Big Pete Pearson
Finger In Your Eye
(Southwest Musical Arts Foundation/VizzTone)

My guess is that unless you're from Austin or Phoenix you're not familiar with Big Pete Pearson. Once you listen to this disc though, you'll immediately understand that he is no newcomer to the blues. On the contrary, he has a voice that just oozes that earthy authenticity and hard earned wisdom that only the true masters possess. Combine that with flawless phrasing, menacing tone and backup musicians who know how to play straight-ahead, no gimmicks blues and you've got a must listen. Credit Bob Corritore, who runs the infamous Rhythm Room in Phoenix where Pearson and many other blues greats have played, and who produced this recording as a follow up to Big Pete's 2007 release, I'm Here Baby.

Corritore, a fine harpist, plays on many of the tracks and supports Pearson with a guest list of impeccable talent. Along with stalwarts Chris James on guitar and Patrick Rynn on bass (Rhythm Room All-Stars), Pinetop Perkins and Henry Gray guest on piano while Duke Robillard's band backs Big Pete on a couple tracks. There's no need to highlight any particular selections—this is solid throughout, whether at a slow blues or boogie tempo. Pearson, who has been on the circuit in the U.S. and Europe for five decades, now resides in Phoenix, and no trip to the Valley of the Sun would be complete without visiting The Rhythm Room. In the meantime we can just listen to the blues the way it should be played and, gloriously, sung.—Jim Hynes