You're My Best Poker Hand Fantastic Voyage****

Some 36 years after his death aged 64, the legacy of Texas blues guitarist T-Bone Walker remains undimmed. He was among the first, if not the very first, to strap on an electric guitar, and his influence was deep and wide; listen to his inventive playing and wonder no more where Chuck Berry got the inspiration for his iconic licks and tricks. This latest sweep through Walker's career covers three CDs, 75 tracks in all, and is a real bargain if inevitably variable in quality. He was a master of jump blues, that boppy urban sound that ruled the roost in the 1940s and early 1950s, but he was equally adept at slow-burning ballads such as his classic Stormy Monday Blues. He was a cool dude, measured in his playing, singing and writing, and while at this remove his music may seem relatively tame, this was seminal stuff in the development of rock 'n' roll. See futurenoisemusic.com

Download tracks: Bobby Sox Blues, Stormy Monday Blues