TAB BENOIT
Sea Saint Sessions (Telarc)
Reviewed by Eric Steiner

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Tab Benoit's latest CD is one of my favorites of the year, because it's just like one of Tab's live shows. This time out, he's plugged in along with his band and some special guests down at the Sea Saint studios, otherwise known as the Big Easy Studio. There's a loose feeling to the entire disc, and I can't remember the last time a CD captured a live in-studio performance better. Tab's special guests are bass player George Porter, Jr. (The Meters, Gov't Mule), Joseph "Big Chief" Monk Boudreau, a fixture in New Orleans music, and Cyrille Neville, who brings his own "Plareen Man" to close the set. Crescent City guitarist Brian Stoltz also sits in on guitar, and Tab's band is in fine form, with Carl Dufresne on bass and Daryl White on drums. While Benoit's original material gets me up dancing, I'm pretty partial to the outstanding version of "Howlin' for My Darlin," from Howlin' Wolf. An outstanding roots blues effort from one of the most consistent bluesmen today.

Track List:

Baby Blue * Boat Launch Baby * Sufferin' Mind * Hustlin' Down to New Orleans * Solid Simple Thing * What I Have to Do * Monk's Blues * Making the Bend * Howlin' for my Darling * Darkness * Plareen Man

© 2003 - Eric Steiner