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The Liam Ward Band —Shine—Green Bullet GB2302

(www.liamwardmusic.com)

Liam may be known to some as the harp player/ multi-
instrumentalist with the rather nice Jake Leg Jug Band, but

there is a lot more to him that that. Apart from the
admittedly excellent, Sonny Boy Williamson No.2 flavoured
solo track ‘Give It All Up For You’ that closes this set, here

he leads a tight band through some fine electric blues, and
they are all originals written by Liam himself. There is just
one exception, ‘Stone In My Shoe’, which is a collaboration with the band’s guitarist

Malcolm Thorne.

Liam is a good singer, a better than average songwriter and a very impressive harpman
– and all these qualities, plus being a fine band-leader, are well in evidence on this

set. The opener has a tinge of the California blues sound of the harmonica led bands
out of the Orange State (and also some of the sass that often goes along with that too).
The aforementioned ‘Stone In My Shoe’ has strong elements of the cool side of the

60s R’n’B sound. ‘Five Hundred Dollar Bail’ is a strong Chicago styled boogie-tinged
blues with some Jimmy Reed inspired high register harp and some rather interesting
lyrics, whilst the title track has hints of Bo Diddley.

The lengthy ‘Everything’s Gonna Be Fine’ is a convincing slow blues, whilst the
following two numbers, ‘Pack Your Sense Of Humour’ and ‘Do What You Do’ both

lighten the mood again. So, an all-around strong blues album. Chalk up a winner for
Liam and crew.

Norman Darwen

Louis Prima Forever—Christmas in Swing—Frémeaux
Et Associés

Italian-American singer, bandleader and trumpeter Louis
Prima was hugely popular in the 50s with his jumping
blues and jazz. He was from New Orleans, and so he also
had an influence from Louis Armstrong, particularly

Satchmo’s jive-ier side. During the 80s revival of vintage
rock and roll, rockabilly and jump-blues, he was often

mentioned in the same breath as Louis Jordan (particularly
in the UK), which perhaps wasn’t too outlandish.

He was an obvious inspiration for this French group, an eight-piece including a female

lead vocalist and three horns. Prima’s sense of bonhomie is infectious. This is one
Christmas album that isn’t cheesy but will bring a smile to your face. There are
adaptations of some recent Christmas classics – Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For