The Phantom Blues Band

Out of the Shadows

2007-03-22

The Phantom Blues Band is a star studded amalgamation of musicians (Denny Freeman and Johnny Lee Schell on guitars, Larry Fulcher on bass, Tony Braunagel on drums, Darrell Leonard on Trumpet, Job Sublett on Sax and Mike Finnigan on keyboards) who first made their individual marks contributing to the releases of numerous rock and blues discs by the likes of Hendrix, Little Feat, the Band, Bonnie Raitt, the Stones and Stevie Ray Vaughan. First joining forces to back up Taj Mahal on a couple of Grammy winning discs they have remained together as a band and finally have a disc where they are the main course rather the side dish. So how do they fare in the spotlight? Quite well, thank you. As befitting their broad pedigree, the band chooses to mix things up with everything from Leo Nocentelli’s funk number, "Do the Dirt", to gospel, "I’m Looking for a Miracle" and "Yield Not to Temptation", to Memphis soul, "Let Them Talk", to bright, almost popish numbers, "Who’s been Sleeping In My Bed?" to reggae, "Book of Rules", to a latin tinged take on Chuck Berry’s "Havana Moon", to straight out blues on "Part Time Love" and Lowell Fulson’s "My Aching Back". While this tour of styles would be a potential mess in the hands of lesser musicians everything holds together here for a fine listen. Smitty

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