There's too many people out there that try very hard to change a genre like the Blues, by trying to repackaging and reselling it to the masses under forms that, far too often, have got nothing to do with the Blues.
For all those fans that were born in the last couple of decades, to get to know at least the basics of the Blues means scouring old records of Pioneers of the genre, like the late greats Muddy Waters, B.B.King or Howlin' Wolf, just to mention a few, because sadly, we don't have a lot of true Traditional Blues artists still with us, in 2025.
It is therefore a blessing for a Blues lover and, if we may add, for any respectable music fan in general, when a record like Grease To Gravy from the 80-years-old American Ace Saxophonist and Singer-songwriter Terry Hanck, sees the light of the day.
Hanck is so highly respected, within the Blues industry, for the impressive musicianship demonstrated in the last six decades of Blues, Soul, R&B, R'N'R and Funk, thanks to his incredible and indisputable skills as a saxophonist and as a powerful, eclectic singer.
Through his brand new album, produced by Kid Andersen, one of the hottest names in the business, Hanck's music comes across as strong, inspiring, passionate and drenched with the desire of showing that if you are gifted with talent, that said talent will always stay with you, no matter how old can you be.
In the 12 songs included in Grease To Gravy, seven of which are Hanck’s originals and the rest, fellow artists' covers, the American Saxophone Maestro moves effortlessly between Blues, Soul, Jazz, early Rock'N'Roll and even Dub with such electrifying confidence, swagger, power, making every note of each song counts like it could be his last, while supported by a fabulous array of studio musicians, which includes his loyal compadres Johnny Cat Soubrand on guitar, Jon Otis on drums and Tim Wagar on bass, plus some special appearances from Jim Pugh on piano and Wurlitzer and ace fellow Bluesman and guitarist J.P. Soars., among others.
Grease to Gravy is a highly seductive record; the quality level of Hanck's vocal performance throughout the record and the way he adapts his singing style to each of the genre played, is so remarkably impressive.
The American artist is totally unstoppable in every possible way; as a Saxophone Maestro, his solos on songs like Wilson Pickett’s Don't Let The Green Grass Fool You or Ray Charles' Come Back Baby and the instrumental Overall Junction are impeccable, strong and classy, while his singing skills on numbers like Best Years Of My Life, Fats Domino's cover of Sick And Tired and Pins And Needles, among many more numbers, is outstandingly perfect.
At the tender age of 80, Terry Hanck might as well delivered the masterpiece of a lifetime. To us at Bluebird Reviews, most certainly one of the most riveting and extrordinary albums of 2025 so far.
Grease To Gravy is out now and it is available to be purchased via ITunes.
A Little Village Foundation record.
