This release is part of a 8 that document Todd Sharpville 2002
European Tour which had Mick Taylor guesting on some show. Todd Sharpville,
whose birth name is Roland Augusto Jestyn Estanislao Philipps, is a British
guitar player known to have been called "the world's first blue-blooded
bluesman", since he is a titled member of a British aristocratic family.
He joined forces in 2001 with Mick Taylor in the album The Meaning Of Life,
therefore Taylor’s joining him on this European Tour if a consequence of that.
Notably during the 2020 coronavirs pandemic, Sharpville assembled the world's
first professional lockdown backing band which included well known session
musicians, living together under one roof in a rented Norfolk mansion. They
performed online streaming shows each week and have been remotely recording
with a variety of artists. About this recording that opened his 2002 Euro Tour,
this version comes from a mini disc recording and is in stereo with a better
spectrum and with less digital noises than any other recording from the same
location.
The first minute of silence before the start of the show has been dropped.
During the introduction a little recording noise at 5 seconds and a digital
noise at 2’04 have been erased too.
The sound has been boosted (+ 3 to 4 db) and a 30 seconds segment that was repeated
on the second disc has been eliminated as well.
As audience recording this one certainly ranks among the top
ones, all instruments being balanced and no annoying audience interference, kudos
to the taper and of course to the editor.
The line-up consisted of Mick Taylor on guitar, Todd
Sharpville on vocals and guitar, Mr. Chilli on bass, Hugo Degenhardt on drums, Paddy
Milner on keyboards, Dom Norcross on sax and Jason Osborne on trumpet. Todd
Sharpbville is a nice guitar player that has original materials that would
certainly appeal to blues/tock music fans, not just to Taylorites, so even the
first half of his concert is nice to listen to. The last track on Disc Two,
Doghouse, is the only song Taylor played in the studio with Todd Sharpville and
features a nice interchange of guitar licks between them, clocking in at 15.07
minutes.
The only minor drawback of this release comes from the
artwork which is nice per se, but offered in such a small size (front 1,2 cm.)
that can lead to waste ink & paper if just printed before properly adjusted.
