Doug Deming, a Detroit native and long-time West (Gulf) Coast resident of Florida, traveled out to the other West Coast to record his latest CD at Big Jon Atkinson’s Big Tone Studio in Hayward, California. Atkinson, who is on a roll at the moment, just recorded a fantastic album by Darrell Nulisch and earlier this year did a fine recording on Kid Ramos. It is Atkinson who mixed and mastered this CD, which was produced by Deming. This album, scheduled for an October 19^th release date, is the finest of Deming’s career.

This offering of mostly well-conceived original tunes features the terrific guitar work of Deming. His taste is impeccable. Deming knows what to play and what not to. He is a good singer whose ability in this area is greatly improved. He delivers his missives with an unaffected, natural delivery that speaks directly to his deep understanding of the blues form. The vocals here are much more than an afterthought which can mar an otherwise good record.   

Fellow Jewel Tone, Andrew Gohman, plays both upright and electric bass. Gohman, like Deming is also a transplanted mid-westerner who has found a home in the sunshine state. His playing is an indispensable part of what makes the Jewel Tone’s records so compelling. Marty Dodson, who is a California based, “first call” blues drummer who has worked with numerous top-flight blues musicians over the past several years, plays on all but one track here on Complicated Mess.

Both Madison Slim and Kim Wilson play harp on two tracks apiece and Little Charlie Baty sits in on guitar on a couple of songs as well. The piano and organ of Bob Welsh and Chris Codish respectively, along with a two-piece horn section led by tenor giant “Sax” Gordon Beadle, help to round out a full sound that propels Deming’s musical vision. Deming’s guitar work is front and center, however, he doesn’t overwhelm the ensemble sound that is rooted in tradition, yet is as fresh as a cool coastal breeze.

One of the many things that make this album a serious contender for the BLUES JUNCTION Productions Album of the Year is the wonderful pacing and sequencing of material that keeps the proceedings from getting bogged down for even a moment. This thirteen-track offering includes blues shuffles, ballads and even a jazz infused instrumental, Captain’s Quarters. They all sit comfortably beside the album’s three covers; Lazy Lester’s Blues Stop Knockin’, Sam Theard’s You Rascal You and the Fats Domino classic, I’m Walkin’.  

While working in the blues field during the first couple of decades of the new millennium may in fact be a complicated mess, Doug Deming & the Jewel Tones latest offering isn’t a mess, complicated or otherwise. It is a first-rate album by some of the greatest blues musicians in the world. Highly recommended…

- David Mac



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