Last Fair Deal
Rory Block
Telarc Records
Last real deal, more like it. How Rory Block ever got so damn funky being born in Manhattan we’ll never know (it probably helped that she hit the road in her teens to learn the blues) — but however she got it, she’s got the funk. Between her nimble, driving guitar and heartfelt voice she can move from “Son House (Country Farm Blues)” to “Amazing Grace” and sound compelling on both. In an age where blues artists either stick to one of two paths — slavish recreations of old ’78s or over-amped SRV cloning — Block does neither. Instead, she uses delta blues as her vocabulary, but writes her own stories using the words of old. Last Fair Deal is an assured record that has the blues at its spiritual heart, created in equal measure of love and learning. Pick, sister, pick.
Originally published Ink 19, 2003
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