Fiona Boyes Professin 'The Blues (2 LP)

"'Professor' Keith's amazing approach to sound recordings, mostly with his own handcrafted equipment, is nothing less than acoustic alchemy," writes Fiona Boyes in the accompanying booklet for Professor 'The Blues from Reference Recordings. The Australian guitarist and singer is a blues veteran who has been at home on stages and in recording studios for over 25 years. She has received five nominations for the Blues Foundation's Blues Foundation's Blues Foundation in Memphis and has won over 30 awards in Australia.

Fiona Boyes recorded 16 tracks for Professin 'The Blues, 14 of them of her own songs and two cover versions, which she presents in solos, duos and trios. For this she brought the renowned instrumentalists Jimi Bott (drums) and Denny Croy (bass) into the studio. The recording was made on the premises of skywalker sound in California and - like all recordings by Keith Johnson - was produced live, in real time and without effects. The half-spee mastering was done by Paul Stubblebine.

180-gram or 200-gram pressing - a question that is not that easy.

For identical titles from Reference Recordings, there are covers labeled 180 g containing LPs that weigh around 200 g, and vice versa. This is due to the fact that the commissioned pressing plants QRT and RTI in the USA specify a 10 percent tolerance for weight on the one hand and then occasionally simply get the orders mixed up. In terms of sound, the pressings do not differ.

Speaking of great: Australian singer Fiona Boyes has been releasing one formidable blues album after another since 1990. Unfortunately, she has not yet had a fan base outside the blues scene. The god of success is bloody unjust at times! The lady is blessed with a vocal expression that would make more popular, especially male blues colleagues, pale with envy: whether smoky-deep or tender-high - Fiona Boyes has mastered the complete repertoire of a real vocal acrobat. - Amré Ibrahim - image hifi, issue 6/2017

On the one hand, what you hear with vocals, guitar, drums and bass at 45 rpm is of exquisite quality. The directness and authenticity are accentuated by the high-quality production and manufacture of the vinyl in half-speed mastering, which on the other hand leads to unusual excursions in terms of dynamics of some passages. - Claus Müller, analog, edition 2/2017

Watch out, it bites! Jokes aside, the Australian is known to have one of the dirtiest female blues voices on the planet, and she makes ample use of it on her first Reference Recordings album. Even in the opener "Can't Stay Here No More" you don't want to go too close to the speakers, especially since Professor Keith O. Johnson's sound engineering genius ensures maximum realism. [...] This is how it should be, the blues! - Janis Obodda, HiFi-Stars, issue 6/2017

Even the high definition CD of Professin 'The Blues sounded beguilingly natural and direct. But the version, cut on two high-speed records, mastered using the half-speed method, is even better: Especially in the wonderful Lay Down With Dogs , Boyes sings almost tangibly in his own living room. - Lothar Brandt, MINT No.12, 2017

Dirty blues can sound like this. - Winfried Dulisch, Stereoplay, edition 6/2017

Track-list:

Side A

1. Can't Stay Here No More

2. Devil You Know

3. Lay Down With Dogs

4. Angels and Boats

Side B

5. One Rule For You

6. Card Sharp

7. Old and Stiff

8. Kiss Me Darling

Side C

9. Love Me All The Way

10. Stubborn Old Mule

11. Catfish Fiesta

12. If I Should Die

Side D

13. At The Crossroads

14. Love Changing Blues

15. Baby Please Don't Go

16. Face In The Mirror