Julian Sas

The world of Blues rockers is a congested area and if you want to stand out you need to offer something more than guts and sweat. This is Mr Sas’ eighth album and he does have that extra ‘something’ as well as guts and sweat – this is Blues rock at its most irrepressible.

It isn’t that he does anything really new – he plays guitar and sings at the head of a three piece band – but he seems to be completely comfortable with his music and with no sense that he is straining for his voice. I guess that after eight albums you ought to know what you are about and whether it is a funk laden Southern rocker like ‘Mercy’ or a burning Blues ballad like ‘How Could I have Been So Blind’ he plays with real class and such power.

Ripping out the riffs al la Johnny Winter on his version of ‘Highway 61 Revisited’ it was all I could do to avoid reaching for my air guitar but even on that imaginary insdtrument I couldn’t manage a solo as raw and fast as Sas does. It takes all the talents on Tenny Tahamata (bass) and Rob Hejne (drums) to keep up with him and the track is simply awesome to listen to. His cover of Humble Pie's '30 Days In The Hole' is dirty and heavy but then he follows with one of his own numbers 'The Blues Won't Stay' featuring Willem Van Der Schoof on Hammond which is light and soulful in comparoison - a band of many talents.

Overall, I have to say that I enjoyed this album more than most in the genre simply because he has such enjoyment in his playing and the simple quality is so rich. A great start to the year.