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Jet Black and Jealous

Review Jet Black and Jealous

May 2, 1999
The Day by Rick Koster

If one cuts Cowboy Mouth singer/guitarist/songwriter Paul Sanchez, he bleeds folkie. Long before the New Orleans band earned national fame as a rock band, Sanchez wandered the northeast as an acoustic-toting troubadour, hoping to follow in such footsteps as Bob Dylan's or Peter Case's.

Instead, Sanchez started the Mouth and began ascension of a different colored musical ladder. But that doesn't mean he's abandoned the singer/songwriter side of his personality. Over the years, Sanchez has re-released three fine indie label solo albums; "Jet Black and Jealous," "Wasted Lives and Bluegrass," and "Loose Parts" --mostly featuring his voice and guitar --and often opens CM concerts with solo acoustic sets.

"Jet Black and Jealous" was the first of Sanchez' records and, in the opinion of many, remains his finest. Unfortunately, it's been out of print for years --until now anyway. Freshly mixed by longtime cohort Mike Mayeux, "Jet Black and Jealous" is a CD as brilliant in it's narrative and melody as it is in its spare simplicity. Though it features original versions of three songs that have since become Mouth staples ("Louisiana Lowdown and Blue," My Little Blue One" and Light It OnFire"), "Jet Black" is otherwise stuffed with a cornucopian supply of wonderfully descriptive vignettes like the achingly erotic "Confidential Dance," the instrumental country ballad "Carl Calls Kristie," the wittily ironic eulogy for a relationship, "Real Good Time," and the literate title track.

Sanchez is a wizard with words and description, and his depictions of magical or lonely nights, or the quality of morning smells like newspapers and coffee take on an amazing poignant image in the context of his wise narratives.