Al Basile sings with a voice like Eddie Floyd, plays muted trumpet like Miles Davis and leads a band like Booker T Jones on this swampy collection of STAXY originals. He teams with guitar legend Duke Robillard along with Mark Teixeira/dr, Brad Hallen/b, Bruce Bears/key and a horn section of Doug James/ts and Jeff Chanonhouse/tp. The songs sound like they come out of the nightclubs of Memphis’ Beale Street, with smoky horns framing Basile’s solo and singing on “So_Called Storyteller” and the boogalooing “Looking For A Cookie.” Bears’ organ hums through the shuffling “Razor Wire, and Robillard’s guitar cries through the stomping “Don’t Fool With The Truth” while Teixeira delivers a stroll beat with the cymbals on “Give Me That Look.”A few slower ballads and sepia moods come to the fore with Basile relaxed on “Can’t Keep Me From Dreaming” and baring his noir’d soul for “I See You There.” Some gospel has Basile preaching on “You Don’t Know Lonesome” and the team smokes like baby back ribs on ”What Dogs Wanna Do.” If you can’t make it to Memphis anytime soon, get some take out dry rub and dig these tunes at home.