The Day (CT) May 2, 1999  Jet Black and Jealous -Paul Sanchez by Rick koster If one cuts Cowboy Mouth singer/guitarist/songwriter Paul Sanchez, he bleeds folkie. Long before the New Orleans band earned national fame as one the best pure rock bands in the world, Sanchez wandered the northeast as an acoustic-toting troubadour, hoping to follow in such footsteps as Bob Dylan's or Peter Case's. Instead, Sanchez started the Mouth and began ascension of a different colored musical ladder. But that doesn't mean he's abandoned the singer/songwriter side of his personality. Over the years, Sanchez has re- leased three fine indie label solo albums; "Jet Black and Jealous," "Wasted Lives and Bluegrass," and "Loose Parts" --mostly featuring his voice and guitar --and often opens CM concerts with solo acoustic sets. "Jet Black and Jealous" was the first of Sanchez' records and, in the opinion of many, remains his finest. Unfortunately, it's been out of print for years --until now anyway. Freshly mixed by longtime Mouth cohort Mike Mayeux, "Jet Black and Jealous" is a CD as brilliant in it's narrative and melody as it is in its spare simplicity. Though it features original versions of three songs that have since become Mouth staples ("Louisiana Lowdown and Blue," My Little Blue One" and Light It OnFire"), "Jet Black" is otherwise stuffed with a cornucopian supply of wonderfully descriptive vignettes like the achingly erotic "Confidential Dance," the instrumental country ballad "Carl Calls Kristie," the wittily ironic eulogy for a relationship, "Real Good Time," and the literate title track. Sanchez is a wizard with words and description, and his depictions of magical or lonely nights, or the quality of morning smells like newspapers and coffee take on an amazing poignant image in the context of his wise narratives. OFfbeat May 1992 by Rick Coleman Paul Sanchez, Jet black and Jealous Paul Sanchez is a talented songwriter, musician and singer. A veteran of new york's "anti-folk bohemia", Sanchez displays a remarkable lyrical gift in this all-acoustic collection of personal vignettes of loves and loves lost. He spent fifteen years in Cowboy Mouth as guitarist and songwriter and the Cowboy Mouth connection is apparent in two hard-edged songs that are performed in concert by the group-'Louisiana Lowdown and Blue' and 'Light it on Fire'. 'Picture of You Wearing Bones' and 'Jet Black and Jealous' resemble classic folk polemics. Accompanied by only a guitar, Sanchez croons like a Spanish balladeer in 'Maria' and breathes softly through the pop-jazz ballad 'In My Dreams'. but Sanchez's lyrics are equally powerful. His fine, high tenor reaches for edgy emotions as he sings about waking up in panic in a strange bed, choking on conversations, fans blowing cat hair, and spilling chili in the French quarter-everyday things that trigger purple emotions, but at the same time, stress the impermanence of experience that makes memories worth remembering."I will tell you a story", sings Sanchez in a remarkable tribute to his father, "and if it's not told it will disappear." "...My mom and daddy met when they were still 18/moved into the city and had a family/he worked the river every day and every night/came home to my mother and this was their life. Weekends they'd dance on thee river boats/walk to save a nickel to buy themselves a coke/they were young it was 1923/thirty years before they would get to me He was a gambler and he was a drinker/but every single sunday no matter what you think/he'd be in church he never missed a Sunday/me i haven't been since he passed away. My father passed away when he waas very young/eleven children he and my mother they had/he'd been an orphan and all he ever wanted was a family... when he died it was all he had." Taken from Four Albums You Might've Missed in 1993, as it appeared in the column "Music" by Todd Mouton, published in The Times of Acadiana, V14n20, January 26, 1994. Paul Sanchez, Jet Black and Jealous (Little Fish Platters). This debut batch of songs by Paul Sanchez (solo on his guitar) is brilliant. The album works as a unit, sewn together by his sad stories, tight narrative style, beautiful voice and catchy turns of phrase. Album Review of Jet Black and Jealous by Stephen A. Ide as it appeared in "Dirty Linen" [date unknown] Paul Sanchez is a rocker whose percussive acoustic guitar is effective as a backdrop to personal, vivid songs about experiencing life one relationship at a time. At times it's an attractive picture, other times not. When the member of the rock band Cowboy Mouth is not singing of old lovers, infatuation and jealousy, Sanchez relays a facet of his family life. It's Sanchez unplugged, but the power still flows. In the lead-off song about onetime love affairs, "Confidential Dance," his images sizzle from the first lines: "I reached my hand under her black sweater / Buried my face deep in her blond hair." He doesn't get much more graphic than that, but that's only because the relationships end before they can get started. Sanchez was raised in New Orleans, so it follows that influences of that city would emerge in the rocking "Louisiana Lowdown and Blue," which conjures images of surviving a drunken binge and trying to put it all behind him. Then in more tender moments, Sanchez sings about passing on family history before family members die in "Tell You a Story." This album has Sanchez's elastic tenor vocals winding around his acoustic guitar, though there's a smattering of lead guitar, harmonica and a lovely instrumental ("Carl Calls Kristie") that features Sanchez's lead acoustic guitar over a backdrop of rhythm guitar, piano and snare drum.