After all this time, the California based vocalist and guitarist Kyle Jester recently released his second solo CD entitled, After All This. You have to go all the way back to 2003 for a release under Jester’s own name. After All This was worth the wait, as it is a terrific recording from start to finish.

Jester, a San Francisco Bay Area transplant from San Diego, was a veteran of the vibrant Southern California blues scene for many years.  His extensive list of credits include being the longtime guitarist in Candye Kane’s band. Jester was also the guitarist with the long since retired, but fondly remembered Freddie Brooks and the Dirty Crooks. Additionally, he had a stint playing with the Paladin’s bassist Thomas Yearsly when that internationally renowned band was on hiatus.

This generous fourteen track, fifty two minute outing of mostly well selected covers and well conceived originals, runs the gamut of cool. Vintage rock&roll and, of course, the straight ahead natural electric blues are wonderfully inter-woven with, at various times, nuanced embellishments of soul, rhythm&blues, jazz and even a little doo wop. Jester uncovered some superb gems from a wide variety of sources including Eddie Taylor, Jerry McCain, Snooks Eglin, B.B. King, Johnny Ace, Lester Butler and others. A couple of interesting originals fit comfortably alongside these nuggets.   

After All This was recorded in September and October of 2014 at Kid Andersen’s Greaseland Studios in San Jose. The CD was engineered and mastered by Andersen.

The core band consists of Andersen on bass, Brian “Nucci” Cantrell on drums along with Jester of course on guitar and vocals. They are augmented on various tracks by Aki Kumar on harmonica and Sid Morris on piano. Each player is first rate and contributes mightily to the proceedings.

As for the guitar playing of Jester, he shows a tremendous command of the blues idiom and understands that his instrument is in service of the song and not the other way around, a problem that plagues too many blues recordings. He has a strong rhythmic sensibility and his solos are well structured and never over stay their welcome. The other major pitfall in the modern blues world is the vocals. Here Jester manages to make the most out of his instrument; he sings in a natural unaffected way which is a refreshing feature of After All This.

After All This is another out of left field offering from the left coast. Andersen and his crew at Greaseland studios continue to work their magic as this western outpost has become a magnet for talent. After spending years just outside the spotlight, Kyle Jester seems to be a natural in the middle of that glare.

- David Mac