Eddie Martin - Black White And Blue (2016)

Explosive and exciting! That's how a blues rock album should start, and Eddie Martin's 10th studio album 'Black White and Blue' begins like it means to take no prisoners. But if you are expecting endless guitar soloing and a generic list of grooves instead of proper songs you are soon enlightened. Martin's songs may rock but they are always well-crafted. After 2 rave-reviewed big band projects, Eddie Martin is back with 10 original songs and a punchy trio for his 16th release. His humble respect to the Afro-American legacy goes deep (when not performing these days he can be found giving master-classes on say Son House's slide guitar or Robert Johnson). But Black White and Blue is cool about the contribution of his white-boy contemporaries since the era of Classic Rock. A verse in the album title song puts it like this 'The African legacy shines like a jewel..We're now in a blend, but the history is bruised: It's all black, white and blue.' Martin can strut a blues-rock guitar solo with the best (Hendrix/ SRV influences resonate on 'Angry' and the title track 'Black, White and Blue'), but Martin is all about pushing the genre forward. Alongside his fluid slide playing and pyrotechnic Strat-wielding, he also showcases his extraordinary simultaneous harp and guitar soloing skills. In fact, for all the simplicity of the line-up, this album is a lesson in how many different textures and sounds you can treat a bunch of songs to in a trio. Martin is full of surprises and, running his own record label, he relishes the creative freedom this allows to do something fresh and different each release. If it means his work is sometimes difficult to pigeon-hole then don t worry. As Willie Dixon said 'Blues is the roots: the rest is the fruits'. This album is nothing if not a juicy new fruit to savour from the Eddie Martin stall.

TRACKLIST
1. Mississippi Sound (4:54)
2. Angry (5:25)
3. Black White And Blue (5:10)
4. I Choose You (5:28)
5. Too Much Choice (4:25)
6. Graceful Ways (4:39)
7. I've Lost My Phone (3:24)
8. How (4:44)
9. Song Of Five Things (4:01)
10. It All Depends (6:59)