This should give you a good idea of what to expect because, while Mr Blue is no doubt an excellent harmonica player who has as his press release claims 'truly mastered his artform', when all is said and done Code Blue is little more than session music writ large, an album of paint-by-numbers blues that you'll have heard a thousand times before. And of course, when Sugar Blue is taking centre stage, the fact that he's singing doesn't - er - leave as much time as it could for playing the harmonica, the thing he's really good at.

By the time he sings 'a bluesman I was born to be' on the unimaginatively titled Bluesman, you'll already have him sussed - interesting enough, but no more so than that Legends Of The Blues 6 CD Boxed Set you can pick up from the local remaindered book shop and still have change from a fiver for last year's Wilbur Smith.

There are moments that rise above the mundane - the fragile strains of Nola are a genuine treat, with the gentle harmonica solo at its heart showcasing the talent for which he's famous.

Along with its immediate successor Bad Boys Heaven, it temps you into thinking you're being terribly cruel and might have misjudged him, but the moment is fleeting and you know it's only really because he sounds like a nice enough old chap in the press release biog that you don't want to be too mean.

Ultimately, the good bits there are don't do enough to hold an entire album. Perfectly listenable, and certainly accomplished, at the final count Code Blue is just a bit dull - background music that isn't strong enough to make its way through the crowd.

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