Ruby & The Revelators

There is really no shortage of good lady Blues musicians around at the moment – possibly more than their male counterparts. I’m talking about the likes of Dani Wilde, Samantha Fox, Erja Lytenen, Kaz Hawkins, Elles Bailey – all great musicians and all very different from each other.
Add to that coterie Ruby & The Revelators (fronted by Ruby Tiger aka Olivia Stevens).

Their music is captivating – Blues tinged with soul and jazz – and the band are surprisingly good; Louise Maggs on guitar, John Whale on bass, Paco Munoz on drums and stunning keys from Frazer Wigg.

They stay well away from the standard 12 bar and Blues/rock forms, aiming more for music that speaks of the soul and echoes some of the greats of the sixties and seventies but steers a path that is definitively Ruby & The Revelators.

Listen to a number like ‘Pity City’; with some stunning guitar work from Louise, loads of wah wah and picking its way through the heavy beat while the Hammond swells in the back and Ruby Tiger hums and wails, telling tales of the psychedelic streets. If Dr John did this I wouldn’t be shocked.
Then listen as they move into ‘Cold Cold Winter’ – a beautiful jazz piece, redolent of late nights in the Chicago mean streets. Ruby takes on the tones of a Melody Gardot and the hairs on the back of your neck rise up in salute to a magnificent atmospheric piece.

The album opener ‘When I See You’ is a lovely, funky bit of jazz-pop with an almost louche sexiness to it, reedy keyboards and horns supporting Ruby’s sassy vocals.

To be honest, this album came as a real surprise. I hadn’t really caught the Ruby Tiger vibe and I was expecting an album that showed what young and inexperienced players can do – tons of energy and rough edges all over. What I got was a thoroughly accomplished album by a band who have a sound of their own and the confidence to fly close to the edge in making their own music.
Really is rather wonderful.