Bobby Rush - Undercover Lover (2003)

The sound is gutsy: the stylistic range is as varied as anything Rush has ever packed into one CD (everything from grinding 12-bar blues through Synth-washed soul/blues dance-workouts to a rare - and exquisitely conceived - straight-ahead pop-soul ballad, Love Is A Gamble); and the lyrics are as irrepressibly witty as ever. Fusing the old, the new, and the borrowed - and always of course the blue - Bobby Rush has come up with an achievement that exceeds any reasonable expectation on this, his first time out on his own.

Special Kudos should go out to keyboardist Paul Brown who masterminded the synths and also engineered and mixed this challenging aural mélange with unerring precision. Whether or not this disc helps Rush realize his longstanding dream of becoming a "mainstream" blues star: it certainly stands as among the years most important blues recordings. /David Whiteis, Living Blues Magazine

Personnel: Bobby Rush (vocals, guitar, harmonica); Richard Cushing, Steve Johnson, Dexter Allen (guitar); Brian Overstreet (slide guitar); Paul Brown, Vick Allen (keyboards); Derrick Martin, Bruce Howard (drums); Terry Richardson (bass); Pete Mendillo (cymbals, percussion).