CD Review: Dennis Gruenling, I Just Keep Lovin' Him

Dennis Gruenling
I Just Keep Lovin’ Him: A Tribute to Little Walter
BackBender Records


The cover photo was the first thing I noticed about Dennis Gruenling’s new CD, I Just Keep Lovin’ Him: A Tribute to Little Walter. Dressed in a sharkskin suit and emerging from the shadows, Gruenling grasps a harmonica in his hands in a pose that reminded me of the photos of Little Walter at the Apollo Theater in 1952.

Before this CD, I wasn’t familiar with Gruenling, an East Coast harp player, beyond the few samples on his MySpace page, which I liked. I didn’t know what to expect from “a tribute to Little Walter.” Would this album consist of note-for-note imitations of “Blues with a Feeling,” "Mean Old World," and “My Babe”?

I was delighted to learn that it does not. While Gruenling’s horn-like tone and swooping riffs reflect the influence of Little Walter’s style, his interpretations are his own. Instead, Gruenling captures the rhythms, timing and spirit of the music that Little Walter created, a broad-reaching blues inspired by jazz, swing, Big Band and the pop music of the 1950s and 60s.

What’s more, Gruenling sidesteps the over-covered songs every harp player wants to do to bring us songs even the most devoted Little Walter fan may not be familiar with. “I Got to Go,” “As Long as I Have You” and “Teenage Beat” are probably the most well known. But have you heard of “Corbella”? The song, recorded in 1954 with an R&B band called the Coronets, is representative of Walter’s extensive and outstanding role as a sideman. Chicago blues aficionados will love these versions of Muddy Waters’ “Lovin’ Man” and (my personal favorite) Jimmy Rogers’ “My Little Machine.”

Rounding out the tracks are the instrumentals “Up the Line” and “Hot Shot” (based on an unreleased Little Walter song), “If You Were Mine,” “Too Young to Know,” “Temperature,” “One of these Mornings,” “That’s It,” and “You’re Sweet.”

There’s no question Gruenling has the talent, the chops and the experience to do justice to the legendary harp virtuoso’s songbook. A devotee of George “Harmonica” Smith, Gruenling has been performing in the New York and New Jersey area for 15 years, leading the band Jump Time. His previous CDs, all on BackBender Records include Dennis Gruenling and Jump Time (BBR701), Up All Night (BBR702) and That's Right! (BBR703). He’s shared a stage with some of blues’ luminaries, including Pinetop Perkins, Snooky Pryor and Jimmy Dawkins. Three years in a row, Gruenling was named Best Modern Blues Harmonica Player by Real Blues Magazine.

But it gets better. For this tribute to Little Walter, Gruenling teams up with three of the best contemporary blues harp players out there: Kim Wilson, famous for his work with the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Rick Estrin of Little Charlie & the Nightcats, and Steve Guyger, who toured with the legendary Jimmy Rogers.The four harp players, separately and in combination, bring a depth and excitement to the songs as they trade off solos and accompaniment. Wilson, Estrin and Guyger also provide fine vocals (apparently Gruenling doesn’t sing). Sultry New Jersey singer Gina Fox does the vocal honors on three tracks.

As one always interested in sidemen, I was pleased to find an excellent backing band including guitarist Rusty Zinn, with whom I was familiar for his previous work with Kim Wilson. (I also enjoyed the creative use of sax.)

Blues harp practitioners will appreciate Gruenling’s comments in the liner notes, which point out positions and other technical stuff. My only disappointment (aside from the hard-to-read, gray-on black printing on the back cover) was the lack of song credits. [Edited to add: Gruenling says these issues have been addressed in the public release; I had a promo copy.]

Anyone who loves sitting down (or getting up and dancing) to song good harmonica blues will enjoy this CD. Highly recommended.

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Listen to sample tracks at Dennis Gruenling’s MySpace page.

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Gruenling will be in Chicago on Monday, March 24 for a special Little Walter harmonica class with Steve Guyger and Joe Filisko at the Old Town School of Folk Music, 4544 Lincoln Ave. (773) 728-6000. The class will begin at 6:30 p.m.

The record release party for I Just Keep Lovin’ Him: A Tribute to Little Walter will be held at 9 p.m. on March 24 at Katerina’s, 1920 W. Irving Park Road. (773) 348-7592. Steve Guyger and Doug Deming will be special guests.