Tom Rigney & Flambeau – Off The Hook (Parhelion Records).

Tom Rigney and the members of Flambeau are well known blues/Cajun/zydeco artists in the USA and this, their ninth album and first since 2004’s A Blue Thing, is one of the reasons why. They open up with the promising My Baby, a smooth swinging blues that highlights vocal harmony amongst many other attributes. Rigney unleashes his fiddle on the eponymous title track which is a fast paced Southern country style instrumental that has him and guitarist Danny Caron trading licks a plenty. Never Let You Take It Away is classic country and is competent enough if not my kettle of fish. Forbidden Fruit is another fiddle led instrumental, well played but lacks excitement. He’s back into old fashioned country again on Let Me Be Your Fool Tonight but this one is saved by the good interplay between fiddle and guitar. Having Caron on guitar is a bit of a coup as he was bandleader for the great bluesman Charles Brown for twelve years. La Porte En Arriere (The Back Door) is unashamedly Cajun – class. Rigney’s roots start to show on Farewell Waltz but where he says he has Irish roots I feel that this is straight out of Scottish country dance music. Nevertheless, a great tune for a celeidh. It’s Cajun again for Cocodril Stomp and its infectious feel just makes you want to dance. I could do without the country tacks such as I Won’t Be Sad Tonight but each to their own, I suppose. Back to business on Pont De Vue and although this isn’t as good as the other Cajun tracks it’s still a better class than Tom’s country offerings. The band slips back into the blues with the atmospheric instrumental Insomnia. This is a moody fiddle led song that keeps up the high standard of the back end of the album. Thankfully, Tom chooses a Cajun finish with Tes Parents Veulent Plus Me Voir, which my schoolboy translation comes up as Your Parents Want To See Me More (I’m sure that someone will correct me). Excellent way to finish and I’ve only got two complaints – more Cajun and more vocals!

http://www.tomrigney.com/
Copyright David Blue 2006.