Joint Session - Welcome to Fused Blues (Independent) While there isn’t a lot of information in the booklet which accompanies this CD, it does helpfully define “Fused Blues” as: “the blend of retrospective blues sound with more contemporary music”; and, “a musical movement, started by the band Joint Session in the 21st century”. This might be tongue-in-cheek and a little presumptuous, but the band deserve full credit for their efforts in presenting something slightly out of the ordinary while retaining a solid blues sensibility. Futuristic it isn’t though, since what adds flourishes of inventiveness to well-crafted numbers like “Rock and Roll Hotel”, “Rhythm and Blues Child” and “Going to War” is the distinct echo of the class of ’71, including Wishbone Ash and Family. The vocalist in particular deploys a throaty Chapman-esque warble that could well have been lifted from one of his dad’s old 33’s. There’s no criticism implied by that at all, since it’s high time some of the underrated prog sounds of the seventies were dusted down and refreshed by younger players, and these could well be an outfit worth looking out for that reason alone. Neil B. Next