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Harrell ‘Rell’ Davenport. Although this album is another small step away from
straight blues, in truth it’s pretty much similar to his previous albums with Christone

showing that he has the chops to play blues, rock and modern R&B and equally his
singing is at home in any genre. As well as Marty Sammon (keyboards) the band
here is Tom Hambridge (drums), Kenny Greenburg (guitar), Glen Worf or Tom

MacDonald (bass) and Tom’s daughters Sarah and Rachel (backing vocals).

Graham Harrison

Mud Morganfield—Deep Mud—Nola Blue Records
ASIN: B0FG5832X2

This is Muddy Waters’ eldest son Larry ‘Mud’

Morganfield’s latest album recorded in Chicago and
produced by Studebaker John who also plays harp on
ten of the fourteen tracks and according to Mud it’s “All

Chicago blues – no rock blues here.” Good man! We kick
off with ‘Bring Me My Whiskey’ and ‘Big Frame Woman’
two Muddy-style songs, while ‘Strange Woman’ is a

mournful slow blues as featured by his father.

Then suddenly ‘She’s Getting Her Groove On’ is apparently a live track (?) with a
brass section led by Phil Perkins (trumpet), while ‘Ernestine’ is a powerful track

with fine harp and built on rolling piano from Roosevelt Purifoy. Other band
members are Rick Kreher and Mike Wheeler (guitars), Sumito Ariyo Ariyoshi
(keyboards), E. G. McDaniel (bass) and Melvin “Pooky Styx” Carlisle (drums).

‘Strike Like Lightning’ is a slow blues, ‘Cosigner Man’ has brass and backing vocals,
before ‘Lover Man’ gets us back to classic Chicago blues with Studebaker John’s harp
leading the way, while ‘In and Out of My Life’ is a mellow, reflective song with tinkling

piano and backing vocals. ‘The Man that You’re With’ seems like an attempt to
replicate a classic Muddy Waters sound and for me it failed because the slide guitar
wasn’t quite good enough.

However, an actual Muddy song ‘Country Boy’ is delivered superbly – wonderful
harp from John and also vocals from Mud. You could say that we’ve heard this all
before and that Chicago blues has moved on since the 50/60s – and you’d be dead

right! However, for me The Muddy Waters Band was the apogee of ensemble blues
playing, with its wonderful interplay between the rhythm section, guitars, piano and
harmonica and Mud and the band do a good job in capturing that here, with Mud’s

voice in particular capturing his father’s authority and menace.

Graham Harrison