What You Got
Recorded after a break in touring that followed Kenny Neal's contribution toHomesick for the Road,What You Gotfinds the Louisiana multi-instrumentalist fully recharged, with a fresh, mature outlook. This album is the best of both worlds: while it has the more restrained feel of his most recent solo outing,Blues Fallin' Down Like Rain, it's also a deeper piece of work, making up in emotional depth what it lacks in flash. Yet Neal can still riff with the best of them, as the uptempo instrumental "Neal and Pray" makes clear. He can also lay back and let the song speak for itself, as on "Little Brother (Make a Way)" and "Blues Ain't Nothing But a Good Man Feeling Bad."  One gets the sense withWhat You Gotthat Neal has struck a balance between gentleness and passion; the result flows as easily as a river.--Genevieve Williams