Don't Play Boogie

hile Brit piano boss Bob Hall may not be a ubiquitous name to American record buyers or even Yank musicians, in the U.K. his name is synonymous with myth, legend, and greatness. Like percussionist Ray Cooper, Hall has shared stages with everyone from Savoy Brown to Fleetwood Mac and everyone in between, content to contribute his particularly expansive vocabulary of blues and boogie-woogie to the records and live performances of others. Don't Play Boogie, issued with Hall's own working band at the time, was recorded in 1998 and 1999. His choice of musicians includes his longtime musical partner, bassist and vocalist Hilary Blythe, along with guitarists Dave Kelly (from the Blues Band) and Frank White, the Hoax's drummer Dave Raeburn, Paul Lamb on harp, and saxophonist Steve Beighton from Mike + the Mechanics. One of Hall's great strengths is that he is also a fine songwriter; two-thirds of Don't Play Boogie features his own freewheeling, easy, rootsy compositions. As evidenced by the opening cut, "In the City," flash is not Hall's signature, but rather taste, elegance, and a canny knowledge of how to put a fill before or behind the beat to make one line or phrase or even a bridge blur just enough to give it a laid-back feel. "One Last Time" is a Chicago blues, late night to the point of almost being a Western swing blues tune. The title track is a stomping boogie-woogie tune, full of killer turnarounds, Dave Kelly's slide, and honky tonk fills that make the number almost a barroom country groover. Of the covers, the plaintively beautiful read of the traditional "Make Me a Pallet on the Floor," with Hall and Kelly exchanging lines throughout, is haunting and bittersweet, and Blythe's vocals fit the tune perfectly. Then there's "Death Ray Boogie," copped by Johnny Nicholas and others and renamed, but here it is pure Albert Ammons/Pete Johnson stomp and roll. In sum, this is an easy, good-time record that features fine playing and soulful performances, and gives a nice range of Hall's many faces in the blues world. ~ Thom Jurek|