Sometimes a live album captures the magic of a performance in such a way that the listener is transported to another place, perhaps even another time. And sometimes, a live album simply reminds us why musicians bother to record in a studio. Texas bluesman Mike Morgan and his band, the Crawl, deliver an album of the second type, full of solid playing and quality songs that still somehow falls a bit flat.

It's possible that the type of roadhouse blues Morgan and friends play is simply more conducive to being there...but legends like Stevie Ray Vaughan have brought us incredible live performances, and legends like "Gatemouth" Brown continue to produce well-crafted studio albums decade after decade. No, it must just be that this collection, while inspired, is uninspiring.

In fairness, the band surely knows their craft. Morgan strums and picks great licks throughout, especially during his extended solo on "Mother-In-Law Blues". That great timbre is missing from his guitar sound, though, and his vocals do not convey the same emotion that greats like B.B. King and Buddy Guy deliver with every syllable.

The rest of the band suffers the same feat, keeping the beat and stoking the melody with antiseptic blandness despite the considerable skill it must take to play too clean. What could have been a great departure into beatnik blues, "The Wino Song", is ruined by lyrics the sound as though they are being read from a teleprompter.

Although I can't recommend this recording I do encourage blues fans to do as I will, and check out Morgan's other recordings. The skill is apparent, but the delivery is lacking. Hopefully this promising band will realize their potential.

www.summitartists.com/mikemorgan/