Kim Wilson - Slow Burn (2025)

He has been the one constant in the Fabulous Thunderbirds, the quartet that stormed out of Austin in the late ‘70s with Wilson as singer, harmonica player, and main songwriter and Jimmie Vaughan on guitar, and helped bring new energy to the blues. The T-Birds’ start and their ascent through their “Tuff Enough” commercial apotheosis are chronicled in the excellent new eight-CD box set, The Jimmie Vaughan Years: Complete Studio Recordings 1978-89.

Wilson also keeps up a solo career, and that’s where he really seems to indulge his love of the blues. The new Slow Burn, the follow-up to 2020’s Grammy-nominated Take Me Back: The Bigtone Sessions, displays all the traits of classic Wilson: a mix of old nuggets and originals that sound like standards, in a variety of blues forms, all played and sung with consummate mastery.

The album actually comprises unreleased material from two sessions, one in 2014 and one in 2020. Three of the musicians on these performances have since died: drummer Richard Innes, piano player Barrelhouse Chuck, and bassist Larry Taylor of Canned Heat.

The first four tracks immediately showcase Wilson’s range. Belying the album title, he and the band come out on fire, romping through a horn-fueled take on the Little Milton R&B workout “I’m Trying.” That segues into the gutbucket acoustic blues of Wilson’s own “Leaving You on My Mind,” his harmonica playing off Nathan James’ guitar. Then it’s on to the smooth, supper-club blues of B.B. King’s “Sweet Little Angel,” with Billy Flynn providing the Lucille-like guitar punctuation and Wilson even briefly climbing into a falsetto. That is followed by Wilson’s “Boogie in E,” a breakneck instrumental stomper that displays his power and finesse on the harmonica.

Since that one went so well, he later offers another original instrumental, “Gotta Have a Horse,” his harmonica interweaving with James’ guitar. “That was fun,” someone says at the finish. Sure was.

Wilson has always had a big, authoritative voice, one that conveys personality as well as command. Few can get away with pulling off Howlin’ Wolf, but Wilson does a commendable job here with a visceral version of “Howlin’ for My Darlin,” as Flynn delivers the appropriately dirty guitar tones.

Sonny Boy Williamson II’s admonishing “Keep Our Business to Yourself” gets another raw, driving treatment with a wailing Wilson harp. (“Best thing I played all day,” he says at the end.) So does Robert Nighthawk’s “Kansas City,” though Wilson takes a sleeker approach to the Nighthawk ballad “The Time Has Come.” That performance is preceded by the command “Just do it,” which reflects the no-nonsense approach throughout the album.

Magic Sam’s “Easy Baby” is slow and grinding, while Wilson’s own “Lowdown Woman” is an easy-rolling shuffle. Offering a final confirmation of how he makes everything his own, Wilson closes with a spellbinding, nine-minute take on Otis Rush’s “So Many Roads,” a harp solo the centerpiece of a two-minute instrumental introduction.

In the liner notes to his 2003 album, Lookin’ for Trouble!, Wilson was quoted as saying, “I’m still playing for Muddy Waters, Eddie Taylor, all those guys. It’s important to keep going with that and add my own chapter.”

With Slow Burn, he has added another fine page to that chapter. ~Nick Cristiano