© 2006 Tab Benoit

Reviews
Here is a list of reviews for Tab Benoit's latest album Power of the Pontchartrain



What the critics are saying...
Portfolio Weekly Is it any good? Ask anyone who was there: Tab Benoit’s recent VA Beach Jewish Mother gig was historic. Still, this music award-winning Houma, La. native’s heart beats heavily for the wetlands and its survival... Read more
Jazz Review In May, Tab Benoit was named the Blues Male Artist of the Year and B.B. King Entertainer of the Year. As you listen to the Louisiana native’s Power Of The Pontchartrain CD, the reasons why become crystal clear. Two things about this disc immediately catch your ear, one being the tremendous guitar licks, the second the soulful vocals of Benoit... Read More
Sun Times Louisiana-based power axman Tab Benoit is nothing if not prolific, churning out at least an album a year, regardless of whether the marketplace -- or his material -- is ready for another disc... Read More
Billboard pick rev Louisiana bluesman Tab Benoit has just dropped the best album of his career on us. "Power of the Pontchartrain" is an 11-track wonder that showcases Benoit's thorough command of contemporary blues. He's got it going on here with splendid songwriting, gritty vocals and choice lead guitar work. He cut the record with Louisiana band Leroux, a crew that carries a pretty heavy reputation in the bayou country. The disc opens with killer blues tune "Don't Make No Sense," and the groove only gets better. Benoit taps his Cajun roots for the very cool "Sac-au-lait Fishing," knocks off a great soul number on "Guilty of Lovin' You" and imparts a decidedly bluesy vibe to the CSN&Y classic "For What It's Worth."

—Philip Van Vleck
Blue Barry – Smokie Mtn. Blues Society The summer just keeps getting better. Here’s how to add to yours. Pick up Tab Benoit’s new CD “Power of the Pontchartrain.” I think this is his best ever. On his own Tab is a powerhouse guitar player from Louisiana. On this new CD he hooks up with Leroux, a regional icon of a band in Louisiana based on blues, pop, and rock. Together they are greater than the sum of the parts! Being from East Tennessee I didn’t know what the Pontchartrain was. It’s a huge lake just north of New Orleans where tales, and old legends, and spooky eerie stuff has gone on forever. Yea, I can see it now. Fact is I can see it from here. This CD is really good. I love it. My wife wouldn’t give up my first copy, so here I am with my 2nd copy, but that’s just fine. I’m talking blues, and funk, and great music. Not that 100 notes a second stuff that worries you to death, just cool grooves. There’s a version of what I thought was Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth” on there too. A little change up in there on lyrics, and some extra one, but it hits its mark. There are 11 long cuts on this thing. It get my full endorsement as his best work. If you don’t know Tab you will get acquainted real quick here, and you’ll like it. Tab is also an environmental activist down there in the “Wetlands.” There is a 2006 documentary on Hurricane Katrina called “Hurricane on the Bayou” now playing in IMAX theaters in the U.S., Canada, and Europe featuring Tab and his Cajun music. This documentary shows lots more than the news on TV and is worthy enuf to make IMAX presentations. That’s pretty big. Tab is also the president of the Voice of the Wetlands, an environmental group. He doesn’t just play, he makes things happen, and gives back to all of us. That’s worthy of extra credit from me. He makes things happen.

Let’s talk about the band Leroux. Really something. Never get in the way. A complete and perfect band to back up this fine CD. Jim Odom on guitar, Tony Haselden, banjo, Nelson Blanchard, keyboards, piano, and backing vocals. Leon Medica, on bass, Dave Peters on drums, and Mark Dutha on percussion. Stop now what’s that sound, everybody look what’s going round. It’s Tab’s new CD and it is a keeper. Not only is it going round, it’s here to stay. It won’t suck out your soul and leave corn in your eyes, but it will improve your summer. Power of the Pontchartrain. Well I reckon. Tell them blue barry sent you......one love.
Brian Cady Louisiana bluesman Tab Benoit first appeared on the music scene in the blues compilation Strike a Deep Chord: Blues Guitar for the Homeless. A blues jam performance at New Orleans’ Rock ‘N Bowl for an audience that included Justice Records’ Randall Jamail led not just to the inclusion on that release, but to his signing with Justice. Benoit’s 1992 debut release Nice and Warm followed shortly, and the raw emotion of his voice—coupled with his impressive blues chops—told the world that this 25-year-old Louisiana bayou native was someone to watch closely. Benoit’s guitar took the rawness of the Cajun swamp-blues sound and added more traditional blues elements in an exciting manner, and his voice conveyed emotion and conviction.

Since that first release, Benoit’s music has retained a focus on life on the bayou—his subsequent releases Standing on the Bank, Wetlands, Swampland Jam and Fever for the Bayou have shown impressive musical growth while also keeping him grounded in the bayou lifestyle.

