Blues bassist has strong, supple bottom lines that have supported all the best groups, but he's led his own band as well. This is his fourth date, and heartily asserts himself as a singer, with a tone like with a rougher edge. His equally excellent band features lead guitarists and alternating tracks, with rhythm guitarist , pianist , and drummer . Baritone saxophonist/arranger from the old band leads a three-piece horn section on three tracks. This 13-song program -- ten written by -- comprises mostly classic 12-bar, IV-V-I changes. A hard-swinging with 's swift guitar and 's boogie piano, supports a bitch session for . He is fairly believable on the -styled 's style is more prevalent on a long, loping eight-minute title track with horns, and the more -ish again with doing a style of interpreting. can also play tasty -type slide as on the easy, lowdown Most fun is the typical which jumps and jives with all the flavor and depth you expect from the real thing. The deepest emotion is in the slower numbers. is patient, deliberate, and cocksure, while is a down-home contradiction that perfectly exemplifies what everyone has to/doesn't do in this convoluted society. Unquestionably a great modern document, and one of the best CDs of 1998. ~ Michael G. Nastos