HOWELLDEVINE
Jumps, Boogies and Wobbles
Arhoolie 544

www.arhoolie.com
 

This popular, Northern California-based neo-traditional blues duo – rough-hewn slide guitarist and cuttingly astringent harmonica ace, Joshua Howell, and imaginatively rhythmic percussionist Pete Devine – sure sound like they’re having loads of fun on this ten-track collection of vibrant originals and in-the-vein covers. Joining the pair on their sophomore CD (and vintage RCA Victor logo-styled debut for big-eared Chris Strachwitz’s adventurous Arhoolie label) are alternating upright bassists Safa Shokrai and Joe Kyle Jr. along with rhythm ‘n’ blues-grounded tenor sax maven Ralph Carney on a couple of numbers – the appropriately wobbly, guitar-free, extended instrumental jam “Harmonica Wobble #2” (a band original) as well as a moodily pleading reworking of blues poet Willie Dixon’s classic “Spoonful,” where Carney’s ever-striving spherical sax tonality inventively steers proceedings in a whole new direction. Particular highlights among the covers are three which all feature Howell’s frozen-in-past-times throaty tenor (often recalling Slim “Rainin’ In My Heart” Harpo) and cantankerously inviting bottleneck guitar, that greatly favors the vigorously raw approach of Mississippi Hill Country greats such as Mississippi Fred McDowell and R.L. Burnside, along with the devilishly sympathetic Devine – who even picks up his jug for a resolutely stark redo of Sonny Boy Williamson’s “Mighty Long Time” as well as rhythmically bumping and thumping his traps on yet another Williamson revival (the wailing, beseeching “Help Me”) and the timeless, traditional stomper “Rollin’ And Tumblin’.” A pair of tasty Sylvester Weaver interpretations (“Guitar Rag” and “Soft Steel Piston”) have a fresh yet old-timey flair to them while featuring Devine’s feisty washboard work alongside Howell’s aqueous guitar and Kyle Junior’s hypercussive upright bass playing, while original rural blues sparklers like “Shotgun Blues” and the jumping instrumental workout “HowellDevine Boogie Woogie” also raise a broad smile with the duo’s unique Delta/Chicago mix-up of a blues blend. Hot stuff.

— Gary von Tersch