Tab Benoit’s new release continues to show his love for the bayou. Backed by the Louisiana-based band Leroux, the 11-song Power of the Ponchartrain is a journey through the swamp—with a little rock, blues and pop thrown in. The title track is a breathless guitar tour de force that goes through numerous dynamics changes, while the plaintive “Midnight and Lonesome” gives the feeling of a dark, damp bayou night. Benoit’s take on the Crosby, Stills and Nash classic “For What It’s Worth” allows him to stretch out both vocally and musically over a sparse rhythm section, while a lazy electric piano provides a counterpoint to his biting guitar sound.

“Sac-Au-Lait Fishing” offers the mandatory nod to Cajun life with an accordion and shuffling snare drum backing country guitar riffs, while the witty “One Foot in the Bayou” and “Somebody’s Got to Go” counter with upbeat, fast-paced tunes that allow the members of Leroux to step up and take a moment in the spotlight.

Not content to just sing about his love of the wetlands, Benoit founded Voice of the Wetlands in 2003, an organization dedicated to educating the public on the effect of the ongoing loss of the Louisiana wetlands. His crusade to save this delicate ecosystem has taken on a new focus since Huricane Katrina, and Benoit recently played a prominent musical role in the documentary Hurricane on the Bayou, chronicling Louisiana life since Katrina. In accepting his 2006 and 2007 Blues Music Awards, Tab Benoit expressed the hope that these awards would help bring attention to the wetlands of south Louisiana and focus on the need to preserve this vital land and culture.

Music has always been a powerful medium, bringing focus on social issues. Tab Benoit valiantly carries on this tradition with Power of the Ponchartrain.
Dr. Blues Tab Benoit's heart and soul was nurtured and shaped by Pontchartrain and it's tributaries that flow out of the bayous and into the Gulf of Mexico. His axe bathed in the swamp pop and blues that suffused throughout the Southwest Louisiana environs. His mind was a product of the hybridization found living on the edge in Houma where white, black and cajun all blended. Today, Benoit is one of the prime purveyors of Louisiana blues and he is also outspoken in his attention to the plight of Louisiana's coastal wetlands. Benoit's music is earthy and earnest and emotionally urgent. Guitar influenced by the likes of the Neals. Earl King and Slim Harpo burns with fluid energy, driving home with a depth and feeling that few others can attain. Backed again by Louisiana Leroux as he was on the Grammy nominated Brother of the Blues release of 2006, rhythms flow like a river, moving strongly down to the sea. Tab's vocals have developed gravitas. He's able to communicate by the mere application of dynamics, timing and phrasing. He doesn't need to scream although there is some plaintive cajun mixed into the gumbo. Screaming is left to the axe. Recorded along the bayou at Dockside Studios of Maurice, LA, you can feel the dark flow, hear the grunts of the gator and sense the snapshut of the gaping maws of diamond back snapping turtles. The subtle whispers of a history filled with domination and rebirth echo within each spoken syllable while Leroux anchors the rhythm to the living soul of the land. Each song is a voyage onward, deeper and deeper into the mystery and the essence. >From a slowburn version of Stephen Stills' "For What It's Worth", the symphonetta of "Power of the Pontchartrain", the funk-butt rocking of "Shelter Me" to the primal soul shaking of "Midnight and Lonesome" the many sides of the inland sea are reflected in the music. The mood lightens to a joyful cajun bounce as Tab goes "Sal au Lait Fishing" and continues with some funky blues bizniss. "Somebody's Got To Go." explores 1 side of the end of love and slow blues oozes out of "I'm Guilty of Lovin' You" on the other. Closing with some good time rocking blues, we learn about a gal who has "one foot in NYC, one foot in the bayou." Tab'll take you there too. 8.5 snaves
Where Yat Tab Benoit’s latest CD, Power of the Pontchartrain, brings together his swampy guitar licks and soulful vocals with the rocking beats of Louisiana’s LeRoux, making this CD a must for your collection. “Don’t Make No Sense” starts rocking with Benoit’s trademark style guitar licks kicking off this bluesy funk filled album. “Power of the Pontchartrain” showcases Benoit’s swampy blues-rock with organ in tow, creating that mysterious background for an incredible percussion and guitar filled piece that is simply captivating. “For What It’s Worth” is Benoit’s interpretation of a great little ‘60s tune and a beautiful medium to voice issues facing Louisiana before and after Hurricane Katrina. Some other great songs on this CD include “Sac-Au-Lait Fishing,” “I’m Guilty of Lovin’ You,” “Addicted,” and one of my personal favorites, “One Foot In the Bayou,” all sporting a rocking modern Benoit style. When Benoit created this CD, it was very obvious that he wanted to keep his winning streak on a roll, having just received the Blues Music Association Award for Contemporary Blues Album of the Year for Fever for the Bayou; a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Blues Album for Brother to the Blues; and Blues Music Association Awards for 2007 Contemporary Blues Artist of the Year and B.B. King Entertainer of the Year. With Benoit’s environmental organization he founded, Voice of the Wetlands, and contributions to the IMAX motion picture Hurricane on the Bayou, it’s very clear that Benoit’s heart resides in Louisiana along with his sound.

–Sheri McKee