There aren’t many rootsy blues artists who record in Italy. There aren’t many who primarily write about Spain, either. Luke Winslow-King (aka LWK) does both of those and more on his ninth album, Coast of Light, where he and the band indulge in some playful risk-taking that works surprisingly well, a blend of blues, jazz, flamenco, classical, and folk – a concoction rarely served up.
Though Winslow-King has his roots in Cadillac, MI, he now lives in Spain, and the country’s music has clearly influenced his musical style and choice. The title focuses on the experience of touring the city of Cadiz on the ‘coast of light,’ bordering the Atlantic Ocean. Winslow-king couldn’t help but be overtaken with the beauty of flamenco music and the impressionistic art that the city is famous for. Hmm, this sounds a little familiar. A young Miles Davis experienced similar sensations as the power of flamenco music led to his classic album, Sketches of Spain. No, we are not putting Coast of Light anywhere near a conversation about Miles’s album; we are only pointing out how Spain’s music touched each artist.
Winslow-King and his longtime collaborator, Roberto Luti, are the co-producers. The band is Winslow-King (guitar, percussion, vocals), Roberto Luti (guitar), Simone Luti (bass), Piero Perelli (drums, congas), Nicola Venturini (Hammond organ, Fender Rhodes, piano, drums), and Giacomo Riggi (mallet percussion).
We seem nowhere near Spain on the opener, “Dangerous Blues,” however. The band covers an old traditional blues tune, penned by Mattie May Turner and now in the public domain, in a gritty, earthy way. It’s one of two non-originals. Yet, it does set the tone for the first half of the album, essentially blues. “Teacher’s Desk” works with that colloquial convention of putting an apple on your teacher’s desk as a way of asking for forgiveness. The bluesy accompaniment unusually weaves in mallet percussion and faint flamenco tinges. “Shoot from the Hip” is an ornery, psychedelic hot mess, replete with raging guitars, as one outlaw gang pursues another. “Destiny” plays to a lighter, stomping groove with a repetitive chorus, rooted in Delta blues style. The LWK original, “Don’t Worry Your Mind,” features tasteful licks from Luti over what has now become the trademark dense, foreboding backdrop. Yet, “What’ll We Do,” moves into folkier turf as LWK sings about the elusive search for truth.
When LWK reaches the title track, he sings in hushed tones about his impressions of Cadiz, with stunning visual imagery – “Now your tassels are tangled/The castles are mangled with age/the tide keeps repeating/Flamenco heels beating the stage.” Flowing organ and steel guitars form a simpatico accompaniment. “As Far As We Know” flows easily, with LWK sounding far more content and even somewhat blissful compared to the earlier bluesy material. He plies a dizzying blending of the guitars and keyboards for the psychedelic soundscape that yields the mysterious serenity found in “She Talks to the Flowers.” The second cover, “Lotus Blossom,” was originally entitled “Marijuana,” all that need be said about it. The mood sustains through the closing “Silent Hour,” as LWK muses rather aimlessly about the world at large.
We have two albums in one. The first half is bluesy and rather angry in tone, while the second is more folk-based, with tinges of jazz and psychedelia. It’s LWK’s weathered, primordial-like vocals and his writing that somehow coherently link the two.
