Mayall Bare Wires

This is a real gem. It is nearly impossible to agree about favorite recordings in the long career of an artist who maintains a creative arc. It is what stands out at different times that can create some consensus.

Dick Heckstall-Smith, Jack Bruce, John Stevens - This That (1994) {Atonal Records ACD 3017}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 343 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 169 Mb
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© 1994 Atonal Records } ACD 3017
Jazz / Blues Rock / Fusion / Neo-Bop

Heckstall-Smith was an active member of the London jazz scene from the late 1950s. He joined Blues Incorporated, Alexis Korner's groundbreaking blues group, in 1962, recording the album R&B from the Marquee. The following year, he was a founding member of that band's breakaway unit, The Graham Bond Organization. (The lineup also included two future members of the blues-rock supergroup Cream: bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker.)

This brief segment of the Memphis Slim story unearths a parcel of tasty tracks recorded during 1967 in Paris where Slim would live out the rest of his life. Here he delivers his usual mix of slow drags, soulful struts, shuffles, and boogies, working the piano and singing the blues. Solid support is provided by guitarist Mickey Baker, bassists Guy Pedersen and Roland Lobligeois, and drummer Andre Arpino. The rest of the personnel remain largely unidentified; the nameless organist and a tidy anonymous horn section put a lot of meat on the ribs of this album. On "People People" and "Christina" the organ establishes a vibe comparable with certain wistful portions of John Mayall's largely introspective Bare Wires album, a distant cousin to this session recorded in April of the following year…

The Delgado Brothers have been considered LA's "Best Kept Secret", but they are over that. When major artists such as John Mayall have covered your songs, and your latin flavored music has been placed in movie soundtracks, secret no more. Delgado Brothers: A Brother's Dream (Bell Asher 10724) This is, to my knowledge, the third Delgado Brothers album and given the outstanding brilliance of their last release, Let's Get Back (on Mocombo Records) they certainly have established a reputation for world class musical genius. But, even more, The Delgado are one of the very few roots-rock-influenced bands who have profound concepts to go with the musical abilities they possess. Too many virtuosos have command of their instruments but very little to say that's meaningful and in today's scary, violence-promoting environment we desperately needs acts such as The Delgado's to bring some sanity to the airwaves.