Lowdown And Up

Austin blues diva Toni Price teamed up with guitarist/producer Derek O'Brien on this 1999 outing, bringing her formidable chops to bear on a delightful batch of tunes new and old. With brand-name players aboard like Johnny Gimble, Casper Rawls, and Champ Hood handling the majority of the guitar work and Ian McLagen and Dr. John making guest turns on keyboards, the band positively swings on every cut, no matter what the lineup yields. Price has the smoothest and laziest of deliveries, never resorting to phony rasping or high-pitched curlicues to put a song across, but always a little behind the beat and always firmly in the background. On this outing, she elegantly negotiates her way through jazz ("Come Love"), country ("Don't You Think I Feel It Too?"), New Orleans blues ("Remember Me"), and flat-out rock & roll ("Feel Like Cryin'"), sounding like she has all the time in the world on every track. An album that deserves a much wider hearing. ~ Cub Koda