LYNWOOD SLIM "LAST CALL" Source: Source Unknown Date: 02/2007 Writer: Tim Aves

Words like “sophisticated”, “slick” and “smooth”- but also the “r-word” (as in “retro”)- spring most readily to mind as this gorgeous-sounding CD effortlessly spins nearly tree-quarters of an hour of great, swing-Blues into your speakers, Chicago’s Lynwood Slim is the owner of a tuneful, if slightly unremarkable voice. He also plays a pretty mean, jazzy chromatic harp and best of all, knows how to pull together a great bunch of musicians to make an album. With guitar duties largely shared between muscle-bound swingster Kid Ramos and the equally lauded Kirk “Eli” Fletcher (both former players from Kim Wilson’s Thunderbirds stable), a great, restrained rhythm section and some tasteful percussion and home arrangements, this CD oozes class. Especially enjoyable are ‘All Night Long’, featuring the mandolin of Rich Delgrosso as its slightly surprising, but nonetheless effective lead instrument and a lovely laid-back arrangement of Duke Ellington’s ‘ Nothin’ But the Blues’. If I had to criticize ‘Last Call’, it would be for two things. Firstly, the overall effect is perhaps rather too smooth and “loungey”, certainly for my personal tastes. And secondly, for an artiste known as a harmonica player, it’s a shame this CD features so little of Linwood Slim’s harp. He toots some great chromatic on the opening track, but that aside, there’s only the swinging ‘Not Your Clown’ and the more lowdown ‘Across The Sea’, both of which leave you, frankly, hankering to hear more gob-iron. If you love jazzy, retro swing and jump-Blues of the kind played by Duke Robillard, you’ll want to add this album to your collection. If you prefer things a touch more rough-edged, you’ll probably give it a mess.