Will Jacobs & Marcos Coll

A joyous hoot of harmonica based Blues with all the music made by the two members of the band.

Will Jacobs handles vocals, guitars, bass, drums and Marcos Col is the harp man the music is built around and I have to say that they are no slouches when it comes to playing the Blues Chicago style. The music is generally funky and fast paced and Jacobs has a fine voice as well as being an excellent guitarist (his bass and drums skills are pretty damn good too) but, for me, it’s Marcos Coll’s harp playing that sets this album ahead of most of the rest.

There are 9 tracks here, all in a similar vein, played very tight and keeping the groove going all through. From the opening ‘It Ain’t Safe’ they lay down a signature with the guitar leading in and setting a funky riff before the harp and vocals come in over the guitar.

There are variations, of course, but the core of the album is funky Blues and they really show just how good that can be.

Note should be made of one of the best lyrics I’ve heard in ages “It’s safer for you to choke a gorilla with a shoe string than you to cause me any hardship or pain”.

They won’t win awards for groundbreaking originality,. but they are definitely one of the better duos I’ve heard this year. An album I’ve listened to time after time for the sheer pleasure of it.