"BLUE VELOCITY"

ALBUM REVIEWS

& COMMENTS

The album is off to a good start, bustin' out of the gate and getting airplay at several radio stations across the country. "Do It Again" is also on the playlist of "Blues Deluxe" a radio show syndicated to 103 stations nationwide. Here's some reviews and fan comments about the new CDG album "Blue Velocity", please send in your reviews and comments to cdgfans@ix.netcom.com

If we look back to 1994, Chris Duarte was a hotshot blues rock guitarist looking to make a name for himself in the wake of Stevie Ray Vaughan's death a few years earlier. He wasn't alone, as Stevie Ray's passing left a huge hole on the guitar scene, one which many aspiring young guitarists were looking to fill. Now, over a decade later, Duarte has a handfull of solid releases under his belt, his latest being Blue Velocity on Shrapnel's Blues Bureau International label. This one runs the gamut from searing Hendrix/Vaughan styled rockers ("Amy Lee") to rootsy shuffles ("Do It Again") to slow, emotionally draining blues epics like the 13-minute "Something Wicked", a must hear for fans of SRV. Duarte can really muster the spirit and style of our fallen hero when he wants to, as his tone throughout many of these tunes is just oh so tasty and his technique mixes up blues emotion with rock firepower and jazz subtlety. When he dips into his bluesy hard rock bag, like on "I'll Never Know", "Sun Prairie Blues", "Never Gonna Change", and "R U 4 Real?" he invokes images of Hendrix, Marino, Trower, and even Prince and Nugent. Straight ahead rockers like "Leave Her Be" and "Met My Match" also will have appeal to the non-blues community starving for some well-played accessible hard rock. Duarte's vocals are very solid throughout, and although this is most certainly a 'guitar' release, he's thrown in plenty of catchy melodies here that will help bring in some folks outside of the musician community. Bassist Dustin Sargent and drummer Damien Lewis provide the rock solid rhythm team on Blue Velocity, and lay the groundwork for Duarte’s exceptional guitar work and expressive vocals. A very fine release indeed.

-a 4-star review by Pete Pardo at the music website "Sea of Tranquility"

Mikey likey the new cd! I came out of the mountains tuesday after 8 nights and 9 days, went to Rock Springs, Wyoming, and took a shower and then destroyed a Chinese buffet. Then on to Hasty's Music where I found the one copy of the new cd that they hadn't even put out yet, took it right off the cart sitting by the back door. Listened to it 2 times straight thru then once more on our straight-thru-1300+ mile drive back home. The guitars sound real good (wish he hadn't changed the words around on "I've Been Abused", I love that song, but the new one is good too). Rock On!

-Mike McRoy

On arriving on the wider blues scene in the mid-nineties, Austin, Texas blues-rock singer and guitarist Chris was sometimes damned with the faint praise of being called a Stevie Ray Vaughn clone. To be sure, on this set, there are numbers such as ‘I’ll Never Know’ which are most certainly out of the Albert King/ Jimi Hendrix/ SRV axis, but then there is a slow blues such as ‘Something Wicked’, very much akin to early Led Zeppelin in both the vocal and guitar departments or ‘Never Gonna Change’ which rocks like ZZ Top. Also, many of these lengthy songs feature some fairly traditional styled guitar licks over the simple but very effective bass and drums combination of Dustin Sargent and Damien Lewis respectively – before most of them climax in ferocious guitar solos – and do take a listen to the raw closer ‘Met My Match’. Not one for the purists of course, but if you like your blues-rock loud and heavy but still staying on the blues side of the equation, this CD is for you.

