2008 Reviews

Bob Margolin: In North Carolina - Steady Rollin’ Records
As lead guitarist for the late-era Muddy Waters band, a major figure on the blues circuit, and a long-time columnist for Blues Revue magazine, Bob Margolin needs no introduction to blues fans. His new album is literally a pet project. “Here are the acoustic and electric solo and multi-instrument Blues I play in North Carolina for myself and my wife and pets.” Margolin recorded it at home and sings and plays all instruments on it, including guitar, bass, and drums. Befitting its DIY genesis, it features a picture of his cute dog on the cover. It’s not a dog of a disc, though; instead, it’s a comfortable old shoe that’ll wear well on a Sunday afternoon when you don’t want anything too interruptive on the CD player. The songs are a grab-bag of eight originals, along with well-known tunes by Muddy, Tampa Red, Bob Dylan, and others. My favorite is “Red Hot Kisses,” written by Lillian McMurry, the late founder of Trumpet Records. Margolin is no great shakes as a singer, but he brings out the wry humor in several tunes like this. Another fun track is Margolin’s nine-minute reading of one of his columns from Blues Revue about a typical night at a club for a blues musician. Throughout the disc, the guitar playing is spectacular—a lesson especially in how to play slide guitar. It’s no surprise that Margolin won the Blues Foundation Award last month for best guitarist in the blues. - Mark Hoffman

Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis:Two Men With The Blues (Release Date: July 8th, 2008) - Blue Note
I wasn’t starting the CD player with any expectations but you can expect both characters to shine in this delicious mix of jazz and country based blues from two great gentlemen at the top of the music business. I guess they both knew it was a good time for the healing power of the blues to reach the masses. - Marlee Walker

The Music Lesson: A Spiritual Search for Growth Through Music by Victor Wooten - Berkley/Penguin

An original member of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, the only three-time winner of Bass Play Magazine's Bass Player of the Year, and a four-time Grammy Award-winner, Victor Wooten has written a particularly insightful story. It's the story of a struggling young musician who is unexpectedly visited by a mysterious, seemingly mystic music teacher. This teacher, and others the musician encounters, guide him through a spiritual journey of higher education in music and life. In this parable, life lessons are broken down into ten major elements of music: Notes, Articulation, Technique, Emotion, Dynamics, Rhythm, Tone, Phrasing, Space (rests), and Listening. Each element is fully explored in it's own chapter and becomes a piece of the "big picture" of life. Written with Zen-like insight and humor, The Music Lesson offers its wisdom to anyone from the most accomplished musician to the young beginner dreaming of greatness. Some of Wooten's words to live by include: -play like a child with an air-guitar; he never plays the wrong note

-Entire worlds live inside each note

-Technique is magic

-Music, like beauty, is something you experience, not something you can prove; it lives inside you, and you impress its qualities on whatever you choose

-Some play louder to get someone's attention, playing quieter can stop a charging bull

Author, Victor Wooten also just released a new solo album, Palmystery on Heads Up Intl. and like the book, Palmystery speaks to Victor's great respect for the mystery of the creative process - something that is very real, yet can never be completely explained. Victor Wooten performs Sunday, May 4th at The Triple Door, Seattle.

Luther Allison: Underground - Ruf
You know it’s gonna be good when it says Luther Allison on the spine, but this recording is especially notable as it was re-discovered by his son Bernard in his wife’s basement and represents his 30 minute debut back in 1958 with Bobby Rush producing and playing bass on the original sessions done in Chicago, Illinois. He delivered some excellent Luther-ized versions of Hideaway, BEFORE Freddie recorded it according to Art Tipaldi in the liner notes, and Sonny Boy Williamson’s Don’t Start Me To Talkin’, plus a driving version of Rock Me Baby. My only objection is the irritating obsession at the time with fading out the songs early, even 1:38 in one instance. But then I guess with Luther, no one ever got enough. - Marlee Walker

Eric Bibb: Get Onboard - Telarc
This man seems to get better with each recording and this is a completely satisfying release including duets done with Bonnie Raitt and Ruthie Foster. Eric Bibb and his Trio appear March 18th at The Triple Door in Seattle.

Sean Costello: We Can Get Together - Delta Groove
The positive energy that you get from a title such as this is equal to the positive energy he emits from his guitar and his soul and you get it full bore on this recording. He’s hitting the stride you want to hit with your art and your personal and he seriously wow’d the crowd out to see him last month with his forceful trio.

Son Jack Jr.: When the Devil Calls - self On his debut album, local guitarist, songwriter, and singer Son Jack Jr. tackles three classic blues songs and adds ten of his own. Jack learned well at the feet of the blues masters at Centrum’s Country Blues workshops in Port Townsend. His finger picking and slide playing are clean, punchy, yet subtle on Skip James’s “Devil Got My Woman” and Blind Willie Johnson’s “Soul of a Man.” He pulls out all the humor on Eddie Vinson’s “Cleanhead Blues,” a rueful ode to the formerly hirsute—real roots music. (Judging from the picture on the CD, Jack is prematurely ribald.) His own tunes are tastefully played and well-conceived. “North Wind” features a kick-ass guitar part, while “It Could Be Worse” could’ve come from the fingers of Fred McDowell. The rocking “Dance of the Living Dead” will resonate with anyone who’s ever worked a stultifying high-tech office job. The standout on the album is “The Lynching Tree,” an atmospheric instrumental played in the open D-minor tuning associated with Skip James. From the evidence here, Jack knows how to compose and play; you’ll want to loop this on your Zune or iPod. - Mark Hoffman

2007 Reviews

Shout, Sister, Shout!:
The Untold Story of Rock-And-Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe
By Gayle F. Wald

This book is long over due. Way more fans of her music have grown over the years than anyone could have ever anticipated, but you’d a thought someone would have done it before now with the influence of her playing and singing. She was big in the south and in gospel circles everywhere early, growing up Pentecostal and moving to Chicago with her mother, Katie Bell Nubin, a singer and mandolin player. She played th gospel circuit but then appeared on John Hammond’s Spirituals To Swing concert in New York and life changed. So many great stories. Ms. Wald spent five years writing this book about this groundbreaking personality in music. Her musical story is based in gospel but crosses territory in blues, swing, rockabilly, jazz and country and hopefully you’ve heard her powerful songs such as “Up Above My Head,” “Strange Things Happen Every Day,” and “Rain, Rain, Rain”. This book is well worth the read just to learn about the depth of her influence and popularity. One great story is when Ginger Baker (Cream) met her and said his hair was naturally bright red, she said, “You’ll have to drop your pants to prove it!” She also got married three times, once in a Washington D.C. baseball stadium and then played a concert in her wedding dress right afterwards. Her longtime singing partner, Marie Knight, lives in Harlem these days and just released a solid tribute to Rev. Gary Davis called, “Let Us Get Together” on M.C. Records with the fabulous Larry Campbell. (Look for a complete review of this book & Knight’s new CD from Jim “Early” Byrd in a future issue.) -Marlee Walker

The Fender Electric Guitar Book: A Complete History of Fender Instruments
By Tony Bacon
P publisher: Hal - Leonard

This is the defintive book on the dominant instrument for contemporary blues and rock (count how many are pictured on the cover this month), The Fender Guitar. This updated edition includes hundreds more color photos of nearly every make and model of Fender, from the very first Telecaster to Custom Shop originals. There is also a full reference section on the American, Japanese, Mexican and Korean Fender models and detailed chronology from 1950 to 2007. Lots of blues in here for any guitar fan to enjoy. - Marlee Walker

