These Blues Are All Mine

by

Tab Benoit

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If you play this record aside Benoit's earlier studio recordings, you can really see how much he has grown as a songwriter and singer. Tab's guitar work has always been strong and stylish, if a bit raw and technically simple. But, on this recording, you can hear that it's the phrasing and emotion that's important to him. He's not trying to impress with flash -- he's just playing from the heart. Highly recommended for blues fans, and it should be required listening for any would-be guitarists. The last thing the world needs is more speed demons like Steve Vai and Eric Johnson. Tab shows us that there's more to guitar than notes per second. And, his band is sooo solid. There's not a better blues drummer around than Allyn Robinson. Album highlights include the title track, "Mother Earth", and the oh-so-funky "Lights on, Nobody's Home".

There's something about Tab Benoit that reminds me of John Fogerty, and I mean that in the most positive possible way.

Benoit brings together a mix of influences from the Louisiana gumbo of his musical upbringing and produces a fine album here. Of the thirteen tracks on this disk, he wrote five, and arranged the rest. The tracks he didn't write draw on such diverse origins as Albert Collins, Willie Dixon, and even Hank Williams. "Greatness creates, genius steals" -- and Benoit steals from only the best.

He brings strong chops to his work, and all the songs are driven by his undoubted guitar skill. He takes hold of Hank Williams' "Jambalaya" and makes it his own while remaining true to the classic original. Tracks like "Twenty-Nine Ways," "Bayou Boogie," and the title song harken back to the great minds of the Louisiana Blues heyday. And his sandblasted but sculpted voice is a pleasure to listen to.

But for all that, he breaks no real ground on this disc. There's really nothing that establishes a distinct Tab Benoit voice. He hangs close to the established forms of the genre. This creates an ambience that suggests he wants only those who keep to the center of the road without venturing into new domains to listen to his tunes.

This disc, though accomplished, feels like an early work by someone whose greatest creative accomplishments are yet to come. This is odd, as this is Benoit's sixth album. There's a feel here like the artist is still finding who he is apart from the influences that guide him.

Still, the disc is eminently listenable, and offers a pleasing sound for lovers of the blues. Though he doesn't venture from the fold, he does have a firm grasp of the roots from which he hails. Perhaps with time and experience he'll establish himself as himself; until then, he's established as a voice of a classic sound, and that's not half bad.