Features a few tracks each by Carey Bell's Blues Harp Band, Magic Slim & The Teardrops, and Johnny "Big Moose" Walker! Part of the early Alligator Records effort document the fading Chicago Blues underground. LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Two great female blues talents, recorded at a time when they were still alive and well in Chicago – Alberta Hunter on vocals, and Lovie Austin on piano! CD

The Houston scene's gospel-bred singer Diunna Greenleaf gets the cover nod, for a feature that takes a deep dive into her 25 years in the blues – out front in an issue that has pieces on a bunch of strongly taletned blues heroes and heroines that deserve a print spotlight –including Clarksdale, Mississippi's Danva Johnson, Bay Area player Pat Wilder, the not-to-be forgotton story of Left Hand Charle, Chicago legend Bukka White and lots more! Loads of solid shorter blues news items, review and more, too. (Magazines, Blues) Magazine

Music from James "Son" Thomas, Arzo Youngblood, Eddie Cusic, Boyd Rivers, Boogie Bill Webb, Sam Chatmon, Cora Fluker, Othar Turner, Lonnie Pitchford, Stonewall Mays, and much more. CD

Featuring music from Freddy King, Jimmy Reed, Bobby Bland, Muddy Waters, BB King, Slim Harpo, Etta James, Little Johnny Taylor, Howlin' Wolf, Albert King, Bobby Parker, Johnny Guitar Watson, Earl King, Buddy Guy, Elmore James, Little Junior Parker, and Earl Hooker – 20 tracks in all. CD

Music from Billy Boy Arnold, Willie Mabon, Willie Cobbs, Little Walter, Jimmy Rogers, Memphis Slim, Jimmy Reed, Walter Horton, Howlin' Wolf, Otis Rush, Ricky Allen, and more. CD

Unreleased live material from the legendary Paul Butterfield Blues Band – heard here at a time when the mighty Elvin Bishop and Mike Bloomfield were in the group on guitar! The set was recorded in a coffee house in Boston in 1966, but the recording vibe makes the whole thing feel a lot more like it was set in the kind of southside club that first inspired Paul on the Chicago scene – with a surprisingly faithful representation of the group's sound, complete with a wonderful amount of grit – both in the grooves, and on the guitar, and even in the fuzzy sound of the vocals! Butterfield sings lead, and plays harmonica – and the combo also features organ, bass, and drums. Titles include a sweet funky take on "Get Out Of My Life Woman" – plus "Look Over Yonders Wall", "Born In Chicago", "Walking By Myself", "Memory Pain", "One More Heartache", and "Never Say No". (Rock, Blues) LP, Vinyl record album

A cooker from this Chicago living legend – and proof that the passage of time hasn't dimmed the talents of Eddie Campbell at all! Eddie's firmly in the lead on vocals and guitar – plus a bit of harmonica, too – and the setting is mostly stripped-down, with the kind of no-nonsense contemporary blues production you'd expect from Delmark – almost a back-to-basics mode that really fits the music. Lurrie Bell guests on a few tracks – and titles include "Brownout", "I Do", "Call My Mama", "I Don't Understand This Woman", "Boomerang", "Starlight", "All My Life", "Skin Tight", and "My Friend". CD

Some of the best work ever cut by ZZ Hill – a deep soul singer with roots in Texas, but who really got the chance to shine on these 60s recordings in California! Hill is completely hard-burning here – even more so than on his later, bigger-label material in the 70s – with an intensity that we'd rank right up there with top-shelf standards like early Bobby Blue Bland on Duke Records, or Otis Redding on Stax! Yet ZZ's work is much more obscure than both of those artists, partly because the Kent label never got these tracks out that much back in the day – especially in parts of the country that were maybe even more suited to Hill's style than Cali. Production is wonderful – totally on the money, with arrangements that even surpass the usual greatness of Kent – and as with Bland, there's often a lot of jazz and blues inflections that really help round out the soulful style of the songs. 2CD set features the full album A Whole Lot Of Soul, plus all the Kent Records singles, and even unissued tracks too – a massive 49 titles that include "You Don't Love Me", "Greatest Love", "Have Mercy Someone", "Hey Little Girl", "If I Could Do It All Over", "Steal Away", "What Am I Living For", "You Just Cheat & Lie", "Greatest Love", "Nothing Can Change The Love I Have For You", "Nothing Takes The Place Of You", "You Won't Hurt Me No More", "My Girl Has Gone Away", "Please Take Me Back", "I'm Gonna Love You", and "You Can't Hide A Heartache". (Soul, Blues) CD

Beautiful images from the legendary Ann Arbor Blues Festival – a long-running even that's pulled together an amazing range of talent over the years – a good number of whom are featured here! The festival probably hit its biggest fame in the early 70s – when recordings documented work by Sun Ra, Art Ensemble, and many blues musicians – and most of the images here even predate those years, as almost all the photographs appear to be from 1969 and 1970 – huge appearances for still-living blues legends! The quality of the images is great – and the book features images of John Lee Hooker, Son House, Sippie Wallace, Sunnyland Slim, Roosevelt Sykes, Fred McDowell, Little Brother Montgomery, Willie Dixon, Robert Lockwood, Buddy Guy, Lowell Fulson, and many others – all in crisp, vintage black and white. 128 pages, softcover, with images throughout. (Books, Blues) Book

