Little Boy Flowers

Nine

child's Play Records

When two seasoned bluesmen collaborate on a cD of original boogie blues and old-time favorites, you expect some interesting results. When one of the collaborators is long-time veteran Barry cuda (front man for Barry cuda and the Sharks), and the other is nine-year-old chris "Little Boy" Flowers, that's exactly what you get.

Both musicians are accomplished piano players. And that's a good thing, because they share one piano throughout the cD. This turns out to be a two-edged sword. Sometimes, the Blues pouring out of the piano are raucous, barn-burning boogie tunes. Other times, the notes seem muddied and uneven. This was especially true on the second cut, Little Boy Boogie, penned by Flowers.

Flowers nails the arpeggios and plays with absolute ferocity on You Never can Tell, then turns in a nicely nuanced performance on Oyster Woogie, written by cuda. For his part, cuda turns in a solid-if not flamboyant-performance in the lower octaves. It made me wish I were watching this pair in person, rather than listening to them in my den.  Both musicians are excellent showmen, and in the end, I think their style of play may be better suited to live performances. Until they make it to town, however, I'll make do with the cD.

Susan Hallenbeck

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