John Lee Hooker, Jr. / Cold As Ice

John Lee Hooker, Jr., heir to one of the most prestigious names in the history of blues and a leader in ushering this deeply rooted American art form into the new century, makes his Telarc debut with a rollicking, straight-to-the gut recording, Cold As Ice. _x000D_ Hooker, whose father was an architect of modern American blues in the 1940s and ‘50s with hits like Boogie Chillen, I’m in the Mood and Crawlin’ Kingsnake, has evolved into a formidable blues figure in his own right as evidenced by a GRAMMY nomination (Traditional Blues Album) and a Handy Award (Best New Artist Debut) for his 2004 release, Blues with a Vengeance. _x000D_ Armed with a clever and topical sense of songcraft, a compelling vocal attack and a solid backup crew, Hooker infuses Cold As Ice with the best elements of the old school and recasts them for newer, younger, 21st century audiences. The results are traditional and edgy at the same time. _x000D_ Cold As Ice maintains a generally upbeat and uptempo groove from start to finish. The album gets under way with a gritty track called You Blew It Baby, an I-told-you-so ode to a woman who pays a high price for trading in a good thing for a bad man. Amid the track’s engaging lyrics, churning backbeat and brassy wall of sound from the Hot Sauce Horns is the impressive fretwork of guitarist John Garcia. _x000D_ The uptempo rhythm and arrangement of Fed Up is reminiscent of vintage sides from the heyday of Atlantic, Stax and other R&B spawning grounds, while the slightly bawdy title track, Cold As Ice, offers up a jazzy lament for a shady woman with a long history of using men up and then spitting them out.