It's difficult to listen to this album without recalling that Lankester was diagnosed with inoperable liver cancer the day before he was due to mix its final track.
Lankester is one of those hard-working musicians whose CV includes everything from supporting BB King to busking in Ibiza and playing piano for Linda Gail Lewis. Originally a medical school drop-out, he later qualified as an osteopath - he's seen life. Song In A Minor Key is his moment, and he doesn't let go.
The 12 bluesy cuts feature Lankester singing and playing piano alongside a hugely experienced band plus a three-man horn section. It's classy blues for the most part, heartfelt and instantly accessible, with guitarists Mark Hawkins and Derek 'Del' Mandel in great form, especially on the slow-burning final track, Closed Doors, which erupts into a fierce Santana-style guitar workout.
Other stand-outs include an atmospheric reading of In My Time Of Dying (one of only two songs not penned by Lankester here) and the stirring title track. Catch him at Glasgow's ABC on December 9. Word is that alternative medicine has reduced his tumour by half.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article