Mitch Kashmar - West Coast Toast (2016)

In the golden era of post-war blues, Chicago was the home and proving ground for many of the legends of blues harmonica. Over the years, as the popularity of modern blues traveled from coast to coast and beyond, so did the players. By the late 1950s, one of the true pioneers of blues harp, George “Harmonica” Smith, had settled in Southern California, where his presence on the flourishing Los Angeles blues scene would have a tremendous impact in subsequent years on up-and-coming players such as Rod Piazza, William Clarke and Kim Wilson. Little could Smith have known that he would spawn a whole new offshoot of the blues harmonica tradition, helping to create what is now known to fans world-wide as ‘the West Coast Sound’, a hard-swinging, sophisticated, and distinctly different offshoot of the amplified harp sounds familiar in Chicago.

As time has gone by, a handful of masters of this new California sound have risen to the top of the heap and become influential and pioneering in their own right. One of the best of those on the scene today is Mitch Kashmar. Mitch has not only thoroughly absorbed the lessons of the masters, he’s developed his own unique voice in the blues idiom, and not just on the harmonica. He’s hands-down one of the heaviest and most soulful singers ever to emerge from the modern West Coast scene, and an engaging and witty songwriter, in addition to his virtuosic skills on the harmonica (it’s those harmonica skills that earned him a spot touring for several years with the legendary rock/soul/funk band War). Kashmar has been one of the leading figures in West Coast blues for over three decades now, heading some of the tightest contemporary blues outfits you’ll ever hear, and earning the respect and admiration of his peers, his elders, and a school of protégés with a tireless schedule of performances and series of stellar releases. Mitch delivers the complete package, and then some.

“West Coast Toast” heralds the arrival of Mitch Kashmar’s long-awaited third studio album from Delta Groove. Although fans had the live recording “Live at Labatt” (2008) and a CD reissue of his early ’80s era LP “100 Miles to Go” (2010) to tide them over, it’s been ten years since his last full studio effort, “Wake Up & Worry” (2006). This time out, Mitch pays tribute to his legacy, tipping his musical hat to the unique sounds of West Coast blues with a program of well-chosen covers mixed in with his own original compositions, all filtered through his own individualistic approach to the blues, and distilled down into the essence of what the blues is today. Along the way, Mitch Kashmar, together with the stellar backing musicianship of Junior Watson (guitar), Fred Kaplan (piano), Bill Stuve (bass) and Marty Dodson (drums), ably proves that the golden era of West Coast blues harmonica isn’t behind us – it’s still happening right now!





MUSICIANS:
Mitch Kashmar: vocals & harmonica, claves (2)
Junior Watson: guitar
Fred Kaplan: piano & Hammond organ, cabasa (2)
Bill Stuve: upright bass
Marty Dodson: drums

Tracklist:

01. East of 82nd Street (3:06)
02. Too Many Cooks (3:32)
03. Young Girl (4:50)
04. The Petroleum Blues (4:47)
05. Mood Indica (5:44)
06. Don’t Stay Out All Night (3:38)
07. My Lil’ Stumptown Shack (2:54)
08. Makin’ Bacon (4:29)
09. Alcohol Blues (4:23)
10. Love Grows Cold (3:31)
11. Canoodlin’ (7:41)