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BLUES
by Frank-John Hadley
Lone Star
State of Mind
Long John
Hunter:
emotional
authority
Long John Hunter: Looking For A
Party (Blues Express 0008; 44:59)
AAA 1 /2 Approaching 80, Hunter
may not sing with the plenary powers
of younger days—Ooh Wee
Pretty Baby collects his wild singles
of the 1960s and Ride With Me was
one of the best albums of the
1990s—but the Texan still retains
much of the authority that’s long
characterized his guitar work: His
articulation gives every note emotional
weight. For the new album,
label boss Dan Bacon was smart to
go to the superior songwriting
team of Dennis Walker and Alan
Mirikitani, sign up Walker as producer
and hire the premier sidemen
on the West Coast: rhythm
guitarist Mirikitani, bassist Richard
Cousins, drummer Lee Spath and
pianist-organist Jim Pugh. “Apple Of My
Eye,” a jump-blues with horns, is a real triumph
of feeling and style, while a second
highlight, “Me And Phil,” chronicles
Hunter’s long-lasting friendship with guitarist
Phillip Walker.
Ordering info: bluesexpress.com
Arthur Adams: Stomp The Floor (Delta
Groove 135; 46:46) AAAA Adams has been
at the center of the Los Angeles blues hub
since relocating from Dallas in the mid-’60s;
he’s written songs for the likes of B. B. King
and Quincy Jones and played guitar for
Nina Simone. This album, his seventh solo
release since 1972, affirms the soulfulness
and savoir-faire of a musician capable of
integrating blues, r&b and jazz with complete
ease. Adams’ “kickin’ back” guitar
playing—imagine George Benson, Phil
Upchurch and King wrapped together—and
singing, reminiscent of Chicago bluesman
Jimmy Johnson’s, distinguish original
tunes that generally have strong melodies
and well-observed lyrics revealing his belief
in human decency (“Callin’ Heaven”) and
the triumph of love (“So Sweet”).
Ordering info: deltagroovemusic.com
Andrew “Jr. Boy” Jones: Gettin’ Real
(Electro-Fi 3415; 48:12) AAA 1 /2 Gifted with
facility on guitar and sporting a decent
voice, Jones serves notice here that since
leaving Charlie Musslewhite’s band in 1996
he has developed into one of the leading
proponents of modern blues. Exciting without
any testosterone bluster, he poses an
intense, self-searching confessional with
“Hell In My House” and puts a smile on a
listener’s face for the quick-passing 4-
minute instrumental version of Wilson
Pickett’s “Don’t Let The Green Grass Fool
You.” On “Don’t Get It Twisted,” he keeps
his impeccable cool despite his lady
“smelling like another man’s cologne.”
Ordering info: electrofi.com
Hamilton Loomis: Live In England (Ham-
Bone 106; 72:48) AA 1 /2 Loomis and his Gulf
Coast-based band entertain in Oxford and
Liverpool clubs with agreeable original
tunes that mix blues, r&b and rock. This
singer-guitarist-harmonica player was a
friend of Bo Diddley and delivers “Who Do
You Love” in homage. But what’s lacking
throughout the album is inspiration;
Stratton Doyle blasting away on sax in
“What It Is” comes closest.
Ordering info:hamiltonloomis.com
Texas Slim: Driving Blues (Top Cat 4092;
51:13) AAA Robin “Texas Slim” Sullivan’s
guitar playing is trademarked by a passionate
sound and a stylistic base of fellow
Texans Stevie Ray Vaughan, Freddie King
and Johnny Winter. Slim has a sure sense
of pitch-bending and turns up the burners
with measured control. He gets passing
grades as a singer, though some gravelmouthed
affectation and overstraining can
be heard. The Dallas native moves with professional
agility from all-original blues to
Chuck Berry-type rock to blues-rock. “Cool
With The Flow,” of the latter idiomatic style,
entertains best.
DB
Ordering info: topcatrecords.com
BLUES EXPRESS
March 2010 DOWNBEAT 77