Savoy Brown — Blues All Around

Label: Quarto Valley Records

It begins with a repeating guitar phrase that is its own call and response. There is something seductively timeless happening. Eventually, a vocalized “Falling through” beckons twice, and we are transported to a multi-layered world of pain, healing, and redemption. We have solidly landed in the land of the blues. Blues All Around, the new album from British blues/rock band Savoy Brown takes the listener on a daunting journey that is, ultimately, about survival.

The players on this satisfying collection of 12 varied tracks are Kim Simmonds (guitar, vocals, organ, harmonica), Garnet Grimm (drums, percussion), and Pat DeDSalvo (bass). The emotional highlight of the album is the revisited full version of “Fallin’ Through the Cracks” — a song that benefits from its relationship to the songs that came before it, while the musical highlight of the album is “Going Down South” — a song that features the prodigious gifts of each player equally. Throughout the entire album, Kim Simmonds invests the blues rock songs with the voice of experience. Both his guitar and his vocals sing the truth.