Ben Levin is still in his early 20s but is already causing a scene in the blues world. This skinny white kid has perfectly mastered the form as it was played during its ’50s and ’60s heyday with a voice like Little Walter and a piano like Ray Charles with a dash of Pinetop Perkins.
Levin’s last album Still Here came out just this past summer and included a nice, melancholy number called “Christmas Rain” but a couple of years ago when he was barely 20, he knocked out another holiday-themed tune that’s better still, called “Forgot Mrs. Claus.”
In the video above, Levin uses humor not sadness to carry out the Christmas spirit. He sings the role of Santa Claus who ‘spent all night putting presents under tree’ but neglected to get a gift for his ol’ lady and he knows he’s in a pickle.
With Eli Gonzalez’s baritone sax, there’s that vintage R&B undercurrent that propels things forward and Takuto Asano is there to provide a tasty guitar lead before Levin leaves a veteran aside on piano, With Chris Douglas-bass and Oscar Bernal-drums forming the rhythm section, it’s all in blissed fealty to the golden era of Chess Records.
The only thing that beats a white Christmas is a blues Christmas, particularly the vintage style blues proffered by Ben Levin for “Forgot Mrs. Claus.”
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