Category Archives: Albums

Keb’ Mo’, Bettye LaVette, Warren Haynes and others pay tribute to King of the Slide Guitar on Strange Angels: In Flight with Elmore James

Posted on February 16, 2018 by Mike

Recently, we told you about a 100th birthday set celebrating blues singer and guitarist John Lee Hooker. While that extensive collection consisted of Hooker’s own recordings from throughout his career, this centennial tribute to blues slide guitarist extraordinaire Elmore James … Continue reading →

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The Original Blues Brothers Band hits on Last Shade of Blue Before Black with latest recording

Posted on January 19, 2018 by Mike

Although it’s been decades now since the Blues Brothers Band played together in its original and most popular form (with the death of John Belushi, a.k.a. “Joliet Jake” Blues, in 1982), the Blues Brothers legacy has carried on through a … Continue reading →

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Artists from around world rise to challenge on International Blues Challenge #33

Posted on January 3, 2018 by Mike

Blues promotion and preservation member organization The Blues Foundation puts on a couple of big programs in Memphis each year: in May, a Blues Music Awards (BMA) gala celebrates the best of the blues from the past year, including performances … Continue reading →

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Kim Wilson delivers old-school Blues and Boogie on latest solo release

Posted on December 19, 2017 by Mike

Harmonica player and singer Kim Wilson has done a lot of fabulous stuff through the years, not only as a founding member of the long-running Thunderbirds band whose name includes that same adjective and for which he continues to serve … Continue reading →

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John Lee Hooker again proves undisputed King of the Boogie on 5-disc centennial retrospective

Posted on December 1, 2017 by Mike

This spring, we told you about a 16-song collection purporting to contain the finest recordings of guitarist and singer John Lee Hooker, a bold claim considering the multitude of recordings the native Mississippi bluesman made during his lifetime. As solid … Continue reading →

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Former Howlin’ Wolf players Tail Dragger, Henry Gray join star-studded tribute to the Wolf on Howlin’ at Greaseland

Posted on November 1, 2017 by Mike

For longtime bluesmen Henry Gray and Tail Dragger, the late, great Chester Burnett — a.k.a. Howlin’ Wolf — didn’t just serve as an inspiration. For them, he was a band leader and mentor, and the inclusion of these now senior … Continue reading →

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Savoy Brown still wickedly good on Witchy Feelin’

Posted on October 20, 2017 by Mike

Five decades after its beginnings as part of the British blues explosion, Savoy Brown continues to cast a familiar blues-rocking spell on the band’s latest album Witchy Feelin’ (Ruf Records). Now down to a trio made up of founding member … Continue reading →

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Rocking new EP brings Black (Stone Cherry) to Blues

Posted on October 11, 2017 by Mike

It’s been several decades now since the great Muddy Waters was booed by blues purists for introducing an electric guitar to his live blues performance. During that time, plenty of acts have of course tried to take the blues to … Continue reading →

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Mojo Risin’: Time-trippin’ with Bette Smith’s Jetlagger

Posted on October 4, 2017 by Mike

On the opening track of her debut album Jetlagger (Big Legal Mess Records), Brooklyn-born soulstress Bette Smith promises “I Will Feed You” and that’s exactly what she proceeds to do musically, moving from the haunting, Macy Gray-ish sound of that … Continue reading →

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You’ve got to hear it: soulman Chris Pierce’s latest release You’ve Got to Feel It!

Posted on September 28, 2017 by Mike

We don’t know that we’d really heard of Chris Pierce before either, but it turns out that we did enjoy — along with a few million other fans of the show — the song he co-wrote that was prominently featured … Continue reading →

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