Kim Wilson”That’s Life (If You Call It...

Kim Wilson

“That’s Life (If You Call It Living)”

Antone’s Records

No sooner does singer/harpist Kim Wilson get off the road with the hard-touring Fabulous Thunderbirds than he turns around and heads out with his own band, Kim Wilson and the Tigermen (who appear this Sunday at the Orange County Blues Festival in Dana Point. Story Page 3).

Wilson and the Thunderbirds were about the only contemporary blues outfit that got the seal of approval from Muddy Waters and other blues progenitors. And they were one of the first groups to get roots-derived music onto mainstream radio. In trying to hold that broader audience, the T-birds have moved further from their blues origins. “That’s Life,” the second album by Wilson and his outside band, on the other hand, is a sizable delight. Wilson has expanded on the straight blues, but soul and swing influences only add to the soup.

The band still features Southern California blues mainstays Larry Taylor on bass, Gene Taylor on keyboards and Richard Innes on drums, though wacko genius guitarist Junior Watson is no longer in the fold. Guitarist Rusty Zinn does a capable and occasionally inspired job, especially on the rollicking “Pretty Baby.”

Wilson is a powerhouse on both vocals and harmonica, with a lung-power all the more impressive for his reserve. There’s no grandstanding, just honest emotion with the chops to give it full voice. Irma Thomas and the Rolling Stones have laid claim to “Time Is on My Side,” but Wilson pretty well elopes with it. “She’s My Baby” is a pleasure of a musical back-scratcher, while “Blues Leave Me Alone” is such a strong piece of Chicago blues you expect it to have stockyards.