Juke Joint Soul...March 2009

Paul Karapiperis - fifteen raindrops in an ocean of blues tales

Paul Karapiperis

fifteen raindrops in an ocean of blues tales

Shelter Home Studio

Run Time: 46:28

Paul K is one of the founding members of the internationally known Grecian blues band Small Blues Trap that played to fans in 2008’s International Blues Challenge. Paul takes a shot at solo success with his release here – demonstrating his dynamic harmonica skills and instantly identifiable vocals.

For most people to identify this as entirely blues would be an incorrect statement. Think of John Lee Hooker’s The Healer going for a more Mediterranean feel and you may have it. Paul K however is purely on display on all of the fifteen tracks here. If Tom Waits had been from Greece, this is who he would sound like. The songs are a little heavily accented and makes some of the lyrics a little garbled. He does have decent command of English however, some of the lyrics sense do remain a mystery.

The arrangements here vary from world music ambience with jazz harmonica breaks to modern acoustic blues. The modern acoustic blues are a real treat on the disc and are definitely worth a listen. The other more electric, ambient tracks were a little hard for me to listen to. Paul does demonstrate a virtuoso’s command of the harmonica but could use some toning down (i.e. too many notes/tricks in one space). My suggestion for further releases would be for this group to stick to the solid acoustic blues, firmly rooted in the prewar traditions and then the American blues markets will surely take notice. Yet, it’s still pretty cool to see that even someone so far away as Greece can still find a handle on some of blues deep traditions and sounds.