I'ts About Time

American born Ben Prevo has lived in Ireland for several years past. A fine guitarist, he has assembled a very classy band around him, and they work well as a unit, with keyboardist Vincent O'Connor particularly deserving of praise for the shade and colour he brings to proceedings.

Often times with blues-based recordings, there is a tendency to show off; that kind of ego-tripping is totally absent here. Every note sung and played is intended to count and most of them do.

The workout on the late Richard Manuel's 'Lonesome Suzie' is brilliant, 'Tossed Twice' is a sub three-minute trawl through the orchestra, and 'It's Alright' is a fine example of call-and-response vocal work.

There are times when proceedings could have been invested with a little more testosterone - but with this album Ben Prevo has set out his stall in quite an impressive fashion.