Joe Louis Walker
deserves all the respect he gets, and he gets a lot -- as a singer, a producer, a guitarist in multiple styles, a songwriter, and a harmonica player. But that doesn't prevent his first album for the
Stony Plain
label from being something of a mixed bag. One of
Walker
's great strengths is the authority with which he can play several different varieties of blues: his version of
"It's a Shame"
is a supremely confident, horn-driven Chicago blues exercise, while
"Midnight Train"
evokes the subtler chug of a
John Lee Hooker
song.
"Lover's Holiday"
(a lovely duet with
Shemekia Copeland
) is New Orleans-style R&B, and
"Hustlin'"
features some very fine barrelhouse piano by
Bruce Katz
. And that's just the first four tracks, in order. When
falters, it's in the vocal department, and it happens most egregiously on the excruciating
"Witness."
But elsewhere he's in fine voice, and the album-closing
"Sugar Mama"
is both one of the program's finest tracks and an exceptionally powerful vocal performance. His guitar playing is always a treat, and the album is solidly recommendable overall. ~ Rick Anderson