Joe Louis Walker: Live At 'on Broadway'

I bought this DVD having been a huge fan of JLW for nearly a decade now but I couldn't help but feel more than a little disappointed by it. I was going to give it 3 stars but the sheer fact that it is the only visual document of this brilliant Blues musician, I gave it 4 stars.So what was wrong with it? Well, let me start with what was right with it first. Joe is in good spirits throughout and his guitarwork is (as always) second to none. It is well produced and there are a few nice extras, namely an interview with the man himself, where he chats about his influences and his childhood and interspersed with this are pictures of him and his family growing up.My main problem is with the band itself. The bass player looks and sounds like he should be in a Jazz group. The drummer looks like a Living Colour wannabe, throwing out rock fills and appears to be almost totally devoid of Blues feeling, I would have liked a bit more light and shade in his playing. There is NO keyboard player on the night and this makes the sound a little one-paced and flat. His rhythm guitar player and JLW stalwart Tom Rose is excellent as always and lays down a nice solid groove plus he lets rip himself on a couple of occasions, proving that he is no mere sideman. But why oh why are there pointless bass and drum solos?!?!?The selection of songs I also take issue with. The first 3 songs are all acoustic and 2 of them are Biblical in theme which is fair enough, but I felt like I was being preached at. Then there is a wonderful rendition of Rainy Nights where Joe gets to show us his Slide Guitar skills and boy is he on top form there. But there is far too much material from perhaps Joe's most insipid album The Preacher and the President. I would have liked a bit more stuff from JLW, Blues of the Month Club or even better, his earliest albums such as The Gift or Blue Soul.All in all, I am glad that I own the DVD as I do love JLW's singing and playing and I do believe him to be perhaps the most vital Blues player working today but I am disappointed that I have been telling everyone I know how good he is for so long now and I only have a mediocre performance to lean back on. It's nice to be able to turn on the DVD player and see Joe but it could have been a whole lot better!!!!!!