MELVIN TAYLOR AND THE SLACK BAND
Rendezvous With the Blues (Evidence Records)
Reviewed by Eric Steiner

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On his sixth CD for Evidence, Rendezvous With the Blues, Melvin Taylor turns the heat up on the blues. For Melvin, the blues have the blues; meaning, he's pretty dissatisfied at the state of the blues today. Melvin thinks that "Lame brains or just flat minds is the reason why the blues is stuck where it's at now," but if any CD can get the blues unstuck, it's Rendezvous With the Blues. Sure, there's some pretty traditional blues songs on it, like Sonny Boy Williamson's "I'm The Man Down There," but Melvin's incendiary playing lights a bright new fire under these old blues. I've heard B.B. King and Robben Ford do justice to "Help The Poor" many times before, but Melvin and the Slack Band punch it up quite a bit. While Lucky Peterson has done some fantastic country blues as a solo artist, he plays the Hammond B-3 and electrifies "I'm the Man Down There" with his electric guitar. Indigenous' Mato Nanji sits in on the excellent two-song Tribute to John Lee Hooker, and I'm hoping that it will lead many new blues listeners to John Lee's records. For full-throttle electric blues, meet Melvin and the Slack Band.

Track List:

Comin' Home Baby * Help the Poor * Rendezvous With the Blues * I'm the Man Down There * A Tribute to John Lee Hooker: Chill Out, The Healer * Help Me * Five Women * Blue Jean Blues * Eclipse * Black Queen

[Pick this up at amazon.com.]

© 2002 - Eric Steiner