Blues News

Harmonica Blues Orgy

davidamorde — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 02:59:01 +0000

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Posted in Harmonica Blues

Chicago Blues Live, Vol. 1

davidamorde — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 01:53:29 +0000

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Posted in Slide Guitar Blues

I Hear You Knockin’! The Excello Singles

davidamorde — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 01:52:19 +0000

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Posted in Harmonica Blues

Chicago’s Young Blues Generation

davidamorde — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:56:31 +0000

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Posted in Modern Blues

Nat King Cole Trio: Instrumental Classics

davidamorde — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:42:15 +0000

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Posted in Jump Blues

Ace in the Hole

davidamorde — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:42:12 +0000

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Posted in Chicago Blues

Blowin’ the Fuses: The Greatest Hits 1959-1965

davidamorde — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:22:47 +0000

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Posted in Electric Blues

Q: The Musical Biography of Quincy Jones

davidamorde — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:09:11 +0000

This stunning four-CD collection is a great companion to Quincy Jones’s excellent autobiography. It’s also a great compilation of his eclectic genius, which has touched everyone from bebopper Clifford Brown to hip-hop rapper Ice-T. The Grammy Award-winning composer-producer has something for everybody here. His jazz sides include his first recorded trumpet solo on “Kingfish” (with the great vibraphonist Lionel Hampton). There’s also his swinging composition “Stockholm Sweetnin’” and his hip arrangements for Peggy Lee, Count Basie, Sarah Vaughan, and Miles Davis. Film buffs will love Jones’s swinging soundtrack music, including the Latin lilt of “Soul Bossa Nova” from IAustin Powers/I, the gritty vocals of Ray Charles on “In the Heat of the Night,” the bluesy “Miss Celie’s Blues (Sister)” from IThe Color Purple/I, and the hilarious “Sanford Son Theme (The Street Beater).” Then, there’s Michael Jackson’s megahit, “Thriller,” Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon,” and some long-lost gems, like the Brothers Johnson’s immortal rendition of Shuggie Otis’s spacey classic, “Strawberry Letter 23,” Lesley Gore’s bubblegum tune, “You Don’t Own Me,” and the all-star track, “We Are the World.” Jones’s best work as a solo artist includes his slick renditions of Benny Golson’s “Killer Joe,” Herbie Hancock’s lush “Tell Me a Bedtime Story,” and the rarely heard ballad “Everything Must Change.” This collection summarizes Quincy Jones’s brilliant career, and it showcases the some of the best of our musical heritage. I–Eugene Holley Jr./I

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Posted in Traditional

Cryin Won’t Help You

davidamorde — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 23:52:39 +0000

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Posted in Delta Blues

Fool Me Good

davidamorde — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 23:31:58 +0000

There’s nothing precious about this Georgia blueswoman except her name. Bryant’s first all-solo album is packed with stomping blues and spirituals built on her own fusion of fingerpicking, one-chord boogie, Piedmont-style strumming, and African American fife-and-drum-band rhythms. She puts all that in the service of a dry-but-mellow voice that dances up into its thin high register to enhance the joy in her percolating melodies. She’s happiest when singing the Lord’s praises in “When the Saints Go Marching In” and “Don’t Let the Devil Ride,” but the graceful ragtime instrumental “Georgia Buck” is equally blithe. And her blues, including “Broke and Ain’t Got a Dime” and “Black Rat Swing,” are full of sassy energy. The heavy beat she pulls out of her Gibson electric on “Don’t You Wanna Jump” sounds straight from Mississippi, splitting the difference between John Lee Hooker and Jessie Mae Hemphill. But what’s truly amazing about this album, produced by North Mississippi Allstars road manager Amos Harvey, is that although Bryant is only 60, it sounds as if her repertoire and delivery have been completely unaffected by the past half-century. This is the real country blues. I–Ted Drozdowski/I

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Posted in Modern Blues