Making Room For The Disavowed Wachtel

Blues bassist Willie Kent has strong, supple bottom lines that have supported all the best groups, but he's led his own band as well. This is his fourth Delmark date, and Kent heartily asserts himself as a singer, with a tone like Johnny Adams with a rougher edge. His equally excellent band features lead guitarists Bill Flynn and Jake Dawson alternating tracks, with rhythm guitarist Willie Davis, pianist Kenny Barker, and drummer James Carter. Baritone saxophonist/arranger Willie Henderson from the old Tyrone Davis band leads a three-piece horn section on three tracks. This 13-song program - ten written by Kent - comprises mostly classic 12-bar, IV-V-I blues changes. A hard-swinging "3-6-9," with Dawson's swift guitar and Baker's boogie piano, supports a bitch session for Kent. He is fairly believable on the B.B. King-styled "Address in the Street"…