Come on In

Album review

Since 2003, Danish guitarist, singer, and songwriter Thorbjørn Risager has been delivering his own mutant brand of blues. His Black Tornado band is comprised of two guitars, bass, drums, a pair of saxophones, trumpet, and keyboards. Come on In is their fourth album for Germany's Ruf label and 12th overall. Risager's rich, resonant, gravelly baritone singing voice is equal parts Ray Charles, Billy Gibbons, J.J. Cale, and Leon Redbone. Black Tornado are like no other band. They are capable of simmering, brooding, noir-ish jazz, swampy rock, sultry R&B, uptown funk, and house-rocking blues derived from the entwined lineages of Chicago, Texas, and the Delta. The title track is a choogler. Horns pulse in time with an analog synth, a roiling bassline, and double-timed drums. It's reminiscent of Cale's "Shanghaied" from his future blues album Travel-Log. It's one of the few modern blues tunes that would be equally at home in a blues bar or a dance club. "Last Train" weds electric and slide acoustic guitars in the intro. It's more traditional, with a snarling E-chord guitar vamp. When the rest of the band enters, it recalls tracks on ZZ Top's Deguello. Contrast this with "Nobody But the Moon," where Caribbean rhythms, jazzy B-3, and slippery soul commingle behind Risager's throaty delivery. "Two Lovers" is post-midnight urban noir blues. The horns waft through stinging guitars and hand percussion with atmospheric keys supporting the vamp. Risager sings slowly, enunciating each syllable with dread and resignation. Both "Never Givin' In" and "Sin City" are threaded through the deep Delta tradition, the same one that gave us both Mississippi Fred McDowell and R.L. Burnside. "Over the Hill" is a horn-drenched jump blues punctuated by handclaps and Joachim Svensmark's knotty lead guitar. While "On and On" retreats into post-midnight shadows with Risager's grainy moaning of the heartbreak blues, Black Tornado play in support as if they were on the corner under a lone street lamp. Its drama, tension, and longing marry passion and pain as if they were a single emotion. "Love So Fine" recalls early-'70s ZZ Top (with horns) wailing through a blues boogie with overamped, razor-wire guitars, and pumping upright piano. The set closes with "I'll Be Gone." Risager is at his most expressive as he and Svensmark trade acoustic and electric guitar licks. While Come on In liberally borrows many tenets from different roots musics, the end result is unique. Risager and Black Tornado have the confidence of a band that's been together for a long time. They're rich in knowledge to be sure, but they're also confident in their collective abilities to draw out an individual's strengths and offer a palette of sounds and traits that, if attempted by most any other outfit, wouldn’t work. Come on In is easily the strongest of their recordings to date; it's one that will endear and enchant new listeners as much as it will gratify and satisfy longtime fans.

© Thom Jurek /TiVo