Warm, that's the word for this one. Isaak and some of his favourite
Vancouver pals holed up for an old-school play-along, using minimal
studio effects, and just jamming like a band should. The album features
13 Isaak originals that feature a friendly vibe and classic styles. That
includes acoustic picking and grinning, up to horn-driven soul jams
like I Wanna Be Your Man. His Can't Do No Wrong features some great
jazzy guitar by the man himself, grooving along with acoustic bass,
drums and his own honkin' harp. It could be a '40's track except for the
line "She smokes reefer just like Cheech & Chong."
Adept
at bass, drums, dobro, harmonica and more, Isaak could have made this
all himself, and did play lots of the parts, but much of the vibe is
that group effort and fun approach. Joining him are local musicians he
admires, such as Powder Blues' Jack Levin on bass, Twisters Chip Hart
and Dave "Hurricane" Hoerl on drums and harmonica, and Willie MacCalder
on piano. The songs are stars too, and Isaak has lots of fresh lyric
ideas, classic blues themes but said in new ways. His PhD In The Blues
name-checks the greats while coming over like a blues version of Little
Feat's Rock and Roll Doctor. Best of all is that it comes across so
inviting, proper and pleasing. That's the warm.
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