Albert Collins would be gone just a year and a few months after this July 1992 set at Montreux but there was no loss of vitality even at this late date in the blues guitarist's career. The set consists only of seven tracks, but three of those -- "Lights Are On (But Nobody's Home)," "Too Many Dirty Dishes," and the über-funky "Put the Shoe on the Other Foot" -- clock in at between 11 and over 15 minutes, plenty of time for
Collins and his band to kick up some serious dust. On the latter song, bassist
Johnny B. Gayden's bass ,
Bobby Alexis' keys,
Marty Binder's drums, and the sax and trumpet of Jon Smith and
Steve Howard, respectively, lay down a solid foundation on top of which
Collins goes to town with the kind of stinging, mean-ass solo that initially provided him with his reputation as one of the heavyweights. That gives way to a high-octane screamer of a version of "Frosty," one of
Collins' signature tunes. The CD is a companion piece to a DVD that augments the set with material from an earlier show. ~ Jeff Tamarkin