Harmonica player, singer and Hohner-endorsed Steven Troch fronts this four piece Belgian outfit on this rather nice CD. It has a richly varied sound, ranging from the Slim Harpo flavoured blues of ‘The Short End’, the Sonny Terry inflected ‘Rabbit Foot Trail’ and the "Otis Rush meets The Yardbirds’" styled ‘Bad Taste’ to the vaudeville sound of ‘Troubled One’, the folky and perhaps not totally serious ‘Long Long Beard’, and the jazzy chromatic playing of ‘White Line Express’. All thirteen numbers here feature Steven’s fine and measured blues harp playing whilst his accompanists are in top form throughout - and the fact that California’s Aki Kumar wrote the liner notes for this album might, if you follow blues harmonica players, give you some idea of the quality of this release. Nicely unexpected, this is certainly a CD worth seeking out if you appreciate first rate blues harmonica playing – or indeed, if you just want to hear some good blues.
Norman Darwen