I’ll bet you’ve never heard of Philipp Fankhauser, as he’s spent most of his career in Switzerland playing the blues. He teams up with Old Schooler Margie Evans, who’s sung with everyone from Johnny Otis to T-Bone Walker and Big Joe Turner, but her forte’ is gospel, and between the two of them, they make this cd/dvd of a concert from that swinging club Muhle Hunriken a trip to the back roads of the Southern US.
The band consists of Marco Jencarelli/g, Hendrix Ackle/p, Angus Thomas/b, Richard Spooner/dr and vocalists including Lesley Bogaer and Will G on various occasions. The materials consists of originals, gospel and traditional covers, and Fankhauser’s got a rough and ready voice as he shows his calloused hands on bluesers like “If You Ain’t Been To Houston” while the team has some boogie fun on “Going to Dallas” Some lovely piano supports Evans on a rich and testifying “God Bless the Child” and the band shuffles on “Home Town (Thun).” Some wonderfully acoustic blues float on the ballad “Too Little Too Late, ” while Fankhauser shows his ability to croon as he goes deep on “Gee Baby, Ain’t I Good To You” before Evans stomps out “ Every Day I Have The Blues.”
The real delight, though, is how the band ends the show, as they go back to the heart of the blues, namely gospel music. They sound like they mean it on the earnest “Time For Christ” and the important message for eternity on “Members Only.” This is an album to cherish for the music and the perspective. Are they coming Stateside?!?