It is always fascinating when two stellar careers connect. We all look on, never sure when it is going to be a catastrophe or result in something of genius. Micheal Messer is a songwriter, singer and a superb guitarist, noteworthy for his ability to combine acoustic and electric National slide and lap steel guitar into his playing style. He also designs and builds guitars and has been rated alongside Duane Allman and Ry Cooder as a slide player. Chaz Jankel, of course, is most noted as Ian Dury’s co-songwriter and keyboard player in The Blockheads, but he also has 9 solo albums to his credit and is a prolific producer. His musical leanings are towards funk and soul, and he brings a very different sound to Messer’s straight Blues. The album is a very different project for Jankel too, and it comes from being gifted one of Messer’s Resonator guitars as a 70th birthday present. The two then started working on some ideas that Jankel had started and a jam in Jankel’s studio resulted in rough mixes for the pair to work on through Covid. September 2021 was the first real chance for the pair to start working together.
The album feels very much like a true collaboration. I don’t hear any ego being exercised, or shortcuts being taken. The quality of the playing is exceptional – they are both masters at their crafts – and the end result is an album of many highs and no lows. The music just flows easily.
The title track has a walking Blues pace, which these days is about the pace of driving as well.
