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| Sean Costello ~ At His Best - Live Bluegrass Special Review: If At His Best—Live is the last we hear of Sean Costello (no word yet on whether more live or studio sessions remain unreleased), then at the very least it gives us a stirring reminder of how versatile a player and effective a singer he was, and also of the hole blown into contemporary blues when he departed this mortal coil in April 2008, one day short of his 29th birthday. With the blues in a resurgent mode the past few years, Costello seemed perfectly positioned to become a youthful elder statesman in the field, a beacon of style and substance to an impressive younger generation of blues artists bringing to the party diverse influences and a similar commitment to integrity in the playing and performance of this music. Instead, he's gone even sooner than the man who should have been the youthful elder statesman, Stevie Ray Vaughan, who died less than two months shy of his 36th birthday. This live monument to an artist still growing is assembled from a variety of performances around the globe between 2000 and 2007. Nothing too unusual about that, except that some of the 17 cuts are studio-quality soundboard recordings, whereas others have been donated by Costello enthusiasts who taped his shows from their perches in the venues. No spotty audio here, though: the estimable producer/engineer Rodney Mills has done a superb job of polishing the homemade recordings without losing their raw edge—Costello sounds like he's snarling from inside a cave on "The Battle Is Over But The War Goes On, " but all the air around his vocal, when coupled to the absolutely ferocious, biting guitar solo he executes, results in a you-are-there steamroller effect a soundboard or studio cut might have lacked. The "set" is sequenced to replicate the flow and dynamics of a typical Costello show. Which means a satisfying number of straight-ahead, no-frills blues are supplemented by several of his welcome forays into southern soul. write your comments about the article :: © 2012 Jazz News :: home page |