Pasa Tiempo

Joe Louis Walker
Evidence Music, Inc
(800) 474-5131

Joe Louis Walker started out singing gospel with the Spiritual Corinthians, then moved into the blues world. Touring with his great band, the Bosstalkers, Walker developed a successful career mixing his soul and gospel roots with down home blues to create a very unique and personal sound that thrilled audiences world-wide.

This release expands his vision even further by adding jazz influences to a setlist that includes songs by Van Morrison, Otis Redding & Steve Cropper, Boz Scaggs and John Hiatt. Walker has assembled a strong group of great jazz musicians to help him with this project. Wallace Roney handles the trumpet parts. Ernie Watts contributes several fine sax solos, especially on the instrumental “Barcelona”. Guitar legend Phil Upchurch is on board for the remake of his ‘60s instrumental hit “ You Can’t Sit Down”.

The title cut has a Latin groove and features a Roney solo that clearly demonstrates how much Miles Davis has influenced him. The Scaggs song, “ I’ve Got Your Love”, showcases Walker’s ability to infuse a ballad with a soulful vocal that pleads with gospel-like intensity. The blues standard “It Hurts Me Too” is done as an instrumental with Walker handling the slide guitar but the first solo comes from Barry Goldberg on the Hammond B3 organ, giving this standard a totally different feel.

Walker has managed to incorporate jazz into his music without letting it dominate. He holds his own with the talented musicians that support him. When it’s all said and done, this recording stands as a testament to the scope of his musical vision and his ability to successfully incorporate his varied influences into a coherent package that sounds fine to me.

Thank you to the folks at Evidence Music for sending a copy of this disc to us for review. We appreciate the kindness.