28 slices of down’n’dirty blues from the Deep South – including eight previously unheard tracks and takes. The “By The Bayou” series leaps to Volume 18 with a return to the blues of South Louisiana, bringing you rare or previously unissued tracks from stars of the genre such as Lightnin’ Slim, Lazy Lester and Slim Harpo, plus a host of little-known or completely unknown performers. We also have two artists who you would never think performed in the downhome style – Barbara Lynn and Cookie (aka Huey Thierry) – but who sound right at home, with an unknown harmonica player setting the tone on Barbara’s track whilst Cupcakes guitarist Marshall Laday supports Cookie with some mean blues pickin’. In fact there are several tracks here that will have air-guitar virtuosos reaching for their imaginary axes.
The music of Bill Bruford's Earthworks on All Heaven Broke Loose is quite unusual. The multi-themed originals feature top-notch playing by the quartet (Bruford on drums and electronic percussion, Django Bates on keyboards, peck horn and trumpet, Iain Ballamy on reeds, and bassist Tim Harries) that looks toward Ornette Coleman; at times (Ballamy's tenor sometimes recalls Dewey Redman) while traveling its own singular path. Full of unpredictability, subtle mood changes, touches of eccentric funk and a surprisingly creative use of electronic rhythms here and there, Bruford's band plays intense but sometimes melancholy and introspective music. This version of the release includes an additional CD of bonus material.