Even those of us seemingly afflicted by “Born Under a Bad Sign” syndrome (you know, where “if it wasn’t bad luck, [we] wouldn’t have no luck at all”) can experience a small stroke of good fortune every once in a while, such as our needing to be in Phoenix a few weekends back for a work meeting and discovering that guitarist John Primer and harmonica player Bob Corritore — who we would later learn first met one another back in the 1970s when Corritore went to see a Primer-supported Junior Wells play — happened to be performing at Corritore’s local blues club The Rhythm Room in conjunction with the pair’s sophomore album Ain’t Nothing You Can Do!, about which we told you recently.
Having previously seen these two play together (along with a stageful of other greats including Bob Margolin, Bob Stroger, and the late pianist David Maxwell) during a Muddy Waters tribute show at 2014’s Project Blues fundraiser, and enthusiastically now reviewed both of their joint albums, we knew this was a show for which it would be well worth flagging a ride to the club. And we weren’t the only ones, with The Rhythm Room as lively and packed as we’ve seen it in our multiple visits. While the crowd on the dance floor didn’t allow us to get as many pictures of the band as we might have liked, we were able to snap a few decent shots throughout the evening, and the music, of course, was delightful, with Primer and Corritore hitting on not only a few numbers (“Elevate Me Mama”, “Hold Me in Your Arms”, “Gambling Blues”, and “Ain’t Nothing You Can Do”) from the latest album, but a slew of other blues standards from such masters as Primer’s one-time bandleaders Muddy Waters and Magic Slim, as well as Sonny Boy Williamson, Freddie King, B.B. King, and others, including tracks like “Young Fashioned Ways”, “You Don’t Have to Go”, a “Close to You” on which Primer stepped from the stage to get close to the audience, “Every Day I Have the Blues”, “Help Me, Baby (I Can’t Do It All By Myself)”, “I Wonder Why (My Baby Don’t Treat Me Right)”, a slow, R&Bish “Help Me Through the Day”, “Love Strikes Like Lightning”, and “Bad Luck (Falling Down Like Rain)”.
While the resulting recording does see the multi-generational pair (who’ve since adopted the nickname of TajMo for their collaborative work) revisiting one of those songs — a slow, acoustic “Diving Duck Blues” (Sleepy John Estes) that’s so stripped down with just the duo’s guitars and vocals that you can sometimes hear Mahal breathing — as well as a few other bluesy tracks in the pleading opening original “Don’t Leave Me Here” and the bouncy country blues of “She Knows How to Rock Me” (Piano Red) that follows, TajMo (Concord Records) also offers up a number of very pleasant surprises. That includes terrific covers of both The Who’s “Squeeze Box” and John Mayer’s “Waiting on the World to Change”, along with the catchy, memorable originals “All Around the World” and “Soul”.
It was here that guitarist Monster Mike Welch (Sugar Ray and the Bluetones) and vocalist and Lead Belly descendant Mike Ledbetter (Nick Moss Band) delivered their first soulful performance together in the form of Rush’s “Right Place, Wrong Time”, and for those in attendance or who have since seen the video of that song (which can you watch below), it was clear that there was a rare bit of chemistry here. Although that particular number curiously wasn’t revisited on this resulting collaboration between Welch and Ledbetter, the soundtrack to their initial encounter obviously hasn’t been forgotten, serving as the inspiration for the title of what we hope is just the first of many studio projects between the two, in Right Place, Right Time, another gem from the good folks at Delta Groove Music.
Despite the current political mood, this spring seems to be one of much collaboration in the blues music world, with new joint projects out or on the way from the likes of Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’, Charlie Musselwhite and Ben Harper, Guy Davis and Fabrizio Poggi, and Michael Ledbetter and Monster Mike Welch, to name a few. We’ll have more for you on some of those other projects in the weeks ahead, but thought we’d get things started with a reunion of two bluesmen we last heard 
When it comes to music compilations, phrases like “finest” and “the very best of” tend to leave a good deal of room for debate: no matter how great a collection may be, there are always going to be at least a few other songs some will argue should have been included, especially when you’re talking about a blues legend like John Lee Hooker. Sure enough, many of the songs you’ll hear on Whiskey & Wimmen: John Lee Hooker’s Finest (Vee-Jay Records) can be found on earlier compilations of the bluesman’s work, but we aren’t about to begin comparing its track listing with those already out there, choosing instead to appreciate this one — celebrating the 100-year anniversary of Hooker’s birth near Clarksdale, Mississippi — entirely on its own merits.
The music world lost another true father of the blues this weekend with the passing of Chicago blues guitarist Lonnie Brooks (born Lee Baker, Jr.). We had the pleasure of seeing Lonnie – whose most recognizable songs included the likes of “Don’t Take Advantage of Me”, “Two Headed Man”, “Eyeballin'”, “You Know What My Body Needs”, and “Cold Lonely Nights” along with other gems such as “Trading Post” and “I Want All My Money Back” – and his sons Ronnie and Wayne Baker Brooks at the Heritage Blues Music Fest back in 2012, where we snapped these photos, one of which may look somewhat familiar to you as the image that appears at the top of our website, capturing Brooks and his sons playing each other’s guitars.
By now, we probably don’t need to tell you how terrific the Tedeschi Trucks Band is. If you’ve heard any of the band’s three studio albums, you’re already aware of just how nicely the sounds of this now-dozen member ensemble meld, whether they’re belting out an intriguing original or a creative interpretation on such classics as Joe Cocker’s “Space Captain” or Stevie Wonder’s “Uptight”. And if you’ve heard their first live release 
The blues world lost another legend Thursday with the passing of harmonica great James Cotton. 
The first time we saw Cotton was a 2008 show at Pittsburgh’s Rex Theater; we didn’t take pictures and hadn’t yet founded this blog, so the only memories we have of that show is that it was a terrific one.
