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Blues Matters!
Issue 35 Dec'06-Jan'07
Review by Graeme Scott

This brand new debut CD from Paris James is like stepping back in time and listening to many of the old blues shouters. Paris has just that certain way of phrasing a lyric and playing guitar that smacks of all that has been, what is and what will be with this genre of music we lovingly call the blues.

Here we have a man who has absorbed the influences of previous masters and distilled them into his own style. All you have on this CD is Paris and his guitar and a sound so stripped back to basics that all that is missing is the crackles, scratches etc and it could have been recorded back in the 1920's. It is all the stronger for such simplicity. Twelve tracks, if you include two spoken intros, a little over thirty one minutes and a mix of covers, traditional and self penned numbers provide the joys on this fine album.

It is hard to tell where Paris ends and say Blind Lemon Jefferson takes over such is the similarities in style. But this is no cheap rip off. Instead it is a faithful, yet modern, take on what is, for many, real blues.

The sequencing has married together Death Letter and See That My Grave Is Kept Clean appropriately. 32-20 Blues, I Ain't Superstitious and 44 Blues by messers Johnson, Dixon and Sykes respectively are truly wonderful. Opening and closing tracks Skinnin' Board Stomp and Ride That Tide are both tasty instrumentals. Folk Tales, Wake Up Mary and Low Down Blues make up the rest of the collection.

Not only is this CD a joy for purists, but can also be enjoyed by all comers to the world of the blues. www.BluesMatters.com