{"id":30830,"date":"2026-03-19T05:30:36","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T09:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=30830"},"modified":"2026-02-25T09:49:42","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T14:49:42","slug":"album-review-mississippi-heat-dont-look-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/19\/album-review-mississippi-heat-dont-look-back\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Mississippi Heat \u2013 Don\u2019t Look Back"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Israel-born with Belgian roots, Pierre Lacoque doesn\u2019t \u2013 at least on paper \u2013 present as the most likely of authentic blues artists. But beginning with 1992\u2019s Straight from the Heart<\/i>, he and his group Mississippi Heat have been reliably churning out quality, real-deal blues releases. The band name notwithstanding, Mississippi Heat is based in Chicago. The group\u2019s 14th<\/sup> set, Don\u2019t Look Back<\/i> signals a return to that city\u2019s Delmark Records, the album that released six of their most well-regarded releases in the period 2005-2016.<\/p>\n

Per Lacoque\u2019s time-tested approach, the band on Don\u2019t Look Back<\/i> is a large and versatile one. No less than 21 musicians are credited on the album; notable personnel include singer-harpist Omar Coleman (harp on two tracks), Danielle Nicole (vocals on two tracks) and spectacular pianist Johnny Iguana on nine tracks. Powerhouse vocalist Sheryl Youngblood provides vocals on nine tunes, and Lacoque is on hand for unamplified harp on all tracks plus amped harp when duetting with Coleman.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a rollicking, good-timing vibe right out of the gate with \u201cYou Ain\u2019t the Only One\u201d; a loping beat chugs along with plenty of verve and sass, and for bonus points a subtle gospel feel. Lacoque peels off an impressive solo that listeners will wish went on longer.<\/p>\n

With an early rock and roll feel, the guitar work on \u201cThird Wheel\u201d adds another element, and underscores the band\u2019s skill and adaptability. The jump blues of \u201cQuarter to Three\u201d is exuberant and insistent, and \u2013 though it\u2019s initially low in the mix \u2013 Iguana\u2019s piano is the icing on the cake. When he takes a solo, it\u2019s a thrill ride.<\/p>\n

Johnny Iguana shares center stage with Youngblood on the dripping-with-emotion \u201cStepped Out of Line.\u201d Joined by the soulful Nadima vocal ensemble (Nanette Frank, Diane Madison and Mae Koen), Youngblood turns in one of the album\u2019s best performances. And Nadima is also on hand for superb vocal support on four other cuts on Don\u2019t Look Back<\/i>.<\/p>\n

On \u201cCan\u2019t Take It,\u201d Youngblood\u2019s spirited voice spars in lively fashion with Lacoque\u2019s harp, the band pummeling along in tight formation. The musicians pull out all the stops \u2013 and Lacoque blows like mad \u2013 on \u201cLove (It Makes You Do Most Anything).\u201d<\/p>\n

The band turns nostalgic for \u201cThe Sock Hop,\u201d a tune that digs into the space where blues and early rock and roll connected. The party-oriented lyrics (and backing shoo-be-doo-wop chorus work) match up seamlessly with the horn-heavy arrangement. The overall proceedings stick faithfully close to the blues idiom, exemplified by the bouncy title track. Coleman takes the spotlight for a lead vocal on the album closer, the hard-charging \u201cFour Steel Walls.\u201d It sports a feel that\u2019s subtly different from the rest of the album, but it\u2019s so good that few will mind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Israel-born with Belgian roots, Pierre Lacoque doesn\u2019t \u2013 at least on paper \u2013 present as the most likely of authentic blues artists. But beginning with 1992\u2019s Straight from the Heart, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30831,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,49,65],"tags":[1491],"class_list":["post-30830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blues","category-new-release","category-review","tag-mississippi-heat","cat-9-id","cat-49-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30830"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30832,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30830\/revisions\/30832"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}