"If it ain't broke, don't fix it" might sound like faint praise for a musician, but in U.K. guitarist [wimpLink artistId="5251093"]Matt Schofield[/wimpLink]'s case, it's a compliment. Also, some things have changed since his last studio release two years ago. He recorded this one in New Orleans with veteran producer [wimpLink artistId="6121207"]John Porter[/wimpLink] and brought in ex-[wimpLink artistId="34555"]Robert Cray[/wimpLink] drummer [wimpLink artistId="9488475"]Kevin Hayes[/wimpLink]. Still, his alternately breezy/stinging blues flecked with a swinging jazz groove stays the same. Big Easy mainstay [wimpLink artistId="3909627"]Jon Cleary[/wimpLink] -- who also made the trek from the U.K. to New Orleans, where he now resides -- contributes to a few tracks, but otherwise it's business as usual with [wimpLink artistId="5251093"]Schofield[/wimpLink] tearing into fluid, biting guitar lines and wrapping far-better-than-average originals around his emotional yet boyish voice. He brings the ballad side of [wimpLink artistId="30192"]Jimi Hendrix[/wimpLink] -- think "Little Wing," "Angel," and "May This be Love" -- to his own "Dreaming of You," and writes a terrific slow burner in the seven-minute "Where Do I Have to Stand." He's a compelling guitarist, as is shown in the gradual intensity he brings to the two leads in that song which build to a fiery climax, but it's his imaginatively arranged, sharply written songs and distinctive vocals that put him so far ahead of the pack of fellow contemporary singing guitar slingers. [wimpLink artistId="15307"]Albert King[/wimpLink]'s "Wrapped Up in Love" gets a wonderfully funky workout, helped immensely by [wimpLink artistId="9488475"]Hayes[/wimpLink]' backbeat, and [wimpLink artistId="10922"]Steve Winwood[/wimpLink]'s "At Times We Do Forget," an obscure track salvaged from [wimpLink artistId="10922"]Winwood[/wimpLink]'s under-the-radar 2008 release [wimpLink albumId="177353700"]Nine Lives[/wimpLink], is [wimpLink artistId="5251093"]Schofield[/wimpLink]'s first stab at covering a relatively current tune. Deep-fried New Orleans funk seeps into "One Look (And I'm Hooked)," which finds the singer/guitarist digging into a rare baritone vocal to push the song into dark, swampy territory. It's given extra heft by longtime cohort Johnny Henderson's organ, and keyboard-bass work that is so much a part of [wimpLink artistId="5251093"]Schofield[/wimpLink]'s sound. [wimpLink artistId="6121207"]Porter[/wimpLink] adds spacious and crisp audio that jumps out of the speakers, making even musty shuffles such as "Don't Know What I'd Do" connect with a freshness and snappy energy rarely captured in the studio. Only the stereotypical slow blues of "See Me Through," a perfectly fine "Stormy Monday"-influenced grinder, seems to be added just to establish [wimpLink artistId="5251093"]Schofield[/wimpLink] as an old-school-influenced bluesman, something he can pull off perfectly well, but which doesn't utilize the songwriting strengths that make the rest of this superb album so rewarding. ~ Hal Horowitz