Kenny "Blue" Ray
Bless My Axe
(Tone King Records 1062)
Though he's out there with those dancing
raisins in sun baked California, Kenny "Blue" Ray clearly smells like Texas. His
licks echo inspiration from Stevie Ray Vaughan, Albert Collins, Albert and Freddie King, T
Bone, and a host of other Texas legends. He may live elsewhere, but his sound is
blatantly, wonderfully "local." He was a member of Little Charlie and the Night
Cats way back in the 70's, spent some time working with Marcia Ball and did session time
with lots of other Bay area notables. His latest CD, Bless My Axe is a great bunch of
gumbo from a man who knows how to charm the chords from his musical weapon. Kenny serves
up a broad range of harmonious fare on the disc; ranging from the down, twisting blues of
"Mississippi 3 a.m." (with Charlie Chavez delivering the outstanding freight
train harmonica duty) all the way to a jazz (with a capital J) version of the Stanley
Turrentine tune, "Sugar." Truly, Kenny thrives on the multiplicity; maintaining
consistent chops whether he is throwing down sound on that great Detroit Junior piece,
"Call My Job," or dueling with the harphonker on John Lee Hooker's
"Maudie." Mr. Ray is a tremendously talented player who knows how to put it all
together and make an easy on the ear end product. He is backed in this effort by a group
of extremely gifted individuals that emerge through the sound as a coherent unit. This is
a disc you will want to spin more than a few times to enjoy Kenny's handiwork. So keep
your eye on this guy. It will be fun to see where he takes us next.
- Bill Fountain -
Southwest Blues CD Review - January 1999
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