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‘Plaquemine’ opens with some nice fast fingerpicking guitar somewhat similar in style to Chris
Smither.

Doug really has a gift to put poignancy into his lyrics and the life stories in ‘Children Like You’
bears testament to this. ‘Walking With Mr. Smith’ is a nice upbeat fingerpicking twelve bar
blues instrumental to close the album.

This album has been recorded with the mics placed in front of Doug so he can just go ahead and
play like he does when playing in front of a live audience. That ambience and vibe really comes
across and it’s almost like he is playing in your living room!

Doug has a great blues voice and a great gutsy blues guitar style but his real strength is his

storytelling and how he connects every song with the listener. I really enjoyed this album and
who knows, there could be a “Raw Blues 2” on the horizon.

Ged Wilson

Frank Muschalle feat. Stephan Holstein—The Spiekeroog
Sessions—Timezone Records. TZ2443

Spiekeroog is one of the East Frisian Islands, off the North Sea
coast of Germany. It is the site for an annual jazz festival. Frank
Muschalle is a world class ‘keys’ man who has been ‘on the road’
for over 30 years and is sought after across the world for his
outstanding skills. Here he is working with his trio: Dirk
̈
Engelmeyer (drums and vocals), Matthias Kluter (bass) and
with guest Stephan Holstein who brings his mastery of the
saxophone and clarinet to the party. Frank and his colleagues
went to the island at the end of 2021 and in the ‘Kogge’, a local ‘event hall’, laid down these 12
tracks.

If this set is anything like what they put out live, the gigs must be wonderful. Melodies from
Amos Easton (Bumble Bee Slim), Roosevelt Sykes, ‘Papa’ Charlie Jackson, Lafayette Leake,
Merline Johnson, Sammy Price, Leroy Carr and two from Muschalle himself; old stuff made
new! I am a lover of the old stuff, but what Frank does with them is outstanding. He is a fine
pianist with the skills of a top-class boogie, blues and/or stride player of the past, but with a
modern tinge of jazz improv that would not shame Oscar Peterson or Bill Evans. Capable of
constructing inspired solos or comping in support of the excellent clarinet and sax work of
Stephan Holstein, Frank delivers a masterclass of the first order, and that says nothing about
his left-hand, in his two-handed boogie playing. I love—favourite track here—’Spiekeroog
Arrival’, which with ‘Ferry Crossing Blues’, produces a boogie based sound picture of the island
and the session. Echoes of Pete Johnson in the first and of the sounds of Jimmy Giuffre, with
the solo part taken by the clarinet of Holstein, in the second.

Check this one out if you like piano jazz and great blues and blues history, all rolled up together
in one bundle.
Great stuff.

Ian K McKenzie