Artist: Montoya, Coco
Label: Blind Pig Records
Release: 1997
Simple, not always reliable but user-friendly, and above all thrilling in its self-sufficiency! No, this isn’t yet another ad for deluxe-packaged hair plugs from the latest Janez Janša line, it’s Coco Montoya!! A likeable blues-leaning guitarist, or in other words, yet another kid who came bawling out of John Mayall’s school of music, whose funny name, rather than recalling the former strumming sidekick of the polished godfather of British blues, at best brings to mind one of those raging Scarface characters. Uncle Coco, who after a full decade of serving as the Bluesbreakers’ lead guitar struck out on his own, reaches his own special peak with an entertaining, at times even slightly over-enthusiastic genre circus, whose common denominator remains that instantly catchy blues from the so-called blues revival school of the eighties.
The very title of Montoya’s third solo romp in a row, Just Let Go, gives away (on purpose or not) quite a few unpleasantries, hidden deep in the parentally protective embrace of vague works inspired from every which way. Coco is certainly phenomenal in his delivery, and his voice has a good deal of enviable depth, often shamelessly lifted from the treasure chest of (the once) great Richie Sambora and Robert Cray, but still, for someone strolling carefree around the world with Mayall’s genuine endorsements in their pocket, it would be more welcome to hear a more distinctive delivery of melodic ideas, one that would let Montoya express his own identity more clearly, as the blues as a genre strictly demands.
It’s hard to find the right words without roasting this friendly gentleman too much. Well, Coco will have to be patient for a bit at the start, which, judging by the title of the opener Fear No Evil, probably won’t pose any special challenge for him. I don’t quite get this opening crossbreed of country and blues influences, though it’s also true that I’ve never belonged to the camp of hot-blooded worshippers of cheesy, imitation “yoko” chants. Anyway, as it turns out later, Fear No Evil surprisingly manages to steer things in the right direction, and the teasing What’s Done Is Done (almost too late) reminds us of the feverish build-up that follows. The radio-friendly Just Let Go saves us from getting too worked up. Vocally, it all too often wanders down Cray’s well-trodden lines, which, to the great detriment of an initially very promising idea, puts the song in the group of the more expendable creations. At the door of that same club, mainly thanks to its strong-charactered vocal, the similarly average My Side Of The Fence gets stuck. Cool Like Dat, a crossbreed of blues and easygoing jazz, shows the guitarist’s funnier side, thoroughly overcooked in Benny Yee’s tireless organ exhibitionism. Luckily, their amusing “conflict” fades quickly after a good three minutes of babbling into the first convincing display of raw blues power, Albert Collins’ Do What You Want To Do, on which Montoya wins me over completely! We get a taste of his stronger grip on the dominant Hard Love as well, which once again serves up a heaping helping of fiery guitar playing. The discriminatory attitude of these two songs toward their much friendlier peers unintentionally raises the question of just how mighty the actual expressive power in Coco Montoya’s music is. The answer comes from the superb Beginner At The Blues, which, in its tuneful yet sharp, almost boastful rhetoric, mercilessly smashes the holiday-resort monotony of Mother And Daughter. More concrete signs of life come from the Montoya and Shaun Murphy vocal duet Nothing’s Too Good For My Baby, which, after a few high-flying moments, still slowly but surely veers back into deep red-colored territory. All of this once again testifies to the author’s goals being spread far too wide, which, it must be admitted, look very tempting at times. Maybe even too tempting.
Lineup
Coco Montoya: vocals, guitar
Steve Ehrmann: bass
Benny Yee: keyboards
Marty Binder: drums
Dave Smith: bass
Ernest Williamson: keyboards
Steve Potts: drums
Ernie Cate: vocals
Shaun Murphy: vocals
Production
Jim Gaines
Track list
1.Fear No Evil
2.What’s Done Is Done
3.Just Let Go
4.My Side Of The Fence
5.Cool Like That
6.Do What You Want To Do
7.Give It To A Good Man
8.Hard Love
9.Beginner At The Blues
10.Mother And Daughter
11.Nothing’s Too Good For My Baby
12.Never Seen You Cry This Way Before
13.Sending Me Angels
Album length: 57.47
