Wayne Baker Brooks - Experiments With The Blues

December 2005

Wayne

Baker

Brooks

Experiments With The Blues
On Mystery Debut

by Tim Holek

Wayne Baker Brooks creates power blues by taking early electric Chicago blues, and combining it with Texas rock and modern day R&B. On his debut CD, the 35 year old singer/songwriter/guitarist assaults the listener with contemporary blues. His passionate, booming vocals complement his wicked yet tasteful lead guitar. Wayne’s musical debut was made at the age of five, when he played percussion on boxes, pots, pans, and spoons. His older siblings didn’t always take to having Wayne around and regularly kicked their baby brother out of music rehearsals, due to his youth. By the time he was 21, Wayne began playing guitar and concentrating on a career in music. He is the youngest son of blues superstar Lonnie Brooks and has been a regular member of The Lonnie Brooks Blues Band since 1998. Wayne’s other talents include founding Blues Island Productions, running a Blues In The Schools program, and co-authoring the Blues For Dummies book.

Growing up as the son of a living blues legend resulted in blues luminaries such as Koko Taylor, Hubert Sumlin, Eddy Clearwater, and Buddy Guy being family friends and musical influences. Although the media musically associates Wayne with his famous father, Wayne stands on his own merit and talent. He feels destined to continue his father’s legacy and to create his own legacy. Wayne says “I just want people (to) appreciate me for me and not as Lonnie Brooks’ son”. Many musical directions are taken on the opening cut and title track of Wayne’s debut CD Mystery. This might have you thinking Baker Brooks is having an identity crisis. Far from it, he is just being himself. After a fully charged performance at the 2005 Pocono Blues Festival, he freely admitted, “I like to experiment with the blues and to be different. My style is completely different from what blues record companies look for”. So, he wisely released his CD on his own label, Blues Island Records. Beginning with Nu Kinda Blues, Baker Brooks really comes into his element on the record. The song is performed “Chicago Style” and it’s vibrant. The tune is essentially an instrumental with Ben Ruth’s thriving harp mixed in with a dance club beat, and sound effects by D.J. Ajax. Wayne Baker Brooks takes what Chris Thomas King and Chuck D. started to a higher ground. This unconventional land will definitely attract today’s youth. He first combined funk, rap, and blues while D.J.’ing for his classmates. Regarding the unusual style of music on his CD, he said, “I don’t care if blues purists hate it. They want to bottle up the blues, put a cork in it, and examine it. But you gotta uncork it and let it breathe”. He does just that. At times, sounding like the cross-product of Michael Jackson, Luther Allison, and Jimi Hendrix. Ultimately, the self-taught musician combines elements of various roots music. Then, he adds his own essence in order to create a pioneering sound that is cool with today’s record buying youth. A fine example of this is found on You Made It Easy, Baby.

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Charging horns add extra power and dramatics to Your Turn (To Talk To The Blues). Like a jolt received from an electric shock, the horns and Baker Brooks’ vocals punch out on it. Sooner Or Later has a catchy main groove with an infectiously repetitive hook. It is a power rock song where the guitar solos crank and blaze like Harvey Mandel. Background singers add bootylicious funk to Tell Me. It features a rock heavy rhythm, pounding drums, and a slicing guitar solo. The danceable Baby Stop has backing vocals, which are as funky as its rhythm. Lyrically, Just Lika Butterfly is a new twist on the old problem of unfaithfulness. Like Ain’t That Lovin’ You, it was written in five minutes. The song quickly came about when Wayne overheard a security guard flirting with a woman. He called her a “Butterfly”. Intrigued with this, Wayne asked the guard why he used the term. The response was “Because she jumps flower to flower” and boom – a song was born. Exiled reveals the soft, mean, and assertive sides of this vegetarian’s voice. It Don’t Work Like That is a catchy little blues-rock ditty with a jagged hook. Yes, the enchanting guest performing searing guitar on the song is none other than Mr. Lonnie Brooks himself. Throughout, Brother Ronnie provides energetic rhythm guitar.

Mystery is blues-based, but as Baker Brooks is a young and diverse contemporary musician, the sounds of hip-hop and rock strongly feature throughout it. The 13 original songs are good and indicate Baker Brooks has strong potential as a songwriter. Wayne knows where he is going with his lyrics. He doesn’t simply view them as just being the words of the songs. At this point in his career, the rhythms and guitar solos are more powerful than the vocals. On his radical debut, Baker Brooks excels at combining dance club beats with his blues inspirations. Like the blues that was handed down to him, Wayne Baker Brooks is intent on passing on his contemporary blues to a new generation. Along the way don’t be surprised if he gains greater exposure for the blues and gathers a better marketplace for it. After all, that’s part of his plan.
For additional information, contact www.waynebakerbrooks.com

|||Tim Holek

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