JANINE WILSON "The Blue Album"
MARY SHAVER “No Time Like Now”

By Mike Joyce
Friday, August 11, 2000

Though blues singers Janine Wilson and Mary Shaver have cultivated dedicated followings in the Washington area, their new recordings sometimes tell a tale of two cities.

Wilson's "The Blue Album" boasts some of Austin's finest blues talent including keyboardist Floyd Domino and guitarist Jesse Taylor. Rounding out the lineup are San Antonio's West Side horns (augmented by Washington hornmen Chris Watling and John Jensen), an expanded cast that allows Wilson a chance to display her considerable vocal talent in a variety of flattering settings, including acoustic blues, Texas shuffles and southern soul refrains. Among the highlights are Wilson's quietly affecting reprise of Elvis Costello's lament "Almost Blue" and her similarly understated reprise of Keith Richards's ballad "Make No Mistake."

While Wilson's best performances are often distinguished by a poignant or seductive tone, Shaver is at her best when she's capitalizing on her vocal power and grit. Both qualities are evident throughout her new album, "No Time Like Now." Produced by Nighthawks drummer Pete Ragusa, it features numerous musicians based in the Washington area, such as keyboardist Tommy Lepson, drummer Big Joe Maher and 'hawks harpman Mark Wenner. There's no knocking the tunes, since the album is laced with solid songs by the likes of Little Walter Jacobs ("Just Your Fool"), Tony Joe White ("Steamy Windows") and Leiber and Stoller (a Big Mama Thornton-inspired reprise of "Hound Dog"), but even more impressive is Shaver's knack for charging nearly everything she sings with a strong emotional current.)

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