Louis Armstrong's New Orleans
By Thomas Brothers
Publisher: W. W. Norton

As the title implies, this book is not so much another biography of Louis Armstrong as it is a study of the life, times, and strife that engendered this first great genius of jazz. Anyone who thinks Armstrong was more or less the happy-faced ham that he appeared to be late in life on TV and in movies will be quickly disabused of that notion by this fascinating, well-researched book. So will anyone who thinks New Orleans was a benign ethnic melting pot. Armstrong comes across as more complex and revolutionary than I ever suspected, and the New Orleans of 1900 seems a veritable cesspool of roiling racial tension. As Armstrong wrote:

At ten years old I could see--the Bluffings that those Old Fat Belly Stinking Very Smelly Dirty White Folks were putting Down ...So they get full of their Mint julep or that bad whisky, the poor white Trash were Guzzling down, like water, then when they get so Damn Drunk until they'd go out of their minds--then it's Nigger Hunting time. Any Nigger. They wouldn't give up until they would find one. From then on, Lord have mercy on the poor Darkie. Then they would Torture the poor Darkie, as innocent as he may be. They would get their usual Ignorant Chess Cat laughs before they would shoot him down--like a Dog. My my my, those were the days.

Armstrong's New Orleans was so dangerous for dark-skinned black people like himself that as a boy, the only way he could safely follow a parade across town was by carrying Joe Oliver's cornet. "Later, in his mid-teens as a hired cornetist," Brother writes, "[Armstrong] was known to break away from his parade steps to chase down and flail hecklers"--many of them Creoles of mixed French and West African ancestry.

Brothers convincingly demonstrates that Armstrong became the central figure in the most significant musical genre in American history not just because of his exceptional talent but because he was in the right place at the right time and had the right mentors. From boyhood, he was so immersed in gutbucket blues, church music, and parade sounds that he never forgot the streets, even when he played upscale jazz and pop. At age ten, he hung out in the street with one old man who sold rags, bottles, and bones, drew crowds by blowing a toy trumpet with what Armstrong called "soul," and another old man who sold pies, advertised his wares by playing a bugle, and thrilled the boy with stories of famous musicians living and dead. This book is full of such revelations. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves American history in all its bloody glory and wants to see how and where the blues arose. - Mark Hoffman

April-August

Back Door Slam: Roll Away - Blix Street Records
Although Back Door Slam takes their name from the Robert Cray tune, one might wonder if they’ve been hanging out with musical ghosts. This high-energy blues-rock hybrid has lots of Hendrix thrown in their sound, among liberal doses of Cream-era Clapton, some Trower, and all the sixties British-American blues-rock heroes. Not too surprising, when you consider the band hails from the Isle of Man, in the UK. I am also reminded of Los Lonely Boys, and maybe a little Kenny Wayne Shepherd as well. They do the blues-rock thing better than anyone I've heard in a while with aggressive and catchy tunes, and hooks that seem to reach out and physically grab my ears. Guitarist/vocalist, Davy Knowles, drummer, Ross Doyle, and Adam Jones on bass, seem to have found each other on some kind of psychic plane. They complement each other perfectly and become one, so that it's hard to listen to only one instrument. I hope to hear some of these songs on the radio, not just because I feel their sincerity, but just to stop the Britney/Justin train from rolling any further. This is a blues-rock hit factory waiting to go into production. The whole record is hot, from the up-tempo rockers to the ballady numbers (which have little surprises). If this disc is played on the radio, the world will be a much cooler place. - Neil Pobliner

Willie McBlind-Find My Way Back Home-Freenote Records

For many, being a blues artist is a constant struggle between the desire to embrace a tradition while creating something truly original and modern. On their debut album, Find My Way Back Home , Willie McBlind takes this approach to a level that few artists in the blues realm have explored. The band, co-led by guitarist/vocalist Jon Catler and vocalist Babe Borden is a re-invention of the lost and little known tradition of the male/female blues duet tradition best exemplified by pre World War artists such as Blind Willie Johnson and Blind Willie McTell and their various accompanists. Willie McBlind also breaks the mold of the Western Twelve Tone Equal Tempered scale by using instruments based on Nature's scale, a 64 note per octave musical system based on notes directly derived from the Harmonic Series. Catler's compositions in this tuning system create a truly unique aural experience, introducing true consonances, microtonal variations, and magical cascading harmonic clouds.

The album stars off with an instrumental, Chicken, that features a riff reminiscent of the 60's organ trio classic, Back at the Chicken Shack and features Catler's custom guitar, with it's unique fretting system that features the aforementioned 64 note octave. The end of the tune introduces the magic of the tuning system with a long sustained chord that is both consonant and dissonant at the same time. Cannonballer , is a take on a musical canon (a composition that employs a melody with one or more imitations of the melody played after a given duration) and features interchanging vocables and guitar lines. Catler and Borden alternate vocal verses on the slow blues grind of Find My Way which also features a haunting guitar solo and long sustained vocal choruses. Hope My Baby , the first of two boogie tracks on the recording, once again finds Catler and Borden exchanging vocal verses and features the 12 Twelve Tone Ultra Plus guitar, which is constructed in a way that has some of the notes from Nature's Scale in combination with the normal western12 Tone Equal Tempered Scale. Shallow Gray is a slow blues and features an extended "cloud section" during the solo break.

Pony Blues , a Charley Patton number and the 6 th track on the cd ,starts out as a country blues and then morphs into an all out country western hoe down before winding back down. Train is a strait ahead blues rocker featuring my favorite Borden vocal performance of the ten songs. Fall features fretless guitar which is unacampanied at the beginning and also featured in an extended 60's psychedelic inflected solo during this heavy riff oriented tune. Every Time, another musical canon form, features haunting interplay between Catler's guitar and Borden's voice and an outstanding guitar solo break. Time Ain't Long , the closer of the set, features an extended feedback drenched "cloud" section on the Twelve Tone Ultra Plus before morphing into an anthematic blues rocker.

I found this album a very enjoyable listen. While the tuning system is quite different than most western ears are accustomed to there's a familiar feeling, like meeting a family member for the first time. The wide range of blues styles, along with the adventurous and oftentimes otherworldly guitar and vocals make this a transcending blues and musical experience. -Chris Morda

Guitar Shorty: We The People - Alligator

What good is life without good lovin'? This fine question is asked by a man with experience who sings the truth is his music throughout this latest recording. In fact, I'd say his last two CDs on Alligator feature some of the most authentic, heartfelt music in the blues today. His old school ways mix well with hip songs that tell his stories of truth for the real people listening to the blues today. He even brings up the constitution in the title track "We The People", just when it's gettin' ignored...don't get me started! But do start with seeing Guitar Shorty live at various fine venues this month. Check out songs like "Cost of Livin'" and you'll understand why Shorty's understanding of his role in the blues world is so refreshing. Nice work if you can get it and he definitely gets it! (See his list of NW live dates in the headlines and calendar). - Marlee Walker

