Gustavo Andrade & Jefferson Gonçalves - Explosion Blues (2021)

Sometimes a nice blues CD is enough to feel good. That is certainly the case with this album by the Brazilian duo Gustavo Andrade & Jefferson Gonçalves . Gustavo (guitar) and Jefferson (harmonica) are well-known names in the Brazilian blues world, but they may well be known to die hard blues fans in our country.
This album will certainly contribute to establish their name in our country. Assisted by bassist Fabio Mesquita and drummer Andre Obermuller, the duo delivers an album full of covers. All in a style close to The Fabulous Thunderbirds or The Nighthawks.

For example, it opens with the Willie Dixon classic Backdoor Man , which is given a nice languid funky performance with soggy harmonica and piercing guitar work. It is immediately noticeable that both the harmonica and the guitar solos are very modest and serving. There is absolutely no question of inflated egos here! The shuffle Ninety Nine , by Sonny Boy Williamson, sounds wonderfully relaxed with the warm harmonica sounds of Jefferson in the foreground.
Cold Cold Feeling is known from T-Bone Walker and in the Brazilian version the guitar of Gustavo takes center stage, supported by the howling harmonica of Jefferson. Little By Littleby Junior Wells gets a wonderfully languid funky treatment, which, partly because of the vocals, reminded me of John Mayall. In the slow grooving Going Down Slow (by St. Louis Jimmy Oden) Jefferson lets his harmonica scream and Gustavo's guitar sounds nice and bright. The version of JJ Cale's Sensitive Kind sounds quite bluesy with a funky undertone.
To conclude, these Brazilian bluesmen have opted for a menacingly swinging performance of Willie Dixon's Wang Dang Doodle .

This album proves that a good blues album doesn't always have to be sensationally good to convince. This duo delivers a wonderful blues album and will do well in many blues clubs.