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give it a real Ry Cooder vibe. This is a fine album of ten original songs that isn’t as bluesy as some
of Luke’s earlier albums but is very accessible and does have some great playing and production.
(The album’s title song seems to have disappeared from this copy of the album, possibly because
of its similarity to Don McLean’s ‘Vincent’.)

Graham Harrison
Oliver Darling—Lee’s Blues—Another Planet Music ASIN :
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Over the years I’ve seen Oliver performing with various acts at the
Gloucester Blues Festival but this is a solo album, with help from
Rollo Markee (harp, vocals) and Rob Pokorny (drums) and a
couple of others on a few tracks. The album was produced in
Oliver’s home studio with Marco Cinelli (The Cinelli Brothers) as
co-producer and Oliver has written eight of the eleven tracks. The
title track is a lovely finger-picking instrumental with drums and
Rollo adds his harp for a chilling version of Skip James’ ‘Devil Got
My Woman’, while Billy Hill’s ‘Glory of Love’ pays homage to Big Bill Broonzy who also covered
it. Muddy Waters’ ‘Got Love’ is an up-tempo song featuring Rollo on vocals and harp and also
has drums and ‘Don’t Think I’m That Crazy Anymore’ is a solo slide song like a lost Robert Johnson
track.

Rollo and Rob are back for both ‘Honey Bee’ (with its Bo Diddley beat) and ‘(You Should Be)
Worried About Your Woman’ which also has Bob Loveday on fiddle. I really liked ‘Anne’ a
poignant solo love song with Oliver’s voice being particularly good and ‘Champagne and Caviar’
is jazzy with Joe Glossop adding his piano. ‘She's My Baby’ is an exciting blend of blues and
Western Swing with Mr. Loveday’s fiddle combining with Oliver’s picking, more of his picking
on ‘I’m Your Guy’ a melodic ballad. I enjoyed this album which while very blues-based also
incorporates lots of variety and while it is an Oliver Darling solo album I felt that the few extra

musicians just added a nice extra level of interest.

Graham Harrison

KB Bayley—Flatlands— Self Release

KB Bayley is a UK songwriter based in London and “Flatlands” is
his second album release.

The album opens with the title track ‘Flatlands’ a nice gentle
lament of lost love and yearning with some nice soft vocals that
overlay the sound of the Weissenborn perfectly. ‘Driftwood Ave-
nue’ is another gentle tale of Americana with some lovely har-
monica from Gavin Thomas. There is a more bluesy feel to the
Jean Ritchie cover ‘The L & N Don’t Stop Here Anymore’ whilst
you will find some great lyrics in ‘Year Zero’ such as, “it’s the last
kiss on the second date that always hurts the most”, love that!