Walking down Bourbon Street nearly ten years ago from a dive that probably no longer exists issued forth a sound likely to be associated with Bourbon Street’s past, but certainly not its karaoke, Bud Light-tinged present. It was a sound that brought to mind a tradition that seems nearly dead today, but was kept aflame for years by stalwart piano wizards like Merrill Moore, Moon Mullican and Big Maceo Merriweather.

There, in a bar no more than 12 feet wide and as deep as could be, shoved up against the doorway and a sidewall was a spinet piano, at which sat Carl “Sonny” Leyland, banging out boogies and tinkling blues; his clever, world-weary vocals spilling out in a voice echoing with knowing conviction. In a word: ragged but right. When the Coasters sang of “a country boy piano man playin’ in between the cracks” in their tune “Baby, That Is Rock ‘n’ Roll”, this had to be what they were talking about.

Sadly, New Orleans lost Leyland to the West Coast, yet all the magic of that night and many, many more is distilled in “I’m Wise.” Graphic, gritty and real, his lyrics, coupled with his rocking piano grooves are so good as to be all encompassing. Just how someone in this day and age could write a surrealistic alcoholic anthem that hits like “Honky Tonk Wine” is beyond me. The booze practically flows from the hi-fi speakers. “Yes, You Done It” and “I Believed…” are similar in tone and along with the rest of the record succeed brilliantly.

He’s accompanied perfectly by acoustic bass, drums and the back alley guitar raunch of Malcolm Chapman. The simple, live approach is used to great effect for a record perfect in its’ primitivism and utter sincerity. If you’ve never heard Carl’s name before, buy this record, you won’t forget it.