Live, Volume 2

gary clark jr

We’ve often found ourselves reaching for Gary Clark Jr’s first live album before his first major label release; where Blak And

Blu felt caught between two worlds, Live laid bare the reputation that was earned on the Austin scene, and that instinctive edge to his playing that proves he is a bluesman for the ages. Because the stage is where this music really comes alive, the follow-up lends a rawer feel to the slickness of recent album The Story Of Sonny Boy Slim. The set choice doesn’t scale the heights of volume one’s energy but The Healing’s impassioned message takes on a more intimate turn here, as does a starker slide reading of delta blues standard My Baby’s Gone compared to his earlier versions, segueing into showstopping fuzz monster of a closer, Numb. Rob Laing