Willie Lomax Blues Revue - Best Blues Money Can Buy (2003)

Willie Lomax was born and raised in Miami, FL, the son of a jazz drummer. He began playing trumpet at the age of nine, switching to guitar in his late teens, when he fell heavily under the spell of the blues. Lomax developed a soulful Southern guitar style, and with his sharp, incisive songwriting, he is one of the brightest talents on the contemporary blues scene. He has made his home since 1985 in Tampa, FL, where he also runs an independent blues label, Big Boss Records. His first album, Give Me Back My Teeth, was released on Big Boss Records in 1996, followed by Ribs Are Ready (which introduced the striking soul/blues singer Shawn Brown to the mix) in 1999. Best Blues Money Can Buy, again featuring Brown on vocals, was released in 2004.

It's easy to play blues by the numbers, since every musician knows the form and the changes, and blues isn't a lyrically demanding genre. But playing blues by the numbers is exactly what Willie Lomax doesn't do, and his crafted songs have a heart and soul that lift them into the rarefied Stax Records territory. It doesn't hurt that the vocalist on Best Blues Money Can Buy is the impressive Shawn Brown, whose singing here conjures up the ghosts of great Memphis singers like James Carr and Otis Redding, and whose B-3 playing does so much to set up the reverent, churchy, and deeply soulful feeling of this record. Lomax's guitar playing doesn't have to carry the full load here, which allows him the freedom to put in the lines that matter, and the end result is an impressive album that transcends the stereotypical constraints of contemporary blues. From the opener, the sax and organ-driven "Ransacked," through the instrumental soul-jazz of "Blues for Ronnie" (dedicated to Ronnie Earl) and the incisive lyrics of "Freedom Is Not Free," Best Blues Money Can Buy is a solid statement of what the blues can be when it comes from the heart.