Wayne Hancock
Slingin' Rhythm
Bloodshot Records
With his eleventh studio
album, Wayne ‘The Train’ Hancock has proven, once again, that he is indeed the
master of juke joint swing. The Austin, Texas-based Hancock, who’s been active
since the late ‘70s (although not releasing his debut record until 1995),
delivers here a set that embodies the foot-stompin’ American south; a melding
of western swing, hillbilly and country, along with elements of jazz, to create
a sound that, while a throw-back, comes across as fresh today as it would have
been in the day of Bob Wills.
With a crack band behind him,
Hancock is at the height of his powers – the humid and slow Dog Day Blues, the
rollicking title track, the jazz-inflected instrumental Over Easy, a fine
reimagining of Merle Travis’ Divorce Me C.O.D. The man’s laconic delivery, his
mastery of the form, all this combines to create a record which just flows –
it’s not forced, it’s not pre-meditated, it’s not slick and sharp. Nope, it’s a
Friday night in a lean-to tonk somewhere in Texas, sweat running down your back
as you shuffle across the dance floor, cold Lone Star beer in hand – a cracking
release from the master.
4/5
Samuel J. Fell
