Melvin Taylor & The Slack Band - Rendezvous With The Blues (2002)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 374 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 128 Mb | Scans ~ 58 Mb
Label: Evidence Records | # ECD 26123-2 | Time: 00:55:38
Electric Blues, Chicago Blues, Blues-Rock, Jazz-Blues
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 374 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 128 Mb | Scans ~ 58 Mb
Label: Evidence Records | # ECD 26123-2 | Time: 00:55:38
Electric Blues, Chicago Blues, Blues-Rock, Jazz-Blues
Rendezvous With the Blues marks another step in the normalization of Melvin Taylor. With Lucky Peterson on keyboards, Taylor is much more the featured lead guitarist in a straight-band context that too often finds him fighting for room to move in the full arrangements. He takes a jazzy lead on the opening "Coming Home Baby," but that runs counter to the measured, mid-tempo groove that dominates the first three tracks and seems like a move to court the contemporary rock-blues audience. So does some of the material – no originals, with ZZ Top, Stephen Stills, and Carlos Santana's tribute to John Lee Hooker in the songwriter credits on one side and Charles Singleton and Prince for contemporary black funk/rock relevance on the other. Horns kick in to punctuate the slinky, clavinet-anchored funk on "I'm the Man Down There," but Taylor's solo gets cluttered up by a duel with Peterson (on guitar here). Taylor is better-served when he escapes the rock beat straitjacket on "Tribute to John Lee Hooker" – the Latin-tinged rhythms give his guitar more freedom to float and sting.