Search - J.B. Hutto :: High & Lonesome

Totally absorbing and delightful attack on the senses

Paul J. Cunningham | Eureka, Illinois United States | 04/07/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Some months ago some friends and I went to see Buddy Guy in Chicago; the opening act was Lil Ed and the Blues Imperials. They really impressed me, so I set about looking up more of their music and of course than bands history. One thing led to another and the name J B Hutto came into the mix, this name was familiar as a hero of mine often played some J B Hutto songs in his live sets (Too much alcohol being a regular at his live shows)....that man being the late great Rory Gallagher.

After a few minutes searching the internet I found this collection of live material downloaded it for a bargain price and found myself transported for a short while to musical heaven. This is pure quality, some of the other reviews have described Chicago blues as raw and ragged, this is anything but. The sheer quality of musicianship is astounding, JB has an outstanding voice and vocal style and the guitar work is amongst the best I have heard. If you took out the vocals and played the tracks to somebody they would be rhyming off a list of all the so called guitar greats...

It's an injustice that music like this never made the mainstream and talents like JB Hutto remains on the fringes ...don't believe me? Take a listen to Hide and Seek ...you'll be convinced.

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