The funny thing about music is, it can't lie.   Many, many other things in this world can, and do – but as Charlie Parker said, "If you don't live it, it won't come out your horn."

So what, exactly, is coming out of Layla Musselwhite's horn?

There is, of course, the early years, the background…which is the blues.   Years of being on the road in Europe and across the States, seeing the same famous faces at festivals, (or other faces at rowdy clubs, in the lean years), months of never sleeping in the same bed twice or speaking English to another child – this will leave an impression on a person.  

It comes out of the horn.

But then there is the European influence, from childhood memories (Layla was born in Italy, and Dutch was her first language) to late adolescence, when she suddenly packed a bag and moved to Europe .   Layla sang on the streets of Paris, fell in love in Morocco, and directed theatre and studied singing in Amsterdam .   Then it was time to go home, which she did.  

These experiences also come out of the horn.

After picking up a few degrees in French, drama, and music from the University of Washington, Layla moved back home to California and began to woodshed.   Hard.   A year of guitar lessons from Dad began to hone her passionate understanding of Delta blues, and then the songs started to come.

She discovered slide guitar, and began to write in French (teaching at the Alliance Francaise didn't hurt), and to perform as a dancer, and to make her own clothes and jewelry and cosmetics (which would be exhibited in galleries, with offers to go national - which she refused).   She wrote a book.   She began to put it all together, all these echoes of a life well-lived.

The sounds coming out of Layla Musselwhite's horn are deep and wide-reaching, from the Mississippi Delta to the streets of Paris and the souks of Morocco , from elegant theatres to lonely, aching places in the soul- and it sounds like music.  Come and listen.