Do Right Say Right

Three-time British Blues Awards nominee, Mississippi Macdonald, is a leading force in the next generation of players who show off a high-level of comprehension of organic American music styles and the fluency, commitment, and internalisation needed to weave them together. His seventh album, "Do Right, Say Right", is an energised and authentic set of nine new tracks of soul-infused blues that is another benchmark on a quest that began as a 12 year-old kid seeing Chuck Berry perform. The easy swinging 'I Was Wrong' opens the set with MacDonald confessing his love punctuated by hot horn jabs. The Chicago shuffle, 'I Heard It Twice', recounts his break-up tirade with a woman, who rips apart his credibility as a "real Blues Man", while he pours his angst into his guitar. The edgy burning funk 'It Can't Hurt Me' is the tale of a man done wrong determined to get vengeance highlighted by ice pick Albert Collins-styled guitar leads. 'Drinkers Blues', is a loving tribute to B.B King's first hit '3 O'Cclock Blues', with MacDonald emoting the legends vocal and guitar style with devotion and respect. The complex gospel-infused blues 'Let Me Explore Your Mind' evokes another of his heroes; the southern soul singer O.V. Wright - MacDonald was part of the team that purchased a gravestone for the late Hi Records recording artist. Texas Blues 'That's It I Quit', spells out the hard life of a working musician with tongue firmly imbedded in cheek. The piano-driven slow blues 'If You Want A Good Cup Of Coffee', is a glorious exploration of wordplay that fuses modernisms with folky colloquialisms and features a soaring guitar solo. He digs even deeper on 'Keep Your Hand Out Of My Pocket', a classic twelve-bar about hard luck and trouble asking the question "how wrong can one man get?" The finale is a piece of the soul blues lexicon that has been bandied about for years, as MacDonald takes on the Little Milton version of the Denise LaSalle number 'Your Wife Is Cheating On Us', a bump and grind Blues concerning the infidelity among fellow adulterers. "Do Right, Say Right" is a strong album from a strong "real Blues Man