Igor Prado Band & Delta Groove All Stars - Way Down South (2015) Lossless

Igor Prado is a self-taught, home-grown guitarist who hails from Brazil. After backing other Brazilian blues acts for years and recording several album under the name The Prado Blues Band, Prado gives us an album four years in the making. Way Down South features a range of guest musicians including the late Lynwood Slim (for whom the record is dedicated) spread over thirteen tracks, clocking in just over fifty minutes, and every single one of those minutes is worth checking out.

The mix on Way Down South is saturated and warm. This album sounds ridiculously close to spinning an actual record, strangely close for a CD release. Given the album art with its mock ring wear, it’s not hard to believe that this was a deliberate decision. The whole thing seems to be engineered to be a nostalgia tour of sorts, which isn’t all that surprising or revolutionary for a southern blues record. What makes Way Down South special is that it does this so well. “Shake and Fingerpop “ offers a blissed out, warm, funky bassline that stands out prominently from Igor’s Fender without fighting against it. Likewise, the bass and drumming on “Matchbox” give warm, throbbing lows and crisp, precise highs, so perfectly executed it’s hard to remember that you’re not sitting in front of your turntable, drink in hand. Igor’s guitar work quivers in and out against the framework each song lays out, sometimes replaced by a harmonica, sometimes accompanied by a piano, but always alongside the incredible bass and drum mix.

Way Down South takes thirteen songs, each one strong enough to be a single in its own right, and lovingly presents them to you in an intimate way. You should most definitely plan to spend your next available evening listening to Way Down South, and see if you can bring yourself to listen to anything else for a few days afterward. We bet you can’t.