-Norman Darwen, Blues Art Journal

Finally! Followers of Chris Duarte have long craved a CD which would faithfully showcase all of the elements that make Chris Duarte such a stunning live performer. In the past we've had songs which would normally be eight to twelve minutes long in a live setting, whittled down to five minutes of verse/chorus song structure with very little time remaining for Chris to "let go". Chris Duarte having time to "let go" and "go off" on the guitar is a mandatory part of the whole experience. It just is. Sure, Chris can create a very brief, yet tasteful and blistering guitar solo that any other guitarist would be proud to claim as their own, but that isn't the way Chris works. And that's not what we're used to. With the exception of perhaps "Love Is > Me", previous CDG releases sounded to me as if they were focused more on the songs, than the music. I fully understand that there must be a few shorter songs for potential airplay, but why reduce everything to it's bare bones? It's nice to finally hear the real Chris Duarte shine through on a CD. The first track is a perfect example of the improvement. "Amy Lee" is a very catchy song...radio worthy in my opinion. Yet the song features super-extended, true to form guitar solos which build in feeling and intensity, allowing for a real emotional peak to the song- just as in the live setting. Absolutely Perfect. Great song, great, sonic guitar playing that will stun any newbies, and if they want to shorten the song for radio, they've got plenty of room. That is the way it SHOULD be done, IMHO. This CD features some reworking of tunes that we are all familiar with. To be honest, when I heard through the grapevine that "Shiloh" was being "re-done", with vocals, I was skeptical. "Don't screw around with my favorite tunes" was my way of thinking. After hearing "Something Wicked" the very first time, however, I understood (and more importantly, FELT) the reason for the change. The lyrics for "Something Wicked' are about being deceived, mistreated, and ultimately, discarded. A very "heart-string' pulling song about abandonment. But what these lyrics do, though, is to set up a storyline, or a context, for all of the emotion that Chris is about to unleash from his Strat for the next ten minutes. And boy, does he ever! It's really amazing. "Shiloh" used to be, as devastating as it was, more of a "guitar lovers" tune, for music fans who like to see a really talented guitarist go off the deep end for a sustained period of time. Now, with the song being ABOUT something- mainly betrayal, the subsequent guitar explosion sounds and feels even MORE emotional, evoking imagery of despair, anger, pain and anguish. And man, it works. What a total release. Amazing. And again, true to form on this song as well, the song feels "complete", just the way it would have been done live as far as length, sound, and content! One surprise track for me is "Never Gonna' Change", which I never really cared for live. This tune is super crunchy on the Guitar tone, and the hook is infectious. Can't get it out of my head. "R U 4 Real" is, in my opinion, a masterpiece. I can't give any higher praise to Mike Varney than to say that this track could not have been produced any better. This is another tune which was not one of my fave's, until now. Haunting, moody, and absolutely scary, Chris sounds very relaxed and delivers a performance which can only be described as "other worldly", or "not of this universe". Again on this track, time is not on a budget, allowing this song to reach it's full, unadulterated climax. I could go on and on, but I don't want to spoil it all. Overall, this is a great new chapter in the Chris Duarte Group legacy. Much more representative of Chris and his talents. There's no going back from here. The bar has been set. He's singing better than ever, playing like a Mo Fo with his ass on fire, and getting the chance to really show his stuff. Not the perfect CD (no Jazz, no instrumentals), but the best yet by a very long shot. Thank you, Mr. Varney. Finally!

-Arthur Creech

Good things indeed come to those who wait. It's been a long time between Chris Duarte releases (last one was Romp back in 2003.) but the wait is finally over. Blue Velocity is probably his best release even though I am a huge fan of his and I like all of his music equally. This CD contains nearly 75 minutes of quality blues and rock and roll that will satisfy all of his fans out there. The best of the best on this collection is "Sun Prairie Blues" and "R U 4 Real?" which has a Robin Trower flavor to both songs. Also,"I'll Never Know","Out in the Rain" and "Met My Match" rocks out as only Chris Duarte can do. The blusey songs included are "Leave Her Be" and "Hard Mind" which are excellent as well as the rest of this collection. Needless to say,"Blues Velocity" has a little bit of everything. If you are a Duarte fan,this is a must have. He is also great in concert. If he ever tours in your town, by all means go see him. He's worth every penny and then some. Great job as always Chris.Just please don't wait so long for the next release.OK? ROCK ON,CHRIS!!!

