Charles Walker writes the songs, leads the group, blows the saxophone, and is the driving wheel on the organ. The voice of this group has the pipes that could make a church steeple shake, but instead Shanna Jackson decides to shake her moneymaker front and center stage. Jackson's vocals nicely reflect the great female singers women of Chicago, like Koko Taylor, Shemekia Copeland, and Zora Young.

The man who keeps the bass beat thumping is Kent Hamele. His last gig was with Cadillac Joe and Paul Flipowitz. The beat-keeper, Joey B, Banks, has played with Luther Allison, Koko Taylor, Jimmy Johnson, and the Siegel/Schwall Band. He pushes the songs when they need pushin' and lays back when it's time. Misha Siegfried greases the guitar neck after many experiences with several different Blues and R&B bands.

As I said, this is not the deep southern Soul music, but the northern urban Soul music from the Chicago area. The musicians come from Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin; St/ Paul, Minnesota, and other parts in that general area of the U.S. And they all combine their talents for a feel, a good feel, a strong feel, a real feel. They tapped into themselves to push their limits on the album and create an amazing listening experience.

The songs here are all crafted with room for everyone to participate. There are plenty of instrumental solos and each one is tasty, well placed, and never overdone. Even when you listen for the music behind the vocals, the mix is right on the money and each instrument is making its own niche where it needs to. Be sure to listen to "Holdin' Out." The song could easily be up for Song of the Year at the Blues Music Awards. It is a song about freedom and really grabs ear.

Now I did say earlier that Shanna Jackson's vocals could hang with the likes of Koko, Shemekia, and Zora. That is not a group that anyone falls right into. Jackson has such a vitality in her vocal chords that you believe and feel every word she sings. She is a woman who can take the stage with all the confidence in the world to entertain the crowd.

Charles Walker can be heard very clearly on each track no matter what instrument he is playing. The mix is great and you really hear the organ grinding out the tracks. The organ is an integral part of the album and it sounds very sweet. Siegried is a tight guitar player; he can just ride the rhythm and fit into his part of the song, but when his solos come up he lets loose and plays clean, cutting solos.

The disc gets addicting the more you listen to it. I popped it in just to take a quick listen at first and left it in the player and then started it over again. This album has so much life it'll jump outta the CD player and grab you by the hands and make you wanna move!

Kyle M. Palarino is a contributing editor at BluesWax. He may be contacted at blueswax@visnat.com.