Watch your step (Brian Auger) (LP 3730 - 3733)

Brian Auger  Auger Incorporated  (Vinyl, Soul Bank Music, 2023) *****  

Laura Cantrell  Just Like a Rose (The Anniversary Sessions) (Vinyl, Propeller Sound Recordings, 2023) ***

Shirley Collins  Archangel Hill  (Vinyl, Domino Records, 2023) ****  

Graham Parker & The Goldtops Last Chance to Learn the Twist (Vinyl, Big Stir Records, 2023) ***

Genre: Jazz, jazz fusion, country, folk, rock

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records (Auger), JB Hi Fi (the rest)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: The Music of the Devil (GP)

Gear costume: The Bonny Labouring Boy (Archangel Hill)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: Apart from the Brian Auger compilation (a triple), these albums come from a recent JB Hi Fi 75% off sale. Whaaat? Yes indeed - some real bargains to be had (a few more are in the S and onwards collection so I'll get to them in due course.

Auger Incorporated is special in that it's a chronological collection from his beginnings as a jazz pianist, through his various bands to the 2020's. A remarkable career!

Laura Cantrell has a very pure Americana (with a leaning towards country) sound. She specialises in clear and simple singing without a great deal of artifice. That and the tasteful backing (love that sporadic pedal-steel) make this a welcome introduction to her work.

Shirley Collins has long been a favourite of mine. Archangel Hill is her most recent release and it's like she's your lovely grandmother, in the room with you, giving you a one-on-one performance. The instrumentation is appropriately spare, allowing Shirley's voice to take centre stage.

Graham Parker's latest album is the last on my list. Again from 2023, he is with The Goldtops for this one.

His voice may be a lot more lived in these days, but the whole approach reeks confidence in his abilities. The music is fun to listen to, as it has echoes of all those years in between, even reaching back to his own youth (he was born in 1950). 

You have to hand it to him and Brian and Shirley - still looking to express themselves last in their career, in 2023; still with things to prove; and still enjoying the process enough to put out new records. 

God bless them!

Where do they all belong? I also picked up a couple of The Kinks' back catalogue albums and a David Sylvian album which I'll get to eventually.