REVIEWS - Phillip Walker

What the press has been saying about Phillip Walker’s new CD:

The Phillip Walker Big Band
Live At Biscuits & Blues – San Francisco
M.C. Records (MC0047)
www.mc-records.com

“This is definitely big-league Blues and a tremendous album by one of the world’s most charismatic and exciting Blues artists. Five Star Stuff!”
--Redlicks, England

“This CD has all the class and Big Band sound as to rival The Bobby Blue Bland sound in hit’s heyday, a top notch effort by some of the best there is alive today.”
--Bluzharp.com

“Louisiana/Texas Blues guitar ace who’s career dates back longer than most of our lives, delivers his best album in 30 years and possibly the best of his career. With a band that has honed it over a million nights on the road, this is the kind of Texas Blues that English men live to rip off and build careers upon. A blistering date with a smoking band, solid guest stars and chops to die for. If you love the genre, this is the grail.”
--Midwest Record Recap

“Phillip Walker has thrived in that most perilous of environments—the live performance. In this setting he can auralize his 50 plus years of riding the blinds…he delivers with the restraint and exuberance seldom seen since B.B.’s Live At The Regal.”
--Vintage Guitar Magazine

“Phillip Walker has been one of the major influences on my career.”
--Robert Cray in Rolling Stone

“Gut wrenching perfection, Phillip Walker is one of the 10 most important blues guitarists living today.”
--Guitar Player Magazine

“Even before I was halfway finished with my first listening of the Phillip Walker Big Band’s Live At Biscuits & Blues three thoughts engaged my mind: ‘Grammy nominee,’ ’Handy Award nominee’ and ‘This is one of the 10 best blues albums I’ve ever heard in my life.’ Yes, Live At Biscuits & Blues is really that good. The outstanding goodness starts with Phillip Walker, one of the last great living pioneers of the Texas electric blues guitar, and his brilliant playing here carries on that tradition of eloquence dating back to the magnificent great-great-granddaddy of it all T-Bone Walker. Then comes Walker’s vocals, raspy and fully effective. And then it goes on with the magnificent band, brassy and sassy throughout, from saxes and trumpets, with many brilliant solos, to superb keyboards, bass and drums. And then there’s the material recorded. Three outstanding numbers associated with Walker: his first recording, “Hello My Darling,” “90 Prof,” and his self-penned “Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark,” which became a gold hit for Robert Cray. With other great songs from Jimmy McCracklin, Ray Charles, Albert King, Lowell Fulson, and a stellar ending with a big-band R&B rendition of the ‘50s rock hit “Linda Lu.” Throw in the guest performers—Texas Power-house vocalist Angela Strehli, amplified harp solos—and how could you not have magnificence?”
--Blues Groove

It is a fact worthy of note that in the 45 years Phillip Walker has been "on the road" playing music and having reviews and articles written about him, he has never received a bad review or a "pan". The reasons for this are obvious. The music is great! And everyone who has ever been fortunate enough to hear Phillip in person knows it. As Ezra Pound was considered a "poets' poet," Phillip Walker is considered a "musicians' musician". Here are some of the things that people have written about Phillip Walker:

Anchorage Alaska Daily News
"Phillip Walker showed his audience what blues was all about...the blues veteran played with style and confidence of a master as his playfulness injected his downhearted blues with an uplifting feeling, his music has evolved from his bayou beginnings into modern West Coast Blues. His work is powerful and heartfelt."

Arizona Daily Star (Tucson)
"Mr. Walker is a respected bluesman specializing in revved up gospel-style blues and swamp-rocking R & B"

Blueprint
"His energy is incredible, his playing immaculate."

Blues Club (ENGLAND, SCOTLAND)
"Assured and compelling, Phillip Walker's no-nonsense straight ahead blues is powered by his razor-edged guitar and smooth-as-silk vocals."

Blues News (GREAT BRITAIN)
"On a recent trip to the States I had the privilege of witnessing the Phillip Walker Blues Band...outside Washington, D.C. He was billed as 'West Coast Blues Master' and rightly so...the most wonderful blues singing and guitar playing. Walker has got to be one of the most underrated musicians around. Phillip showed he too was a very capable harp player...I cannot recommend him enough."...David Crossan

Burrelle's (Florida)
"Phillip Walker...a blues legend brings a hot all-star band to town...he's got a really great voice. That was his music we played on the TV ad."...John Yurt

Chicago Critic's Choice
"Phillip Walker has a high-energy approach and a love for up-tempo variations on the blues...he's got one foot in the modernist camp...his smooth, string-bending techniques are fired out with rough-toned aggression. Walker's singing has been compared to early Ray Charles...his voice is more than adequate to do justice to the emotional range of his music."

Chronicle & Pilot, Crested Butte, Colorado
"Sweet and tantalizing Louisiana/ Delta and West Coast Blues sound. His simple sophisticated phrasing in the ranks of B.B.King, Albert Collins and Freddie King."

Edmonton Journal (CANADA)
"Walker’s L.A. Blues is a force to be reckoned with."

