Review: Dennis Herrera – Four
Dennis Herrera – Four
Format: CD – Digital / Label: Deep Groove Records
Release: 2024
Text: Bert van Kessel
I must admit that Californian singer/ guitarist / producer Dennis Herrera is a new name to yours truly. Yet this is already his fourth release, as you may have gathered from its title, after one album under his own name (‘You Stole My Heart’ from 2018) and two as the Dennis Herrera Blues Band ( Blues Well Done” from 2015 and ‘Livin Life Not Worrying’ from 2017), with support from his trusted companions, Dennis Herrera’s take on the blues is a cheerfully positive one.
This new album is a highly listenable collection of twelve original blues tracks. The final two are bonus tracks, remixes of older songs, namely Mean Ole Texas Shuffle with the great Anson Funderburgh on guitar and You Stole My Heart with Jeff Jorgenson on stunning saxophone.
With his very tight band Dennis Herrera has created a rock solid upbeat amalgam of California, Texas and Memphis blues. They frequently make use of traditional riffs, grooves and shuffles creating an infectious blues bar sound. If you are into foot-tappin’, head-boppin’ and beer-drinking blues music, Dennis Herrera is your man.
Right from opening track Can You Feel It these passionate players lay down an infectious groove and continue doing so throughout. Alex Holland and Steve Wills excel on saxophone and Hammond respectively. The funky All Said And Done relies heavily on the gaiety of Herrera’s electric guitar, which is continued on the happy-go-lucky Long Time Comin’, which is driven on by some fiery sax riffs.
Blues And Roll fits perfectly in the John Lee Hooker catalogue. Then it’s time to sit back and relax with the soulful Tenderness I See; the background singers interact beautifully with some masterful electric guitar. Then the horns take us to exit Memphis. Listening to the exuberant Lazy! it’s not hard to imagine John Belushi frolicking on stage.
The regular album closes in a more relaxed mood before things are fired up agin with the two remixes, undeniably the most exciting tracks of this delightfully entertaining album. So grab a beer and listen up!
Tracks:
01. Can You Feel It
02. All Said and Done
03. Long Time Comin’
04. Blues And Roll
05. Tenderness I See
06. Insta Groove
07. It’s All Too Much
08. Lazy!
09. All This Time
10. Preskitt
11. Mean Ole Texas Shuffle (Remix)
12. You Stole My Heart (Remix)
Website: https://dennisherrera.com/home