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Finis Tasby

"Jump children"

Evidence EcD 26097

I've always had a place in my life for the live performer–the guy who gets up there and leaves his heart and soul on the floor for all to see. For me, that place grew larger in the early 90's sitting in a no cover, tiny little blues bar on the Redondo Beach Pier, the Starboard Attitude. On any given night you could hear a decent local blues band to William clarke or James Harman. Some talented players came through with varying degrees of polish. One night, a real gem was introduced, Finis Tasby. Singing with the local band, The Tone Dogs, he proceeded to smooth over every rough edge with a voice honed in some era past. He would pop up at the Attitude from time to time, giving the crowd a treat with his stylish professionalism.

With the release of Jump children, Finis Tasby (pronounced like "highness") is back singing for us all to enjoy. He takes us through a veritable juke joint filled with the past. And he has a past, having worked with the likes of Freddy King, Solomon Burke and Lowell Fulson, whose It's Your Fault, Baby is covered. Surrounded by a solid band and some great guests (Kid Ramos & coco Montoya, to name two), Finis runs a gamut of blues standards. He immediately sends us back forty years as the disc opens with Mercy Baby's Mercy's Blues (I Believe). His sadly hopeful voice puts a shimmer on Jimmy Mccracklin's I Just Got to Know and B.B. King's Please Accept My Love. He rollicks through a couple of boogie tunes, The Jive and Mccracklin's Georgia Slop. If the Fats Domino penned title track doesn't get your toes tapping and fingers snapping, you just might be dead. Jimmy Reed's The Sun is Shining guarantees a smile to every listener. And if Tasby's own Job for christmas ain't about the blues, I don't know what is.

A constant throughout this release is the low key, refined vocal work of Finis. I hesitate to call it work, because there is no strain in his voice. There is not so much as a raised voice let alone a holler or a howl on this disc, yet it would get the average blues fan screaming for more. The players around him, sensing the feel that Finis exudes, play with a certain level of subtlety. This is not to say that Rick Holmstrom, coco Montoya and Kid Ramos's guitars don't smoke on this disc. They do. Sometimes it's more appropriate to just smolder a bit. Tasby's juke joint feel is accentuated by the rockin' playing of Rob Rio on piano. He plays the high end register like the tinkling of a box of chalk - old timey like. Great harmonica and sax work are provided by the late L.A. bluesman Lester Butler and David "Woody" Woodward respectively.

With my eyes closed and listening to Jump children now, I can see Finis dressed in a sharp suit in a hot, smoky, old Texas roadhouse in front of a roaring crowd. As Finis sings cool and sweet over the band, the dancers are drenched, yet Finis hasn't even started to sweat. But that's no surprise, really. I've never seen a diamond sweat, have you? Do like the song says and "Jump children" on over to your favorite store and pick this one up. A gemstone of this quality is a rare find indeed.

Jay Hudak