Big Wolf Band

On the circuit there seem to be two kinds of Blues Bands around at the moment: hundreds of unoriginal musicians performing derivative and disappointing Blues with no real spark or fire in their belly, and a rare few that have that almost indefinable ‘thing’ that clicks with the audience and gets toes tapping, heads shaking and people actually wanting to hear another number.
Big Wolf Band definitely fit into the latter category.

14 tracks of some fine live Blues music. The band cook up some fine stew with Jonathan Earp taking the lead on guitar and vocals. Robin Fox’ keyboards create depth and flow, and Justin Johnson’s rhythm guitar and vocals are strong. The power that comes from Timbo Jones (drums) and Mick Jeynes (Bass) is physical and they create some fine rhythms.

Musically, they cover a wide range of Blues styles from Chicago to Texas with some New York thrown in for fun. Most of the themes are pretty standard Blues fare but the playing is the thing – this is music we’ve all heard before but with a real touch of fire and fun to it.

Favourite tracks include 'Standing In The Rain' which features a superb and soulful guitar solo, and the epic 'Black Dog Blues' with all the band cooking up a storm and a battle between guitar and keys.

These days, I am pretty constrained on actually getting out to gigs but this album reminds me of exactly what joy is to be had in a capacity crowd listening to a hot band enjoying themselves on stage.

One of the better live albums I’ve heard this year.