Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
If you can’t play the hand that your God gave you, then the least you can do is acknowledge that the Devil holds all the aces and only allows a select few to witness them and play the Blues in return. However, if you are going to go all the way, the only logical place to see the Blues at such close quarters, where you can feel the rhythm of the saints urge on any almighty card shark, and the Devil slyly hold his own deck under the table, is to Tennessee, to listen to the Memphis Song that shines against the light above the table and the reflection of the Queen of Hearts breathing in excitement is held in the dealer’s visor.
It was once enough to be unique, now you have to have a different kind of presence in which to be assured that you will be listened to; so many sell their integrity for such a moment, so many take the card from under the table and see they have plucked the two of clubs as their lead card and that the ace they were promised is never forthcoming. The elegant and refined have no such need for mere speculative promises, the cards they hold can win any game as they listen carefully to the stylish Memphis Song.
In Tas Cru, the songs performed throughout his new album radiate with solid passion, they outstrip the moon’s light that glints off the Mississippi and gives more solace than the iconic paddle steamer that used to crowd this stretch of water, that once brought hope to those that witnessed its own finery and tales up close.
It is the verbal panache that sets this Blues man apart, unique, dashing even, but one that does not give in to the cheaply lit decorations that entrance so many, to whom make the fatal promise to the Devil in the corner of the saloon in return for riches they have not yet earned.
In songs such as Fool For The Blues, Daddy Didn’t Give You Much, One Eyed Jack, Queen of Hearts, the excellent Don’t Lie To That Woman and Can’t Get Over The Blues, Tas Cru treats the stranger in the corner to the firm look of the steal eye before making his own fortune, his own deal and it is one that as the Memphis Song plays out, leaves the listener on the other side of the table joyful, unrepentant in their choice to sit opposite Tas Cru and reap the rewards of being his musical ally and partner in this Blues driven endeavour.
Ian D. Hall