POP MUSIC REVIEWS : Brody Buster Wails the Little Boy Blues

Brody Buster stomped to the stage in a purple double-breasted suit and with a case full of harmonicas, ready to blow through the standard blues repertoire Friday night at B.B. King’s Blues Club.

The main surprise here? This blues man is 10 years old.

A poker-faced kid with every blond hair in place, Buster emerged from Kansas City, Mo., two years ago as a self-taught blues harp wiz. He has already shared the stage with B.B. King (among other major blues figures) and now performs frequently at King’s club on Universal CityWalk.

Backed by a solid blues and rock trio called the Bluesbusters, who both led and deferred to the diminutive leader, Buster blew a true somber wail on King’s “The Thrill Is Gone.”

His child’s voice often limited his vocal range. But he was most convincing as both player and singer on Willie Dixon’s “(I’m Your) Hoochie Coochie Man,” where the kid actually found a grinding edge in his voice and blew his harp with real force.

In a city already crowded with such later-day blues harp masters as John (Juke) Logan and Rod Piazza, little Brody’s appearance was hardly a revelation. But the boy seems to mean it, even when he’s singing such sentiments as “I’m so lonely I could die.”

Someday he just might outgrow the inevitable novelty aspect of a little boy singing and playing his heart out. Does anyone remember Little Stevie Wonder?