Blues with Justice

Okay, so Jon Justice's  name is awfully easy to have fun with, and as you have probably noticed, BlueNotes takes his wordplay seriously.

Independent Records

John Justice's latest CD:
The Rebound

But the soulful, bluesy music of Jon Justice is also serious business, and he's quite good at it despite his more or less tender years. Born in Chicago in 1982, Justice took his gritty voice and penchant for sturdy guitar work to Memphis in 1999, where he's focused on his music, touring and recording.

In this, "The Rebound," (Independent) his second CD, Justice shows off vocals with the world-weary touch of the classic soul singers, with songs that he's created to match his style. He wrote, arranged and co-produced all the tracks here, not an easy feat to pull off. Especially with results this fine. He pushes hard on swinging tracks like "Nobody's Bizness," "You're Mine" and "Mean Old World," and settles into slow-burning grooves on tracks like "All in My Head" and "Lose it All." Check the soul on "Lose it All."

Justice doesn't just sing. He teases some tough blues notes out of his guitar -- check the way he works through "Lose it All." He blends the grit of guitar and vocals into just the right mix.

It's not what you'd call a straight-ahead blues album, but it reminds me a lot of '50s and '60s soul, which bends the blues into torchy, horn-kicked riffs created for the kind of slow dancing that every once in a while returns to BlueNotes in a Fifties Flashback.

 If these dramatic and punchy tracks are a sample of his arranging and producing skills, we all have a lot to look forward to.

  The Bossman blows the Burgh

Just in case you missed it, we had a nice weekend story on Porky Chedwick, who's giving up the sunny shores of the Mon to share his platters with the unsuspecting folks of Tarpon Springs, Fla. On the other hand, if there are as many Pittsburghers down there as it seems, he might just feel right at home.