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REVIEWS

Cuby & Blizzards—Window of My Eyes—Continental Records
Services

For many years and for reason I no longer remember (was it a

review in “Blues Unlimited”?), Holland’s Cuby And (The)
Blizzards were one of the few blues outfits from mainland Europe
who had some level of recognition in the UK. This four track EP
foreshadows a live set of material recorded between 2001 and
2011, to be released in September.

Cuby was front man Harry Muskee, who died in 2011. He shows
the strength of his singing on this teaser, with this incarnation of
The Blizzards spot-on too. ‘The Sky Is Crying’ is played

reasonably straight, the melancholy ballad, ‘Somebody Will Know Someday’, is moodily jazzy, the
band’s theme song, and ‘Window Of My Eyes’, originally released in 1968, is a very fine and subtle
slab of blues-rock.

The EP closes with the nine minutes long, traditional-sounding slow blues of ‘I’m In Love’. It left
this listener looking forward to hearing the full album when it is released.

Norman Darwen

(www.continentalrecordservices.bandcamp.com/album/window-of-my-eyes-digital-ep)

Jo Harman and Company—Live at Hideaway—Chief 020

The reissue of this live set marks ten years since Jo Harman
burst onto the UK blues scene, a first class vocalist as at home
with soul, funk and ballads as she is with blues-rock and the
blues pure and simple. The album was a live recording intended
more as a calling card to attract attention from those within the
blues business than as a formal release, as Jo was then very
early in her blues career, but events quickly overtook it. Jo did

in fact tend to undervalue this release for a long time, so this
opportunity to listen to what quickly became something of a
collector’s item is extremely welcome.

Part of the problem for Jo was that her band line-up was at that time fairly fluid, and yes, her cues
to the band are sometimes audible, but in a way that only adds to the feeling. To be honest, these
are excellent musicians anyway. Another criticism she made was that there were too many cover
versions. Again, that’s not a problem now — Jo has a large repertoire of originals these days, and
besides, songs like The Isley Brothers’ ‘Summer Breeze’ and Janis Joplin’s ‘Move Over’ (a really

powerful rendition) aren’t exactly done to death on the UK blues scene!

Although the original set is available on vinyl, the CD release comes with a bonus disc of material
(including more excellent blues-rock) from the same period. So, Jo’s fan base is definitely going to
want this edition — particularly as the performances are of such a high standard.