Kirsten Thien -Delicious

The name of this blues and R&B album is dead-on.  Kirsten Thien is “Delicious.”

Her visage, light complected with long curly red hair, showing just enough softness and cleavage to be enticing, graces the front and the back of the CD   When I opened the case the credits for all thirteen tracks slowly unfolded.  I immediately noticed the names of legends and heroes among the liner notes.

There’s Hubert Sumlin, the legendary Howlin’ Wolf guitarist who is number 65 in the Rolling Stone 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.  Sumlin is said to have been a major influence on the greatest of blues and rock guitarists, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Robbie Robertson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix. He plays on two of the tracks and is featured on Thien’s song “Please Drive.”

Arthur Neilson is also here.  He is the ultimate blues guitar session musician.  Neilson has played alongside Ronnie Spector, Otis Rush, James Cotton, Benny Mardones and Shemekia Copeland.  He has also shared stages with B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Roy Buchanan, Danny Gatton, and Albert King.   Neilson’s work can be found on six of the CD tracks.

Looking a little closer I found Tommy Mandel playing keyboards and organ on seven of the CD tracks. Mandel is a “go to” musician with vast experience.  He has played with Bryan Adams, Dire Straits, Clash, Bon Jovi, The Pretenders and many others,

Reading further down I discovered what Steve Holley has been doing.  Holley is a veritable rock ‘n roll icon..  His drums have accompanied rock royalty - Elton John, Paul McCartney and Wings and Joe Cocker.  He sits behind the kit on three tracks.

Other names popped out.  On two of the tracks bassist Johnny Pisano provides the bottom.  Pisano has played with a vertible session musician’s Who’s Who List. He has recorded with Ryan Adams, Deborah Harry, and others, yet you have probably heard him more often on movie and TV soundtracks. The CD’s producer, Eric Boyd, is also an accomplished bassist and plays bass on seven of the CD tracks.

With a little more scrutiny I noticed there is a horn section on some of the tracks, a vibraphone on two (played by Mike Freeman) and a special guest appearance by the 2009 Blues Music Award Instrumentalist Of The Year, harmonica player Billy Gibson, on Ida Cox’s classic “Wild Women Don’t Have The Blues”  which Gibson plays as a duet with Thien sining and playing an acoustic guitar.

I thought, if those names and credentials don’t make you want to listen to this CD, I don’t know what will.

I inserted the disk and out of the speakers came a voice that was a mixture of Bonnie Raitt and Susan Tedeschi.  Her guitar playing right there alongside the legends with which she plays. This is how the blues and R&B were meant to sound. The musicians are in top form and they’re having fun. 

And that make it fun to listen to, too!  Thien wrote three of the songs by herself - “Please Drive,” “Treat ‘Im Like A Man,” and “A Woman Knows.”  She also co-wrote “Nobody’s Ever Loved Me Like You Do” and “Delicious” with Indie songwriter Noel Cohen; “Love That’s Made To Share” with Boyd; and “Get Outta The Funk, Get Into The Groove” with Boyd and pop artist Galia Arad. The band also performs a glorious rendition of Willie Dixon’s “I Ain’t Superstitious” and a rockin’ blues called “Taxi Love” written by Charlie Feldman and Jon Tiven, that will likely get a considerable amount of airplay.

Ultimately, it is Thien’s songwriting and voice that determine the fate of this album  Thien does not disappoint.  She is provocative, sexy, playful and emotional. Her delivery is gripping and gravelly, and her blues songwriting is world class.

I’ve listened to this CD three times today and I can’t get enough.  I’m eating it up.  Kirsten Thien is “Delicious.”

- Old School

Buy here: Delicious