Page 45 - BiTS_02_FEBRUARY_2025

Nico Wayne Toussaint—From Clarksdale

With Love—KCKC Records

Nico Wayne Toussaint is a singer, guitarist and
harmonica player from Toulon in France who

has recorded several times in the US with
American musicians for the Dixiefrog label.
However, this album of original songs was

recorded in France with French musicians but
inspired by a recent trip to Mississippi where

Nico stayed on a houseboat and visited local
blues clubs. We begin with ‘Memphis’ a lovely song featuring just Nico’s
vocals and harmonica, ‘Wanna Try Somebody’ is an up-tempo band song

with brass and ‘Valentine’ is a Bo Diddley-style rocker with Nico’s harp and
more brass.‘Mr. Bartender’ is a loping down-and-dirty blues with nice guitar,

while ‘Make It Count’ and ‘I Was Wrong’ are two blues featuring Nico’s fine
harp playing.

‘Let the Boys Have a Go’ is Stax-style soul with blasting brass and it’s got to
be said that the band sound really authentic - they are Michel Foizon (guitar),

Jean-Pierre Legout (keyboards), Rémi Grangé (bass), Romain Gratalon
(drums), Pascal Drapeau (trumpet), Cyril Dumeaux (tenor sax) and

Sébastien ‘Lep’ Arruti (trombone). Both ‘Jesse James’ and ‘Greyhound’ mix
blues with West African-style guitar playing, with the latter also having
distinctive slide guitar. ‘Never Too Old’ is a driving blues with more harp

from Nico and we sign off with ‘Every Town’ an acoustic song with just Nico
singing over his own guitar. Apparently, this is Nico’s fifteenth album and

he certainly sounds very experienced and at ease, his harp playing is very
accomplished and I was very impressed by the band who you would swear
were American by the way they play.

Graham Harrison

Grant Sabin—Work—Gitcha Records

This is the third album from Grant Sabin, a
singer/slide guitarist from Colorado, it’s

produced by AJ Fullerton and Forrest Raup,
with AJ playing bass and guitar and with Raup

on drums. The opening title track is a hill
country-style blues with atmospheric echoey

production and tripping drums and on the
following ‘Baby Wanna Be Right’ the prod-

uction gets even more echoey with Grant