It's hard to imagine the Fabulous Thunderbirds without founding member Jimmie Vaughan. His classic guitar structures were the cornerstone of the band's sound, so when he announced his departure a little more than a year ago, T-Birds fans held their breath waiting for the breakup. Few could have predicted that Vaughan's departure would trigger a T-Birds renaissance, but that's exactly what has happened with Walk That Walk, Talk That Talk. Not since the heady days of Tuff Enuff has the band been as hot, both commercially and musically.

The T-Birds maintain their identity on this album through the distinctive vocals of frontman and principal songwriter Kim Wilson, who is clearly flourishing from the added responsibility that came with Vaughan's departure. His singing and harp playing have never sounded better. If Wilson supplies the continuity, the new guitar lineup, featuring the notable presence of Duke Robillard, offers a radical departure from previous T-Birds arrangement strategies. Vaughan was a master at the rhythm-lead structure, chiseling solos out of the bedrock of his own chord playing. But now, with Kid Bangham and Robillard both on guitar, the sound has opened up dramatically. Where Vaughan framed songs with his playing, the new duo pushes them out-ward with their hypnotic syncopations.

Robillard is reunited here with a rhythm section of fellow Roomful of Blues alumni, bassist Preston Hubbard and drummer Fran Christina. Roomful hails from New England, which Bangham also calls home. This shift leaves the T-Birds geographically closer to Boston than Austin – but more significantly, it also transplants the group's musical roots from Dallas to Memphis. Wilson's long-standing love of the Stax/Volt sound is better suited to the new lineup than the old, as the lively cover of Sam and Dave's "Ain't That a Lot of Love" indicates. The two ballads on the album are majestic recastings of the Memphis sound. "Need Somebody to Love" is one of the finest vocal performances Wilson has ever delivered, reaching into Otis Redding territory in the last verse. "When I Get Home" builds to a dramatic finale that pits Wilson's voice against a Willie Mitchell horn arrangement.

Producer Steve Jordan is the perfect match for this lineup. He and Wilson come up with some great ideas, like the rockabilly intro to the John Lee Hooker-style boogie "Feelin' Good," the echo effects on Wilson's Little Walter-style harp work on "Can't Stop Rockin'" and the layered vocal tracks spotlighting Wilson and a gospel choir on "Work Together." Robillard and Bangham, meanwhile, are at their peak on the album's signature track, "Twist of the Knife." While Bangham choogles along, driving the rhythm section with his stinging patterns, Robillard plunks in echo-laden fills that offset Wilson's bluesy tone. Robillard then rips off a mercurial run before returning to the spongy texture of his fills for the verses.

With its new producer and revamped lineup, Walk That Walk, Talk That Talk might just as well be called the new Roomful of Blues featuring Kim Wilson as the new Fabulous Thunderbirds featuring the Duke and Kid show. Whatever you want to call it, however, it all adds up to a burning record. (RS 614)

JOHN SWENSON