Igor Prado Band and Delta Groove All Stars

Way Down South
Delta Groove Music

This is some of the most fun, jumping West Coast sounding blues that has come out in some time, and the funny thing is that the band is actually from Brazil. The Igor Prado Band released a sensational debut on Delta Groove a couple years back that set the tone, proving that these guys have studied and practiced this American music form for some time. They know how to do it right, and Delta Groove has backed them for their sophomore disc, Way Down South, with a bevy of heavy hitting blues masters.

These guys kick out the doors with a variety of blues approaches and hit their target with every one they go after. The album is filled with great cover material from artists like Ike Turner, Jimmy Rogers, Muddy Waters, Paul Gayten and Elmore James among others. The guest artists thrive throughout the recording too, with harmonica players leading the pack, including Mitch Kashmar, Rod Piazza, Omar Coleman, Randy Chortkoff, Wallace Coleman and the late Lynnwood Slim. Throw in some mean vocalists with Kim Wilson, Mud Morganfield, J.J. Jackson and Sugaray Rayford, and add guitar monsters Junior Watson and Mike Welch and you have a killer grouping, but they’re all there to support the Igor Prado Band, who are terrific in their own right.

Bandleader Igor Prado is a guitarist and vocalist who signs lead on a couple of tracks — Jr. Walker & The All Stars “Shake & Fingerpop” and Joe Tex’s “You Got What It Takes. His guitar playing is over the top, with mixes ranging from swing to jazz to deep, back-in-the-alley blues. His brother Yuri Prado fills the drum grooves and Rodrigo Mantovani works the bass lines while sax man Denilson Martins blows some fine licks on a handful of numbers.

The mix of selections on the disc cover a lot of ground, but truly does keep within West Coast and Chicago blues patterns. Highlights are many; the whole album is stellar. Of special note is Mud Morganfield’s reading of his daddy’s song “She’s Got It,” with the Igor Prado Band sounding as if they grew up in Chicago rather than Sao Paulo. Mitch Kashmar does some outstanding harmonica work along with great vocals on Jimmy Rogers’s “What Have I Done.” And the acoustic duet between Igor Prado and harmonica man Omar Coleman on “Trying To Do Right” at the end is worth the price of the disc alone. This sensational album shows that while this music may be American by birth, the rest of the world is getting ahold of it as well. This is one album worth hearing!

Total Time: 53:22

Matchbox / Ride With Me Baby / She’s Got It / Baby Won’t You Jump With Me / What Have I Done / Shake & Fingerpop / Talk To Me Baby / If You Ever Need Me / You Got What It Takes / Big Mama Blues / You Better Believe It / Rooster Blues / Trying To Do Right