Paul Lamb & The Kingsnakes - I'm On A Roll (United Producers Records)

A fine album by a great band at the top of their game. The addition of horns on a fair number of tracks fills out that Kingsnakes sound and the whole thing rolls along nicely achieving a convincing swing.

The pace changes for a few numbers, notably 'Nomad Blues and the Sonny Terry-ish 'You Better Mind' (Paul sings!). 'Raulin' Around' gets us into a nice jazzy groove thing with outstanding guitar work by new boy Raul de Pedro Marinero, with a great sax effort too by Lee Badau.

Paul's harp playing is, of course, outstanding throughout. The instrumentals 'Going For It' and 'Swingin' put him right up there with anybody. It's a measure of the man though that this remains a Paul Lamb AND The Kingsnakes record - as with their live performances, it's in the ensemble playing that this CD really scores.

At 16 tracks this is a long album and there are a few numbers that wouldn't have made my final cut. The failure to resist some toe curling blues cliches in a couple of places is regrettable for a band of this magnitude, but that said there is a great album in here - you just have to be a bit selective in which tracks you keep on your pod. Good work fellas.

CD £10.99. Available from AMAZON