To quote the press release, James Harman’s last one on Electro-Fi, Bonetime, hit #1 on the Living Blues magazine’s radio chart and received 5 BMA nominations. I see no reason why this one should not do even better. But then I’m biased, I think Harman is one of the best blues songwriters around and Fineprint has thirteen more treasures. Always with a sense of humour along with his remarkable insights on the human condition, you’ll be listening with a smile on your face to titles like “In With The Grief…In With The Gravy” and “Memory Foam Mattress”. He says about “A Ticket To The Circus”, “this may be my 100th song with the word ‘clown’ in it”. There are more highlights: the opening song is about legal documents, done John Lee Hooker style – the concluding line is ‘The large print giveth but the fineprint taketh away’. Then there’s “(The Devil Is) A Busy Man (When This Old World Turns It’s Back On You)” which Walter Trout recorded on Full Circle and “The Fruit Of The Poisoned Tree” just to name three. He is one of the originators of the West Coast Jump Blues style and a suberb entertainer in the Rice Miller/Sonny Boy Williamson II mold. On this disc he ventures out to New Orleans (“What ‘Cha Gonna Do ‘bout Me” #1) and to Africa (“Glide”) for a change of pace. There are lots of players but Nathan James is often the guitarist as is Downchild alumnus Gene Taylor on piano. Before Electro-Fi came along, Harman went several years without recording, I’m sure he has a few more treasures we haven’t heard yet. His web site is www.jamesharman.com.