Janice Harrington Kenn Lending Blues Band

Item: Magic
Author: Mark Thompson

Magic

(1988)

Reviewed by Mark Thompson

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Label Nagel HeyerThe Phantom TollboothMarch 2004

blues blues rock

I'm not sure why the label decided to release Magic. The tracks were recorded in 1988 and only now seeing the light of day. Lending is a good guitarist with his own sound that is free of the rock influences too many other players continue to adopt. At the same time, he doesn't play anything that is different than what a 100 other players could do. Harrington had a hand in writing seven of the tracks, the best of the bunch being the closer, "Seven Days a Week Man Blues," a tune about having a different lover for each day of the week. The problem with the disc is that Harrington is no better than an average blues singer. There are plenty of better female singers in the clubs and bars of Chicago on any given weekend evening. With both of the leaders not able to make a distinctive contribution, this disc has no chance of gaining any serious attention and should have stayed in the files.