2007-10-24
Hit the clubs almost any night in New Orleans and chances are you’ll find guitarist Anders Osborne ripping it up on stage with one band or another. With an easy smile and a laser like intensity as he focuses on his guitar licks he’s a commanding presence on stage. Unlike many guitarists, but like most New Orleans musicians, Osborne is comfortable in a number of genres switching from the blues to funk to jazz to rock without giving up anything to those who tread within the narrow confines of any one of these styles. This release, his first studio disc in five years, showcases a slow, percolating groove that is somewhere between the blues and funk and finds Osborne in a reflective mood reminiscing about the sweet joys of "Summertime in New Orleans" and lamenting the devastation that pushed him out of his home, "Oh Katrina". Unfortunately, virtually the entire disc moves at the same low key, simmering pace with only "Back on Dumaine" moving fast enough to move your pulse beyond its resting point. Coupled with the introspective lyrics this low key approach makes this a much different disc than the "Stoned, Drunk and Crazy" we’ve come to expect from his earlier work. Damn, I wanted to rock. SmittyTHERESA ANDERSSON
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