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of ‘Heart So Cruel’. The only cover on the album is the traditional ‘Alberta’, attributed to

‘Leadbelly’. Here BLP waxes softly and lyrically with the atmospheric feather-light brushwork from
Juli Moscovitz, enhancing the very soft and enticing dreadnought and dobro guitars.

There are two darkly sinister numbers here; the first is ‘I Killed The King Of The Blues’, a re-
worked tale of the death of Robert Johnson, BLP sounds like a very solemn Tom Waits, with a lonely
wailing harmonica joining a sonorously sombre slide. The second ‘Death Don’t Ask Permission’, is
led by a funereal paced, solemn bass and percussion which underpins a deathly echoing Dobro

while BLP’s gently emotive subdued vocals state the facts.

Most impressive!

Brian Harman.

Chris Jagger—Mixing up the Medicine—BMG ASIN:
B095GFCFT3

Chris Jagger has been around for a long time and you wonder if
that is just because his older brother is Rolling Stone Sir Mick but
right from the first track - the Van Morrison-ish ‘Anyone Seen My
Heart’ - this album is engaging, it’s bluesy if not exactly blues
with interesting songs and good playing and a nice relaxed, loose
atmosphere. ‘Merry Go Round’ and ‘Love’s Around the Corner’
are both brass driven songs, the former with slide guitar and the

latter with blues harmonica and both have a slight Caribbean lilt,
while ‘Talking to Myself’ is a jazzy stop time number in the style
of Mose Allison that really swings, with Les Morgan on drums and a nice tenor sax break. The
album was recorded with longtime collaborator Charlie Hart who plays piano and bass, with
contributions from Neil Hubbard and John Etheridge (guitar), Nick Payn and Frank Mead (horns),

Dylan Howe (drums) and Olly Blanchflower (bass). ‘Loves’ Horn’ sounds like an Eastern European
sea shanty and ‘Hey Brother’ is a poignant message to his older sibling and we finish with ‘Too
Many Cockerels’ an updated jug-band song with harmonica and accordion. I enjoyed this record
which maintains an overall sound while also having lots of variety, Chris isn't a particularly
wonderful singer but he holds his own with his talented backing musicians.

Graham Harrison

Eric Bibb—Dear America—Provogue Records ASIN:

B096TW84GT

Eric Bibb has a beautiful voice and is a wonderful acoustic guitar
player and he's long been regarded as just a country blues player
and although he does do that his albums over the last 15 years or
so have also included more thoughtful, political songs and have
incorporated other types of music to leaven the mix. The opening

track here ‘Whole Lotta Lovin’ is a gentle acoustic song with Ron
Carter on bass as Eric runs down his musical and culinary tastes,
then 'Born Of A Woman' is much darker - it has a African vibe as
it relates stories of domestic violence and features Shaneeka
Simon on vocals and some nice slide guitar. The blues isn't forgotten though - ‘Whole World's Got

The Blues’ relates ‘the blues’ to current situations in the world and a general malaise, it also has