Jay-Bee & The Ultratone All-Stars - Life Ain’t Got No Shortcuts (2018)

"Life ain’t got no shortcuts“ by Jay-Bee & the Ultratone All Stars takes you on a musical journey through the black South of the USA. The 11 songs written by Jens Bohlen (aka Jay-Bee) demonstrate Blues with a lot of Soul, a splash of Gospel, Swing, Funk and New Orleans elements. The album has been produced and recorded by Tony Braunagel (Grammy Award Winner, Blues Award “Blues Drummer 2018” Winner) in Johnny Lee Schell’s (Grammy Award Winner) Ultratone Studio in Los Angeles. Besides Jens Bohlen on guitars you can hear members of the Phantom Blues Band (Mike Finnigan, Larry Fulcher, Johnny Lee, Tony) and many other excellent studio musicians from L.A. on this CD. E.g. Josh Sklair (Grammy Award Winner and former bandleader of Etta James) and Lenny Castro on percussions add their unique sounds, just to mention a few. In total, 18 musicians participated in the recording sessions. Outstanding is the unparalleled soul-blues voice of Sugaray Rayford (Blues Awards 2018 nominee). He brings the songs to life and his passion and energy speak straight to you heart.
Exciting harmonies, soulful melody lines and sophisticated arrangements with horns (arranged by Thomas Kässens ) and choir are typical for Jens Bohlen’s blues. The lyrics of his songs cover the important aspects of life: joy and sorrow, love and pain, life and death.