Page 45 - BiTS_04_APRIL_2023

Sean Taylor Band – Live – Independent
(www.seantaylorsongs.com)
North London-based Sean is not a blues performer per se, but the
blues is certainly a large part of his approach, and he does play
plenty of blues venues. Perhaps it is best to think of him as in the
lineage of the more strongly blues-inflected folk singers of the
60s – politically committed (try the punky ‘This Is England’ or
‘Grenfell’) and rootsy – listen to his blues harp break on the
opening ‘Number 49’. Sean’s first piano feature here, ‘The Beat
Goes On’ leans towards cool sixties’ soul-jazz, and then there is a

name-checking number like ‘Texas Boogie’, which is kind of what
it says on the tin. In contrast, I was wondering if the song was a blues with psychedelic folk
touches, before I realised about half through its four and a half minutes that ‘You’ll Never Walk
Alone’ is indeed the song beloved of Liverpool FC fans!

Recorded in October last year, Sean is backed here, very subtly, by the double bass of Mike Seal
and drummer/ percussionist Paulina Szcepaniak. The album – and presumably the gig – closes,
totally appropriately, with a cover of Richie Havens’ “Woodstock Festival” anthem, ‘Freedom’,
which maybe is where we came in…

Norman Darwen

Rhythm Krewe – Unfinished Business – Rhombus Rho7152

Right from the first notes of the opening tracks, Johnny “Guitar”
Watson’s ‘She Moves Me’, you know this is going to be a good ‘un.
There’s a fine vocal, crisp guitar intro and solo, swinging rhythm
section, lovely horns, and tasty breaks by sax and piano.

The thing is, this nine-piece outfit from southern California keeps
up this same very high standard throughout this admirable set.
Singer/ guitarist/ bandleader Steve Zelman wrote much of the
material, and it falls squarely into a blues bag, with the band
capturing that Modern/ RPM sound of the 50s or vintage New

Orleans Rhythm and Blues to good effect.
The overall effect is of a cool approach, not always associated with the blues these days – no
histrionic solos here – and maybe that’s our loss. Listen to the groove of, say, ‘Better Late Than

Never’, or maybe the slow blues of ‘Time Of Day’.

A couple of covers also show the band’s blues credentials. Lend an ear to ‘Her Mind Is Gone’, the
Professor Longhair New Orleans classic. Or, try maybe ‘She’s Murder’ – Saint Louis Jimmy’s
‘Murder In The First Degree’, via James Cotton’s version, again given a deceptively easy but very
effective treatment.

As you might have gathered, I’m rather taken with this set. Blues all the way, no nonsense, just
lots of first class sounds!

Norman Darwen