Music - Keb' Mo'

Little while back, Martin Scorcese produced a series of short films on the blues, with each film being headed up by a different director (Clint Eastwood is probably the most famous of the group). To go along with this massive production, he oversaw the publication of a book and a boxset overview of the blues, as well as a series of CDs highlighting great songs from different artist's careers. This CD by Kevin Moore (Keb' Mo') falls into the latter category.

If you're still holding off on jumping back on the blues bandwagon - yeah, I see that hand in the back - Moore might be your gateway drug into one of America's great musical forms.

Though I have known his name for a while, this is the first album we've owned of Keb' Mo'. I bought it because it was slightly cheaper than some of the others and seemed like a good way to get an introduction - and I was, surprisingly, right. It is an excellent cd, showing off Moore's great abilities as a singer and guitar player. It's a great mix of acoustic and slightly-electric blues, of original material and covers.

Moore has a wonderful cover of "Come on in My Kitchen" by the famous Robert Johnson. He also shows off his songwriting talent on "Perpetual Blues Machine": When I found out you were a fake, you ran up and bit me like a snake; and I wasn't ready to let go, to let all my feelings show - why you wanna be so cold? You gone and let your true colors show, you're a perpetual blues machine. This song makes me smile.

There's some gospel-style blues ("Don't Try to Explain"), some country blues ("Love in Vain"), some funky blues ("Am I Wrong?"), some Chicago blues ("I'm on Your Side"), and some pretty smooth blues ("Henry" - maybe the best song on the album). In fact, there's enough here to give you a great introduction, not just to Keb' Mo', but to the blues in general. Moore's voice is easy to listen to, his playing is always appropriate to the song, but usually has enough of a twist to keep us interested.

Really, really good stuff.