Review: Kenny Neal 'Straight From The Heart'

Kenny Neal

By Mike O’Cull

Grammy-nominated Louisiana blues master Kenny Neal brings it all full-circle on his new record Straight From The Heart. The album comes out May 20th, 2022 thanks to Ruf Records and finds Neal using the set to rewind his music to his earliest days and pay homage to the songs he heard coming out of his family’s phonograph.

It’s the first time Neal has produced and recorded a project in his ground-zero hometown of Baton Rouge at his Brookstown Recording Studios. “All the tributaries of the blues converge here, flowing into one rich tradition,” he says and you can tell he means it. Neal made the record with a top-shelf crew of local players and got some extra flavor from special guests Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Tito Jackson, and Rockin’ Dopsie Jr & The Zydeco Twisters. The sessions felt like a family reunion of sorts and Neal enjoyed working with the many musicians who came up under him and being in his own studio with no pressure to watch the clock. Listening in, it’s easy to tell how much fun the guitar, harp, and vocal star was having and each song pulls you further into Neal’s Louisiana blues paradise.

Born in New Orleans, Kenny Neal was seemingly destined to play the blues. His father was Raful Neal, a harmonica hurricane who moved in the same circles as Slim Harpo and Buddy Guy. By the time he was 13, he was rocking houses with his dad’s band and, by 17, was playing bass in Buddy Guy’s group. In 1988, Alligator Records released Neal’s solo debut Big News From Baton Rouge!! and the world at large began to discover this swamp-blues king. Since then, Kenny has scored a Grammy nomination, a W.C. Handy Award, two Blues Music Awards, and been inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.

Neal starts his party with the chilled out and wise “Blues Keep Chasing Me.” It’s a laidback tune about someone who has lived the blues, taken their lumps, and is now getting life right at last. It’s kind of mellow, not the blasting session most albums use as an opener, and the quietest parts are its best moments. Neal’s guitar work is sublime and his vocals are intimate and conversational. His band percolates beneath him, The 504 Horns (Jason Parfait (saxophone) and Ian Smith (trumpet)) deliver the sweetness, and all’s right with the world, if only for a moment. It’s a wonderful track that welcomes listeners into the album.

“Mount Up On The Wings Of The King” is a slick, uptown shuffle that preaches the gospel of B.B. King to all the aspiring blues players out there. Neal tells them flat-out that soaking themselves in King’s music is 100% required if they want to become guitarists of consequence and enlists rising blues legend Christone “Kingfish” Ingram to help him make his point. Hearing these two monster guitarists work out on this one together is a real three-chord treat and the tight horns and sassy backup singers on the track just make it better.

The classic minor-key R&B of “Two Timing” is dynamic and mighty. Once again, Neal and company get softer when a greater impact is required, such as when Tito Jackson steps up to the microphone. Jackson is true pop royalty and still sounds every bit the legend he is. This group of musicians creates moods in a way few others can approach and it’s glorious to experience.

Zydeco fans will love the upbeat and happy “Bon Temps Rouler.” Rockin’ Dopsie Jr & The Zydeco Twisters help Neal light this one all the way up and put down a party atmosphere that will make you wish you were on the bayou jamming with them. This one is nothing but fun and you WILL dance to it, even if there are people watching. Other highlights on Straight From The Heart include “Someone Somewhere” and the closer “New Orleans.” Kenny Neal is a true star of American music and this journey through his early influences is worth his weight in gumbo. Don’t miss this record.

The Making of “Mount Up On The Wings of the King”