Proving that the blues not only sees no color but also no country,
Chris Duarte unites with Bluestone Company, the biggest blues band in Japan, for a collaboration called
396. Of course, duet albums have a long, storied tradition within the blues --
Junior Wells played with
Buddy Guy,
Johnny Winter revived
Muddy Waters' career, British bands like
the Yardbirds supported their hero
Sonny Boy Williamson -- so this doesn't feel opportunistic, although it's clearly a way for
Duarte to consolidate his Japanese following and get Bluestone Company some exposure stateside. In that regard,
396 isn't a particularly free-flowing jam session, but the album suggests that Bluestone Company aren't really about loose-limbed jams anyway. They're a tight, efficient outfit, working precision rhythms that never lose sight of the pocket, and they show a peculiar fondness for funkifying their groove, which makes them feel less like a blues band than a blues-inflected bar band. This doesn't give
Duarte a whole lot of room to roam -- this is hardly a showcase for his guitar the way 2008's
Vantage Point or 2007's
Blue Velocity were and his vocals are too close-miked for comfort -- but it does speak well for him as a collaborator and for Bluestone Company as a supporting band that they could find a comfortable common ground, one that's partway between their two strengths. Granted, this common ground can sound like a weird, stiff jam from
Jeff Beck and
Stevie Ray Vaughan's co-headlining tour from 1990 -- only with less complicated polyrhythms -- but hardcore fans of either artist will find something to enjoy in this cross-pollination.