Review: Dennis Jones ‘About Time’
By Hal Horowitz
Never discount the significance of a solid riff. And blues rocking guitarist Dennis Jones has plenty of them. He saved up a batch to unleash on About Time (released June 28th) his first album, and sixth overall, in four years.
Push play and hang onto something sturdy as the opening “Condition Blue” fires up the first of these. Jones rocks with a Stevie Ray Vaughan-styled punch on one of his finest, most inflamed performances. It’s also the disc’s first single and should be in the running for best blues-rock song of the year. Jones tears into lyrics like “It ain’t no superstition/It’s called condition blue” with his husky, dusky voice, shoots off meaty, quicksilver Hendrix/Robin Trower influenced leads and charges through the changes that, in just over four minutes, will convince any blues-rock lover this guy is ready to move to the next level. And that’s just the opening salvo.
The following nine are just as powerful, making a case for this to be the album that breaks a guy into fame whose talent was never in question. Perhaps recording for his own Blue Rock Records label hasn’t provided the exposure he deserves, but with a set as commanding and brash as this, Jones has coalesced his strengths of furious guitar work, convincing singng and, most crucially, songwriting that’s on par with, and often better than, most of his contemporaries.
These eight originals– and a searing version of Memphis Slim’s classic “Mother Earth”– range from the soul/pop influence of Stevie Wonder (on the breezily melodic “Always the Same”) to the softly pulsating love song “More Time” and the Motown-infused soul of “Just Like You.” Guitar overdubs beef up the sound but the backing band, which includes a tenor sax/keyboard player and occasional female vocals (on the furious funk-injected “Don’t Stop”), creates an aural earthquake that explodes from the speakers.
The groove is fat as another rugged riff sucks you in on the surly 70s rocking “You’re Killing Me.” He spits out the song’s title just before igniting a guitar solo that stings like the angry lyrics “You left someone when I met you/Talking about leaving me too.” It lights a fuse that ignites in just under four compelling minutes.
Even when things tamp down a notch for a molten take on “Mother Earth,” Jones’ husky Hendrix-drenched tone pushes the slow blues into the red zone. He kicks into a tough shuffle for “Hell” singing “If you don’t like the devil/Don’t live in hell,” ripping into his six-strings like Lucifer himself is in the studio. There’s a Lenny Kravitz-inspired harder-edged soul/blues slant on “Too High to Fly” helped by a bit of gospel from the backing singers as Jones warns an acquaintance that “Every time you spread your wings/You’re too high to fly.” He also cranks out a tense, flaming solo which doesn’t overstay its welcome, a lesson other blues guitar shredders should heed.
The closing “Six Feet Off the Ground” keeps the riff-machine revved up for a Deep Purple-inflected grinder. It sizzles as he growls “Don’t like burning bridges but I’ve jumped off a few,” revving up a solo that rises like the song’s title.
Even with his impressive discography, Dennis Jones has never sounded more confident. Each track displays a nimble swagger he has earned over a two-decade plus career. Fans will devour this and newcomers will check back to his older albums to see what they missed.
As the man says, it’s “About Time.”
Pre-order the album Here
“Too High To Fly”
Bravo! Excellent vocals, with ripping guitar.
Can’t wait to hear this album in full!