When talking about Tony Joe White, you’re talking about the real deal! His songs have been covered or recorded by people like Elvis, Ray Charles, Tina Turner, Joe Cocker and many others but never could they compensate for the man himself!  The man that made groovy music before the word was invented and is the originator of what is now called swamp rock is back with a somewhat strange but very appealing album.

“Set the Hook” opens the album and immediately shows us what we are in for. Funky instrumentals and remakes with a loungy feeling!  It’s not the first time Tony Joe White explores forbidden musical territory and hopefully it will not be the last time as well. The classic “Soul Francisco” becomes a six minutes extravaganza of wah wah and symphonic fuzz. “Roosevelt And Ira Lee”, the great soul blues rocker is transformed into a charismatic lowdown track with a kaleidoscopic mixture of beats and loops put under the warm baritone voice of Tony Joe.  “High Sheriff (Of Calhoun Parrish)” is revisited as well.  This tale of a dangerous woman and the living on the edge style of Tony Joe White is magically transformed into new tune thanks to ominous guitar loops and the positively haunting singing of the man. In a total of 10 tracks Tony Joe re-records some of his highlights and reforms the tunes into brand new songs with the help of his son

Deep Cuts revisit some of Tony Joe’s old tunes in a new jacket! The classic tunes are re-recorded with his now seasoned baritone voice and provided by cuts, loops and beats programmed by his son Jody. However this is not an electro album or what so ever, there are still plenty of real instruments involved and above all, his signature groove, the warm timbre of his guitar is still present on each track! For all you who are eager to see the man at work, you can check out his touring info on his website which includes a stop in Ghent as well!

Tony Joe White (*23 July 1943, Oak Grove, Louisiana) heeft ondertussen de gerechtigde pensioenleeftijd bereikt maar heeft een broertje dood aan stilzitten. 21 albums in een veertigjarige carriere ... "the Swamp Fox" draait er zijn hand en gitaar niet voor om. Al moeten wij toegeven dat de man het voor "Deep Cuts" zichzelf wel erg gemakkelijk gemaakt heeft door een aantal bestaande songs opnieuw in een modern, eigentijds jasje te gieten. Het is niet altijd even gemakkelijk om White's muziek te klasseren : "sometimes he's funky country and other times falls back into the blues".  "High Sheriff of Calhoun Parrish" (album "Tony Joe", 1970) is uiteraard  een fraai staaltje van "to have that  blues feel" , opener & instrumental "Set the Hook" kleurt zelf eventjes techno - blues maar daar zal het producerswerk van zoon Jody niet vreemd aan zijn. (digital and analog beats, loops, and whatnot to update the sound. )

De klassiekers "As The Crow Flies" (van het album "The Train I'm On", ook bekend in de versie van Rory Gallagher) met excellent harmonica playing maakt meteen duidelijk dat TJW terugkeert naar zijn Louisiana bajou roots.  "Willie and Laura Mae Jones", "Soul Francisco" en "Aspen, Colorado" dateren al van 1969 (het album Black & White) maar hebben anno 2008 aan geloofwaardigheid nog niets ingebonden. Songs about relationships, black & white  blijven immers up -to - date. "Run With the Bulls" en "Homemade Ice Cream" zijn de enige songs ( instrumentals)  waarbij het "Swamp Water" eventjes in de omgeving van de Spaanse Riviera blijkt op te duiken ....

Natuurlijk mocht het prijsbeest "Roosevelt & Ira Lee" niet ontbreken op "Deep Cuts", een (her)nieuwde  kennismaking   ....it's nice to hear that voice like molten silver, powerful as a freight train and tender as a velvet glove and that gritty, vital guitar tone again ! (SWA)