VINCE AGWADA
Eyes Of The City
2008 Vince Agwada
Singer and guitarist Vince is from Chicago where he was born in 1959 and got his start playing at Theresa’s and The Checkerboard; he jammed with such esteemed figures as Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Lefty Dizz, Sammy Lawhorn and others. He has contributed to numerous albums and videos, either as a musician or composer, in his 25 years on the Windy City blues scene, but this is his debut CD under his own name. He describes his music as ‘new millennium blues’ and I won’t argue with that. This is generally loud and brash, post-Alligator ‘high energy blues’, guitar based and often using funky rhythms behind Vince’s muscular vocals on a programme of 13 original numbers – some of which are quite notable and stay long in the memory.
There is a variety of modern styles too – ‘Blooze’ and ‘Tubed Out’ are heavy, ‘Does It Really Matter?’ is a jazzy strut, ‘Bottle’ is a fairly traditional slide guitar shuffle, the title track is a moody, jazzy, spacey, sax-led piece, and ‘Had To Cry’ is Albert King styled; ‘Come On In’ has an unusual rhythm and slide guitar – the nearest (but not that close) comparison I can come up with is the Beatles’ ‘Come Together’! Working from a promo, I cannot tell you just who plays what on this album, but rest assured, they are all top-notch musicians – as is Vince.
Any lover of modern blues will find plenty to enjoy here.
—– Norman Darwen – Blues Art Journal