Rip Masters
Live At Alva's
Despite a decidedly cool and collected demeanor, whenever Rip Master takes a stage he unleashes a raging torrent of category 5 rock & roll. The rockin' piano man's deep R&B and honky tonk informed style is both hard hitting and sensitively crafted, and his new double vinyl set "Live at Alva's" captures every electrifying twist and turn of a quintessential Masters performance. The veteran singer-songwriter's well chilled authority and ardent involvement lends this bevy of classic Masters tunes an irresistible appeal and showcases his impressive command of the rock & roll vocabulary - he shouts it with soulful depth and undeniable veracity. It's an invaluable skill learned during his youthful start at famed upstart indie Rollin' Rock Records, where Masters played on sessions for fabled originators Gene Vincent, Mac Curtis, Ray Campi and Jackie Lee Waukeen Cochran. For Masters, it was a high-impact crash course in rockabilly truth telling, and he absorbed, first hand, the full spiritual range of the big beat rebellion. That kind of firsthand experience supercharges Masters' music to an electrifying degree and has elevated him to status as an internationally recognized rock & roll shaman. Joined here by well-traveled guitarist Buzz Campbell, Blasters bassist John Bazz and drummer John Schwartz, Masters cranks his bare knuckle piano into overdrive for a double-clutching, rubber burning cruise down the Lost Highway of American roots music. Each of the album's 21 tracks roars through that stomping, shadowy territory with the fang bearing passion and precision that's become Masters' calling card and his effortless conjuration of tore up, knockdown rock & roll is second to none.