Fiona Boyes and The Fortune Tellers: Lucky 13 - Yellow Dog Records

I want you baby, like a chicken wants corn, are the lyrics that bring you into the music of Australia's premier blues woman, Fiona Boyes on this, her first American release. Now even if you haven't grown up on a farm you can understand that chicken sentiment and further get the fact that this woman has some songwriting ability goin' on. Her blues chops and historical understanding of the music are definitely there and the CD is very well put together with Bob Margolin and Marcia Ball appearing along with producer Kaz Kazanoff. She can play all kinda guitars, solo or with the band, and has the voice and attitude necessary for a blues woman as heard on "Celebrate The Curves," a duet with Ms. Ball. These facts and her overwhelming charm were obviously taken in by the panel of judges at the Intl. Blues Challenge when she took home the grand prize in 2003. She sounds a bit like Marcia Ball in there somewhere but playing guitar not piano, plus a little Maria Muldaur or Bonnie Raitt comparison could enter into the picture. Not surprisingly, this CD is nominated for Contemporary Blues Album of The Year in this year's Blues Music Awards to be held in Memphis in early May. - Marlee Walker

Eric Bibb: Diamond Days - Telarc

Songs can get right to your heart if they are well written and performed and this is always the case with Eric Bibb. His material gets richer and richer with each recording and the budget is obviously big enough to add a choir if he wants one. Oh my, the harmony is so refreshing and welcomed in his lyrics as well as his melodies it's a beautiful thing. His road worthy guitar playing is impeccable and so subtle yet present in the sweet mix. This is the kind of record you not only can but wanna share with both Mom and her grandkids' kids. It's country blues with timeless wisdom in the lyrics. They've also added a live track of one of his most popular tunes, In My Father's House and a bonus track of Worried Man Blues. Plus this is one of those enhanced CDs with a video program you can run on most computer CD players that runs for over 11 minutes. I never can get enough of this man's music, so this is all good for the music consumer with limited funds. Many loving hearts are warmed with his tunage. - Marlee Walker

John Németh: Magic Touch - Blind Pig

This debut recording brings a much-anticipated NW secret to the international blues world. John Németh has developed his singing gift into a finely tune instrument, drawing comparisons to Robert Cray, Mark DuFresne or Kim Wilson. I like to say he could be the Frank Sinatra of the blues, in reference to both possessing powerful voices, good looks (maybe it's the blue eyes), and belonging to a select group of talented young artists, but don't you dare put him in any kind of box. He has his own style that's quite playful, often hopping on stage, out of what seems to be his pure joy in singing blues for people in his house slippers and blue jeans. His style comes off more relaxed than his impeccable pitch and tone might indicate. Right away you realize that his voice could take him very far and then you add his tasteful harp playing and you begin to feel the Magic Touch everyone's been talkin' about. His band gives him great support too with Wes Starr on drums and Mike Schermer on guitar.

Németh grew up in Idaho a good Catholic boy, not the usual profile of a blues man, but there's no reason to doubt his dedication to the art form with stellar versions of tunes like "Blues Hit Big Town," which he heard from one of his main influences, Junior Wells, and Willie Dixon's "Sit And Cry The Blues." His phrasing and tune selection give me the chills both live in concert and on this recording, which is destined for some major attention in numerous blues award categories. Consider the fact that he has his elders, some of the current godfathers of the blues, such as Anson Funderburgh producing, and Junior Watson on guitar, plus Mark Kazinoff and the Texas Horns. It only took one taste for the fine folks at Blind Pig Records to realize they HAD to sign this guy. Hopefully, it won't be long before you also get touched by the magic touch of John Németh. Editors Note: It sure is nice to know that even with the recent sudden loss of Paul deLay, the future of the blues is in good hands.

Jan-March

Antone’s Home of the Blues: Koch Vision - DVD
See precious footage of numerous blues legends playing at Antone’s in Austin, TX, including Albert Collins, Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan, Kim Wilson, Angela Strehli, plus B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Hubert Sumlin, Willie Nelson, Sue Foley and many more on this essential DVD. In addition, see revealing interviews with people who knew Clifford Antone and watched this club owner anchor the blues scene in Austin. His story is as amazing as his death was unexpected, just as this DVD was to be released last spring. The history and connections made at Antone’s are too many to list so make sure to take notes. Clifford Antone made things happen, and he had to be supremely proud of this project which tells the real story of his blues life at Antone’s. - Marlee Walker NOTE: See portions of this DVD on Blues To Do-TV soon.

Preston Shannon: Be With Me Tonight - Title Tunes Records
With Valentine’s Day around the corner, Preston Shannon’s “Be with me tonight” is a beautiful ballad, perfect for your loved one, and also the 3rd track as well as the title of his new cd. The R&B arrangement opens with an arpeggiated guitar riff and string section. Preston sets a romantic tone with the sound of his voice and the content of his lyrics. Adding to the mood of the song are the harmonies of the back-up singers. “The Way That I Love You”, which is the 4th track, is also a pretty ballad which includes a horn section instead of a string section. “Love’s Gonna Get You” is the 9th track on the cd. I highly recommend cranking the volume up in your car so you can thunk your subwoofers with this tune which also features a nice guitar solo. “It’s My Life”, which is the 10th track, is an autobiographical tune with a very unique 70’s-Funk-style bridge section complete with back-up singers and a wah-wah pedal. Track 11 is titled “Goin’ Back to Memphis” which is a fun, upbeat little ditty with Preston singing about all the wonderful Blues Musicians which makes that place so great. His inviting voice, guitar, and lyrics seem as though he’s asking you to sit in on a jam session. (You can count me in, and we’ll all make it a rendezvous!) Memphis has such a rich musical history. The last track is “No More War” and this is where the back-up singers really shine, especially towards the outro. This song displays a creative use of sound effects. “Be With Me Tonight” was produced by Clayton McGonigle and Denny Knight and is a must-have for any Blues-lover’s collection. - Lisa Kay Deeter

Joe Bonamassa: You And Me - Premier Artists
Blues-Rock Phenom Joe Bonamassa’s new release is filled with heavy, dirty guitar almost front to back, with a couple of quieter moments thrown in for some color. Several influences can be heard on the eleven tracks on You & Me, including Chris Duarte (alluded to on track 2 “Bridge to Better Days”), Robben Ford (track 3 “Asking Around for You”) and was that a Clapton reference I detected on “So Many Roads”? With covers of Zeppelin, “Tea For One”, and Ry Cooder, “Tamp ‘Em Up Solid”, this track taken from Paradise & Lunch, arguably Cooders’ greatest record. Bonamassa has put out a rockin’ disc with nods to his heroes from both the blues world and the rock world. It comes off more authentic-sounding and less pretentious than most of the other Blues-Rock acts I’ve heard recently. Although I’ve mentioned JB’s influences, I want to make clear that Bonamassa has combined these styles sufficiently, and added enough of his own flavor, to make this disc, and his style, his alone. I see Bonamassa as a crossover artist who may be capable of bringing rock guitar fans into a more blues-based forum, further broadening the fan base for blues. Besides, he rocks! If you like your blues on the rocks, go pick up this disc. - Neil Pobliner

