Robben Ford: Two Shades Of Blue (LP)

Robben Ford returns in extraordinary form with "Two Shades Of Blue", an album that stands out for its sophistication, taste and timeless musicality. Robben is a man on the move. If you look at the five-time Grammy nominee's catalog - half a century that oscillates between jazz, rock, fusion and blues - you'll find a musician in a constant state of transformation. Put on the new album "Two Shades Of Blue" - a transatlantic modern classic that has changed over the course of recording - and you can sense him taking risks and breaking rules. "I have this curse," smiles the 74-year-old guitarist. "I don't have two records that sound the same..." With a new album just around the corner, Robben feels at the top of his game at the moment. "Two Shades Of Blue" is not the album Ford actually wanted to make - but it's all the better for it. Recorded in the US and the UK with two different crack bands, this album paints with his inimitable palette, from the deep funk-blues of lead single "Make My Own Weather" to soaring instrumentals that test the limits of even a musician ranked among the 100 greatest guitarists of the 20th century by Musician Magazine.