Various Artists
Album: Krossborder Kompilation Vol2 The Best British Blues
Label: Krossborder
Tracks: 16
Website: http://www.krossborderrekords.com

Hot on the heels of last year's successful Kompilation Vol One we now have Vol 2 and what a treat it is for blues fans.

Sixteen different British blues acts and over an hour of great music.

Volume 1 was voted Album Of The Month in January 2014 by the Independent Blues Broadcasters Association and received a host of great reviews and much airplay.

Artists featured on Volume 2 include The Robin Robertson Blues Band, The Jack J Hutchinson Band, The Bare Bones Boogie Band, Dr A's Rhythm & Grooves, Paul Lamb & Chad Strentz, Fran McGillivray Band, The Mighty Boss Cats, Jed Thomas Band, Saiichi Sugiyama, Split Whiskers, Andy Twyman, Gwyn Ashton, Space Eagle, Jo Bywater, Shortstuff and finally Kat & Co.

There's enough music here to satisfy even the hardest to please blues fan - soft sultry blues, straight-on blues/rock, boogie, swing, and soul - you'll find them all here.

Particularly enjoyed the harmonica of Paul Lamb as he teams up with Chad Stentz on The Underdog for a refreshing acoustic outing.

The quirky one-man act that is Andy Twyman sings about his battles with Pot Noodles. The Mighty Boss Cats invoke the spirit of JJ Cale, Shortstuff play a deep moody blues with Honeybabe. The standard is very high.

Dr A's Rhythm and Grooves naturally have a great piano groove going on, Split Whiskers, who I recently saw at Skegness, have a catchy slide number on here - Bee Sting - very sharp! The Jed Thomas Band rock away on the longest track here, Rainy Day. The Bare Bones Boogie Band take us home with a slow burner, Passion and Pain.

Well there's plenty of passion here - and no pain.

The CD comes with a handy booklet with brief biogs of all the acts

What this album highlights in leaps and bounds is that the British blues scene is bursting with talent.

John Knighton