Jimmy Dawkins

Me, My Gitar, and the Blues (Ichiban)

Listen to "I Wonder Why"

This is one for the guitar freaks. Jimmy Dawkins serves up a platter's worth of new, gritty, urban blues, imposing as the tough-looking photos of the West Side Chicago guitarist on the booklet and tray card. Dawkins, who was present in the '60s in the salad days of Buddy Guy, Luther Allison, and Otis Rush, earned his stripes as perennial sideman to the greats; as a solo artist, "Fast Fingers" Dawkins jams his way through ten tracks of electric stomps and shuffles. Dawkins handles the vocals on most tracks, but Ichiban label-mate and powerful vocalist Francine Reed guest-stars on "Down, Down Baby," a smooth update of Koko Taylor ilk that works as a great change-up. But the heart of this album is the guitar work, and it's her all here in tunes that show Dawkins' rock side, a couple nods to influences like Elmore James, and of course some Southern grooves anyone who likes Ichiban records has come to know and love. Slick production puts extra-crisp emphasis on the drums, updating Dawkins' classic Chicago style for the post-alternative era. It's one of those albums that lends itself to playing mind-numbingly loud, a kind of blues Clapton, sadly, has made us forget. --Don Fluckinger