Outsider, The

Canned HeatやJohn Mayall's Bluesbreakersに参加、ソロ転向後はコンスタントにアルバムをリリースし、ヨーロッパで確固たる人気を持つ実力派ブルース・ギタリスト、Walter Troutの2008年作がオランダの優良ブルース・レーベルMascot-Provogueよりリリース!Lowell Fulson、Pee Wee Claytonらのバックを務めながら腕を磨き、John Lee HookerやBig Mama Thorntonとも共演する腕前のWalter Trout。1981年にはCanned Heatに加入。84年にJohn Mayall's Bluesbreakersに参加。1990年作品の"Life In The Jungle"を皮切りにスタジオ、ライヴ盤をコンスタントにリリースしてきた彼の2008年作となる本作は、収録曲13曲はすべてオリジナル曲。バックを固めるのはKenny Aronoff(ds)、Hutch Huchinson(b)、Jon Clearly(p)、Skip Edwards、Samuel Avila(hammond), Jason Ricci(harmonica)など腕利き揃い!B.B.KingやLos Lonely Boysのプロデュースでグラミー賞に輝くJohn Porterがプロデュースを担当していることも注目です。

Walter Trout is an electric bluesman who has logged in lots of experience as both a sideperson (including work with John Mayall) and as a leader of his own bands (including the Free Radicals). As the reference to Mayall might suggest, he also adds a healthy dose of classic rock to his blues on The Outsider, working in the tradition of Jimi Hendrix's "Red House" and, in general, Stevie Ray Vaughan. The slow, rocking blues of the title track, in fact, may remind one of "Red House" or "Texas Flood." This isn't to accuse Trout of being derivative so much as to note that he, like many blues artists, is working within well-worn traditions that place more emphasis on creating an individual voice within the limits of that tradition than leaving the tradition behind. To that end, the Eastern underpinning of a song like "Sanjay" works much better for establishing Trout's talents than the title track. Likewise, the acoustic "Turn Your Eyes to Heaven" offers an easy-flowing, open-ended musical space that mimics the spirituality of the lyric. One of the primary strengths of The Outsider is its eclecticism within the blues-rock tradition, an approach that shows Trout's range, but also one that prevents one musical style from becoming too dominant. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr.|

Walter Trout is an electric bluesman who has logged in lots of experience as both a sideperson (including work with John Mayall) and as a leader of his own bands (including the Free Radicals). As the reference to Mayall might suggest, he also adds a healthy dose of classic rock to his blues on The Outsider, working in the tradition of Jimi Hendrix's "Red House" and, in general, Stevie Ray Vaughan. The slow, rocking blues of the title track, in fact, may remind one of "Red House" or "Texas Flood." This isn't to accuse Trout of being derivative so much as to note that he, like many blues artists, is working within well-worn traditions that place more emphasis on creating an individual voice within the limits of that tradition than leaving the tradition behind. To that end, the Eastern underpinning of a song like "Sanjay" works much better for establishing Trout's talents than the title track. Likewise, the acoustic "Turn Your Eyes to Heaven" offers an easy-flowing, open-ended musical space that mimics the spirituality of the lyric. One of the primary strengths of The Outsider is its eclecticism within the blues-rock tradition, an approach that shows Trout's range, but also one that prevents one musical style from becoming too dominant. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr.