Search - Cedell Davis :: Horror of It All

At 71 years intense, Cedell Davis is one of the great, surviving voices of the Piedmont blues. His work has been championed by historian Robert Palmer, and it's clear why. Davis is a throwback to the dark, swampy aggression of the southern juke joint, and when he attacks his guitar with his dissonant, bending style, knife raking the strings, the notes come from the most startling, strange directions. And his voice moans low and dirty. This Fat Possum release has the virtues of grinding primitivism, and in a time of big blues band polish, the soul of Davis's naked talent is absolutely bracing. --Roy Francis Kasten