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KIRK
FLETCHER "SHADES OF BLUE"
Source:
Date: 12/2004
Writer : Craig
Ruskey |
Exceptional.
By now, there isn't much that hasn't already been said
about Kirk Fletcher , but whether or not you've heard
his name and his playing, rest assured that modern blues
does not get any better than this. Fletcher has been
making a name for himself for a handful of years by
running across the country with Kim Wilson and Charlie
Musselwhite, as well as roaming up and down the West
Coast with various blues outfits, and he recently joined
Wilson as a member of The Fabulous Thunderbirds. As
a guitar player, Kirk understands the less-is-more rule
as much as knowing that tone coloration adds more to
a project than pyrotechnic ability. There's little doubt
that Fletcher has firmly planted himself in the upper-echelon
of today's blues guitarists, and that lofty status comes
from knowing what to play, when to play, and where to
step forward for maximum effect. With Kim Wilson, Finis
Tasby, and Janiva Magness all joining in to offer stunning
vocals, Fletcher turns in the perfect sideman performance
with his guitar - he lays back adding brilliant old-school
touches, and when the time comes to step out, he makes
fully-matured musical statements by building solos laced
with passion and closes them with an intensity that
lingers. Wilson's harp and gripping vocals feature on
Bad Boy, My Home Is A Prison, Country Girl and Stranded
, Finis Tasby delivers a storming Welfare Blues, Down
Home Woman , and a powerfully potent take on The River's
Invitation , and Janiva Magness handles Don't Go No
Further, That's Why I'm Cryin' plus a smoldering Little
By Little . Although this disc is under Fletcher's name,
it's not a platform for his playing as much as a fully-realized
group effort with some of the finest names in blues
today. This newly-released domestic issue from the Delta
Groove label also adds three bonus tracks not available
on the original Crosscut version; B.B. King's You Don't
Know plus alternate takes of Club Zanzibar and Don't
Go No Further . Whether it's a grinding slow blues,
a fuse-blowing shuffle, or a rumbling Chicago stomp,
Kirk Fletcher knows how to lay back and simmer, but
when he steps out to leave his mark, he's doing some
of the most serious blues guitar talking heard in years.
Lord have mercy! |
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