November 18–25, 1999
six pick
Since 1986’s Cold Is the Night guitarist/singer Joe Louis Walker has made bold, innovative blues with a twinge of his hometown San Francisco’s legendary psychedelic history and a romantic devotion to God and man’s spiritual nature. But on his new Silvertone Blues (Blue Thumb), Walker plays weird and wily, stomping his heels and slipping through some of the best slide guitar work of the decade. With mellifluous singer/guitarist Alvin Youngblood Hart, pianist Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne and harmonica master James Cotton, Walker strolls through a Bible’s worth of blues: the sprightly striding piano boogie of "Kenny’s Barrelhouse," soft Stones-y moments like "Runnin’ From The Devil" and stark crawling ballads like "Change My Ways." It’s amazing slow-cooked stuff.
Thu., Nov. 18, 8 and 10:30 p.m., Warmdaddy’s, 4 S. Front St., $10, 215-627-2500.
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