-A 5-star review on the CD Universe website, submitted by Phil Rosenberger

-Karen Houseman

It was Michael Katon who first popularised the phrase 'Rip It Hard', and it's the perfect adjective for the Chris Duarte Group who power their way through a high octane set. It's 13 years since Austin guitarist Chris Duarte took on the Steve Ray Vaughan mantle with his debut album 'Texas Sugar, Start Magic', and in that time Chris has shifted from being a sideman, and cult guitarist in his native Texas, to becoming a band leader in his own right who has gradually built up his reputation in Europe. During the intervening years he has looked like making a significant breakthrough but perhaps partly because of shifting contemporary tastes, this post SRV guitar slinger has remained just on the cusp of something bigger. Now comes 'Blue Velocity' an album that might more accurately have been titled 'High Velocity', as Chris rocks out for the opening few bars right through a guitar showcase that takes in hard rocking blues, straight blues, and rock and roll. He sets out his stall on the razor sharp 'Amy Lee', on which he explores every part of his fret board while enjoying an eloquent conversation with the blues. On 'Do It Again', Chris revisits an early career Johnny Winter style through some trademark vocal growls and incendiary guitar lines that Johnny would surely approve of. And by the third track - the impossibly tight shuffle 'Hard Mind'- Chris has already played some of the best licks of his career. On 'Hard Mind' he leans into the song and returns for lashing of straight to the vein guitar phrases, and as the eloquence of his playing on 'Blue Velocity' unfolds you realise you are listening to a guitar master class. And it's a point worth emphasizing as Chris doesn't have the most significant vocal style, but cleverly uses all eleven tracks to coax very possible tone and nuance from his Strat. Whether playing long sinewy lines on the slow blues 'Something Wicked', or through adding a big tone and lots of reverb on the Robin Trower influenced 'Sun Prairie Blues' – a style he classily repeats on the subtly constructed solo's of 'R U Real' – Chris leaves no stone unturned. On the mighty ZZ Top influenced 'Out in the Rain, he dredged up a guitar avalanche over a rock solid groove, another example of how 'Blue Velocity' is really all about finding new ways to showcase his visceral guitar style. Where Johnny Winter used to bludgeon you with fast repeated guitar lines and SRV used to mesmerise with a mix of startling technique, full use of dynamics and on stage flamboyance, Chris Duarte leaves his own calling card with a fulsome tone, lightning licks, and intense grooves wrapped in a familiar Texas rock blues style. He may not quite have the songs to deliver commercial success, but this road tested rocker is nicely positioned to take the rock blues market by storm, and with 'Blue Velocity' he provides the required ammunition to leave his mark. It may have been a long time coming but it finally looks as if Chris Duarte's star is finally on the rise.

-review by Pete Feenstra on the website "Get Ready to ROCK!"

Chris Duarte's name is nearly always mentioned alongside those of the late, great guitar gods Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix. There is some validity to the comparison, as Duarte does specialize in that high-octane, lightning-bright, raw but intelligent brand of playing that Hendrix and Vaughan had so definitively put their names on, and he does quite often favor their tones and draw on their trademark licks. But those comparisons were only partially true even when Duarte emerged from Austin in the mid-'90s as a promising craftsman, and they're approaching irrelevancy now that he's working his way toward seasoned vet. Duarte has painstakingly absorbed his influences to develop his own signature style and gained his own coterie of fans, and Blue Velocity, Duarte's first release since 2003's Romp, is where it all comes together. With Dustin Sargent on bass and Damien Lewis pounding drums, Duarte emerges here as more of a total artist than in the past — the guitar brilliance serves the songs, rather than the other way around. From the thudding, crunching opener "Amy Lee" to the lengthy, melodic mid-tempo showcase "Something Wicked" (OK, he does owe Hendrix big-time for the approach on that one) to the punky screamer "Never Gonna Change" and the roughly Johnny Winter-esque "Out in the Rain," each track is packed with ace musicianship, solid songwriting, impassioned vocals from Duarte and whole lot of fire. But let's face it, in the end, it's that guitar that his fans are going to be gripping onto, and yes, Duarte delivers. On Blue Velocity he transcends those abovementioned names to offer consistently superb, no-frills, ballsy axemanship that will more than satisfy those craving something new in the blues-rock arena. Duarte may never be considered one of the great innovators, but he's certainly one of blues-rock's most impressive current practitioners.

-online review at AllMusic.com

I purchased the new CDG cd and had my ass rocked off from the opening of "Amy Lee" to the final cut, Chris is at his best through this whole cd. It still amazes me that all this comes out of one man, who is also one of the most humble artists I have met. I have had many conversations with Chris and still can't believe how humble, caring, and in touch he is with his fans, other artist's, and people in general. This is by far his best work yet. Are there things I don't like? Yes, but small potatoes overall, it's a must-have for any Duarte fan. It is an in-depth and in-touch cd for his fans, it's the live album without the crowd. A+ plus one - like his Marshall it goes to 11!

-Steve Kloke