Shuffle This

Dylan Wickens

2001 DWPMusic

Reviewed by Diane Wells

Dylan’s first “official” CD, which garnered a Maple Blues Award nomination, definitely has the power to get the old tootsies a-shufflin’ and the backbone a-rockin’! With all eight tracks covering a range of uptempo beats, there certainly could be no better title for it. With his inimitable voice and riveting guitar, Dylan is on a mission to convert even the most reluctant of swing-jazz-blues fusion naysayers.

With an expert team of players consisting of John Bouvette (Tony Springer Band, Frozen Ghost) on drums, Brent Kehoe on bass, and Flip Townson (The Fabulous Nobodies, Lost Boys and Beautiful 2000) on tenor saxophone, the Dylan Wickens Blues Project has now acquired that “polished” sound to really stimulate the honky-tonk glands! And he’s not even 30 years old yet!

That is not to say I now shun his unofficial début CD, Audiohighwayfire from 2000, as I found the rawness of that guitar-heavy effort to be very appealing. I still enjoy listening to the tracks, especially a mind-blowing version of B.B. King’s “Catfish Blues” (a.k.a. “Like a Rollin’ Stone”) never heard before!

But getting back to Shuffle This, apart from smokin’ renditions of Otis Rush’s “All Your Love (I Miss Lovin’)” and T-Bone Walker’s “T-Bone Shuffle”, the CD is a stellar collection of original compositions interwoven throughout with the brilliance of his sidemen. I especially liked the manic-paced boogie-woogie feel of “Red Dress On”.

It’s really quite a joy to hear Dylan and Flip feed off each other’s leads, especially on the sexily clever “Test Drive Blues”, but overall I would have liked to hear more of Dylan’s incredible guitar sound, and less saxophone, which I found a bit too dominant on the CD. Brent Kehoe’s bass-playing really has to be heard “live” to be appreciated, but if you listen carefully, it’s all there, most prominently on “Sitting on a Swing”!

Dylan obviously prefers the joint-effort approach to playing music rather than being a “star” simply being backed by lesser mortals, but eventually this may become out of his control.

Diane Wells is a Canadian blues and rock critic with roots in the days of Big Brother and the Holding Company, Janis Joplin, et. al. Check her web site at http://www.geocities.com/ddrocker/ -Ed.