Review: Harmonica Master Jason Ricci Takes Us ‘Behind the Veil’

Jason Ricci and the Bad Kind
Behind the Veil
(Gulf Coast Records)
3 1/2 out of 5 stars

There are plenty of good, even great harmonica players currently and throughout music history. But only a few can be considered world-class musicians. Jason Ricci is ready to assume that title and has been for years.

Ricci’s work is well known primarily in the blues world where he first polished his mind-expanding skills on the once lowly “Mississippi saxophone.” He then stretched that genre, bringing in rock, avant-jazz, and even prog influences. On his groundbreaking work with New Blood in 2007, Ricci was playing sets. including unlikely covers of Cheech and Chong’s hard rock parody “Earache My Eye” and Sun Ra’s “Rocket Number 9,” not what you’d expect from someone weaned on the work of Little Walter and Paul Butterfield.

So it’s little surprise that when he formed his Bad Kind outfit, after a sabbatical that found him getting clean from drugs and alcohol, he would continue a trend of pushing that handheld instrument far past the boundaries most would expect. The striking Behind the Veil, Ricci’s first band project for blues guitarist Mike Zito’s label, follows the relatively straightforward joint recording with keyboardist Joe Krown (who guests on a handful of tracks here) in 2021. Not surprisingly, it again defies any attempt to pigeonhole his approach.

Beginning with an offbeat, oom-pah waltz-time Ricci original titled “Casco Bay,” which sounds like a Tom Waits or Kurt Weil composition, he shows once again that this is not your typical blues-based album. Ricci twists and twirls his lips around the beat as his wife, Kaitlin Dibble, joins on vocals. From there he returns to the blues, covering Rudy Toomb’s Chicago shuffle, “5-10-15,” leading into the sprightly, rousing “Baked Potato.” The latter finds him improvising on a Southern-inflected instrumental, puffing in the Butterfield style by laying down a riff and then blasting off until guitarist Brent Johnson joins with his own solo. Powerful stuff.

The groove gets tougher and heavier on Dibble’s “No Way” when Ricci tosses in the lick from “Spoonful” as she torches the song with her husky vocals. Ricci taps gothic rocker Dax Riggs, covering his “Terrors of Nightlife” by bringing mystery and drama to a dark ballad few others would attempt.

It’s back to blues for a searing, slow, swampy “Shipwreck” as bassist Jack Joshua pulls out deep, ominous vocals for a track that would have been a natural for Cream. Ricci enters with his raw, gritty harmonica urging the song further into the darkness.

Perhaps eight minutes of the classic ballad “St. James Infirmary” is pushing it, but the coiled energy never lags. The closing take on Booker T. and the M.G.’s instrumental “Hip Hug-Her” transports us to Memphis by way of New Orleans, the frontman’s current home. Johnson’s guitar spits, Ricci’s harmonica sputters and Krown adds a grinding B3 organ for a rugged, rousing climax.

Jason Ricci long ago established his astounding virtuosity on an instrument few have taken to the heights and depths he has. Now, with a great band supporting him on the eclectic and riveting Behind the Veil, it’s past time for the world to acknowledge his remarkable talents. 

Photo by Jean Frank Photography / Courtesy Mark Pucci Media