April 2007

DEANNA BOGART • REAL TIME
BLIND PIG BPCD 5107

     Multi-talented multi-instrumentalist Deanna Bogart is back on the scene with "Real Time," a fine collection with her smooth vocals mixed in with her uncanny sax and keyboard wizardry. 
     Deanna's joined on this set by Scott Ambush on bass, Mike Aubin on drums, Dan Leonard on guitars, and Eric Scott on backing vocals.  She keeps the pot boiling, tho, with her strong singing and writing, as eight cuts are originals. 
      The opening "Real Time" treats us to a musical history lesson, while "Blue By Night" has a sultry, Norah Jones feel to it.  "Blues In The 'Bine" is a hot sax instrumental, while "Bite The Bullet" shows us just what a mean left hand Deanna possesses...  
      We had two favorites, too.  A funky backbeat drives "Are You Lonely For Me Baby," while Deanna gives a cool, jazzy reading of the Brook Benton/Dinah Washington chestnut, "Baby You Got What It Takes."
     Deanna Bogart deserves a wider audience.  A fine singer with killer musical chops, here's hoping that "Real Time" gives her the recognition she deserves!    Until next time....

Sheryl and Don Crow 

FALL IS CD SEASON
Tues. Sept. 12, 2006

The recording industry is offering everything from The Geator to Bob Seger, Brazilian Girls to Barenaked Ladies
By JONATHAN TAKIFF

BLUES POWER
Blues-rocking Deanna Bogart is something else. On "Real Time" (Blind Pig, B+), she plays a stellar boogie-woogie piano and a pretty mean sax, flourishes her highly finessed songs (in country gospel, pop and jazz instrumental veins) about the here and hereafter, and sings them with equal power and conviction. Even Bonnie Raitt diehards would be impressed.

 http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/15500143.htm

Sept. 2006
Review by Steve Leggett

Maryland's Deanna Bogart is an explosive live performer, mixing in several streams of American vernacular music into her sets, ranging from funky R&B romps to hushed, Norah Jones-like jazz-pop ballads, and she just happens to be a dynamite barrelhouse piano player who also plays a pretty mean tenor saxophone, as well. Her versatility is truly astounding, and while it might be safe to say that everything she does grows out of the blues, to label her a blues artist doesn't even begin to cover the half of it. On Real Time she offers up a typically varied program of New Orleans R&B, late-night blues, smoky jazz ballads, a touch of country, and some rousing boogie-woogie piano instrumentals, but what keeps it all stitched together is her strong, sultry singing. Highlights include the rocking opener, "Real Time," the loping, wise "Everybody Has a Story," the lovely and classic "Blue by Night," the late-night jazz of "Blues in the 'Bine" (where Bogart's sax playing gets to shine), and the storming piano instrumental "Bite the Bullet." It's easy to be distracted by this wide range of styles, and given Bogart's explosive piano skills, to view her as a blues piano player first and foremost, but what gets lost in the shuffle is the fact that this lady can sing (and write, as well -- all but two of these ten tracks are Bogart originals), and if some marketing wiz out there can ever figure out how to package all this talent into a form that the mass public can recognize (how about as a funkier Norah Jones?), then Deanna Bogart has a good chance to be a household name. Meanwhile, her albums get tossed in the blues bins, and she truly deserves a wider audience.

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:47rn288w054a