Since Joanne Shaw Taylor so effectively recaptured her roots in 2022 with Blues from the Heart Live, her studio efforts have been a mixed bag. In her earnest endeavors to expand her style, she issued a pop-oriented, highly polished studio outing titled Nobody’s Fool, thereby setting the stage for the R&B-influenced Heavy Soul, a second outing with producer Kevin Shirley (he also oversaw 2016’s Wild).
But on Black & Gold, the supervision of the former studio collaborator of Iron Maiden and Led Zeppelin–who also mixed the Nashville recordings for mastering by Bob Ludwig–results in a glossy veneer that too often camouflages the inviting intimacy by which the British guitarist/songwriter most benefits. Fortunately, on…

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