Philipp Fankhauser -- Try My Love (Funk House Blues Production)

[David Blue]

Often put in the same bracket as Chris Rea and John Mayer but not as well known, this is Swiss native Fankhauser’s twelfth album.  Try My Love is a selection of sympathetically produced songs that brings out the best in him. Songs such as the big band blues of Make My Home Where I Lay My Hat sit comfortably beside soulful ballads like the eponymous title track and Please Come On Home. Production levels reach a high with one of the four live ‘encores’ , Down On Bended Knees, which has superb input from the horn section. He flirts with Country on the hidden gem, Roadhouse & Automobiles as well as with funk on It’s Gonna Rain. However, it is in the blues where Fankhauser seems happiest. This is heard on the swinging Jealous Kinda Fella, the mid-paced strolling blues of Cut Me Some Slack and Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark. Special mention has to be made of the Johnny Copeland written Flyin’ High (Yesterday), a superb quick paced stroller and is essential Philipp Fankhauser.

 

www.phiippfankhauser.com

David Blue.