LYNWOOD SLIM "LAST CALL" Source: Blues In Britain Date: 07/2006 Writer: Mick Rainsford

With musicians of that calibre you would not expect this set to disappoint – and it doesn’t. From the irresistible swing of the opening track, ‘Well Alright, O.K. You Win’, – where Slim’s hip vocals and cool harp are perfectly complemented by Kid Ramos’s master-class in delivering mellow tone and phrasing – to the moody, jazz inflected sophistication of ‘You Never Cried For Me’, where Slim vocalizes like a mellow Jimmy Witherspoon, whilst also contributing some haunting flute – this set is an undoubted winner from first track to last.

In between we are treated to a country blues rendition of Clifton Chenier’s ‘All Night Long’, that generates a wildly infectious swing and comes replete with Delgrosso’s masterful mandolin and Fletcher’s dirty guitar – Mickey Baker’s ‘I’m Tired’, that jumps and swings frantically fired by Dziubla’s yackety sax and Armando Cortez’s eccentric guitar – whilst ‘You’re A Pain’ simply swings thanks to Leyland’s modern jazz piano, Tyler Pederson’s classy bass and Ron Felton’s exquisite brushwork.

Lowman Pauling’s ‘Say It’ is an intensely soulful collaboration with The Chicago Blues Angels – ‘Me Myself & I’ generates a loping swing with a noticeable Leon Redbone feel, accentuated by Gonzalo Begora’s gypsy guitar – whilst ‘Across The Sea’ is a moody West Coast blues given a Sonny Boy (No2) edge by Slim’s wonderful harp.

Slim’s moody blues “crooning” on Turner’s ‘Wee Baby Blues’ and Duke Ellington’s ‘Nothin’ But The Blues’, serve to emphasise just how good this set, and how much Lynwood Slim has been missed in recent years.