Provogue (label)
21 February 2020 (released)
25 February 2020
I was cursing last year when ill health forced me to miss Sonny Landreth playing and this album reminds me why I was so pissed – the man is one of the best slide guitarists around at the moment.
He is anything but your ordinary slide guitarist, certainly not just a 12 bar merchant, as he plays a fluid style that crosses musical boundaries with ease. Based in Louisiana he has a Zydeco edge to much of his playing and he has developed a unique slide style where he frets behind the slide, allowing him to produce chords – as I said, not just a twelve bar merchant. One of his greatest fans is Eric Clapton who considers him to be one of the most advanced guitarists of his age.
The band he has supporting him here are excellent – David Ransom on bass, Brian Brignac on drums and Steve Conn on keyboards – and lay down a platform for Landreth to really express his playing and vocals.
Landreth has been nominated for Grammys for his last two album s, received Blues Music Awards as Best Guitarist and Best Blues Album for his ‘Bound By The Blues’ album and this continues the quality.
The music here doesn’t stand in any single genre; there is the Americana ‘Blacktop Run’ to kick off the album, the Zydeco flavour of ‘Mule’ with some delicious accordion playing, ‘Groovy Goddess’ has a power and fluid shred to it almost in a Satriani mode, a heavy Blues number in ‘The Wilds Of Wonder’ which also features a terrific vocal from Landreth.
Probably my favourite track is ‘Beyond Borders’, another heavy instrumental with a great bass line from David Ransom and some subtle keys from Conn, it is a complete track, sounding like they are jamming the whole number and a track I kept going back to.
This is Landreth 17th solo album and it makes you want to go back and investigate his entire catalog – a terrific listen.
