Jelly Bean Baby: California Sessions Vol. II is Peter Nande’s third CD release, and his second recording in three years under the auspices of blues artist and producer James Harman. Like its predecessor, Big Boy Boogie: California Sessions Vol. I (2006), it features a baker’s dozen of distinctive, danceable original blues-based songs. These were written primarily by songwriter/vocalist/harp player Peter Nande, with help from Harman, guitarist Ronni Busack-Boysen and, on one track, organist Neil Wauchope, and recorded with Busack-Boysen and a stellar supporting cast, assembled by Harman.

Jelly Bean Baby expands upon the format that made Big Boy Boogie a success. Nande spins clever tales around the general theme of human desire and its consequences… stories of infidelity, excess, and finding one’s way. Nande isn’t afraid to take his time, telling his stories with a sly grin and anchoring them in the propulsive, hypnotic rhythms and tonal vocabulary of American blues and Caribbean music, flavored with jazzy touches.

Give a listen to “Beware Brother,” a tale of marital caution set to an irresistible groove; check out the reggae-styled double entendre “Slo’ Poke,” or “Ridin’ the Gravy Train,” with its lyric about livin’ the high life, set to a primal Mississippi blues rhythm. Listen to “Walk the Talk,” which condemns a woman’s unfaithful behavior, but moves with such a driving shuffle beat that you can’t help but visualize the same woman shakin’ what her mama gave her; somehow, you know she’ll get away with it. These songs work on more than one level, clearly, and bear evidence of Nande’s artistry, separating him from the glut of blues musicians who are happy simply to regurgitate “Sweet Home Chicago.”

Nande executes his ideas with inspired support from Busack-Boysen, who has played with Nande for three years and has earned a reputation as one of Europe’s top guitar players, and with the guidance of Harman, his creative mentor, and Harman’s crack team of blues artists. These include guitarist/engineer Nathan James, bassist Buddy Clark, percussionist Mike Tempo and others. The songs, primarily, are Nande’s, but they come to fruition only under the care of the entire ensemble.

Here’s the back story: Peter Nande is a Danish blues musician. Born in 1968, he’s pursued his blues quest since age 16 or so, when he first heard the music of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. Fascinated by the harmonica and the blues genre, he devoted a decade to studying such blues masters as Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and others, as well as working blues artists, including Harman. In 1998 Nande formed a band, Nande & the Big Difference. In 2002 the band released a CD and soon began playing festivals in Europe, often backing top American blues artists.

Nande’s group disbanded in 2005. Nande set his sights on recording in the U.S. with American musicians. The dream became reality in 2006 when Nande and Busack-Boysen flew to California to cut a CD with Harman as producer. Big Boy Boogie was engineered by Nathan James, and recorded in Nathan’s home studio in Oceanside, Calif. The CD was nominated for Danish Blues Album of the Year by the Danish Blues Awards in 2007, and contributed mightily to Nande’s recognition as Danish Blues Musician of the Year for 2007 by the Copenhagen Music Festival. The release elevated Nande’s status in Europe, helping to make the Peter Nande Band an increasingly sought-after act for festival and club work.

During 2007, Harman with his Bamboo Porch trio, including Nathan James and Ben Hernandez, toured Scandinavia for three weeks. Harman gigged at festivals and other shows with the Peter Nande Band and with the trio. “They all stayed at my apartment in the middle of Copenhagen on the Danish part of the tour,” Nande recalls. “We‘re talkin’ fun and blues 24 hours a day for three straight weeks.”

This brings us to Jelly Bean Baby. Nande prepped for more than two months with Busack-Boysen prior to the sessions, which took place over two weeks beginning Feb. 1 in the garage studio of Nathan’s new residence in Oceanside.

“I brought over a bunch of ideas and demo tracks,” Nande explains. “James called his friends and band members to join the session, and Nathan set it all up at his garage studio. James has taught me that it’s important not to prepare too much, as you get the best ideas while you record. The material has to be fresh and interesting to the musicians – then they give their best.”

Harman helped break the ice as the sessions began, “tellin’ stories and makin’ everybody laugh,” Nande says. “One of his secrets as a producer is that he makes everybody feel good and have a great time while they record. He’s not just producing the music and songs, but also has the important ability to bring out the best in every musician and make everybody feel relaxed.”

However, to coax out Nande’s full potential, Harman sometimes took a less casual approach, one that was at times bluntly honest and demanding.