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has a more soulful blues edge. ‘Stop! Think About It!’ is just a good old style twelve
bar blues. ‘3.35AM’ is an instrumental, a sort of Freddie King tribute with some

lovely guitar picking whilst ‘Hard Luck And Trouble’ is a solid driving blues.

‘Sinking’ is a nice bluesy burning ballad that has a hint of Wayne Baker Brooks

about it, really liked this one. ‘Soul City One’ is another instrumental which has the
nice feel of a Booker T and the MG’s tune and there is a real gospel feel to ‘If I Could
Only Hear My Mother Pray Again’. The album closes with ‘Your Dreams’ a soothing

slow bluesy ballad with a showcase vocal over a simple piano line.

The musicianship from the band is great throughout, tight rhythm section and

tasteful touches of piano and organ really enhance the overall sound. Oliver (Mac-
Donald) has a great soulful voice with a richness that takes you back to the greats
like Johnny Adams and Z.Z. Hill. His guitar work is first class, often understated and

not overused with a deft touch to please the ear of any blues listener. You can
definitely hear nuances of Albert Collins and BB King in there.

The overall production of this album is clean and polished with a real American feel
to it. At times is brought to mind B.B. King’s album, “ There Is Always One More
Time” which happens to be a favourite of mine. Anyhow, I would strongly urge all

blues fans to give this album a spin, you will not be disappointed.

Ged Wilson

Martin Harley—Morning Sun—Del Mundo Re-
cords

Martin Harley is both well known and respected as
one of the best acoustic blues guitarists in the UK.

Having been nominated for AMA instrumentalist of
the year, best acoustic guitarist and best acoustic
blues artist, Martin is making his mark. “Morning
Sun” is his first solo album in five years.

The title track ‘Morning Sun’ opens the album with a
delightful uplifting feel to it whilst ‘Wolves’ has a

more Americana touch. ‘I’ll Carry You’ is such a nice and gentle love song. ‘Chop
Your Own Wood’ is a darker blues with some lovely swampy slide guitar and Deep
South style harmonica from Clive Mellor which sounds not too dissimilar to the

great Charlie Musselwhite no less. The track ‘48’ is a tale of growing old and the
song reminded me somewhat of the style of Eric Bibb.

There is a hint of country to ‘Best Is Yet To Come’ a nice tune to get your foot
tapping. ‘Lemonade’ is an interesting song with is nice and light jazz infusion that
brought to mind both the style and sound of Jamie Cullum. It’s back to the blues

with ‘Stranger’ which has a very interesting arrangement to it somewhat similar to
some of the arrangements Cassandra Wilson uses on her blues tunes. ‘Shotgun And