Sonny Black Blues Of A Kind

Blues of a Kind is a journey through a soundscape of the distinctive jazz infused blues of Sonny Black with captivating guitar playing serving only to enhance his reputation as one of the best guitarists around. This fusion of blues and jazz hallmarks much of Black’s work with his classy guitar blending immaculately with his band of keyboard player Bob Haddrell and the rhythm section of George Pearson on bass and Damion Sawyer on drums. All the tunes are instrumentals and all are original compositions, bar one. When you can make the guitar sing like Sonny Black, there is no need for a vocalist. For the most part he sticks to electric guitar but for four tracks he goes acoustic. ‘Delta Swing’ demonstrates you can lead a band using an acoustic guitar and still make things swing and the contrasting ‘Keep It Rollin’ shows his prowess at ragtime music. His performance of Charlie Patton’s ‘Some of These Days’ has poignancy rather than the brooding intensity of the original whilst ‘Strollin’ Home’ has a great pre-war feel to it even though it’s a Black original. Other tracks like ‘Café Cuba’ have a distinctive Latin jazz flavour whilst the title track ‘Blues of a Kind’ is exactly as it suggests. With his roots firmly in the blues Sonny Black’s work, both as a performer and songwriter, is immaculate.