Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Surround yourself with the best and the best that you can be reveals itself without caution, without restraint, with genuine pleasure and playful liberation of the soul.
A line up of a galaxy of stars in the heavens could not improve upon the aural spectacle that is refined and purposely driven with a groove of splendour in the new album from the legendary American hero Dion, Girl Friends.
I aim to please, a mantra that we could do with espousing and holding faith to, not for the sake of our pleasure, but for the happiness and joy of others, a gratification of acknowledgement that we exist in the minds of others and that we wish to be included and be inclusive.
Girl Friends is crammed full of the exquisite collaboration, not only through the fierceness of independence of working under the godfather of modern Blues, Joe Bonamassa, and his label, but in the very nature of the music placed before the listener and the abundance of the feminine and the heartfelt and strong minds of every female performer to embed themselves and their strength in each and every song.
With a guest list that is as special as warmth on the face from a hidden sun after a year’s worth of storms, Girl Friends includes the distinguished and the extraordinary in Valerie Tyson, the sublime Carlene Carter, Christine Ohlman, Shemekia Copeland, Sue Foley, and the prominent lady of British Blues, Joanne Shaw Taylor; and as each song rightfully goes beyond the complimentary and assures the listener it is the most honourable setting, so the ferocity of the feminine shines through.
An album, any work of art that insists upon the equality available is one to savour, and arguably few do that as well as Dion, a man to whom recognises the deserved place in his soul of the strong and significant woman to whom life cannot dare to oppose, and as tracks such as Soul Force with Susan Tedeschi, the fantastic Do Ladies Get The Blues, An American Hero, Sugar Daddy, Mama Said, and the blistering finale that exemplifies Joanne Shaw Taylor’s status in the genre, Just Like That, what Dion showcases is a truth of life, that without acknowledging and promoting each other’s virtues and passions, we cannot hope to succeed.
A continuation of the renaissance man, keeping blues alive, keeping his Girl Friends close in a set of the vital and the remarkable.
Dion releases Girl Friends on March 8th through Keeping The Blues Alive.
Ian D. Hall