It’s one thing to be the offspring of a famous performer, but quite another to share his name and still be able to forge your own identity. After a number of years in the musical wilderness, John Lee Hooker Jr. found his identity and has been grooming it with CD releases over the past decade. [...]
Big Joe Maher’s latest showcases his bluesy, swinging vocal style and rocksolid drumming on a dozen tracks split evenly between originals and covers, including B.B. King’s “Bad Case of Love” to Billy Wright’s “The Question – Whatcha Gonna Do,” to a special version of Johnny Green’s “Someday” and Jay McShann’s “Confessin’ the Blues.” The album’s [...]
This second release from the Southern California band Los Fabulocos sizzles like a juicy steak fajita sprinkled with seasoning from rock, tejano, and country-western swing with a garnish of talent and high style. Born of the rich and varied musical experiences of its members, the eight original tunes and a handful of covers are [...]
Starting like a number of instrumental albums Ronnie Earl has produced over the past 15 years, this one opens with a mid-tempo (Albert Collinspenned) track, then slows for some blues and a cool cover (“Chitlins Con Carne” by Kenny Burrell). But then, something amazing happens; reaching deep and from the heart, Earl works through four [...]
Wolfe is best known as a sideman for Sheryl Crow, but he has also recorded with Leslie West and Faith Hill, among others. Now, with his own group – a trio – Wolfe delivers a set of nine originals and a live cover that captures the key elements of the band. In the tradition of [...]
This second release from the Southern California band Los Fabulocos sizzles like a juicy steak fajita sprinkled with seasoning from rock, tejano, and country-western swing with a garnish of talent and high style. Born of the rich and varied musical experiences of its members, the eight original tunes and a handful of covers are [...]
Named for its founder, this band is steeped in the blues and modern interpretations of classics. An album of covers? Not inasmuch as the arrangements are completely different which provides an unexpected character to familiar lyrics. So “It Hurts Me, Too” has a midtempo feel, “Ramblin on My Mind” is recast as a rocker, and [...]
One of the busiest players around today, Duke takes a break from touring, producing, and recording jazz, jumpswing, and bop to crank out his most uncompromising blues set in 20 years. Twelve original songs and a cover offer gritty guitar, gravelly vocals, and grinding rhythm. “Workin’ Hard for my Uncle” is Robillard’s ode to the [...]
Southern soul singer Julius Pittman, whose smooth vocal style brings to mind Al Green or Teddy Pendergrass, is a key performer, songwriter, and vocalist for the band that features Randy Moss on guitar. In a time when it seems singers from “American Idol” finalists to Michael Bolton apparently believe a song has to be sung [...]
The biographer has a duty to get close to the subject in order to relay all the facts and get first-hand accounts of events while at the same time not getting so close that a story becomes sanitized and historically reinterpreted. In this bio on bluesman Johnny Winter, author Mary Lou Sullivan gets close enough [...]