The Crossroads Band: I Want It...Right Now - self
With so many local bands passing themselves off as blues, it’s quite refreshing to see a genuine blues album hit the shelves. The Crossroads Band’s new album, I Want It Right Now certainly fits that description. Best Band BB Award winners, the Crossroads have long been considered one of the Puget Sound’s top blues draws. This new CD showcases the many talents of this fine blues band with a varied collection of raw blues and tasty R&B. The members of this veteran 5 piece band all carry long pedigrees from other top Seattle blues bands of the past, finally culminating into this superb blues ensemble. The multi talented, Steve Bailey, presents both his amazing harmonica and slide guitar, with Dan Newton also doubling with a fat toned keyboard and true-blue guitar. Adding that great horn punch is Dennis Ellis, on the tenor sax. Holding it all together is the super tight rhythm section with John Lee’s killer bass and John Rockwell’s sharp drums. Everyone in the band, sans Rockwell, share vocal duties, giving this disc a wide variety of stylings. Bailey and Newton also demonstrate their songwriting skills, penning several clever tunes on this CD project. Some choice tracks on this album include Steve’s “Mean & Evil Blue”, some huge harp on his own “All Night Lovin’ Man”. Dan’s own, “I Want Some Love”, and the New Orleans flavored “What’s He Got”, along with John Lee fronting Earl King’s “Mama and Papa”, demonstrate the wide variety of blues based music offered on this 14 song CD. The Crossroads Band has certainly created a fine representation of Northwest blues with this new release, undoubtedly a finalist for next year’s BB Awards. - Phil Chesnut

Jeff and the Jet City Fliers: High Livin’ Blues - self
The new CD by Jeff Herzog and Co. consists of eleven tracks of fun-time music. It enticingly ventures from swamp blues to gospel with stops along the way for old rock and deep blues. This selection of songs is sure to get you off your barstool dancing and trying to do the Crawfish Walk. Jeff’s lyrics, always witty and often thought provoking, are well worth checking out. Recorded at Raven’s Black Wing Studios, the 11 tracks on “High Livin’ Blues” include 5 band originals and covers of Jimmy Reed, Little Charlie and the Nightcats and Omar and the Howler’s. The makeup of the band is Jeff on vocals, harp jiving and wailing, Billy Lovy- Axe, Patty Mey-thumping bass, Bradley Turner-sticks kit, Steve Flynn-honky tonking and tinkling, John Savage-low bottom honking and Raven Humphres- mid range honking. To top it all off we are treated once again to the fantastic original artwork by our own award winning (and nationally recognized) artist Phil Chesnut. Catch a show by one of our regions most entertaining bands, boogie ‘til you drop and grab a copy of this new CD. - Malcolm Kennedy

Michael Powers: Prodigal Son – Baryon Records
Backed by Jimmy Vivino on guitar and Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelly on drums, singer/guitarist Michael Powers presents an interesting mix of contemporary and traditional blues, on the follow-up to “Onyx Root,” his 2004 solo album debut. Powers’ gravelly voice is soulful and hypnotic as he brings passion to such simple, catchy phrases as “nobody cares for me” in the song “Signed D.C.” Half of the songs on “Prodigal Son” are originals, while the other half are covers of such tunes as Bob Dylan’s “Every Grain of Sand,” Sonny Boy Williamson’s “It’s a Bloody Life” and Reverend Blind Gary Davis’ “You Got To Go Down.” The memorable, opening track, “Going Down,” is a rocking blues tune that showcases some of Powers’ Jimi Hendrix-inspired guitar riffs, while the also notable instrumental number “Compassion,” features a mellow folk-blues duet with Vivino. - Jessica Davis

2006 Reviews

John Lee Hooker Jr.: Cold As Ice - Telarc (see tour dates in Headlines on pg. 1-3.) On the follow-up to Blues with a Vengeance, nominated for a Grammy in 2004 for "Best Traditional Blues Album," John Lee Hooker Jr. diverts to a more contemporary sound. He shows his originality with a cornucopia of not only the blues, but also some contemporary R&B, funk and soul. With a smooth, laid back delivery, he sings about women who have done him wrong, from infidelity in "You Blew It Baby" to a shotgun wedding in "Trapped." He also pays tribute to his late father, a delta blues legend, with the reggae-influenced song "Do Daddy (Requiem for John Lee Hooker)" and "I'm In the Mood," a contemporary cover of one of his father's tunes. Notably, Hooker, Jr. honors his father, while maintaining his own style and originality. - Jessica Davis

Mark Hummel: Ain't Easy No More - Electro-Fi in't Easy No More refers to New Orleans, the Big Easy, not being dealt with properly and still being a 'shame and a pity'. Mark has never been afraid of putting a message in a song, no matter how subtle. His songwriting skills rival some of the best in the blues today, take a listen to "I Didn't Need Another Heartache" or the title track for a couple of great examples. His releases just get better and better and even if harp music isn't your first choice, this is simply great music first and foremost. More satisfying songs, production, and the rhythms from the band totally in the groove, his band is never lackin'. Between releasing new CD's on a very regular basis, touring with his Harp Blowout buddies and keeping well dressed, Mark Hummel is one of the hardest working blues artists out there today. His expert recordings reflect years of playing with the best and his depth of knowledge on the harp shows on "Creeper Returns," and "Harpoventilating" or "She's Got It," or "Stop Now Baby". This is a very satisfying 13 tracks, just enough to make you want more, and isn't that the point? Hummel's Harp Blowout! tours also include the finest of his harp blowin' buddies like James Harman, Lee Oskar, Johnny Dyer, Billy Boy Arnold and others

Paul Oscher : Down In The Delta-Blues Fidelity
This well named album takes you straight to the delta, sitting on the porch of a shotgun shack. The liner notes state that it was recorded live with no overdubs. Paul plays guitar and a neck racked harmonica at the same time on 9 of the 14 tracks. On the other five tracks he has Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, Levon Helm, Richard Innes on drums and Calvin Jones, Mudcat Ward, Ronnie James on bass. There are four originals interspersed with tunes by WC Handy, Robert Johnson, Leroy Carr, John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson, Robert Lockwood Jr. and others. I really enjoy this disc and highly recommend it. - Malcolm Clark

Magic Slim & the Teardrops: - Blind Pig
Chicago bluesman Magic Slim again demonstrates his mastery of old-school blues with his new album, simply titled, Magic Slim & the Teardrops. With this his seventh album on the venerable Blind Pig label, Slim and the Teardrops have compiled another collection of hard driving, gritty blues that was created on Chicago's south side so many years ago. Recorded live at the Sierra Nevada Brewery, in Chico, California, the album's essence reaffirms that Slim and the Teardrops are truly the last great roadhouse blues band. Long known for his dynamic vocals and explosive guitar, Magic Slim is also an ardent songwriter, penning nine of the eleven tunes on this album. All of this CD's songs are true blues, in the purest form. On the opening track, titled, I'm A Bluesman, Slim explains his life's purpose "I play the blues, right from my heart." The CD's only instrumental explores a different side of Slim's work on guitar with the country flavored, Black Tornado. Other gems on this release include the MS classic slow blues of Please Don't Dog Me, the quick shuffle of Mind Your Own Business and the Muddy Waters classic, Still A Fool. As a fan and friend of Magic slim for over 25 years, I have never seen his band do the same set twice, while always giving the audience a wide variety of danceable tempos. With his commanding stage presence and the authority he brings to his music, Slim's live shows are an experience in classic Chicago blues, which transfers very well to this newest recording. Hopefully, Magic Slim & the Teardrops will give Seattle blues fans a dose of his hard edged, roadhouse blues, when they tour the West Coast in December. Check future Blues To Do listings for possible dates. - Phil Chesnut

