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Bernard Allison - Kentucky Fried Blues (Ruf Records) This is a live recording from the W.C. Handy Festival in Kentucky 1999 and shows Allison at his best. He matches his father, Luther, for stagecraft and excitement. The opening instrumental 'Buzz Me' is a good example of his stinging guitar work and he follows it up with the in your face 'Going Down'. Allison and the band are on top form here and they keep up the pace with 'Bad Love', which is the first of three songs by his late father. The other two are 'Life Is A Bitch' and 'Midnight Creeper'. The former is a funk-fest and the horns are given their place in the spotlight. 'Midnight Creeper' on the other hand is a bit of a departure from the norm. It is laid back and soulful - a complete change from the straight on electrified and charged blues of 'Going Down'. The Buddy Guy penned ' Leave My Girl Alone' and 'Good Time Woman' by John Winter brings the album to a close. Allison rips it up on the guitar for an eighteen- minute dedication to Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan on 'Leave My Girl Alone' and brings out the bottleneck for a storming finale. I'm sure that Luther is looking down on his boy and he has, at 37, a long career ahead of him. Bernard Allison is one of a new batch of blues performers and has the talent to take the blues forward in the 21st century. I wish him well. www.rufrecords.de David Blue

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