PopSyndicate.com

If ever there was a music genre that demanded to be heard live, it’s jazz and the blues. While most other genres translate just fine to compact disc, there’s something inherently organic to the above that requires a listener to be there in person to absorb what they are hearing. I’ve grown to love both styles of music, but oddly (or perhaps naturally, given my above opinion), I have nary a CD of either in my collection. That changes now as I’ve received a blues CD to review, and while I still hold to my opinion, I will say that Honeyboy Edwards’ new album Roamin’ and Ramblin’ is a damned fine alternative if you can’t make it down to the local joint to take in the real thing.

I know very little about David “Honeyboy” Edwards...hell, I have a friend who is hardcore into jazz and the blues and even he’s never heard of him...but what I hear here is top-notch. The album is a concept album of sorts; not for some far-fetched storyline but rather just to recreate the sounds of Edwards’ performances over the years. As producer Michael Robert Frank discusses in the CD’s liner notes, Edwards has a long and storied career, performing since the early 1940s, and has always had a chemistry with good harmonica players. However, Frank realized that in almost seven decades, Edwards rarely actually recorded an album with fellow harmonica players, and set out to correct this oversight.

Roamin’ and Ramblin’ is a mix of these new studio sessions and a few older recordings, those usually being solos Edwards performed in the 1970s (though one is from 1942!). Together, the new and old blend together just fine to produce a worthy album. Edwards’ voice and guitar talents carry the album and the harmonica, not one of my favorite instruments, is utilized at its best here. Its presence is felt, but never overshadows Edwards’ vocals or the rest of the band.

The title track evokes its namesake, with a slow, pulsing drum beat that creates visions of a man walking down a dusty road. “Low Down Dog” has Honeyboy telling his cheating girlfriend that he’s tired of being treated like dirt. The stories here are the norm for the genre, but they’re done right. Interspersed into the 19 tracks on the near hour-long album are a couple of spoken word tracks in which Edwards and company recall road stories. They help lend a feel to the proceedings of one just sitting in with a jam session.

Released by Earwig Music (the fourth Edwards album on the label), the CD is nice quality. While the older recordings do have a bit of hiss in them, it’s not annoyingly distracting.

I’m still not really sold on using this medium for a style of music that I believe neccessatates live, in-person listening, but if all blues releases were as fun and well-produced as Roamin’ and Ramblin’, I’d be more inclined to give it a shot. Besides, Honeyboy’s gonna need some company sitting in my CD shelf.

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