Album
Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Live! In Chicago
Roadrunner (label)
18 October 2010 (released)
30 October 2010
I guess that if you have been playing Blues since you are 16 and playing to some massive audiences for all the 17 years you have been a professional Blues player then there is nowhere more ‘right’ than Chicago as a venue for a live album and nowhere better than the ‘House Of Blues’ as a venue. The result is pretty special - if you haven’t heard Kenny Wayne Shepherd before then this is a great starting point.
He has got a hell of a band behind him – Noah Hunt shares the vocals, Chris Layton used to drum for Stevie Ray Vaughan, Riley Osbourn’s keyboards and Hammond underpin all the best moments on the album and Scott Nelson’s bass is monumental – and he shares the stage with a few genuine superstars of the Blues – Hubert Sumlin, who was Howlin’ Wolf’s guitarist, appears as do Bryan Lee, Buddy Flett and Willie ‘Big Eyes’ Smith who blows a very mean harmonica on ‘Eye To Eye’ and ‘Baby Don’t Say That No More’.
The star of the show though is Kenny Wayne and his guitar work throughout shows just what it is that has the likes of Eric Clapton and Buddy Guy lining up to play with him.
On tracks like ‘Kings Highway’ he plays it with all the power he can muster and when the mood slows doen and it all gets funks, as on ‘Deja Voodoo’ he picks out a line with real delicacy and soul – you don’t need vocals when the guitar line is saying all it does here but his vocals are pretty tasty too. ‘Sell My Monkey’ has him doing a jazzy little rock & roll number while ‘Dance For Me Girl’ has a huge and dark sound with a dirty and smoky sound.
He really can do it all and it’s no surprise that the crowd are going crazy through all the 14 tracks.
As an introduction to Kenny Wayne Shepherd this is a cracker and if you are already a fan then it is only going to consolidate your views. This is the way that live Blues ought to be, an absolute belter.
He has got a hell of a band behind him – Noah Hunt shares the vocals, Chris Layton used to drum for Stevie Ray Vaughan, Riley Osbourn’s keyboards and Hammond underpin all the best moments on the album and Scott Nelson’s bass is monumental – and he shares the stage with a few genuine superstars of the Blues – Hubert Sumlin, who was Howlin’ Wolf’s guitarist, appears as do Bryan Lee, Buddy Flett and Willie ‘Big Eyes’ Smith who blows a very mean harmonica on ‘Eye To Eye’ and ‘Baby Don’t Say That No More’.
The star of the show though is Kenny Wayne and his guitar work throughout shows just what it is that has the likes of Eric Clapton and Buddy Guy lining up to play with him.
On tracks like ‘Kings Highway’ he plays it with all the power he can muster and when the mood slows doen and it all gets funks, as on ‘Deja Voodoo’ he picks out a line with real delicacy and soul – you don’t need vocals when the guitar line is saying all it does here but his vocals are pretty tasty too. ‘Sell My Monkey’ has him doing a jazzy little rock & roll number while ‘Dance For Me Girl’ has a huge and dark sound with a dirty and smoky sound.
He really can do it all and it’s no surprise that the crowd are going crazy through all the 14 tracks.
As an introduction to Kenny Wayne Shepherd this is a cracker and if you are already a fan then it is only going to consolidate your views. This is the way that live Blues ought to be, an absolute belter.
