i> be his guitar.<\/p>\n
Either way, it\u2019s all in good fun, and as solid as the tunes on Bad Hombre<\/i> are, at their core they\u2019re musical canvases upon which Ramirez can metaphorically paint with his six-string. That\u2019s not to say that his band doesn\u2019t get in on the action; keyboardist Martin \u201cTincho\u201d Amenebar lays down some superb organ runs.<\/p>\n
Some artists shout \u2013 literally or figuratively \u2013 to gain attention. On \u201cThree Years,\u201d Ramirez succeeds by taking the opposite approach. The band quiets down to near-silence, and the guitarist plays spare licks barely louder than a whisper. In doing so, he holds the audience in rapt attention. Bad Hombre<\/i> demonstrates that right alongside his skills as a player and writer, Jose Ramirez is a consummate showman.<\/p>\n
More than half of the tunes on Bad Hombre<\/i> are Ramirez originals. Tracks like his \u201cOne Woman Man\u201d stand proudly alongside his well-chosen covers. A reading of B.B. King\u2019s \u201cSweet 16\u201d gives Ramirez an opportunity to dig deep into the sonorous qualities of his guitar, taking the tempo way down and letting the notes sustain for all they\u2019re worth.<\/p>\n
A pair of bonus tracks wraps up the set. Both are studio recordings; the first is a cover of Ray Charles\u2019 \u201cDrown in My Own Tears.\u201d It\u2019s full of soulful r&b character; the horn chart is spot-on, and the sax solo is a delight. \u201cGotta Let You Go\u201d features a different lineup that includes Jim Pugh on piano and B3. It\u2019s just a guess, but those two studio tracks might hint at what listeners can expect from Ramirez\u2019s next album. Either way, that\u2019s eagerly awaited. In the meantime, Bad Hombre<\/i> is a rock-solid live set.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Costa Rican guitarist Jose Ramirez has covered a great deal of ground during his few years in the spotlight. Debuting in 2021 with the self-released Here I Come, he demonstrated […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28297,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,49,65],"tags":[4875],"class_list":["post-28296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blues","category-new-release","category-review","tag-jose-ramirez","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\/28296","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=28296"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28298,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28296\/revisions\/28298"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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