9/1/2009

Frank-John Hadley

***1/2 In Austin to make her fifth feature record, this vocalist-guitarist takes a strong and exhilarating approach to putting over 13 original tunes and one apiece from her blues-history hero J. B. Lenoir (“I Want To Go,” reconditioned as an acoustic boogie) and a harp player back home in Australia named Chris Wilson (the shuffle “Look Out Love!”) What places her among the leading blues artists today is her easeful control of vocal shadings, from burlap-coarse textures to high register flights, for the expression of assorted feelings—sultry, rebellious, anguished, joyous. Trusty accompanists include pianist Marcia Ball and multi-instrumentalist/producer Mark Kazanoff