Lurrie Bell
is a throwback and so is
Blues in My Soul
. It's the sound of classic small-band Chicago blues as played in the '50s and '60s: no flash, no showboating, and no screaming guitar...just solid ensemble playing. Of course, as the son of
Carey Bell
,
Lurrie
comes by it naturally, having learned at the feet of any number of Chicago blues legends. The set is mostly covers, but the only real warhorse is "'Bout the Break of Day," which suffers slightly from overexposure.
Bell
also contributes a handful of originals, with the nicely personal title track as an album highlight.
's got a gruff but soulful voice and his guitar style harks back to players like
Jimmy Rogers
(who he covers here twice). The album was cut with
's regular working band, with some tasty added horns on two cuts. If you like your Chicago blues old-school style, check out
. ~ Sean Westergaard