It seems that there seems to be a resurgence of ladies that play the blues, with Joanne Shaw Taylor among the top tier. This album is produced by Joe Bonamassa, no stranger to the mood, with this album sounding like Joe B’s earlier stripped-down bluesbreakers.
Taylor’s gritty voice and searing guitar is backed by Vaughan-Bonamassa keyboardist Reese Wynans, as well as Greg Morrow/dr, Steve Mackey/ Josh Smith/g, a horn section of Steve Patrick/tp, Mark Douthit/ts & Barry Green/tb as well as a trio of background vocalists. Taylor’s voice is husky and breathy with Douthit’s tenor sax on the sleek and jazzy take of Otis Rush’s “Keep On Lovin’ Me” while she preaches it with the horns on the gospel’d “If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody”. Wynan’s lights a smoke bomb that Taylor growls around on the shuffling “Stop Messin’ Around” and lays down a deep rivulet with Morrow on the hard jam of “Scraps Vignette” instrumental.
Like all great bluesers, Taylor sounds best on the ballads, chiming with her guitar on “Let Me Down Easy” and swaying with Mike Farris on “I Don’t Know What I Got.” She hits the strings hard on “Can’t You See What You’re Doing To Me” and boogies till she pukes on the swampy “Three Time Loser”. When’s she cruising into LA?!?