Bex Marshall is a remarkable artist. A doyen of Blues roots and rock music, she has been around, seemingly, forever, and her voice sounds like she has been gargling kerosene while smoking stogies all that time. Yet she sounds fresh and alive, and she has a presence that is irresistible. Her influences include Janis and Tina Turner, and she has the charisma of both of those Queens of the Blues. “I have been influenced by multiple artists,” says Bex. “For me it never stops. Songwriters, vocalists, and guitarists – you name it! “I grew up listening to Tina Turner. Vocally, she was my heroine. Her tone, soul, and vocal range was so versatile. Other influences include Eric Clapton’s cool guitar style, John Lee Hooker’s back porch flavour, Freddie King’s sting, Hose Feliciano’s flair, Janis Joplin’s ragtime, and Elton John and Bernie Taupin's songwriting. I was lucky as my uncle had a stunning vinyl collection, and I was able to absorb all these relevant box ticking blues rock greats.” Yet for all of those influence, she sounds fresh and original, there is no sense of copying the masters.
This is her first album since 2012’s ‘House Of Mercy’ and only her fourth in a long career that sees her playing all over the world, picking up Blues Awards, hosting songwriting conferences in her Cyprus home, hardly ever stopping for breath. She has drawn in a superb set of musicians for ‘Fortuna’, including Richie Stevens on drums (Tina Turner, Simply Red, George Clinton), Toby Baker on keyboards (BB King, Eric Clapton, Alexander O’Neil, Sinead O Connor), B.J Cole on Dobro (Elton John, Coldplay, Sting, Shania Twain, Robbie Williams), New York's Robert Eugene Daniels on bass (RIP “Red Bass”) Aurora Mannola on bass, London's gospel Queen Shola Adegoroye, and legendary Danny Bryan on percussion (Taj Mahal). The album was created in only a week at London’s Snakepit studios engineered, co-produced and mastered by Nick Hunt (Dave Stewart, Boy George, Placebo, George Clinton) who Bex has worked with on her previous album House of Mercy. During lockdown Bex’s good friend and bass player “Red Bass” (aka Robert Eugene Daniels) was living in London and after a few months sadly passed away. She was lucky enough to capture some of his bass lines in Snakepit Studios. Bex recorded demos for the album and finally used them in five of the 10 album tracks. “Red was a unique musician,” reflects Bex. “I was honoured to play music with him for over 20 years. We even shared the same birthday.”
So, what is presented here is 10 tracks, including 1 cover, that show off her various talents. Her vocals are on point, her guitar – whether she is playing Blues on a resonator, Americana, rock or late night sleaze – is always clean and has that feel that made the superstars such as Gary Moore or Clapton or the 3 Kings. The songwriting is top notch whether it is classic Gospel/soul – ‘Dirty Water’ – or the Americana of ‘Table For One’ or the single ‘5AM’ with her cracked vocal and stunning slow and soulful guitar solo. The final track of the record is called “When It's Gone” it’s a poignant song although written several years earlier, BJ Cole (Tiny Dancer, Coldplay) plays dobro on this track as a tribute to “Red Bass.”
As much as Bex’s influences define her music, she has been a major influence on a generation of musicians. This album shows why many rate her as one of the top musicians around today.
