John Mayall's first new studio album to be released in the U.S. in more than a decade shows that his current crop of
Bluesbreakers --
Coco Montoya,
Walter Trout, Bobby Haynes, and
Joe Yuele -- who have been together longer than any previous outfit, play like a seasoned blues band, sparking each other (especially guitarists
Montoya and
Trout), and never falling into complacency.
Mayall presides over the music without dominating it, which makes
The Bluesbreakers more of a group than they've been since the '60s. ~ William Ruhlmann