The Guitar Player's Resource
Recorded with the help of Stevie Ray Vaughan's rhythm section Double Trouble (Chris Layton and Tommy Shannon), bluesman Albert Cumming's debut CD is entitled From The Heart. The album's title stems from the Austin, Texas recording sessions, when Shannon encouraged Cummings to just relax and play from the heart. As a result, the eleven tracks display fiery, passionate blues guitar and soulful, experienced vocals, showing that Cummings has a bright future in the blues. There isn't a bad cut on the CD, with the slow grind of "Barrel House Blues", the intertwining lead and rhythm work on "Your Own Way" and the familiar sentiments expressed "The Long Way" representing some of the many highlights. Cummings should rapidly develop a fan base among blues lovers due to the strength of his guitar playing, his superb vocals, and his excitement and enthusiasm for the blues genre. A great find.
Starting on the five-string banjo at age 12, the primarily self-taught Cummings soon found himself gravitating towards the musical diversity of the guitar. "When I heard Stevie, I couldn't believe it. I didn't think it was possible to play like that! I listened to him constantly, along with other greats like Brian Setzer and Danny Gatton. The guitar was an instant obsession." A personal epiphany occurred in 1987, when Albert wandered into a SRV & DT show at Boston's Orpheum Theater. "That first time I saw them play, I was riveted. I had never experienced anything that intensely powerful in my life." Double Trouble's Chris Layton and Tommy Shannon would soon figure directly in Cummings' career, handling the production and rhythmic work on his debut CD.
In expressing his feelings about the blues, Albert says, "I love the blues because it is so real, you just can't fake it. There is something about the sound of a great blues guitarist that snaps my head around."
Albert Cummings
United States
Web site: www.albertcummings.com