Toronzo Cannon (from the album Shut Up and Play!

Toronzo Cannon (from the album Shut Up and Play!

Toronzo Cannon (from the album Shut Up and Play! available on Alligator Records) (by Danny McCloskey)
 
It has been nearly five years since Toronzo Cannon released an album. The Chicago Bluesman has successfully made use of the years between by crafting stories of everyday life, working the storyline into not-so-common DIY guide. Shut Up and Play! is the recent release where Toronzo Cannon makes use of Blue guitar notes to demand attention when he vehemently shouts out “I Hate Love” and sinking into late-night Soul grooves for the cheating stories fueling “Guilty”. Funky chord chops begin the rhythms in “Him” as the reasons for a break-up unfold on a Blues stomp while “Unlovable” asking questions while a solid backbeat confronts a lover with “If I’m Always Wrong” and a snarling groove is the beat for a booty-call in “Something to Do Man”.
 
An album of tales needs to include personal views. Toronzo Cannon bookends the song cycle with his opinions on the world he sees around him. Opening the album on an admission, Toronzo Cannon leads the way with guitar riffs to announce “Can’t Fix the World”, bordering his overview by exiting on the Shut Up and Play! title track where Toronzo has some words for those voices suggesting musicians should just play music and not venture into politics. Taking a stance with the opening and closing cuts, Toronzo Cannon shares thoughts for the women in his life, offering “My Woman Loves Me Too Much” and facing tough realities in a “Message to My Daughter”. The Blues is behind the Rock’n’Roll rhythms barreling underneath the confessions of “Got Me by the Short Hair” as gospel handclaps bring the hate of segregation to church in “Had to Go Through It".  (by Danny McCloskey)
 
Listen and buy the music of Toronzo Cannon from AMAZON
 
For more information, please visit the Toronzo Cannon website