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Blues singer Robbin Kapsalis is from Chicago\u2019s South Side, with a career that has taken her from Atlanta to D.C. and beyond. But to record The Blues is in the House<\/i>, she traveled to what might seem an unlikely destination: France. Working with an ace coterie of musicians from Nantes, she has put together a ten-song collection that cherry picks from among chestnuts in and beyond the blues idiom.<\/p>\n
The French locale makes sense, though: as acclaimed as she is in her native United States (with well-deserved nods from Living Blues<\/i>, nominations from the Blues Blast Music Awards and more), Kapsalis has and continues to tour extensively throughout Europe.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a spare and straightforward sonic aesthetic to the arrangements on The Blues is in the House<\/i>, one that well suits the material. With her strong and assured vocals \u2013 displaying shades of Koko Taylor \u2013 Kapsalis is the undisputed star of the show here, but the band more than holds its own, offering sterling support that places her vocals in the best and most sympathetic musical context possible.<\/p>\n
The Blues is in the House<\/i> opens with its title track, and the arrangement features spunky and spiky guest guitar work by Joe Louis Walker, recorded not long before his untimely passing in 2025. \u201cUp the Line\u201d bounces along confidently, and the band\u2019s stop-start approach highlights the song\u2019s dynamics. Giles Robson\u2019s tasty harmonica work deserves special mention.<\/p>\n
The searing yet laid-back \u201cLead Me On\u201d is a smoky, passionate blues, and Kapsalis effectively and expressively leans into the song\u2019s feel. \u201cThe Comeback\u201d employs familiar blues tropes, but it\u2019s a good-natured romp nonetheless. The blues standard \u201cSittin\u2019 On Top of the World\u201d has been recorded by everyone from Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys to Cream to Jack White. Here \u2013 Kapsalis\u2019 fine vocal notwithstanding \u2013 it\u2019s primarily an instrumental showcase for the work of Robson and guitarists Fran\u00e7ois Nicolleau and Nicolas Deshayes.<\/p>\n
Another standard, \u201cRollin\u2019 & Tumblin\u2019\u201d has been committed to wax countless times since its recorded debut nearly a century ago. Kapsalis and her ensemble focus on the tune\u2019s hypnotic elements, giving the arrangement the power and feel of a sleek and efficient locomotive. When Kapsalis draws out a verse\u2019s lyrical opener of \u201cwell,\u201d it\u2019s clear that she has vocal power to spare.<\/p>\n
Kapsalis\u2019 \u201cLove Hangover (Redux)\u201d has nothing at all to do with the Diana Ross disco hit of 1976; instead it\u2019s an original co-written by the singer. Structurally, it\u2019s overly familiar, but considered on its own merits it\u2019s a sturdy enough blues tune. Kapsalis\u2019 howling near the song\u2019s end is spot-on.<\/p>\n
The swaggering and sultry \u201cGotta Hear the Blues\u201d closes the album on a confident note. Kapsalis and her band convey the character of an ensemble that\u2019s comfortable within itself, made of players who communicate on a subliminal level. And from all available evidence, they\u2019re having a good time doing it<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Blues singer Robbin Kapsalis is from Chicago\u2019s South Side, with a career that has taken her from Atlanta to D.C. and beyond. But to record The Blues is in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30828,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,49,65],"tags":[5861],"class_list":["post-30827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blues","category-new-release","category-review","tag-robbin-kapsalis","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\/30827","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=30827"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30827\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30829,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30827\/revisions\/30829"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}