Willie “Big Eyes” Smith: Way Back - Delmark
Long known as the drummer with the legendary, Muddy Waters Band, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith was an accomplished harmonica player long before he held down the shuffles for Muddy. This fine blues collection, on the Hightone label, is aptly titled Way Back, going way back to Willie’s musical genesis. Helping Smith out on this album are several former MW bandmates including, Pinetop Perkins, James Cotton, Bob Margolin, Calvin “Fuzz” Jones and Bob Stroger, who all add their own feel to this great blues CD. However, the main focus of this album are the outstanding vocals and harp of Smith, who also wrote 6 of the 11 cuts this album. With this superb cast of talent, Way Back oozes that classic Chess blues in it’s truest form. Notable selections include Little Walter’s Tell Me Mama, Cotton’s own awesome harp on I Don’t Trust You Man and Pinetop’s tasty piano fills on Sonny Boy II’s Don’t Start Me Talkin’. Way Back is a great example of Chicago blues, performed by some of the best. An essential CD for any blues fan’s audio library. - Phil Chesnut

Jimmy Thackery & The Cate Bros.: In The Natural State - Rykodisc
Guitar monster, Jimmy Thackery has been delivering his own version of the blues for over 40 years. Known for his scorching, electric blues with the great 70s-80s road house band, the Nighthawks, Thackery's sound is as powerful as ever. With his new CD, In The Natural State, his first on the Rykodisc label, Thackery teams up with roots rockers, the Cate Brothers for a solid study of down home, rockin' blues. Recorded in their home state of Arkansas, (known as the Natural State) the 10 tracks show a wide variety of natural, roots based music. The CD offers some strong covers, including, Junior Wells' Hoodoo Man Blues, Howlin' Wolf's Howlin' For My Baby, the Spencer Davis Group's Gimme Some Lovin' and Sam & Dave's Ain't That A Lot Of Love. My choice tune of this collection is I Got Me A Rich Man's Woman, slow blues, with some killer slide. Although the album is pure blues, Thackery and the Cates (Ernie on piano-Earl on guitar) flavor it all with tastes of soul, R&B and even a little country. Thackery's 5 original tunes show even more diversity and are the true guts of this album. My pics, among these are his rockin', Out Of Mississippi which opens the set, followed by the dark, soulful Levee Prayer, an homage to post Katrina, New Orleans and the funky, Snatch It Back & Hold It. These sons of Arkansas certainly carry on the tradition of great blues that has always been a part of this Natural State. An essential album for blues, rock, R&B and soul fans...and especially, electric blues guitar fans. - Phil Chesnut

The Wood Brothers: Ways Not To Lose - Blue Note
This record didn't jump off the table and demand to be played like some, more like a sneaky, subtle but completely controlling grip on the back of this cat's neck. Soon after being gripped by the force of the Wood Brothers', Oliver on guitars, and Chris on bass with a little percussion from Kenny Wollesen, I couldn't even function without this CD in my possession at all times. More than one of their songs got stuck in my head until I just had to share it with others, and I mean complete strangers, to the point that I brought it up when I gave blood, when I stood in line at the bank, the grocery and the post office, even at dinner with Dad. When I thought I left it at a friend's house, I nearly went and spent borrowed money for another copy. What's happening to me?! I started humming "Chocolate On My Tongue" then "Atlas", "Tried and Tempted", "One More Day" "The Truth Is The Light" "Spirit". I cound't stop. A completey satisfying project if you can play it again and again and again. Deep lyrics, delicate phrasing, skillful playing, minimal production, nothing to get in the way of hearing the quiet moments in between the notes where their creativity lives and breathes. Produced by John Medeski. In the top ten of '06 for sure. - Marlee Walker

Zora Young: Tore Up From The Floor Up - Delmark
Very talented Chicago blues belter, sometimes seen with guitarist Wes Mackey, and sometimes Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne. Delmark Records found the next Koko Taylor and she just keeps getting better with each new release. This recording features a wide variety of music including bar room shuffles, r&b horn arrangements, boogie woogie piano, and probably her biggest strength is a strong ballad such as "Go Ahead And Take Him", and "Toxic" which is one of her own, as well as "Slowly", "'Til The Fat Lady Sings" plus the title track and an interview track at the end. She can shout and be tough, and then give you her soft side on a ballad, and that tells you she's been in both places--for real. Life is well represented in the music of Zora Young. - Marlee Walker

Bernard Allison: Energized: Live In Europe - Ruf (appearing exclusively at the Mt. Baker Blues Festival)

I’ve been following the career of Bernard since I first saw him perform in Detroit as a special guest with his father, the late Luther Allison in the late 1980’s. Since then Bernard has a followed his own musical path, while steeped in the blues, he also draws influences from a number of musical resources including rock, jazz, gospel, and reggae on his 12 cd discography. After being exposed to a wide audience in the States in the last few months as the band leader of actor Steven Segal’s blues band he should have a deservedly larger fan base in the US to join his loyal following in Europe, where he has been based since joining his father’s band in the early 90’s. This latest Ruf records release, Energized, which is also available in video form on DVD showcases Bernard and his band’s rock edge in their music. Highlites include Luther Allison’s “Bad Love”, Snake Bit Again, and Too Many Women which features a great bass solo by Jason Wilber. My favorite track, The Walk, is an instrumental that showcases Bernard’s outstanding slide guitar playing. If you’ve never seen Bernard before I would opt for the DVD, as many of the tunes last in the 10 minute range with extended solos that don’t convey as well in the cd format.
- Chris Morda

Deceiving Blues- Johnson, Miller, and Dermody
Lyin’, cheatin’, and sneakin’: the blues is rank with falsehoods and double-dealing. But there’s no deception on this disc. What you hear is the genuine article, direct from three titans of Northwest acoustic blues: Orville Johnson, John Miller, and Grant Dermody. Johnson is well-known for his innovative slide guitar and dobro playing and unbridled singing. Miller is renowned for his clean, complex fingerpicking in a variety of genres and styles, and for his guitar teaching credentials and many instructional tapes and DVDs. Harmonica player Dermody is less well known, but based on the evidence here and on his debut solo album last year, “Crossing That River,” he should be internationally famous. He has technique and tone to spare, and an easy intimacy with the subtleties of blues music that’ll make you think he started blowing harp about when he learned to walk.

The three bluesmen first played together a few years ago when they were on staff at the Centrum/Port Townsend Blues Workshops and enjoyed it so much that they kept getting together on occasion, though they maintain separate careers. Their first CD together is a romp through twelve acoustic blues classics by Memphis Slim, Charlie Patton, John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson, Leadbelly, Tampa Red, Blind Willie Johnson, Son House, Gary Davis, and others. Like all classics, these tunes are full of the kind of mysterious yet somehow vaguely familiar lyrics and melodies that sound like they were not so much crafted as unearthed in a musty oak trunk of unknown provenance. They sound centuries old—ideal for the grand, old-time whoopin’, wailin’, moanin’, and hollerin’ that Johnson, Miller, and Dermody specialize in. Their arrangements, playing, and singing are superb throughout.

Prime cuts are the old warhorse “Stewball,” with Johnson and Miller’s wildly syncopated mandolin and guitar, Miller’s slap-your-knees funny vocal, and Dermody’s luscious harp solo. “Some of These Days,” associated with Charlie Patton (but based on a pop tune first recorded by Sophie Tucker in 1911), with Dermody’s slick harp and vocal and Johnson’s tasty mandolin. The sly, jazzy title tune, driven by Johnson’s dynamite dobro. (No wonder they call him a King of Mongrel Folk!) Johnson’s clever vocal on “Polly Put the Kettle On,” accompanied by Dermody’s tight, rhythmic harp. A propulsive version of Blind Willie Johnson’s famous “Soul of a Man” that’s pushed into hyperdrive by combined guitar, mando, and harp. Miller’s string-snapping guitar work on “Depot Blues.” Johnson’s moving vocal and Dermody’s beautiful harp on Gary Davis’s “I Will Do My Last Singing in This World Somewhere.”
In fact, all these songs are keepers. No lie—this is a great acoustic blues CD!

