Big Joe & The Dynaflows – Good Rockin’ Daddy – Powerhouse Records POW 4102

Originally from Washington D.C., Big Joe Maher was heavily influenced by his dad’s tasty record collection and through attending blues concerts throughout his hometown area.  He chose the drums as his instrument-of-choice while young, and after high school formed his own three-piece group that featured both blues and jazz, before then becoming the percussionist in Tom Principato’s touring aggregation.  Knowing full well that his musical love was an upbeat, swinging dance-tailored style, Maher formed Big Joe & The Dynaflows to specialize in such jump blues works.

This 1991 release of an original 1989 collection features 11 scrumptious, well-crafted tunes, bursting with style, expert musicianship, and profoundly pleasing substance that render the totality here one that demands repeated listening. 

Big Joe’s first-class drumming and vocals aside, the amassed Dynaflows obviously bought into his inspired musical aspirations hook-line-and-sinker.  We find Tom Principato’s astonishing guitar (and bass at times) work eminently enthused, with Deanna Bogart, Kevin McKendree, and Daryl Davis laying down stimulating piano junkets.  Jeff Sarli’s bass work is always exactly on-point, while Bruce Ewan’s harmonica attacks are stirring.  Perhaps the heart of the engine on this motivating collection is made up of the individual and combined matchless efforts of Derek Houston, Jerry Queen, and Joe Stanley on baritone and tenor saxophones.  They swing, sway, and provide the idyllic backdrops the musical raids here enjoy.

If you find blues and jump comfort in tunes with titles such as the title cut, “Cat Scratchin’,” “Okeshemokeshepop,” “Handclappin,” “Blow, Man, Blow,” alongside more dramatic fare such as “Don’t Send Me Flowers,” then you absolutely need to consider this purely exceptional collection.

Highly-recommended!