Infinite Energy

Whatever progressions the Chris Duarte Group make on their 2010 release Infinite Energy are a matter of depth, not breadth. The group doesn’t try anything new — Duarte still specializes in a distinctly Texas brand of the blues, one that has Stevie Ray Vaughan as ground zero, where even the Hendrix-isms are filtered through SRV — but they do manage to lock into a soulful groove on “My Heart Don’t Want to Let You Go” and creates a noir-streaked moodiness on the instrumental “Hamra St” quite unlike anything he’s done before. Elsewhere, the sound remains the same and if the production is way too clean for Duarte’s increasingly rough, wobbly vocals, his guitar sounds hot and full, speaking with a warmth he can not manage, nor needs to create, as a singer.