Sugarcane Collins: Way Down The River - self
This CD comes from way down in the Deep South: the Southern Hemisphere. Andy “Sugarcane” Collins hails from the city of Cairns on Australia’s Cape York Peninsula, where sugarcane is the big export crop. He’s made a living for the last quarter century playing blues and country-western in the wild frontier bars along Australia’s Barbary Coast, where shootings and shankings are common as crocs and cane liquor, and oblivion drinking is a venerated spectator sport. Sugarcane knows his blues history, and this CD proves it. It also proves that you don’t have to be an American bluesmaster to master American blues. Australians such as Sugarcane have an amazing affinity for American rural music, no doubt because so many of them come from the same line of free-thinkers, political refugees, and prison riff-raff as most Americans. Like the poor boys and girls who invented blues and country-western in the American South, our English-speaking cousins in the Southern Hemisphere have a special fondness for tunes about troublemakers, ranchers, roustabouts, chain gangs, jail breakouts, and good men and women feeling bad. Let’s face it. At heart, Aussies are really just good ol’ Southern boys and girls whose ancestors got clapped into irons and then instead of getting shipped out to Savannah or Mobile got dumped on the beach in Sydney or Melbourne, where they spent the next couple of centuries melding Anglo-Saxon music with local aboriginal sounds. The diversity of styles on this CD is very impressive—everything from prison ballads (“One Wing Frank”), gutbucket slide-guitar-and-harp moans (“I’ve Heard the News”) and 12-string odes (“Leadbelly”) to fast Piedmont finger-picking (“All the Way to St. Louis”), organ-based dance music (“Follow Me Boy”), and spirituals (“Shine the Light”). There’s even for bluegrass: “Dancing Rabbit Creek,” a countrified instrumental on which a burping Jew’s harp (a “Mississippi Delta didgeridoo”), clacking sticks, and furious rhythm guitar memorialize the 1830 treaty that forcibly removed the Choctaw Indian nation from Mississippi to Oklahoma. Throughout, Sugarcane’s guitar-playing and vocals are stellar, and so authentic that you’d think he grew up picking cotton by day and belly-fiddle by night in, say, Tutwiler, Mississippi. His harp player, Andy Vogel, is first-rate, and the other ten players on the CD are also excellent. This ain’t no garage or spare-bedroom throw-down; every tune is flawlessly produced. “So much beauty came from a hostile, brutal land,” Sugarcane sings about the American South in the title tune. He may as well be giving a shout-out to his brawling young homeland—and this fine and varied album from the far South side of the world. He appears on Saturday, August 5 in the Blues-in-the-Clubs portion of the Centrum/Port Townsend Country Blues Festival and at The Rock Cut Blues Festival in Orient, WA. ~ Review by Mark Hoffman

Teri Derr: Don’t Lose Heart - Smellin’ Good Music
This powerhouse vocalist moves beyond the demo with this debut CD featuring all her own material, and her longtime band mates who always make her sound good, Ted Belusci and Beth Wulff, along with some of Seattle’s finest musical talent who play the blues including Chris Leighton, John Goforth, Hank Yanda, Tom Erak, Scotty Harris and Jay Mabin. If a good vocal brings you back, this woman’s voice has what it takes and this recording get’s it. She wrote ‘em so she means it and it’s strong, straightforward, simple and yet well done. This recording is inspiring, so don’t be shy, get it and we’ll both come back for more. - Marlee Walker

Janiva Magness: Do I Move You? - Northern Blues Music
Her appearance at this year’s Winthrop Festival and other regional dates, is highly anticipated. If you had seen her live you’d know why she’s the winner of this year’s highly competitive Contemporary Female Blues Artist of the Year Award at the Blues Music Awards in Memphis. This is her first year being nominated on the national level and the catagory was tightly packed with previous winners and solid nominees. This latest recording does even more to secure her place in the blues world including more fresh originals, often written by bandmate, Jeff Turmes, and totally awesome takes on tunes such as the title, written by Nina Simone, and the often overlooked hook from Willie Dixon, Workin’ On Me Baby. She get’s down into that really sad mode on a couple of slower one’s like Delbert McClinton’s, You Were Never Mine and then turns up the heat on Denise LaSalle’s, A Man Size Job. Note: Janiva chose to co-produce with Canadian, Colin Linden, who has his mojo workin’ for the musical beauty of a handful of blues women--look out! Another VERY satisfying record from Magness, AND her label, AND Linden, on high rotation in our offices--see tour dates in calendar and in headlines and in ads--everywhere! - Marlee Walker

Charlie Musselwhite : Delta Hardware
This year's album project by blues legend Charlie Musselwhite takes listeners on an astounding musical journey that delves deep into the roots of Delta Blues in a way that is traditional yet new and fresh. On his new CD, Delta Hardware, on the Real World label, Mississippi born Musselwhite takes us back to his roots with this raw, pure interpretation of the blues. Like his last album, the critically acclaimed Sanctuary, this blues master again shows many skills, not only as a musician but as a visionary, creating another great collection of 21st century blues. With 18 Handy Awards already to Charlie's credit, I see that total growing with this current gem of electric blues.

Recorded with his touring band, Chris "Kid" Anderson on guitar, Randy Bermudes on bass and drummer June Core, the band compliments Musselwhite's vocals and harp with layered precision. Although most of the album is recorded in the studio, the cut Clarksdale Boogie was recorded live at the longtime Clarksdale juke joint, Red's. The recording quality is quite clean without being over mixed. On most of the CD's selections the rhythm section sets a smoldering, trance like feel, similar to the shadowy mood on Sanctuary.

Like many of his recent songs, the album's first cut, Church Is Out, is autobiographical. Although this first taste is a bit of rock, the rest of the cuts have a definite blues flavor. The 2nd selection is the high spirited One Of These Mornings which is dominated by Anderson's powerful slide guitar, the perfect counter to Charlie's harp. The next tune, Sundown, a shuffle that again features the partnership of the "Kid's" slide along with Charlie's blistering harmonica. The 4th cut, titled Blackwater, demonstrates Musselwhite's mastery of the harmonica, with such deep, emotion drenched tone and phrasing that is truly remarkable. This same feel continues on the next tune, a great version of Little Walter's Just A Feeling. The 7th cut, Gone Too Long, picks up the pace in a spirited number that presents yet another version of Charlie's diatonic artistry. The percussion driven Invisible Ones, explores yet another blues direction, punctuated again by an imposing harmonica. The rare treat of this CD is Town To Town, where Charlie puts down the harp and reminds fans that he is also an amazing artist on slide guitar. The album's final selection, Blues For Yesterday, is aptly titled. Reminiscent of Musselwhite's vocal dynamics of earlier years and again featuring the brilliant chemistry of the young man's guitar and the old master's harmonica.

