Some blues come smooth-planed and varnished. Other blues leave splinters. Kenny Brown's "Stingray" is the latter. Accompanied only by bass and drums, Brown eschews all slickness and gets to the core of hardworking blues.
Brown steeped himself in the primal energy of Delta blues as apprentice to Mississippi Fred McDowell, one of the original purveyors. After picking up McDowell's tough, quirky style of slide guitar, Brown developed his playing as second guitar to country bluesman R.L. Burnside. Listening to "Stingray," it's clear that Brown is ready to step out front.
On this, his second release, Brown borrows Burnside's drummer and kin, Cedric Burnside, adds bassist Takeshi Imura, and gets right to work. Occasional sax and organ crackle in the background, but it's basically all muscle work from the trio. Like a country restaurant, they stick to satisfying favorites and fill-you-up basics. Brown handles the guitar as another voice that speaks with steadiness and anger rather than as a swanky plaything.