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LYNWOOD
SLIM "LAST CALL"
Source: Blues Critic
Date: 06/2006
Writer: Dylann DeAnna
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****
Just
as Soul Blues is alive and thriving in the South
"West Coast Blues" rules out, well,
in the West. It swings like a gate with jumpin'
jive and rootsy reverence. At least that's how
I would describe this delightful new release from
a cool cat named "Lynwood Slim". Clean,
slick production and a connoisseur's choice of
covers played superbly by vocalist/harpist Slim
and Delta Groove allstars Kid Ramos, Kirk Fletcher,
Richard Innes, Jon Bazz et al. The hands down
ace in the hole is their take of Mickey Baker's
"I'm Tired" joined by Saxman Ron Dziubla.
Tight as a school marm's bun! Slim impressed me
as a singer with exquisite phrasing on Joe Williams'
"Well Alright, O.K., You Win" and the
Jurassic era (Big Joe Turner circa 1938) "Wee
Baby Blues". Slim (Richard Duran) adds three
fitting originals ("You're A Pain",
"Across The Sea", "You Never Cried
For Me") which, to his credit, prove seamless
on an album packed with gems like Clifton Chenier's
"All Night Long", Billie Holiday's "Me,
Myself And I" and the Duke Ellington favorite
"Nothin' But The Blues". Dig his lyrics
on "Pain". "You're a pain pretty
baby/That's part of your charm/I'll love you darling
if you right or wrong." Now that's what we
like to call "whipped"! Duran was born
in Los Angeles in 1953 and has paid his dues in
California, Minnesota, elsewhere learning his
craft from luminaries like Big Walter Horton &
Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson. An in demand
session player, he's appeared on nearly 3 dozen
Blues records in the last 12 years alone (R.L.
Burnside, Dave Spector, Kid Ramos, Junior Watson,
etc..). "Last Call" is the fifth disc
as a bandleader and the one that'll earn him awards
come year's end I promise. |
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