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engineering – and this combination results in a modern take on traditional blues which I found
quite refreshing. We begin with a nice version of Paul Wine Jones’ ‘Rob & Steal’ (wot no harp?)
we do hear his harp on ‘Get By’ as well as guitar from Dave Gross and ‘Trouble’ is a catchy song
featuring wah-wah guitar from Gross and wah-wah clavinet from Mr. Wainwright.

‘She’s So Cold’ is a more traditional blues but again with the slight twist of added banjo and ‘Just
as Gone’ is a driving blues with great-sounding bluesy harp and slide guitar, while ‘Nobody But
You’ is a cover of a blues ballad by Asie Payton. We don’t get any harp again on the laid-back
‘You Know Who I Am’ which features the interlocking guitars of A.J. and McCrady but luckily
we finish with an instrumental featuring TWO harmonicas – Holiday and A.J.Fullerton-associate
Jake Friel – the loping, melodic ‘Yazoo River’. I really enjoyed this record which is traditional
blues but given a slight twist to add a more modern edge but still keep that intensity and grit
of real blues - my only criticism would be that with only eight tracks and at under 25 minutes
it is just too short!

Graham Harrison

King Leo—King Leo—King Leo

Listening to New Zealand band King Leo you’d be convinced that
they were authentic American blues and in a way you’d be right,
the front man Leo LaDell (vocals, guitar, bass, harmonica,
keyboards) is originally from Virginia where he played the blues
for over 20 years. The first three tracks here – ‘Played for a Fool’,
‘Sweet as a Woman Can Be’ and ‘In the Evening’ are classic
Chicago blues powered by LaDell’s harp. However, they also do
a more melodic soul-inflected piano-led style as in ‘A World with
You In It’, ‘Wherever You May Be’ and the acoustic ‘Take Me’ as
well as rocking jump blues – ‘Lord I Gotta Win One’ and ‘Doggin’
Me Around’. LaDell has a good voice and the band back him up perfectly. Listen to the biting
slow blues ‘Down on My Knees’. This is an accomplished album well worth a listen.

Graham Harrison

The Rough Guide to Blowin’ the Blues—World Music
Network—ASIN: B0BW358DJ6

The key phrase in this album’s description is “players who
pioneered…” – don’t expect to hear Little Walter, Big Walter
(Horton) or Sonny Boy Williamson here, this is the generation
before, acoustic folk blues players like the iconic Sonny Terry.
Many of the artists featured here, like Deford Bailey (‘Muscle
Shoals Blues’) and Palmer McAbee (‘Lost Boy Blues’), play in a
style that harks back to string bands pre-dating the blues. It’s a
style that is melodic if a trifle repetitive but for me it has a definite
charm – although most of the tracks also have very bad sound
quality with the 78-derived music accompanied by loud crackling - like someone frying chips
in the background.

There are early versions of more recognisable blues here like opener ‘Man Trouble Blues’ by
Jaybird Coleman where he plays and sings over boogie piano and ‘Bad Luck’s My Buddy’ features
the excellent Noah Lewis once of Gus Cannon’s Jug Band. ‘Sarah Jane’ features the rather more
sophisticated Jazz Gillum singing and playing on this perky fun song, while ‘Wang Wang