The release of
\nThe Complete Recordings<\/i> from Robert Johnson a few years ago
\nseemed to rekindle interest not only in Johnson’s music, but in
\nold-fashioned Delta blues as well. Even so, I hadn’t heard much of
\nit recently – that is, until I got my hands on
\nFront Porch Blues<\/i> from John Jackson, a disc that could well
\nbe the best traditional blues album I have ever heard.<\/p>\n
Jackson, a veteran of the blues world, reminds me a lot of
\nJohnson. His fantastic guitar work often sounds like it’s more than
\none guitar plucking the gentle melodies of his songs, while his
\nvoice – admittedly something that takes a little getting used to –
\nspins the tales of generations past while making the sound fresh
\nfor the new millenium. In short, it’s the perfect mix.<\/p>\n
Jackson dips into the rich legacy of the music he grew up with,
\nplaying such traditional favorites as “C.C. Rider” (forget every
\nsingle rock version you’ve heard of this song, and listen to the
\nsong performed the right way) and “Death Don’t Have No Mercy”, as
\nwell as one or two great gospel-tinged blues numbers like “When He
\nCalls Me” and “The Devil He Wore A Hickory Shoe”. I swear, more
\nperformances like this, and I’ll end up listening to a lot more
\ngospel music in the future.<\/p>\n
Jackson proves that his skills as a songwriter are nothing to be
\ntaken lightly. The wonderful instrumental “Fairfax Station Rag”
\nsounds like something that might have been written at the turn of
\nthe century, during the popularity of ragtime. Jackson makes his
\nguitar come alive on this all-too-brief song, making me wish not
\nonly that he had expanded this particular track, but also that he
\nhad done more songs in this vein on
\nFront Porch Blues<\/i>. After hearing other wonders like
\n“Chesterfield” and “Rappahannock Blues,” I honestly wish that
\nJackson had included more originals on this disc.<\/p>\n
Truth be told, there is not a single bad moment on
\nFront Porch Blues<\/i>. It’s an interesting change from the
\nfull-band blues I’ve been listening to for so many years, and
\nbrings back memories of such artists as Leadbelly and Johnson, who
\nrelied only on their voices and talents to create the mood. This
\nalbum leaves no doubt that Jackson is a master at his craft.<\/p>\n
\nFront Porch Blues<\/i> could well be the best album I will listen
\nto all year, and is easily one of the best – if not the best –
\nblues album I’ve ever had the pleasure of listening to. If Jackson
\nisn’t revered as a living blues legend, he will be very soon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27819,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7497],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-39202","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-john-jackson","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39202\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=39202"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=39202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}