LYNWOOD SLIM& THE IGOR PRADO BAND "BRAZILAN KICKS" Source: Soundwaves Date: 02/2011 Writer: Eric Feber

Where did West Coast blues singer/songwriter/harpist Lynwood Slim go to put some jump in his bump?  He went to Sao Paulo, Brazil, an area more suited to bossa nova than blues. Seems the leader/guitarist for the Igor Prado Band, Brazil’s top jump outfit, contacted Slim for a possible collaboration.  The result is “Brazilian Kicks.” 

Slim (a k a Richard Dennis Duran) is in fine voice, effortlessly soul-shouting one moment and crooning the next. He also blows some nifty honks and soul horn choruses on the harmonica while Igor and his boys kick him in the backside. Although South American 20-somethings, this group, led by Igor Prado s inging leads on upside-down left-handed guitar, offers the real thing.  Prado’s band backs Slim with uncanny authentic-sounding jump-blues, swing and vintage soul bolstered by Rodrigo Mantovani’s fat acoustic bass lines and Denilson Martins’ lusty sax riffs and choruses.

In the liner notes, Slim confesses he was taken aback by the Igor Prado Band’s prowess and how good they made him sound. So will the listener.