Fire Red Moon is neither the arena rock of Craig Chaquico's days with Jefferson Starship, nor the chart-topping smooth jazz that he initially turned to as a solo artist. It's something grittier, more primordial - and utterly surprising.
Yet, there he is, chugging and juking with vocalist Noah Hunt (Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band) through "Lie to Me," the first of seven originals on Fire Red Moon, due on October 16, 2012, from Blind Pig Records. Chaquico also tears into tracks from the likes of Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson, and brilliantly reworks the Albert King classic "Born Under a Bad Sign" as a scalding instrumental.
There's none of the brawny crunch associated with his mainstream Starship hits, and none of the satiny ruminations of Acoustic Planet - nominated for a new age Grammy in 1995. Chaquico, often alongside touring vocalist Rolf Hartley, instead settles into a dusty-booted groove on "Devil's Daughter," then goes to the bottom of a brown bottle with singer Eric E. Golbach on "Bad Woman." "Little Red Shoes," as with "Devil's Daughter," occasionally betrays just a hint of his pop-chart-topping penchant for a hook, while "Blue on Blue" almost gets quiet enough to recall his more recent smooth jazz past, but Fire Red Moon never strays too far from its central roots-rocking, occasionally Santana-esque theme. (Review by Nick DeRiso)