Live at Monterey
Memphis's Jimmy King had to drop the "little" he used to carry before his name, because this scalding 1999 concert--fired by his eloquent guitar and soul-dipped voice--proves he's become a big talent. Live tracks are supplemented by four high-energy studio cuts from 1994 with theMemphis Hornscranking up the greasy-funk factor. But the real excitement here is in the live tunes, especially a stone-chiseled "Drowning on Dry Land," on which Jimmy chokes and bends the fat, soaring notes of his Gibson Flying V in raw homage to his late mentor,Albert King. Jimmy's even learned to sing a little like Albert, taking his time and finishing every slow phrase with the same kind of hang-in-the-air vibrato he applies to his bold six-stringing. Instrumental opener "The Ghetto" benefits from Jimmy's heavy wah-wah attack, and young King keeps his guitar tone loud and roaring even when he's handling dance-beat workouts from the pen of his hometown hero,Willie Mitchell. King smoothes things out a bit for the prickly solo in "It Ain't the Same No Mo" that ends the concert with a flourish, weddingSantana's Latin inflections withStevie Ray Vaughan's arching tone. But for the most part, it's plain that King likes to play rough.--Ted Drozdowski