British guitarist and vocalist Andy Fairweather Low has served as sideman for Roger Waters and George Harrison, and his work on Eric Clapton's Unplugged may be his most widely regaled work, but on four solo records during the last half of the 1970s, he produced a series of eclectic and ear-catching songs that proved he could just as aptly take center stage. It's taken two and a half decades for another, but Sweet Soulful Music proves that Fairweather Low is still worthy of holding down that post. Most of the 14 tracks (produced by the legendary by Glyn Johns) clock in at about three minutes, precise and near perfect songs that demonstrate his formidable appetite for Claptonesque blues ("I Don't Need," "Life Is Good"), rock ("One More Rocket"), folk ("The Low Rider") and timeless compositions (Hammerstein's and Romberg's "When I Grow Too Old To Dream"). Rock luminaries call him one of the industry's most valuable players, but Andy Fairweather Low remains a precious commodity all by himself. --Scott Holter
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