Since his debut album in 1995, Coco Montoya – who cut his teeth with fellow southpaw Albert Collins and John Mayall – built a reputation marked by skill and feel. His ninth album was recorded with his touring band and a few guests. The result is 13 tracks featuring powerful vocals and rip-roaring, incandescent virtuosity, refreshingly free of slick, mechanical “hot” licks.

Montoya’s vocal and instrumental intensity explode on the first track, the intense, minor-key “I Was Wrong,” displaying clear echoes of Otis Rush. Along with singer/guitarist Ronnie Baker Brooks, he makes short work of the shuffle “Baby, You’re A Drag.” On “A Chip and a Chair,” Lee Roy Parnell adds cutting slide that complements Montoya’s performance. Even his brief licks between vocals on “(I’d Rather Feel) Bad About Doin’ It” stand out. More burning intensity explodes on the R&B-inspired “Save It For the Next Fool.”

That mastery extends to his hell-for-leather treatment of Bobby Bland’s “You Got Me (Where You Want Me)” and Lonnie Mack’s ballad “Stop,” marked by a bracing vocal and snarling solo. “The Three Kings and Me,” an homage to B.B., Freddie and Albert, essentially summarizes this riveting, satisfying album – a statement of Montoya’s mastery and that timeless, unbroken circle of the blues.

This article originally appeared in VG’s December 2023 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.