Customer Reviews

Michael Jerome Browne

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Michael Jerome Browne has a passion for honoring and keeping alive the blues and folk traditions of the early twentieth century--and he's a master at doing it. Not only is he incredibly skillful on a range of different instruments (fiddle, acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin, mouth organ, etc.), which he can vary with great flexibility, but he also pays careful attention to the evolution of different songs and styles in blues, folk, and Cajun traditions, and his repertoire is impressively eclectic. Add his soulful bluesy voice to his musical talent and--Voila! (as they might say in his home of Montreal)--you have a great CD.

I enjoyed the great range of blues songs here, especially the classic set-closer "Walk On." There are some lively Cajun/Creole tunes that set my foot a-stompin', and though my French is atrocious his interpretation certainly sounds authentic. A wonderful unexpected surprise: at the very end of the CD--the very last track--is a delicious, breezy, and witty original love tune reminiscent of a 1930s Cole Porter song for a New York nightclub chanteuse. This demonstrates, again, the great range and talent of this musician. Check him out--you won't be disappointed.

This is the acoustic album of the acoustic/electric combination album "Double". If you already have that one, don't buy this one. If not, and especially if you don't care for electric blues (which this guy does excellently) then this album is a keeper.