Given the number of journeymen blues guitarists out there, Dennis Jones comes as something of a pleasant surprise. Yes he is another hard working guitarist on the US blues club and Euro blues scene, but what distinguishes him from the rest is his rich voice, the fine range of riffs in his locker and his clever use of a wide a range of blues driven songs to display his mighty impressive range of tone colorations. Just as impressive is the band he has assembled with a rock solid rhythm section of Micheal Turner on drums, Kenny "Boudro" Gray on bass and additional excellent guests including harp playing Jimmy Zavala who doubles up on harp and sax.

In fact Jimmy initially makes his mark on the radio friendly 'Super Delux' a swinging sax led outing on which the band are tight as a drum and the sax is pure gold. Jimmy then switches to wailing harp as Dennis digs deep for some heavy blues riffing on the tough blues 'When I Die'.

But superb band member's aside, Dennis is the main man, showing a lovely turn of phrase on the title track on which he cleverly references a list of influential blues figures both dead and alive, as well as teasing out some trembling notes of the highest order. There's even an echo of Hendrix in his vocal phrasing on the fiery 'You're Wrong' and a tongue in cheek duo rap with former boss Zac Harmon on a neatly rearranged cover of 'I Just Want to Make Love to You'.

But as ever a guitarists credentials are best judged on a slow blues and Dennis impresses with both his smooth vocals and some dexterous note clusters on 'Something Good' on which he unveils more of his deep rich guitar tone.

Dennis saves the best for last on the stonking Freddy King influenced live instrumental 'Slam Jam' on which he explores the full range of his playing, building up a tough groove and weaving his way in and out with a series of slight of hand runs. A master of feel, groove, touch, tone and wah wah, Dennis Jones is a star waiting to burst on the scene. The fact that he's already out there playing and already on his second album is a cause for concern. Get out there, seek him out and listen to a sumptuous guitarist playing the blues!

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