These Blues Are All Mine

This is a strong statement by Tab Benoit announcing his true arrival; although he only wrote five of the 13 songs on this disc, he stakes a legitimate claim to all of them with some of his most inspired playing and singing ever. His backing group sounds great and keeps up with him over the entire disc. He is one of a handful of performers -- Tabby Thomas and Johnny Jenkins also manage this -- with that rare ability to combine aggressive blues with the rhythms and sounds of the dark standing waters and Spanish moss-draped trees of the Louisiana swamps. Listen to the spin he puts on the Hank Williams classic "Jambalaya." He injects just a tad more blues and zydeco seasoning to take the song to a different level without messing with the basic ingredients that made it a standard. He does some equally good and interesting things with songs from Albert Collins and Willie Dixon, among others. However, when he plays his own songs, he rips apart the room and leaves it all out there for us to see. Feel the anguish and pain that run rampant in the title cut, "These Blues Are All Mine." Neither his voice nor his guitar leave room for any doubt about how he is feeling. As tormented as he is in "These Blues," feel the joy of a life lived in the swamp that percolates through "Crawfishin'." Listen to him rave in "Bayou Boogie" -- this is one happy and satisfied man. This is definitely one hell of a keeper. ~ Bob Gottlieb