Blues Wednesday – Sean Costello

So like Joe Crookston, I’ve always seen the name Sean Costello as a hot new bluesman but I’ve never really sought out his music.  So the other day as I was thinking about what I would listen to today his name popped into my head. So I went to emusic to see what they had there and they had most of his releases. Then I did some research and discovered that he died from an accidental drug overdose on April 15, 2008 the eve of his 29th birthday. His family later revealed that he suffered from bipolar disorder and set up The Sean Costello Memorial Fund for Bipolar Research. So this morning I downloaded Cuttin’ In his second album released in 2000 when he was let’s see 21! In an obituary posted on Jambands.com on April 16,2008, Tinsley Ellis a favorite of mine called Costello:

‘the most gifted young blues guitarist on the scene… he was a triple threat on guitar, vocals and as a songwriter’.

and also from that obituary:

Costello, who at various times shared the stage with B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Pinetop Perkins and Bo Diddley during his career, had recently said, ‘All I’ve ever wanted to do was play the guitar well. I’ve been fortunate to be able to make a living doing it, and I plan to keep it up for the rest of my life.

After listening to Cuttin’ In I agree that he was a talent and there are some standout tracks on this album I enjoyed his great guitar work on the opening track “Talk to Your Daughter”. “Mellow Chick Swing” caught my ear because of the jump swing blues style and in reading about the album I discovered it’s a cover of a “Sonny Boy” Williamson tune and I think “Sonny Boy” would have been proud of Costello treatment of the tune. The style switches to Chicago Paul Butterfield like blues for an original Costello track “Who’s Been Cheatin’ Who” which was my favorite track after the first listen. Another great track “Double Trouble” is an Otis Rush song that Costello makes his own. Changing styles again Costello provides a funky calypso style on “Goombay Rock”

All in all it was a great CD and I will be certainly go back and listen to his other releases. I only wish that when I’ve listened to all of them there would be more …. sometimes the greats die way too young!

This post was also going to include a review of the other CD  I listened to today, Buddy Guy’s Skin Deep CD  but I’ll save that for another time!

One Comment:

  1. The entire body of work left by Sean is an amazing collection and you feel his growth as a musicain each and every cd.
    So glad to see people continue to discover Sean’s music. Rest in peace Sean and thank you for the musical legacy you left behind!

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