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Sophisticated Texas Blues
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This review first appeared in the September 29, 1995 issue of the North County Blade-Citizen (now North County Times).
Veteran Los Angeles bluesman Phillip Walker plays the most sophisticated guitar-based blues since the passing of T-Bone Walker.
With his Texas-informed guitar leads and distinctively nasal vocals, Walker's sound is at once individual and broadly appealing. Like the unrelated T-Bone, Phillip Walker's blues have an influential jazz overtone. His lyrics are smart and adult; his guitar lays bare a deep passion.
While he's strongest on his own original compositions on his latest release, Walker can also do a nice job on covers. His version of T-Bone's "The Hustle Is On" is both gutsy and swinging, and his reading of Lowell Fulson's "Thanks a Lot (for the Offer)" features as fine a guitar solo as you'll ever hear.