Sunday, February 01, 2009


Joanne Shaw Taylor – White Sugar (Ruf Records).

Joanne Shaw Taylor first burst onto the scene at the tender age of 16 when she was discovered by Dave Stewart of Eurythmics fame. The following summer she toured with Dave, Candy Dulpher and Jimmy Cliff and has been honing her blues themes ever since. Her debut album, White Sugar, has been produced by the legendary Jim Gaines and he has pushed her to the limit. She opens with Going Home, a beefy opener which suits her smokey voice. She is the complete package as she is a more than competent guitarist too. She has been described as the love child of Dusty Springfield and Stevie Ray Vaughan so just close your eyes and imagine what she sounds like. Just Another Word is a mid-paced funky rock and Bones is gritty blues rock with a scorching solo which slides along very well. Who Do You Want Me To Be? is high energy and Time Has Come is a slow, classic blues with a big solo.

The eponymous title track is a funky, biting blues but Kiss The Ground is an altogether more rock influenced sing although it is nothing out of the ordinary. Heavy Heart is soulful and a strange change of direction towards the end which is a little bit unnecessary. Watch ‘Em Burn is a pulsating rocker and shows how good a guitarist she is. She closes off with Blackest Day, a classic blues with one of her big, blossoming solos. As far as debut albums go I think that Joanne Shaw Taylor has shown that she had tremendous potential.

http://www.joanneshawtaylor.com/
http://www.rufrecords.de/

David Blue.

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