Gary Moore ★★★ How Blue Can You Get PROVOGUE. CD/DL/LP

Previously unreleased tracks from the Moore family’s personal archive.

Fusion, rock, jazz and, of course, the blues – Belfast’s great guitar virtuoso could do it all, but it was his quicksilver songwritingrelationship with Thin Lizzy’s Phil Lynott that shone the brightest. Largely paying jawdropping homage to blues luminaries such as Freddie King, Memphis Slim, and Elmore James (yes, Moore could play slide, too), this fiery eight-song selection suggests there isn’t that much left in the vaults, but the title track cover of B.B. King’s 1964 hit – “Took you for a $100 dinner/ You said ‘Thanks for the snack’” – is essayed with extraordinary feel and great affection. However, Moore’s originals here are more uneven, so while Looking At Your Picture surprises with its speedy drum and bass breakbeat, In My Dreams feels overly indebted to the 1979 Lynott/Moore UK Number 8 hit Parisienne Walkways. Moore’s guitar-work is stellar throughout, though; dazzling in its ferocity. James McNair