The Nesrallah Artuso Project
THE NESRALLAH ARTUSO PROJECT RELEASES CAPTIVATING ‘WEARING THE BLUES’
Ottawa-based musicians Danny Artuso and Victor Nesrallah hooked up as The Nesrallah Artuso Project and recently dropped their LP, Wearing The Blues.
Victor Nesrallah
The two have known each other since the ‘80s, appearing together on stage and on recordings. The genesis of The Nesrallah Artuso Project occurred when the twosome was working on a pair of albums by Norm Brunet.
Explaining the collaboration, Victor Nesrallah says, “Danny comes from a tight arranging background, and my history has more spontaneous music, which made for a unique, complementary chemistry. So many genres are based on the blues – jazz blues, gospel blues, country blues, folk-blues. It offered such a broad foundation for us to build on. So many of the classic blues songs we love are from storytellers sharing tales of personal hardship, and we tried to balance this narrative approach with tunes offering a broader perspective on life’s simple truths.”
Guests on the album include Lynne Hanson (vocals), Guy Del Villano (piano), and Shelley Garrison Artuso (backing vocals).
Comprising 10-tracks, the album commences with “Tell Me,” opening on a bluesy country-rock guitar rolling into a dynamic chugging rhythm topped by feelin’-sorry-for-myself vocals and softly radiant background harmonies.
'Wearing The Blues' smolders with delicious surfaces of oily blues, along with viscous grimy guitars, and scrumptiously slick vocals.
Entry points include “Confused,” featuring a rollicking piano delivering Jerry Lee Lewis-like vibes and a tight, glorious lead guitar filling the tune with dazzling licks. “Devil’s Cadillac” travels on dark colors reflecting the femme fatale on display in the lyrics. A driving rhythm infuses the tune with ominous energy, while Victor’s tasty voice narrates his encounter with a seductive she-devil.
“The Runaround” conjures up memories of ZZ Top’s “La Grange,” with its dirty, surging guitars mirroring the scorching tones of Mississippi-blues – rough and ready. A stellar guitar solo fills the tune with muted, blistering notes, palpable with murky, grating sonic hues.
"Isolating Blues” offers a shuffling rhythm topped by savors of gospel coloration and tells the tale of quarantine and lockdown with weary yet humorous lyrics.
“This new norm I don’t like what I see / Don’t get too close just keep your distance from me / If I’m not wearing a mask people stare at me / Better safe than sorry you might end up dead / I stay inside sometimes for more than a week / Only go outside to take my dog for a leak / All I do is pray this will end.”
The title track closes the album out, pushing out a straight-ahead bouncy blues rhythm accented a sparkling piano and a muddy guitar solo. There’s contagious, bounding energy to the track, imbuing it with hints of The Robert Cray Band.
Wearing The Blues smolders with delicious surfaces of oily blues, along with viscous grimy guitars, and scrumptiously slick vocals.
