JOANNE SHAW TAYLOR // ‘BLUES FROM THE HEART LIVE’ // ALBUM REVIEW

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The British Blue Guitar enigma that is Joanne Shaw Taylor has come a long way since being discovered by the Eurhythmics Dave Stewart back when she was just 16. She now has a raft of albums under her belt and regularly packs out venues for her live shows and it’s this that we focus on here. Recorded live at The Franklin Theatre in Franklin, Tennessee on January 20, 2022, the album sees Shaw Taylor covering the material from her latest studio effort, the Blues Album (2021). She has guest appearances here too including Jon Bonamassa and Kenny Wayne Shepherd and backed by Rob McNelley (guitar). Steve Mackey (bass), Jimmy Wallace (keyboards, piano), Nick Buda (drums), Devonne Fowlkes (backing vocals), and Kim Fleming (backing vocals).

            We start with Shaw Taylor mercilessly digging into Peter Green’s `Stop Messin’ Around.’ A shuffle has never sounded so good! Next brass sections blast and the Hammond wails as we groove to `If It Ain’t A Reason.’. Vocal prowess is in full effect on `Keep On Lovin’ Me’ as a superbly screaming Telecaster!

            Aretha Franklin’s `If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody’ drips with emotion and a heartfelt performance from Shaw Taylor on vocals shows she’s not just an amazing guitarist. Albert King’s `Can’t You See What You’re Doing To Me’ is up next and features Kenny Wayne Shepherd who duels brilliantly with Shaw Taylor as they trade licks.

The pace is brought right down with `Let Me Down Easy’ as its Blues smoulder lazily along. `Two Time My Lovin’ gets things rocking once more and is a real crowd-pleaser. We revisit the slow blues once more with `I Don’t Know What You’ve Got’ and the second special guest, Mike Farris comes onboard.

The piano and guitar-led, `Three Time Loser’ rocks out before the clever `Dyin’ To Know’ replete with drumstick rhythm intro and superb slide guitar work takes up the batten and raises the bar still further. The smooth bassy `Just Another Word’ lays down a slick groove next ahead of `I’ve Been Loving You Too Long’ where every guitar note sings and Shaw Taylor delivers a stellar performance.

The distorted riff of `I’m In Chains’ rings out and we are now firmly in heavy Blues Rock territory. This leaves us totally unprepared for the stark contrast of Mr Jon Bonamassa arriving to run through `Don’t Away Mad’. The beautiful `Summertime’ comes next as Shaw Taylor’s husky voice slinks sweetly along. We finish the night with `Only You Know And I Know’ as both guitarists’ instruments merge and their vocal lines get traded too. We certainly go out on a high and what a way to go!

Joanne Shaw Taylor is one of the UK’s greatest Blues exponents and here she can be heard in all her glory. No gimmicks here, she lets the music do all the talking. Every track is infectious and builds on the earlier one. The addition of some of the world’s best musicians as special guests is really the cherry on the cake. She came, she played, and she won the hearts of another audience.

Go see this wonderful lady if you can, but if not get this album as it is tremendous!

Paul Sabin

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