Blues.

SUE FOLEY
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Justin Time/Fusion III

For her first live album, recorded in one night last December, Sue Foley leaves her electric guitar in the case and offers an all-acoustic set of old blues covers from the likes of Bessie Smith and Memphis Minnie, and new original tunes, some done solo, some with her band. Although songs like Careless Love and Sugar In My Bowl date back to the earliest days of blues recording, Foley, and piano player Graham Guest, make them sound fresh and vital. The best of her own songs include Goin' Down the Road Again, and the lovely autumnal title track, both played solo in the intricate Piedmont fingerpicking style. The album's left-field surprise is a very pretty rendition of Here Comes the Sun, George Harrison's Abbey Road classic. While Foley was always a formidable blues-rocker, the subtler, more sophisticated approach here represents a change I hope she sticks with.
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Mike Regenstreif