It's important to note that few practitioners of the blues can radiate the raw emotion of this music like Charlie Musselwhite can. Although it's Musselwhite's haunting, anguished vocals that set the spirit for this current collection of modern blues, it is always his brilliant harmonica that is the focal point. Playing not only the traditional cross harp style, he sets the bar even higher by playing straight harp and some very interesting 3rd position harp in a minor key. With Delta Hardware, Charlie Musselwhite has again crossed boundaries that few would dare to attempt, by bravely re-shaping this artform yet keeping it so very real. Like other Mississippi bluesmen, RL Burnside and Junior Kimbrough, who dared to take the blues to a new level, Charlie Musselwhite has again demonstrated what is possible and what is real.

Mitch Woods: Big Easy Boogie - Club 88 CD/DVD
Mitch Woods is a real treat for fans of truely talented boogie woogie blues piano. He brings together some of the ‘unsung inner circle of rock ‘n’ roll royalty’ including members of Fats Domino’s Band including Earl Palmer and Herb Hardesty, plus Dave Bartholomew, plus his own playing is clean perfect for the dance floor. Life is too short, live a little! Mitch Woods performs at The Ritzville Blues Festival, July 8th--see more in calendar and on this DVD!

The CD party is also his birthday at The Triple Door 5/15, with loads of talent including Lee Oskar, Alice Stuart, Geoffrey Castle, Sue Orfield and more of his great band, Meantown Blues. This release reworks a couple of his live hits and adds some tasty new tracks, bringing his overall recorded music to a new level. - MW

Blues Alliance: Two Things For Sure - Self

There are eleven tracks on this disc. Five of them are Doug Skoog originals, with musical arragements by Laurie Johnson and the rhythm section of Bill Barner and Doug Fulcher. With 2005 BB Award nominations for Best Band, Best Piano/Keys and Best Female Vocalist you would have high expectations from this disc and they deliver. I find it more of a rock album with some blues tunes, but that’s not a bad thing. The song selection is mainly the heartache/heartbreak theme with lots of piano/keys plenty of stinging guitar solos and great soulful vocals. From the tinkling piano on track five to lead vocalist Laurie Johnson belting out the powerful & sassy vocals on track seven . I hear great harmonies on tracks 9 & 11 and they truly shine. I think I would enjoy their version of “Little Wing” better without the vocals as it makes such a great instrumental, but it may be because that’s what I’m used to hearing and Stevie did it so well. My favorite cut is track 4, the title cut, which is more up-tempo and funky. Overall, I find it a thoroughly enjoyable album. - Malcolm Kennedy

Blues Orbiters: Falling Leaves - Flat Tire Records

The long awaited follow up disc to “Blast Off” was well worth the wait. There are 12 selections including two originals. The disc starts out with an enjoyable original called “Open Road”. It’s a shuffle with their trademark escellent sax and smooth vocals. Some of the covers you will recognize by name as they were made popular by the likes of Freddie King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, B.B. King, and Sonny Boy II. Some are a little more obscure, but they are all done with a satisfying touch that makes them their own. The other original, the title track, is one of those tunes that the first time you hear it, it feels so comfortable you feel like you have been listening to it for years. My favorite cut on this disc is the final cut “Let Me In” is written by Jimmy Vaughan and it just plain rips. To describe this band the word that comes to mind is solid. With one of the finest drummers in the business in Conrad Ormsby and Roger Smith who has been the Orbiters bass player from the start six years ago the rhythm section is tight. The guitar work is always just what it needs to be. It is not flashy, just solid, although Brian and DAN are both capable of tering it up on the disc they keep it subtle. There is some really fine slide work by Mr. Lee. Ron Baker, is one of the finest horn players I have ever heard and he does a tasteful job on this disc. If you have not heard this band like I highly recommend putting their next date on your must see calendar, and as for this disc, it definitely belongs on your must buy list. It is a really fun album. - Malcolm Kennedy

Joe Bonamassa- A New Day Yesterday

Take some Stevie Ray, add a touch of AC/DC, throw in some Van Halen style guitar solos and you've got Joe Bonamassa and co's. A New Day Yesterday Live. This live album, recorded in December of 2001 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, is full of insane guitar licks that will have you screaming for more. Joe Bonamassa gives a whole new meaning to the term "guitar rock," and will have you scratching your head wondering how he can get such great vibes out of six strings and five fingers. He plays so fast I swear his hands are on fire by the end of the set. Just listen to the title track and you'll be thinking the same. In two words, this album is simply amazing. A New Day Yesterday Live is pure rock 'n roll, but let's not forget it either. Throwing down some licks that would make SRV proud on tracks like "Walk In My Shadows," "Trouble Waiting" and the crowd pleaser "If Heartaches Werre Nickels." Joe Bonamassa uses this album to pay homage to the greats who created what we think of today as rock. Blues hounds and young rockers alike will dig this album, so if you're either, neither, or both then pick up this album, it's worth it. - Soren Dahlgren

Vivian Campbell: Two Sides Of If - Sanctuary
Chicago Blues Reunion-Buried Alive In The Blues - Out The Box

This band is made up primarily from the white musicians who learned at the feet of the masters in Chicago in the early 60s. Their paths crossed many times in such bands as The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Electric Flag, Canned Heat, Mother Earth, Big Brother & The Holding Company. Sometimes two or three were in the same band at the same time but between the Chicago and San Francisco blues scenes during the 60s the bands they were in frequently shared the same bill. This CD has some blues, some rock ‘n roll as was the case back when the line where one stopped and the other started was often blurred as were a lot of things. You got it all from shuffles to Honky Tonk, vocals with a gospel tone to Hendrix style stinging guitar riffs. It is good to hear that they still have their chops. Most of the blues giants that they played with in their younger years are now gone, but now they are the blues elders with the stories to tell. The Cd comes with a DVD of concert footage and interviews. - Malcolm Kennedy

Leroy Carr: Whiskey Is My Habit, Good Women Is All I Crave: The Best Of Leroy Carr - Sony/Legacy

When Muddy Waters picked his top ten blues songs of all time shortly before he died, he included two by singer and pianist Leroy Leroy Carr: “How Long, How Long Blues” and “Prison Bound Blues.” Carr’s name pops up less often now than Charlie Patton’s, Blind Lemon Jefferson’s, Skip James’s, and other classic blues singers, but during his heyday from 1928 to 1935, Carr was better known than any of them. His duets with guitarist Scrapper Blackwell were among the most popular blues records of the early 1930s, favored by Robert Johnson, Howlin’ Wolf, and many other bluesmen. Ironically, what Carr’s first fans loved about him—his pop feel, his smooth, crooning voice, and his clear diction—made him anathema in the 1960s blues revival to young fans who idealized the blues as tragic myth instead of artful entertainment. You’d think Carr would have a prominent spot in the tragic blues pantheon; he drank himself to death at the tender age of 30. But he didn’t have the ferocity of Howlin’ Wolf, the romantic intensity of Muddy Waters, the over-the-top showmanship of Charlie Patton, or the metaphysical agony of Son House and Robert Johnson, so to ’60s kids, he wasn’t a “real” bluesman—whatever that is.

This two-disc set does a great job of restoring Carr’s lost luster. It contains all of his many hits, plus some rare tracks that have not been easy to find on CD before, all remastered for dramatically better sound. Don’t expect downbeat tunes and you’ll discover a smooth singer somewhere between Nat King Cole and Sonny Boy Williamson #2—someone who wins the listener over by lyrical skill and musical savvy instead of a dark night of the soul revealed in the grooves. The sound here is great; Carr was so popular that unlike most bluesmen of his time, he recorded for big labels that used the best recording equipment and record-pressing material. (The recent Charlie Patton box sets show just how flat and rasping records by great artists pressed by cheap labels can sound, even cleaned up—enough to make me throw a hissy fit.) For blues lovers, this is the Leroy Carr compilation to get. A good companion book is Elijah Wald’s Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues, which discusses the lasting influence of Carr and other overlooked blues artists.

