[Harp-L] Review of Carlos del Junco's Blues Mongrel

["Planet Harmonica" <lists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I have just posted a review of Carlos del Junco's Blues Mongrel on my weblog 
at http://harmonica.typepad.com. Here are the first two paragraphs : 

Blues Mongrel is Carlos del Junco?s fourth album. His first, Just Your Fool 
was very much a blues album, whereas Big Boy and Up and at ?em were less 
focused stylically, ranging from jazz to ethnic with some ska and blues in 
the mix. I guess that must not have worked that well for Carlos since Blues 
Mongrel is now definitely back into blues territory. With a bit of 
crossbreeding here and there, hence the title. 

Blues Mongrel opens with a heavy version of Little Walter?s Blues with a 
Feeling, and I do mean heavy. The sound is mean, the playing is mean. It 
sets the tone for most of the album. In fact, apart from the very last 
track, gone are the acoustic ballads that closed Up and at ?em, or the 
mellow sound of Jitterbug Waltz on Big Boy. In a way, Blues Mongrel sounds 
like blues on every track (but one), even when the tune isn?t blues per se. 
The ska inspired instrumental Skatoon sounds mean and bluesy, ditto the 
country & western chestnut Run Me Down. The record as a whole sounds mean.