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My guess is that if you were in the audience you wanted the gig never to end and there was much

more to come. ‘Cherry Red’ (a lascivious and well know blues) , Muddy’s, ‘You Can't Lose’ What You
Never Had’, Charles Brown’s ‘Drifting Blues’, and a final tribute to Pinetop Perkins with Bekker’s
‘Pinetop’. Oh My! I wish I had been there.

Okay, I’ll fess up and say that I had not heard of the good Dr Bekker until a bundle of CDs fell into
the letter box. Let me say, however, that I am so delighted that the omission in my musical

education has been corrected!

Wonderful! Herlig!

Ian K McKenzie

Jesper Theis—The Tide Will Turn Again—Straight Shooter
Records (download only via www.jespertheis.com and
www.cdbaby.com)

In the very best tradition of the blues, Mr Theis refers to
himself on his website as a ‘travelling bluesman’. Jesper Theis
used to be a schoolteacher in Aalborg, a city of more than
200,000 residents in the northern part of Denmark.

At the age of 32, he recognized that he could not serve his

musical passion on a part-time basis, so he took a leap of faith,
quitting his job and becoming a full-time professional musician.

His first album “Narrow Line” (2017) he decided to concentrate
on his song writing and although that album had a few covers, there are none here. Just 11 original
songs.

Usually playing resonator guitar with a slide, Theis is often accompanied by Olav Gudnason on
double bass, and sometimes works in a duo with a harp player. Here he has gone full hog with a
terrific little band consisting of Jesper carrying all the vocals and playing acoustic guitar, resonator
and banjo, Tim Lothar on dobro, acoustic guitar, accordion, and organ, of course, Olav Gudnason on
double bass . The band also includes, Jarno Varsted on harmonica and electric guitar and Søren

Lykkegaard on drums and percussion.

The music is wonderful, the kind of stuff you kick back and relax in a recliner chair, turn down the
lights and imagine you are in a club with a drink in your hand and let it was over you. On reason for
this wonderful atmospheric ambience may be that the whole album was recorded ‘in the round’
with all the musicians sharing a single mic and with one-take recording.

Check out, the delightful, Son House like, ‘You Don’t Listen’ or the thoughtful, ‘Let Me Put Your
Mind At Ease’ a contemporary blues with Jesper all alone with some gentle Hurt-picking. ‘You Just
Keep Fooling Around’ comes with slide work and reminds me of a 1930s string band. Excellent. The
title track has a slight country feel to it, while ‘Closing Time Blues’ is a delightful ensemble piece
with flat-picked banjo and and some nice dobro work.

Nice stuff

Ian K McKenzie