John Hammond: In Your Arms Again - Back Porch/Virgin
Persistence in following your own voice is a kind of genius. When John Hammond was 20 years old, he sounded like a callow youth trying to sound like a grizzled old bluesman. Now that he’s over 60, he actually sounds like that grizzled old bluesman. Hammond is a quirky live performer, but on record, he’s consistently interesting. Like the old bluesmen he admires, he has an instantly recognizable sound. Like his buddy Tom Waits, he doesn’t cater much to transitory tastes, and he leaves in the rough edges that pop musicians grind away. This CD is another satisfying demonstration of what he’s mastered in more than 40 years of doing blues his way. Singing and playing guitar and harp, backed by bass player Marty Ballou and drummer Stephen Hodges, Hammond ranges over material associated with Ray Charles, Howlin’ Wolf, Jimmy Reed, Percy Mayfield, John Lee Hooker, and Bob Dylan, along with two of his own songs. His dramatically slowed-down take on Wolf’s Evil (written by Willie Dixon) is downright scary, full of crackling stop-time drums, rumbling bass, and Wolfian vocal asides. His version of Wolf’s I’m Leaving You is a whooping, hollering delight, and Mayfield’s My Baby’s Gone and Reed’s You Got Me Crying are funky yet magisterial. The standout is his own Come to Find Out, a mysterious, slow tune with the pearls-of-wisdom inevitability that makes it sound like it came from one of the blues masters. Which it did. - Mark Hoffman

Mitch Kashmar, featuring Jr. Watson: Nickles & Dimes - 2005 Delta Groove

These guys at Delta Groove have really got something going on. Excellent production value, outstanding artists, choice tune selection, this is the real deal old school yet at the same time it feels fresh and new. There is excellent harp playing starting with the first track. The title track reminds me of the Charles White Band, with the addition of an ace harp player. This is upbeat boogie music that gets the toes a tappin’. The musicians know their stuff and lay down solid backing. Track five sounds as if it could have come out in the 40’s or 50’s and track six sounds more contemporary and on track seven you are right back in the 50’s listening maybe to a Muddy Waters tune. Great stuff!!! I also recommend the other Delta Groove releases by The Mannish Boys, The Hollywood Blueflames, Kirk Fletcher. You will be happy with any of these selectios. - Malcolm Kennedy

David Jacobs Strain: Ocean Or A Teardrop - Northern Blues

Unlike other twenty-something blues artists – Jonny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepherd – David Jacobs Strain hasn’t deviated too far from the genre. Strain plays in the traditional style comparable to Skip James, Lightin’ Hopkins and Robert Johnson, updating just enough to be contemporary to appeal to the novice listener. Following his acclaimed debut on Northern Blues, Stuck on the Way Back, David Jacobs Strain proceeds with another inspiring release, Ocean or a Teardrop. Like his first record, Strain focuses mainly on an acoustic mood showcasing his impeccable slide work. The baby-faced singer/songwriter is wise beyond his years as he pens songs with the maturity of an old and tattered bluesman. The versatile Strain tackles music outside of blues. ‘Sleepless Dream’ is closer to Chapman-esque folk whereas ‘Ocean or a Teardrop’ takes on a slight country ambience - akin to an Otis Taylor composition - with a pining fiddle and weeping harmonica. At times you forget he is a white kid from the Northwest as his deep and soulful voice rivals his influences. As he did on his debut, David pays homage to some of his heroes by updating Fred McDowell’s ‘Kokomo Blues’, Sleepy John Estes’ ‘Girl I Love’ and Blind Willie Johnson’s ‘Soul Of A Man’. While this sophomore release isn’t as drenched in the blues as his debut, David Jacobs Strain hasn’t lost his focus and Ocean or a Teardrop is a more than worthy successor. -Tony Engelhart

James Blood Ulmer: Birthright - Hyena

“Birthright” is definately worth the effort to listen 2x for a proper unpacking. Studio technology, overdubs, underdubs, tweeks & twists, are not apparent unless desired. Ulmer is offering a live acoustic session to take home...it is full of surprises (his third in four years). With a jazz guitarist/vocalist backround he, like many others, is equipped to strip bare “them fancy chords” [John L. Hooker] and serve up a hauntingly, stark, seemingly, simple yet phychologically & philisophic dense blues. What I like: Ulmer’s gutteral delivery. SOMETHING from a late night joint you couldn”t find...Ulmer has reached beyond a vocal remedy to sing/channel [sic] the familiar into oracles from inside familiar words.”White Man’s Jail”, “So. Carolina Snake” & W. Dixon’s “I Ain’t Superstitious” is haunting, somewhere behind the enormous shadow of Howlin’ Wolf. The guitar is...definately with it’s own voice. Ulmer doesn’t force the string’s muse. Both seem equally possessed thru the 12 cuts. A gutteral announcing of old demons/superstitions - the Devil vs. God: “Devils Got To Go”, “Take My Music Back To The Church”, “Geechee Joe”, “Sittin’ On Top Of The World”, “The Devils Got To Burn”, “The Evil One”. It is pretty close to hearing these old songs for the first time. Song selection, interpretation, very sparce delivery and minimalist presentation are all top rate. Also The Electric Lady Land Sessions & Sun Sessions are Ulmer recent issues more than worth room on the ‘want list’. Collectively they are rare birds. No clones, distinctively different, dandy good stereotype breakers. Distinct covers on each disc. Certainly distinctly different. Tune in for a sample on Clancy’s Bar & Grill, Thur. 8-10pm, KSER-FM 90.7. Enjoy yourself -Clancy Dunigan

Johnny Winter: Johnny Winter - Sony/Legacy
When Johnny Winter’s debut hit the shelves in 1969 it was a breath of fresh air. Unlike his British contemporaries – Led Zeppelin, Cream, and even Jimi Hendrix – who distorted the blues into what later became heavy metal, Winter played a traditional and unadulterated style. While the album was overlooked at the time, Johnny was embraced by veteran blues artists. After the release of the record, Johnny Winter went on to resurrect Muddy Waters’ career in the late 70’s by producing and playing on three monumental recordings – Hard Again, I’m Ready, and King Bee.

The re-release of Johnny Winters’ self titled debut has been digitally remastered from the original tapes. The Texas native mixed traditional standards such as ‘Good Morning Little School Girl’ and ‘I’ll Drown In My Own Tears’ with a group of rockin’ originals. Two legendary bluesmen– Willie Dixon on upright bass and Walter ‘Shakey’ Horton on harp – join the youngster for a rousing rendition of ‘Mean Mistreater’. Johnny grew up listening to Robert Johnson so it should come as no surprise he included a couple of acoustic Dobro numbers, ‘Dallas’ and ‘When You Got A Good Friend’. As an extra bonus, the 2004 version contains three additional tracks, ‘Country Girl’, a band rendition of ‘Dallas’ and the John Riley Brown standard ‘Two Steps From The Blues’ done in the classic Bobby ‘Blue’ Bland style. While Johnny Winter was only 25 years old when this album was first issued, his soulful vocals and masterful guitar work placed him in a category of his own and proved once and for all that even ‘very’ white men can get the blues. - Tony Engelhart