Taj Mahal just keeps doing great music. This master, at 83, continues to show that he, like his namesake building, is a wonder of the world. To say that Taj Mahal has been around for a long time is an understatement. He was raised in Massachusetts in a musical household and gained an appreciation not […]
Corey Harris, Alvin Youngblood Hart & Guy Davis – Fight On! True Blues Vol.2
A niece once pronounced to me that all the great blues musicians are dead. Alvin Youngblood Hart, Guy Davis and Corey Harris show that’s not true, as they are among the best blues masters of my own generation. With Fight On! True Blues Vol. 2, these masters have created an acoustic blues timepiece that is […]
Rick Vito – Slidemaster
If you’re like me, and you love some slide guitar, commsummate musician and sideman Rick Vito has an offering for you. Vito, who was a member of Fleetwood Mac from 1987 until 1991, and who toured or sat in on recordings with the likes of Bonnie Raitt, John Mayall, John Fogerty, Bob Seger (Vito played […]
GA-20 – Orphans
About 12 years ago I caught a Charlie Musselwhite show at Blues Alley, DC’s great jazz club (that occasionally features blues artists lately). Musselwhite of course was great, but the young lead guitarist, Matthew Stubbs, piqued my intrest so much I sought out his early solo albums – Soul Bender and Medford & Main. What […]
Candice Ivory – New Southern Vintage
From the first notes of Candice Ivory’s New Southern Village, it’s obvious she’s no shrinking violet. She’s in your face and unabashed, reminiscent of a young Tina Turner. Ivory, who daylights as a music instructor at Washington University in St. Louis, says she understands that blues is a global music with roots in the American […]
Rory Block – Heavy On The Blues
I lost track when I was trying to count just how many albums Rory Block has released through the years. Suffice it to say the number is around 40, and she’s been a fixture in the blues since her solo debut 50 years ago. Originally from Manhattan, Block has been passionate about the blues since […]
Maria Muldaur – One Hour Mama: The Blues of Victoria Spivey
Sometimes music can act as a time machine, delivering us back to some previous time or place. Maria Muldaur’s latest tribute to Victoria Spivey takes her listeners back to the “Roaring Twenties,” a time when Spivey’s saucy lyrics and jaunty rhythms played a big part of the counter-culture of the day. Born in Houston in […]
D.K. Harrell – Talkin’ Heavy
Young D.K. Harrell is good. Really good. With a polished guitar sound and soulful vocals, his sound is reminiscent of a Harrell’s idol B.B. King or a young Robert Cray. Born D’Kieran Harrell in Ruston, Louisiana, Harrell says he first heard King when he was a toddler and immediately started singing along. He grew up […]
Alexis P. Suter Band – Just Stay High
Alexis P. Suter is a living embodiment of the Blues. She is a powerful voiced force, and her new album, Just Stay High, shows why she is among the leading vocalists on the Blues scene today – an heiress, along with Mavis Staples, Shemekia Copeland, Nora Jean Wallace and a select few others, to the […]
Carolyn Wonderland – Truth Is
As some of you are already aware (based on your selection last week as Reader’s Pick), Carolyn Wonderland can play a wicked steel guitar. And on her newest release, Truth Is, she plays with attitude. Hailing originally from Houston, Wonderland didn’t have it easy. A high school dropout, she moved to Austin to pursue her […]