El Correo (SPAIN)
"Walker is a veteran bluesman who has influenced the younger music of Robert Cray and Joe Louis Walker. His mastery of difficult tempos is reminiscent of T-Bone Walker."

El Diario, Santander (SPAIN)
"Phillip Walker plays guitar with the genius of Chuck Berry."

Foundation for the Advancement of Blues
"Great all star band."

Front Row Center
"He is one of those rare musicians who effortlessly blend influences from these three regions (Louisiana, Texas and California) into a style that is distinctly his own."

Gaildorfer Bluesfest (FINLAND)
"Phillip Walker is the reigning blues musician of the American West Coast."

Giornale Murale Esente Dai Diritti Di Affissione New Locali Pubblici (Rovigo,ITALY)
"Phillip Walker is a brilliant guitarist and singer. His intimate falsetto tones mixed with two saxophones gives a fresh feeling to the blues of Texas and California."

Guitar Player Magazine
"Gut wrenching perfection, Phillip Walker is one of the 10 most important blues guitarists living today."

Idaho State Journal & Alberta (CANADA)
"Walker’s playing style can be described as leaning toward Rhythm & Blues, and blues and Jazz. It's got a different rhythm, called Texas shuffle, and Walker is a versatile guitarist."

Jefferson (SCANDANAVIA)
"Phillip Walker added to the excitement when he grabbed his guitar and sat in at the Pioneer Club in Los Angeles."

Jake & Elwood Review (Rome, ITALY)
"Walker is a convincing singer and a brilliant guitarist, capable of dominating diverse genre, he offers interesting views of life and occupies a front line position in contemporary blues."

Jazz et Blues (FRANCE)
"A date to remember."

Jazz Journal, Blues Journal
"Phillip Walker has some good fresh material on a note of that refined melancholy which he seems to personify."

Jazz Magazine
"...intelligent creative bluesman."...Tony Russell

Living Blues Magazine (University of Mississippi)
"...one of the most versatile figures on the Los Angeles Rhythm & Blues Circuit."

Roy Greenberg, Oct. 1977
"...well dressed country gentleman struts about the stage, threading tasty guitar leads to his impassioned vocals."...John Anthony Brisbin, 1997

Myrna Loy Center (Helena, Montana)
"'Working Girl Blues' superbly showcases Walker's sophisticated style of playing and singing."

Oregon, Bandon newspaper
"Phillip Walker is among the very finest contemporary blues singers and guitarists in the country. He is a stunning guitar player...a must to see."

Penthouse (1973)
"...if he could only be heard he would easily find himself a national audience."

Philadelphia Daily News
"Guitarist Phillip Walker wails 'Working Girl Blues'."...Jonathan Takiff

Phoenix Blues Society, (Blues News)
"I've never been able to figure out why Phillip Walker isn't better known. Hopefully people will be awakened to the fact that he's arguably as talented a musician-songwriter-singer as any of the people he's worked with. He displays a wide range of styles. Give him a listen."...Lee Poole, CD Reviews

Rolling Stone Magazine
Robert Cray calls Phillip Walker "one of the major influences of his career."

Roots & Rhythm Newsletter 106
"Phillip Walker is a fine artist who consistently delivers high quality soulful vocals and expressive guitar...good solid blues by one of the most consistent artists around."

Santa Barbara Blues Society News & Revue
"Steeped in the tradition of soulful Texas blues...global appeal for his music...Walker's band jumps with all the power and electricity of contemporary big city blues."

Southland Blues
"Walker's been at it a long time and has never received anywhere near the recognition he deserves...certainly his recorded output has been worthy stuff."

Stockholm Blues Society (SWEDEN)
"Walker blends blues, soul, and funk in 'Someday You’ll Have These Blues'...he sings with a fresh enthusiasm."

Trouw (HOLLAND)
"Phillip Walker and Lowell Fulson are living legends."

Vail Daily
"With a career spanning four decades, ...Phillip Walker is one of the unsung heroes of the blues."

The Villager (New York City)
"Phillip Walker may seem understated but his clean precise guitar always enters at just the right spot in the horn arrangements."...Robert Hicks

Vintage Guitar Magazine (Bluenotes)
"Walker's debut with Blacktop is the 14th Album featuring his music,...showcasing his prowess and feel for music from all of the regions of his history, from Louisiana swamp-blues to Texas and Chicago shuffles to Los Angeles jump and swing."

Washington Post
"His playing mixes Gulf Coast rawness with an urban urgency. No hand-me-downs, those Walker blues...he is clearly his own man. His solos inherently swing and his tone alternates between a sweet jazz fullness and a biting attack. His voice, too, is distinctive, an often raspy baritone, he is earthy and expressive."

West Coast Blues Review
"With all due respect to B.B.King, Phillip Walker has been the true King of the blues for the last 20 years."

Wichita Eagle
"...A quiet legend."

XS Magazine
"Guitarist Phillip Walker has as impressive a pedigree as he does a resume. Get in on this well-kept blues secret."