Kai Strauss - In My Prime (LP)

After 25 years on the scene Kai Strauss is no longer just another guitar player from Europe.First as musical mastermind in Memo Gonzalez' Bluescasters and later under his own name, Kai has built himself a reputation of a purveyor of authentic blues traditions. He gets his inspirations from all the great players and does not restrict himself to just one type of blues. His versatility does not get in the way from consistency in style and quality. And after receiving many awards for his previous releases we dare say that In My Prime is yet another step up in his already impressive body of work. He pays tribute to his musical heroes, mostly from the 70's giving his own twist to their characteristics and with his ever soul filled voice. As Otis Grand put it:You can't actually label Strauss as Just another European and separate him out from American artists - he is too good for that. In fact, he's just about the last of musicians still jumping the authentic Blues with inspired fine blues guitar improvisation firmly grounded in that old Chicago-bred music that we all love. In choosing his songs or the appropriate intros, he shows the killer instinct that the old masters like Magic Sam had. Strauss is so good it's scary.