Page 44 - BiTS_03_MARCH_2022

Pender (trumpet) and Richard Rosenberg (trombone), John's pounding piano and Mayall and Taylor

trading licks on harp and guitar. Can the album keep up this pace? Err, yes! - 'Take No More' is
funky, more brass and Marcus King on excellent lead guitar, 'I’m As Good As Gone' by Bobby Rush
is moody and features Buddy Miller on baritone guitar alongside John's distinctive organ.

'Got To Find A Better Way' is a poignant Mayall original that features Dylan-associate Scarlet
Rivera on violin, however like many of his classic albums John also includes his versions of blues
songs by his contemporaries, 'Chills and Thrills' is a version of a Bernard Allison song that features

guitarist Mike Campbell (from The Heartbreakers, Fleetwood Mac). The band on the album
comprises John's longtime rhythm section of Greg Rzab (bass) and Jay Davenport (drums) with
Billy Watts (rhythm guitar) and Scarlet Rivera is back for the upbeat 'Deep Blue Sea' which rocks
along. Melvin Taylor is also back for a version of Junior Parker's 'Driving Wheel' with more nice
authentic riffing brass and pounding bass guitar and the closing title track sees recent Mayall

guitarist Carolyn Wonderland returning to play on this typical Mayall slow-ish blues. I must admit
that I wasn't keen on 'One Special Lady' which featured Jake Shimabukuro on electric ukulele - as
someone from the North West couldn't John have asked him to play a George Formby song?
However, overall this is a very good album, like all his other albums on Forty Below Records, and
I'm always amazed how strong John's voice still sounds.

Graham Harrison

Robben Ford and the Blue Line—Live At Yoshi’s—Repertoire
Records—ASIN: B09HHKNQDM

This 2x CD set (total time 1 hour 43 minutes) captures Robben
and the band playing live at Oakland's jazz venue Yoshi's in 1996,
with the band being Bill Boublitz (keyboards), Roscoe Beck (bass)
and Tom Brechtlein (drums). It's Robben's typical blend of blues
and jazz - as in the opener the instrumental 'Philly Blues' which

features the leader's guitar to the fore but also Boublitz's
stabbing organ and the dynamic rhythm section which adds nice
frills but keeps swinging throughout. 'Chevrolet', 'Good Thing'
'Moth to a Flame' and 'Lovin' Cup' are all fairly conventional
blues songs with Robben singing, while 'Start It Up', 'Time

Remembered' and 'Bounce That' are instrumentals, with 'Start It Up' being relentlessly funky,
'Time Remembered' being ethereal and the 14-minute 'Bounce That' featuring a tricky drum solo
from Brechtlein.

Side 2 opens with the R&B standard 'Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying' (as done by Gerry and the
Pacemakers in Britain) but here taken at a stately pace with delicious bass tripping through it,
followed by a funky take on the Crusaders' 'Put It Where You Want It' where you don't really miss

the brass and we also get a bass solo from Mr. Beck. 'Wes' - presumably a tribute to Wes
Montgomery - is the most conventional jazz track here and we bow out with 'Another Corner' a 10-
minute instrumental featuring Bill Boublitz on piano and some screaming lead guitar from Robben.

I'm not a huge fan of jazz/blues but this is a great combination of actual blues songs with vocals
and also jazzy instrumentals which feature not only Robben's sinuous guitar playing with its
rock/blues rather than jazz tone but also Bill Boublitz's versatile keyboard playing and a superb

rhythm section who support throughout but also shine as individual players. The sound quality is