Music
Bobby Rush with Blinddog Smokin’, Decisions (Silver Talon)
Always entertaining, Bobby Rush with this release (and other recent CDs) is becoming the new millennium’s soul philosopher. Perhaps odd that a veteran R&B artist would address the ills of […]
Magic Sam, Live at the Avant Garde (Delmark)
Any discerning, seasoned blues aficionado can tell you the jaw-dropping instant they heard Magic Sam for the first time. A possessor of an often imitated—but never duplicated—guitar and vocal technique, […]
How “Mardi Gras Mambo” Became an Unlikely Carnival Anthem
Down in New Orleans where the blues was born, It takes a cool cat to blow a horn On LaSalle and Rampart Street, the combos play with a mambo beat […]
Obituary: Tabby Thomas (1929 – 2014)
Ernest Joseph “Tabby” Thomas—the “Godfather of Baton Rouge Blues”—died peacefully at home January 1 after a long illness. A prolific recording artist, club owner, record label owner, and all-around goodwill […]
Various Artists, The South Side of Soul Street: The Minaret Soul Singles, 1967-1976 (Omnivore Records)
Getting a CD (double, no less) like this unexpectedly in the mail to review really makes my week. Minaret was briefly a busy Southern soul label that was an offshoot […]
Various Artists, Louisiana Saturday Night Revisited (Ace Records)
British reissue label Ace has long championed the unique music of South Louisiana, be it zydeco, Cajun or, especially, swamp pop. Step back over two decades ago, when Ace issued […]
Dan Penn, A Road Leading Home (Ace Records)
Along with George Jackson, Dan Penn is one of the most prolific and acclaimed Southern rhythm-and-blues songwriters of the last five decades. This CD features 24 of Penn’s solo compositions […]
Walter “Wolfman” Washington Celebrates 70th Birthday
For better or worse, the pool of active New Orleans musicians in 2013 who were also active during the so-called “classic” period of New Orleans rhythm and blues/rock and roll/soul […]
Bryan Lee, Play One for Me (Severn)
Former Bourbon Street blues journeyman Bryan Lee delivers a very well-thought-out, and very un-Bourbon Street-like CD—i.e. no standards, rather plenty of originals and a sprinkling of mostly informed R&B covers. […]
Lightnin’ Slim, High & Low Down (Alive)
Of the handful of albums that were released during Lightnin’ Slim’s lifetime, and the dozen or so collections that have been released since his passing, this is the last album […]
