In my review of Danny Bryant’s first CD, I noted the strong comparisons to and influences by Walter Trout, one of our favorites at the Bluesrockers website. “Shadows Passed” is Bryant’s follow-up CD to “Watching You” and while the comparisons to Trout are still evident, it is clear that Bryant is now becoming his own man. Every song on “Shadows Passed” is an original Bryant composition and the variety of styles is impressive. The common bond among all songs is the excellence of Bryant’s guitar playing and vocals. All of the superlatives that you could apply in describing his playing are appropriate: he plays with emotion, intensity, tone, and fluidity. His vocals are the perfect foil to his playing in that he has a powerful, bluesy, gravely voice that belies his age. The band itself is a power-trio, occasionally augmented with keyboards. Ken Bryant, Danny’s

The CD begins with the title song which contains a slow, tough guitar and piano intro that soon turns into a display of Bryant’s vocal talent interspersed with guitar fills and concludes with a powerful guitar solo. “Play to Win” is a straight-ahead up-tempo blues that contains a superb wah-wah solo. “Sleep Alone” is a rather tender song with a mellow piano intro and showcases Bryant’s vocals. All tenderness falls by the wayside with “Movin’ on Back to You” which is a tough, aggressive medium-tempo, churning track that is perhaps the most “Trout-like” song on the CD. As is the case throughout the CD, the guitar solo is wonderful. “For the Love of Angels” may slow the pace but not the intensity and includes one of the most burning solos on the CD. “One Look” is a slow, acoustic pop-oriented track with heartfelt vocals. “Going Back Home” begins with a rather tinny sounding guitar and purposely poor 1920’s sound quality replete with pops and scratches, but after about 30 seconds the song turns into a well recorded up-tempo modern blues rock number with Bryant’s excellent wah-wah solo taking front stage. “Where the River Ends” is a slow number that reminds me somewhat of Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight” and includes overdubbed strings. This is generally not my brand of whiskey, but I feel that the song is redeemed by Bryant’s emotional vocals. “Living with the Blues” has a solo electric guitar intro, unaccompanied by the rhythm section. This soon turns into a traditional hard blues song that at first is reminiscent of Muddy Water’s “Mannish Boy” but then becomes Bryant’s own song with a driving guitar solo. The CD concludes with “Danny’s Blues” which is nine minutes of emotional, slow, intense blues. It contains the longest guitar solo on the CD and the solo is one of the best I have heard in several months. It is the pure definition of the word burning as it applies to guitar. It is a performance like this that places Bryant in the pantheon of today’s best young guitarists.

I am convinced that Danny Bryant’s next CD needs to be a live set. A list of his 2004 forthcoming gigs reveals about 80 shows, all in England, so I know that a live recording is the closest I will get to hearing him in concert. I understand that it is not unusual for Walter Trout and Danny Bryant to share the stage and jam. I’m not convinced that I could take that much guitar excellence all at once, but I would kill for the chance to find out for sure.