A great title for this second set from Taj Mahal – because the sound here is even more stripped-down and natural than on his first LP! Taj turns in a lot more original tunes this time around – and is in wonderfully comfortable territory with his own lead lyrics, sung alongside his own work on harmonica and steel guitar too. Jesse Ed Davis adds in plenty of great lead guitar, and also handles the rhythm arrangements too – and Al Kooper guests a bit on piano, but like all musicians here is very respectful of Mahal's role as the lead. Titles include "Good Morning Miss Brown", "Done Changed My Way Of Living", "I Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Steal My Jellyroll", "The Cuckoo", and "Ain't That A Lot Of Love". LP, Vinyl record album

A great title for this second set from Taj Mahal – because the sound here is even more stripped-down and natural than on his first LP! Taj turns in a lot more original tunes this time around – and is in wonderfully comfortable territory with his own lead lyrics, sung alongside his own work on harmonica and steel guitar too. Jesse Ed Davis adds in plenty of great lead guitar, and also handles the rhythm arrangements too – and Al Kooper guests a bit on piano, but like all musicians here is very respectful of Mahal's role as the lead. Titles include "Good Morning Miss Brown", "Done Changed My Way Of Living", "I Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Steal My Jellyroll", "The Cuckoo", and "Ain't That A Lot Of Love". CD

A killer album from one of the most legendary versions of John Mayall's Blues Breakers – a quartet that features drummer Aynsley Dunbar, bassist John McVie, and lead guitarist Peter Green – who's also singing a fair bit on the album as well! The style here is tighter and more focused than before – showing a bit more of a rockish bent, especially on the guitars – but still strongly drenched in American R&B traditions, served up in a way that never waters down the sound for a mainstream audience. While other UK artists were taking American roots and softening them up for the charts, Mayall only seemed to deepen his commitment to more authentic representation of the styles – really only taking a bit more liberties with the strength and length of guitar parts. As before, there's a bit of reed work here that's especially nice – served up by UK jazzers Ray Warleigh, John Almond, and Alan Skidmore – and titles include "A Hard Road", "It's Over", "The Stumble", "Dust My Blues", "There's Always Work", "The Same Way", "The Supernatural", and "Living Alone". (Rock, Blues) CD

A killer album from one of the most legendary versions of John Mayall's Blues Breakers – a quartet that features drummer Aynsley Dunbar, bassist John McVie, and lead guitarist Peter Green – who's also singing a fair bit on the album as well! The style here is tighter and more focused than before – showing a bit more of a rockish bent, especially on the guitars – but still strongly drenched in American R&B traditions, served up in a way that never waters down the sound for a mainstream audience. While other UK artists were taking American roots and softening them up for the charts, Mayall only seemed to deepen his commitment to more authentic representation of the styles – really only taking a bit more liberties with the strength and length of guitar parts. As before, there's a bit of reed work here that's especially nice – served up by UK jazzers Ray Warleigh, John Almond, and Alan Skidmore – and titles include "A Hard Road", "It's Over", "The Stumble", "Dust My Blues", "There's Always Work", "The Same Way", "The Supernatural", and "Living Alone". (Rock, Blues) LP, Vinyl record album

Blues, but with an undercurrent of New Orleans jazz – no surprise, given the Louisiana roots of Eurreal "Little Brother" Montgomery! The album's a classic set recorded in Chicago in the early 60s – featuring both Montgomery in a spare solo setting, and with help from a small backup group that includes Ted Butterman on cornet, Bob Gordon on clarinet, and Mike McKendrick on banjo. Little Brother plays piano on all numbers, and sings on most – and titles include "44 Vicksburg", "Prescriptions Of The Blues", "Sweet Daddy", "Home Again Blues", "Up The Country Blues", "Saturday Night Function", "Michigan Water Blues", and "Oh Daddy". CD features the bonus track "Cooter Crawl". CD

Later work from trombonist Albert Wynn – sides cut after a 33 year absence from the recording studio – as part of the excellent Chicago Living Legends series on Riverside! The work has a tight trad jazz feel – but with a bit more space than you might find for solo expression in some of Wynn's earlier, shorter sides – and players include Bill Martin on trumpet (and a bit of vocals), Darnell Howard on clarinet, and either Blind John Davis or Bus Moten on piano. Titles include "Bourbon Street", "How Long Blues", "Ice Cream", "Nobody's Sweetheart", and "In The Evening". CD also features 2 bonus tracks "How Long Blues (alt)" and "I Ain't Gonna Give Nobody Non O This Jelly Roll". (Jazz, Blues) CD

Bill Cosby introduces this hip little live set from the John Mayall group – which is fitting, as there's definitely a bit of an LA groove on the set! Mayall's still in very bluesy territory, but he also gets some great soul jazz support too – from players who include Charles Owens on flute and soprano sax, Ernie Watts on tenor, and even the great Fred Jackson on baritone! Keef Hartley adds in some mighty heavy drums, but the group's further expanded by even more American players too – including Blue Mitchell on trumpet and Freddie Robinson on guitar – both players who definitely leave their mark on the set. There's some great electric piano too – and titles include the classic "Keep Our Country Green" – plus "Christmas 71", "Things Go Wrong", "Do It", "Moving On", "Red Sky", "Reasons", "High Pressure Living", and "Worried Mind". (Rock, Blues) LP, Vinyl record album