b. William Boazman, England. Although separated by time and space from the roots of the blues, Black’s work, both as performer and as songwriter, is very much in the classic tradition. A strong guitarist and singer, Black led his Blues Band until the mid-90s when part of the group broke away to form the Mighty 45s. Black’s new band, the Dukes, quickly found favour with UK blues fans. He attracted critical acclaim for his second album, 2001’s Heart And Soul, not only in the UK, where Blues In Britain magazine considered it to be the Album Of The Year, but also in the USA. Readers of Blues In Britain also reacted favourably to Black and in 2002 voted him Best UK Blues Guitarist. Also in the early 00s, Black was voted Best Guitarist in the British Blues Connection Awards and received comparable recognition in magazines and on radio. Musicians who have played in Black’s bands over the years include Daniel Smith (keyboards/vocals), Dino Coccia (saxophone/drums) and Alan Glen (harmonica). In Black’s regular band of the early 00s were Bob Haddrell (keyboards), who also leads the Barcodes, George Pearson (bass/vocals) and Damon Sawyer (drums), with Lee Badau (saxophone) also making appearances.