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Joanne Shaw Taylor—The Blues Album—KTBA Records ASIN :
B09B14PZ8G

It seems odd that the week after Joanne Shaw Taylor's guitar-
toting contemporary Samantha Fish released a non-blues album
'Faster' Joanne releases this ALL blues record on Joe Bonamassa’s
record label KTBA Records, produced by Joe and Josh Smith at
Ocean Way Studios in Nashville. We kick off with a stunning
version of Fleetwood Mac's 'Stop Messin' Round' with great
guitar and heartfelt vocals, more of the same on the old Little
Milton track 'If That Ain’t A Reason' and the Magic Sam song
'Keep On Lovin’ Me' really captures that West Side Soul sound.

The James Ray classic 'If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody'
was a hit for Freddie and the Dreamers in the UK but Joanne's soulful cover leans more to the
Bonnie Raitt version and Joanne also covers 'Three Time Loser' Bonnie's version of the Don Corvay
song. 'Don’t Go Away Mad' is a slightly more modern song from the 1990 Little Village album
featuring Ry Cooder and John Hiatt, it has a different feel from the other tracks, more relaxed and
with Mr. Bonamassa also adding his vocals - not particularly bluesy but it does include a short
really bluesy guitar solo.
As good as Joanne is out front the album is really enhanced by wonderful playing from the band

including Reese Wynans (keyboards), Steve Patrick (trumpet), Mark Douthit (sax), Barry Green
(trombone), Steve Mackey (bass) and Greg Morrow (drums) as well as Joe and Josh's guitars and
production. 'Can’t You See What You’re Doing To Me' is an old Albert King number with stinging
lead guitar and riffing brass and the slow blues 'Let Me Down Easy' by Maurice Dollinson (Cash
McCall) starts off subdued but builds to a powerful climax. Another slightly more modern song is
the rocking 'Two Time My Lovin’ by The Fabulous Thunderbirds, this is followed by the sublime 'I
Don’t Know What You’ve Got' originally a Little Richard B-side delivered here as a keening soul
ballad with Joanna sharing the vocals with Mike Farris.

To be honest I wasn't expecting too much from this record but I'm shocked how good it is - both
Joanna's wonderful vocals and guitar playing - she eschewed Joe's vintage guitars and played
mainly her own 1966 Fender Esquire ‘Junior’ but did go through his vintage amps. I was also
impressed by the production and the choice of songs - not the obvious blues classics but a really
interesting collection of songs that give a great variety of sounds and styles. As both a big Peter
Green and Bonnie Raitt fan I was a bit nervous how their songs would turn out - they turned out
great! - slightly different to the originals but capturing their feel and soul. THE Blues album of the
year?

Graham Harrison

Samantha Fish—Faster—Rounder Records ASIN : B09B1VL5Q

Right from the word go with the shortish title track this seems
different from her previous work, her voice seems more 'poppy',

'All Ice and No Whiskey' and 'Twisted Ambition' also seem vocal
heavy - with both Samantha herself plus backup vocalists. The
album was produced by Martin Kierszembaum (Lady Gaga) and
you can see that he has brought a more pop sensibility - as in
'Forever Together' and 'Crowd Control' both could be songs by
Brittany Spears - although 'Imaginary War' has a slightly harder
edge and 'Loud' starts as a tender ballad before getting heavier