Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Joe Beard: For Real

146

Joe Beard: For Real

Ed Kopp By Ed Kopp

View read count
Joe Beard is a slack-mouthed blues singer and guitarist from the Mississippi Delta who now lives in Rochester, N.Y. His second AudioQuest release unites him with five of my favorite blues musicians: guitar-slinger Duke Robillard, harmonica-ace Jerry Portnoy, and three of Ronnie Earl's former Broadcasters including keyboard-whiz Bruce Katz. For Real offers up seven original tunes and six covers. It intersperses slow, heartfelt ballads such as "Elem" with fast-paced numbers such as "See See Rider" and "Reap What You Sow." Katz, Robillard and Portnoy trade fiery solos throughout, and Beard's singing is soul-drenched and passionate. Throw in the crack rhythm section, and this is one fine blues release, particularly if you like your blues slow and soulful.

Ed Kopp FOLLOW Ed Kopp and get notified whenever a new article published.
Ed is a Writer/Reporter for Jazziz Magazine and a Market Assessment Writer in Syracuse, NY

Personnel

Album information

Title: For Real | Year Released: 1999 | Record Label: AudioQuest Music


About Joe Beard

Tags


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Become a Sustaining Member

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter

Since 1995, All About Jazz has championed jazz as an art form and supported the musicians who create it. Over three decades, it has grown into one of the world's leading jazz resources, serving hundreds of thousands of readers, musicians, presenters and industry professionals each month.

Help Build the Future of All About Jazz

Your support helps us continue building All About Jazz for the next generation—expanding our editorial coverage, preserving jazz history, developing new community features and creating better ways to discover the music and the people behind it.

Become a sustaining member for as little as $20 per year and you'll immediately enjoy an ad-free experience along with access to subscriber features and future articles for a full year.

Together, we're not simply sustaining All About Jazz—we're building its future. Thank you for being part of the journey.

More

Points of Light
Christian McBride and Ursa Major
Oracle
Co Streiff - Russ Johnson Quartet
Akvæn
Vamze Wybrańczyk
Mediterranean Echoes
Alekos Vretos

Popular

Salt Catchers
Andy Sheppard
Soho Elegy
Rachael Calladine Quintet
Keeping It In Context
Daniel Carter / Sabir Mateen / William Parker / Lou Grassi

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletters highlight our top stories, top album reviews, website news, free songs, radio & podcast shows, news, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.