“Patina” is the second album from Red Dragon Cartel, the band formed by guitarist Jake E Lee, and it was released by Frontiers Music on 9th November. Jake E Lee was my guest on the Friday NI Rocks Show that week and we talked about the new album in some detail. We also played the tracks “Havana” and “Crooked Man”, both of which had been played on the Show previously. This week the latest single “Bitter” is included on the Show.


 

The interview with Jake E Lee can be read here - http://www.rockradioni.co.uk/interviews/3488-ni-rocks-interview-with-jake-e-lee.html

 

Jake E Lee is of course best known for his work with Ozzy Osbourne and subsequently with Badlands; but he had remained largely off the rock radar for many years until forming Red Dragon Cartel in 2014 and releasing their self-titled debut album. That first album contained a number of guest performers, but the follow-up “Patina” is very much a collective band effort.

 

The new Red Dragon Cartel line-up includes Jake E Lee on guitar of course and features Darren Smith on vocals, despite some well documented problems after the release of the first album. Joining those two, are bass player Anthony Esposito (who also produced the album) and drummer Phil Varone (from Saigon Kick / Skid Row).


Check out the Red Dragon Cartel website - http://www.reddragoncartel.com/



About “NI Rocks Recommends”

The simple idea behind “NI Rocks Recommends” is to acknowledge and promote some of the great music being submitted to Rock Radio NI. The albums that I’ll be recommending are those that you’ll hear me playing tracks from on my shows. I'll not be giving marks or ratings or analyzing the tracks in great detail; just telling you something about the artist and the album. It’s a personal recommendation to go check something out, not a traditional “review”!