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KIRK
FLETCHER "SHADES OF BLUE"
Source: Blues Revue Magazine
Date: 01/2004
Writer : Geneveve
Williams |
The
first U.S. solo release of this sought-after sideman
(his working credits include Charlie Musselwhite and
Kim Wilson) is a tasty slice of old-fashioned Chicago-inflected
blues with a touch of soul. Fletcher is a guitarist,
and while there are vocals on Shades of Blue (mostly
courtesy of Wilson, Finis Tasby, and Janiva Magness),
the axe is clearly where it's at.
Shades is neither frenetically paced nor explosively
pyrotechnic; it's just 17 tracks of straightforward,
no-nonsense blues. If it doesn't take as many risks
as one might like ‹ there's a persistent sense
that Fletcher is capable of more than he exhibits here
‹ neither is it lazy or uncreative. "Blues
for Boo Boo," an original instrumental, starts
things off right with a groovy, mellow intimacy and
fits well with songs by Willie Dixon ("Don't Go
No Further"), B.B. King ("Country Girl"),
and Percy Mayfield ("The River's Invitation").
Fletcher has a clean, articulate playing style and
rarely fluffs it up with ornate instrumentation or distortion.
His backup crew, which includes Wilson on harmonica
and vocals, is able and focused; Fletcher clearly has
ensemble dynamics down, suggesting that his years as
a sideman have been fruitful. But he's also unabashed
as a bandleader, and his guitar work earns its prominence.
Still, the restrained feel of Shades of Blue suggests
that this isn't the best that Fletcher can do. He's
young, which means that he has plenty of years of creative
development ahead of him, and one hopes he'll make the
most of it: He has all the tools he needs to become
a master. His take on electric blues is fresh and engaging,
and Fletcher has the potential to reinvent, rather than
retrace, a sound that still has plenty of life in it. |
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