The first time I came across Devon Allman was at one of Pete Feenstra’s legendary shows in North London. We talked about his father – Greg Allman – and his plans for his own career, and it soon became obvious that this was a young man with both a great deal of talent and also a strong desire to develop his skills and to work with the best of his generation. This album definitely represents that last, and it’s a damn fine listen as well.
The big thing here is that it isn’t an album featuring Devon Allman, rather it shows the strength of the current generation of Blues musicians in a collaborative venture that has them all as equals – a real Blues Summit indeed.
The artists featured here, apart from Allman, are the likes of Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Larry McCray, Sierra Green, Jimmy Hall and Robert Randolph, all featuring either at the focus of a track or in the band. The Memphis Horns also feature on three tracks.
Opening track ‘Runners In The Night’ features Christone “Kingfish” Ingram on a gorgeous groove laden soul number, laden with horns and Ingram’s distinctive guitar. Jimmy Hall (currently with Wet Willie and ex-collaborator with Jeff Beck) is a harmonica player of real soul and groove as well as a fine lead vocalist and he features on ‘Blues Is A Feeling’, all funk and hot rhythms and very much the flag bearer for the soul of the album. He also features on a great version of Willie Dixon’s ‘Wang Dang Doodle’ and sings to Robert Randolph’s pedal steel on ‘Peace To The World’.
One of my favourite numbers is ‘Real Love’ featuring Sierra Green on vocals – string laden and with the feel of classic Philly Soul, written by Allman. Ther album also features a fine version of ‘Little Wing’ that sounds as though it could have been by Mountain or Leslie West at his best.
The only negative for the album is that there is no overriding style or form, rather there are 10 tracks all of which are great in their own right. That being said, there wasn’t a single number that I didn’t want to hear again.
