Double Walker

Deep in the Blues is a fascinating jam session between James Cotton, guitarist Joe Louis Walker, and jazz bassist Charlie Haden. The trio runs through a number of classic blues songs written by Muddy Waters, Percy Mayfield, and Sonny Boy Williamson and a few originals by Walker and Cotton. The sound is intimate and raw, which is a welcome change from Cotton's usual overproduced records.

Joe Louis Walker is quite the triple threat. Not only is he a superb blues guitarist, with remarkable fluency and imagination, he's also an excellent singer (as you might expect from someone who came up through gospel groups), and an excellent writer with a strong penchant for soul music. For the most part, his blues isn't the heart-wrenching type, but deals with mistrust and double-dealing ("Messed My Mind Up") and good times ("Custom Cars, Gibson Guitars"). Throughout he blurs the line between blues and soul, which effectively makes this one of the best soul albums in a long time, as he shows on "Do You Love Me" and "You Don't Love Me Girl." With "Soldier for Jesus" his blues mixes with gospel, and some wonderful guitar work…

Prokofiev's chamber music output is relatively modest–a handful of sonatas, two string quartets, an overture of Hebrew themes for clarinet, string quartet and piano, as well as this quintet for oboe, clarinet, violin, viola and bass.

Late 18th century Italian composer Luigi Boccherini produced a vast catalogue of compositions, several of which were chamber works featuring the flute. Australian flautist Sally Walker, whose first appearance on AVIE was in collaboration with harpist Emily Granger on the album Something Like This, has taken a deep dive into the provenance of Boccherini's works for her instrument to produce a 90-minute, 2-for-the-price-of-one volume of music that is infinitely elegant, virtuosic and beautifully refined. The relatively rare yet imaginative Six Quintets, Op. 19, for two violins, flute, viola and cello vary in their configuration, some intimate, others on a grander scale reminiscent of the composer's orchestral music. Also included are the first "Divertimento Notturno" from the Sextet, Op. 38 for violin, viola, bassoon, flute, horn and double bass; and, as a "bonus" the Quintet G.443 for flute, oboe, violin, viola and cello, a work attributed to Boccherini. Although its authorship is contested, as Sally says, "it is such a beautiful work that we wanted to include it anyway."

Late 18th century Italian composer Luigi Boccherini produced a vast catalogue of compositions, several of which were chamber works featuring the flute. Australian flautist Sally Walker, whose first appearance on AVIE was in collaboration with harpist Emily Granger on the album Something Like This, has taken a deep dive into the provenance of Boccherini's works for her instrument to produce a 90-minute, 2-for-the-price-of-one volume of music that is infinitely elegant, virtuosic and beautifully refined. The relatively rare yet imaginative Six Quintets, Op. 19, for two violins, flute, viola and cello vary in their configuration, some intimate, others on a grander scale reminiscent of the composer's orchestral music. Also included are the first "Divertimento Notturno" from the Sextet, Op. 38 for violin, viola, bassoon, flute, horn and double bass; and, as a "bonus" the Quintet G.443 for flute, oboe, violin, viola and cello, a work attributed to Boccherini. Although its authorship is contested, as Sally says, "it is such a beautiful work that we wanted to include it anyway."