Jim Stapley
Album: LIVE
Label: Self Released
Tracks: 10
Website: www.jimstapleyofficial.com

Cast in the mould of Paul Rodgers, Rod Stewart, Steve Marriott et al, Jim Stapley is blessed with a stone soul voice that can handle the subtleties as well as blow out the cobwebs. The favoured vocalist of Kenney Jones' US chart-topping Jones Gang outfit, Stapley is confident enough to lay down a marker with this raw recording of a set at The Bedford venue in Balham.

Its ten original tracks give the singer plenty of scope in which to show off his chops and he doesn't waste the opportunity. Not all the songs are winners, if anything he is trying a little too hard to show what he can do (quite a lot, incidentally) but there's no doubting the feeling and the sense of performance. Highlights include the soul-scented Let Me Down Easily and the jazz-flecked This Ain't Livin'. By the time Jim Stapley finds his voice as an artist he should be flying high - Kiefer Sutherland's Ironworks label is already interested. File under One To Watch. Closely.

Nick Churchill

www.thegranvillechambers.co.uk