Bryan
Lee
cd "Katrina Was Her Name" Review on "Off Beat" - september 2007
Guitar-slinger Bryan Lee is always at his best in a live
setting—but unfortunately, his latest isn’t
a live album (He’s already made two at his old haunt,
the Old Absinthe House on Bourbon Street). Lee plays like
he’s still on Bourbon, hauling out chestnuts like
Robert Parker’s “Barefootin’” and
B.B. King’s “Ain’t Nobody’s Business,” even
calling out band members by name for solos. The somber
title track sounds out of place, since he jumps right back
into the endless-party groove as soon as it’s done.
Strangely, the disc doesn’t feature enough of the
one thing Lee does best—play flashy guitar solos.
Instead, producer (and fellow guitarist) Duke Robillard
gives the disc a big-band sound close to that of Robillard’s
former band, Roomful of Blues. Things don’t really
take off until the closing funk jam, “Don’t
Joke with the Stroke” which throws all traces of
relevance, not to mention lyrical coherence, out the window.
