At age 86, British blues godfather
John Mayall is still going strong. In 2016 he pruned his touring band to a trio with
Mayall acting as his own guitarist and keyboardist. This date finds him returning to the quartet lineup with a host of all-star axe-playing guests including
Joe Bonamassa,
Larry McCray,
Alex Lifeson,
Steven Van Zandt, and
Todd Rundgren, as well as his newest touring slinger
Carolyn Wonderland (the first female to hold that role in one of his bands). He is also accompanied by his working rhythm section of bassist
Greg Rzab and drummer
Jay Davenport, with
Billy Watts on rhythm guitar, and the horn section from Late Night with Conan O'Brien.
Anyone familiar with
Mayall's catalog understands his proclivity for hiring the best sidemen -- especially guitar players who have included
Eric Clapton,
Mick Taylor,
Peter Green,
Harvey Mandel,
Coco Montoya, and
Walter Trout, to name a few.
Nobody Told Me was cut in Los Angeles at
the Foo Fighters' Studio 606 on the same Sound City Neve console his one-time proteges from
Fleetwood Mac (
John McVie and
Mick Fleetwood) used to record
Rumours.
Mayall has a way of both purposing his guitarists and focusing them while getting them to open up. The opener is a read of
Magic Sam's "What Have I Done Wrong" with
Bonamassa. While rightfully celebrated for his technical acumen,
Bonamassa is also well known for his excesses. Here he delivers a taught, brief, and biting break buoyed and balanced by the funky horn section. The tune also reveals that in his advanced age,
Mayall's singing has lost its nasal quality to become an expressive (and mostly on key) growl. Later,
Bonamassa is featured on the punchy, blues-jazz fusion number "Delta Hurricane," which also boasts a burning horn chart.
McCray is, as always, all edges and razor-wire, and is given free rein on "The Moon Is Full" and the Chicago-styled slow burner "The Hurt Inside." Former
Rush guitarist
Lifeson turns in the set's biggest surprise in a cover of
Jeff Healey's "Evil and Here to Say," on which
Mayall plays his trademark wailing, harmonica alongside his fierce blues piano.
Lifeson could easily shred through his breaks, but instead tempers his attack to add to the tune's powerful emotive kick while retaining his signature sound.
Rundgren shows his solid grasp on the soul-blues boogie of
Little Milton's "That's What Love'll Make You Do," while
Van Zandt's fuzzed-up six-string performance on
Mayall's "It's So Tough" (backed by the songwriter's sultry, spacy electric piano), is offered with raw, swinging roadhouse intensity.
Wonderland shows the authority in her playing via three selections, beginning with the snarling, moody, ropey electric slide blues-rocker "Distant Lonesome Train," penned by
Bonamassa. Her house-rockin' boogie comes to the fore on
Mayall's "Like It Like You Do," and the long, slow blues of his title track closes the set and she trades lines with
Mayall's rumbling piano. Guitar slayers notwithstanding,
Nobody Told Me is a hallmark
Mayall date, chock-full of great songs and performances that underscore his considerable (and well-deserved) reputation. ~ Thom Jurek
![New Day Now [20th Anniversary Edition]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0804879610786_p0_v3_s90x140.jpg "New Day Now [20th Anniversary Edition]")
