Back to the Blues in Bloomington, MN

Six years after his successful tribute to
Peter Green
,
Gary Moore
follows with another solid electric
blues-rock
effort that falls squarely in line with his similarly themed albums
Still Got the Blues
After Hours
, and
Blues Alive
. Although he adds brass on a rollicking version of
B.B. King
's
"You Upset Me Baby,"
Moore
predominantly sticks to the basics here, pounding out energetic and full-bodied
and leading a stripped-down trio with a journeyman's enthusiasm and his trademark thick, sustained guitar solos slashing through the proceedings. The majority of the tracks are originals, although even the best of them sound suspiciously like rewritten
blues standards
.
"Cold Black Night"
is little more than a speeded-up
"Messin' With the Kid,"
and
"Picture of the Moon"
sounds awfully similar to
's own
"Still Got the Blues."
And whether the world needs yet another version of
"Stormy Monday"
or
"I Ain't Got You"
is debatable. But
pulls off even the most cliched material with his phenomenal prowess; supple, identifiable vocals; and a guitar tone that effortlessly shifts from a
Santana
/
-styled hovering intensity to a slashing
Stevie Ray Vaughan
attack. While
isn't redefining the genre or even his own approach to it, he's adding his stamp to
with
Back to the Blues
. Consistently rugged, moving, and heartfelt, the album is a reminder that even without reinventing an established musical style, an artist can effectively work within its boundaries to produce a satisfying, if not quite fresh, interpretation relying solely on talent and passion. ~ Hal Horowitz