Giles Robson

Giles Robson is a multi-award winning Blues Harp player – among his accolades is the 20198 Blues Music Award for Acoustic album of the year (equivalent to the Grammies) in Memphis for the album he recorded with Joe Louis Walker and Bruce Katz.
His history includes some stunning albums including the wonderful ‘For Those Who Need The Blues’.

While in the US for the awards ceremony he was signed up as a solo artist by American Showcase Music and recorded this album with Bruce Katz Band at American Showcase Music Studios in N. Jersey..

Ok, context is fine, it also happens to be a stonking great album if you are into raw and rollicking Blues with a harp lead. Frankly, if you don’t know whether you are, you should get a listen to this – it’ll turn your life around.

This was recorded in New Jersey with Bruce Katz band and it is just one great number after another, Katz Hammond & piano are a perfect foundation to Robson’s vocals and harmonica and with Aaron Lieberman on guitar, Antar Goodwin on bass and Ray Hangen on drums the music comes across as classic Blues.
There is a feeling of real joy working together from Robson and the whole band and it translates to a freshness and punch that so many Blues players seem to have lost.

The music ranges from the swinging ‘Land To Land’ with the band at full pelt, the big drum sound of ‘Damn Fool Way’ with it’s pervasive Bo Diddley rhythm, sleaze and sultry playing on ‘Your Dirty Look & Your Sneaky Grin’ and, my personal favourite, ‘Boogie At The Showplace’ – just Robson on harp and Katz on jellyroll piano.

From start to finish it is a joy.
12 tracks that are perfectly put together (label boss Ben Elliot producing) and hearkening back to the best days of Blues without ever sounding ‘retro’ or pastiche.