Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Compilation albums can fall into two categories. There are those that are compiled with the thought of adding almost nothing to the popular consensus of music appreciation, usually bought by a member of the family with almost no interest in which music the person they have bought it for actually listens to but it has saved them a bundle of money by buying just one album. Then there are those that are released which the keen listener knows have been put together with an almost semblance of love attached to them. The belief that comes flowing out of every track is more like an introduction at a party to the host and finding that they have heard of you and want to spend an enormous amount of their time with you.

Such is the feeling that you get when listening to the Krossborder Kompilation Volume One, The Best of British Blues. This is more than an introduction; this is a handshake which never lets go, firm, solid and full of sincerity. The album combines some of the finest songs and artists that really may have by-passed the average person in the street. It is in effect a cornucopia of talent, a collection of Blues bounty that with just a couple of added extras would almost be a king’s ransom of music.

With bands and artists such as Dove and Boweevil, the great Jackson Sloan, Red Butler, White Knuckles Blues Band and the amazing Sharon Colgan Band all making appearances, that profusion of talent gets better and more meaningful through each play.

British Blues really has had some outstanding moments in the last couple of years and whilst it might take some time to catch up with the very high standards made by the likes of Joanne Shaw Taylor and Simon McBride, just listening to this album, the windows closed to keep out any winter disturbance and the lights down low, the listener will understand that the future of the genre is more than safe in very capable hands.

The Best of British Blues is a compilation album of some outstanding quality, an introduction to what will be a very fruitful friendship.

Ian D. Hall