Laurence Jones, Christina Skjolberg, Albert Castigila
Album: Blues Caravan
Label: RUF
Tracks: 11 CD/DVD
Website: http://www.rufrecords.de

The Blues Caravan is celebrating its 10th anniversary. In the past it has showcased emerging talent such as Ana Popovic and Oli Brown.

For this line-up, recorded live in Bonn, Germany last February, we have Laurence Jones, the young British whizzkid who is at the age of 22 is turning heads wherever he plays; Christina Skjolberg from Norway, and American guitarman Albert Castigilia.

This a great package containing not only a CD but a DVD of the Concert. The DVD contains lots of extra tracks - Soul Swamp River, Freddie's Boogie, Bad Avenue and Cocaine.

As far as the CD goes, young Laurence shines, especially on his mammoth cover of All Along The Watchtower, which runs to almost nine minutes long.

In fact it's interesting that the stand out tracks for me were the covers - Albert's cover of Sway by The Rolling Stones was equally good. And there was suitably briefish version of Sweet Home Chicago to wrap things up.

Christina's set was full on funky blues rock but I did feel her voice was a little laid back. Her songs - Come and Get It, Close The Door, and Hush - were tight and punchy. And there is Laurence helping out - on keyboards!

Laurence's set also included Wind Me Up and Fall From The Sky from his Temptation album. His guitar playing and singing are getting better all the time. You can see him at the Great British Rock and Blues Weekend in Skegness later this month.

Albert Castigilia's brand of the blues is red hot with fiery solos and fierce vocals, which makes for a great package. He knows how to make his Les Paul sing. And all the more remarkable as he had a bandage on one finger!

A mention too for the rhythm section - Tom Iniss on six-string bass and Miri Miettinen on drums - they make this caravan really swing.

John Knighton