Sonny Landreth: Grant Street

(Herald rating: * *)

Joe Satriani's Auckland show confirmed there is an audience for those who let their guitar do the talking. Landreth from Louisiana is one of those. He's played with New Orleans legends like Allen Toussaint and Dr John, is a member of John Hiatt's band the Goners, and he's as at home on jazz festival bills as he is on country line-ups. Bonnie Raitt admires his slide playing.

To support his previous albums he's had guests drop by to add colour but this time out he's recorded a rocking live set with his band of bassist Dave Ranson and drummer Ken Blevins at a club in Lafayette, which he opened with zydeco king Clifton Chenier back in 1980.


It's certainly a muscular set as his distinctive, thick slide sound shifts from Elmore James to Jimi Hendrix without a blink, and he carves up a furiously funky tribute to Congo Square over 10 minutes as a closer.

His vocals, often heavily echoed, are never his strong suit so it's mostly down to the incendiary instrumental passages to carry old favourites like the boogie rock of Gone Pecan, USS Zydecoldsmobile and Z Rider.

His previous albums have been favoured by guitarists and he says this one is for fans. So unless that's you, or you like slide guitar rock with touches of cajun funk, you could pass this one by.

Label: Sugar Hill