MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: DELTA WIRES - BORN IN OAKLAND

Just the other day somebody brought up the great Tower of Power, and I thought to myself, yeah, where are all the horn bands? And then this arrived in the electronic mail. The first thing I noticed was the title, the same hometown as T of P, which seemed too much of a coincidence to ignore. And wouldn't you know, opening cut Sunny Day is a delightful slice of that very same East Bay grease, and this is indeed a horn band.

However, there's lots more to the group, and they don't trade exclusively in that king of funk. And for a horn-based blues band, they don't stick to any one style either, with their share of jump blues, and lots of modern things. The band has 30 years of playing, and knows how to put together story-songs such as Devil's In My Headset that update the blues into century 21. There's always lots of energy, and the tight horn arrangements and sharp guitar lines provide a punch straight through. In the end though, there must be some fine funk in the San Francisco Bay water, because the instrumental In The Middle smokes from start to finish. Timely of you folks, thanks.