Old School New
This is an eclectic debut, though rooted in bluesrock, jazz
and occasional shredding, a glorious showcase for a guitarist and singer honed
on the road by the time of this release, his talent as a player otherwise nurtured
from a very early age.
There is less of the ‘soul’, ironically, compared with more
recent that I have come across by now, especially his latest solo release. And
there are distinct influences to this eclecticism [apart from generic and Rory riff
rock as on opener Always, and the southern
rock palette of Allman et al across so much - maybe some Delaney and Bonny?], for
example with Santana/Carlos on Fraudulent
Waffle showcasing King’s dexterity.
Cool jazz is in the instrumental Dave’s Apparition, and further in the following Everything – horn and organ here –
as elsewhere, important features, and there is fusion in the potent Booty Stank.
A favourite is the sultry blues of Opie with King in a great gritty vocal with sweet harmonising foils,
and the subtle guitar playing, but also penultimate Keep Moving which has a wonderful blues-suave to the whole sound:
Hammond on a fine swirl and the song to move once again into a Santana-esque
layer of percussion, organ and guitar rolls over the bass and drum pulses, breaking
to wah-wah and some stereo speaker shifts – old school.
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