Here are a few recent releases that are well worth any blues fan's time, so be sure to check them out. If you're able, try to buy a physical copy of these artists' music whenever possible. Most of them receive very little from the whole streaming process and if you're like me, you like the liner notes that come with the physical albums and it's just good to hold it in your hands. I know some people like the streaming process and that's fine, too, so support these musicians any way that you can.
A couple of months ago, Dan Penn released his latest album, Smoke Filled Room (The Last Music Company). It's a set of demos that Penn has recorded over the past few years, some of which were later recorded by other artists that you may recognize from their versions.....Irma Thomas, Joe Louis Walker, Dalton Reed, T. Graham Brown.... but truthfully nobody really sings a Dan Penn song as well as the man himself and he certainly delivers on these tunes.
The physical album also includes Penn's comments about each song, how they came about, etc.... Penn's collaborators on these tracks include Bucky Lindsey, Carson Whitsett, Gary Nicholson, Charlie Taylor, Swain Schaefer, and Bobby Emmons, most of whom provided musical support on these tracks as well. There are also a couple of gospel tracks and a Christmas song that closes out the disc, but the rest of the tunes fit snugly in the blues, soul, and country genres, as many of Penn's works are apt to do.
Dan Penn is a musical treasure and it's great that he has been able to release several albums over the past few years after focusing on songwriting and production for so many years. Back in May, Penn fell in his shop and broke his hip. He was incapacitated on the floor for about 12 hours before he was found. They performed successful surgery and he was released from rehab last weekend. He's planning to play his August 1 show in Vernon, AL with Spooner Oldham and I plan to be there to see him.
Several years ago, I really enjoyed an album released by Chicago blues man Russ Green. That album, City Soul, was one of the best blues albums of 2018. Coming to the blues after working in the film industry, Green was influenced as a harmonica player by Sugar Blue and Billy Branch, and has played and toured with John Primer and Lurrie Bell. He's also produced an album by Big Llou Johnson that won a Blues Music Award for Best New Artist, and has appeared on two albums from the Chicago Blues Harmonica Project.
Stone Cold (Overton Music) is Green's latest release and it includes ten original tunes that showcase his nimble harp playing and his soulful vocals. I have to say that it's even better than his debut release. It's chock full of Green's "Hendrixian" harp playing and his songwriting is even stronger this time around. This is a powerful and energetic set of contemporary blues that mixes soul, rock, and even a bit of jazz on a few tracks with his harp playing.
Backed by guitarists Giles Corey and Vince Agwada and keyboardist Joe Munroe with a rock-solid rhythm section of Vic Jackson (bass) and Felix "D-Kat" Pollard (drums), Stone Cold is the second winner in a row for Russ Green, who is hopefully on his way to making some noise on the blues scene.
At first glance, Seth James looks more like a country music artist with the cowboy hat, but there's much more to the picture. The Texas native, who also works as a cowboy, encompasses blues, soul, southern rock, R&B, and Americana with his musical attack. A couple of years ago, he released a marvelous tribute album to Delbert McClinton, covering 11 of the legend's songs backed by producer, keyboardist, guitarist, and songwriter Kevin McKendree, who worked with McClinton for over a quarter century).
Motormouth (Qualified Records) finds James teaming up with McKendree once again on 13 wonderful tracks, a mix of originals from James, McKendree, Gary Nicholson, and others, along with terrific covers of tunes by Colin Linden, Leon Russell, Don Bryant, Doc Pomus, and even Delbert McClinton, who also contributes vocals to one of his contributions.
This album is a treat from beginning to end, taking the best elements of Texas blues and swing, Memphis and Muscle Shoals soul, and even a dash of funky Louisiana flavoring. There's something for just about any music fan on Motormouth. Seth James is a talented singer and guitarist and if you enjoy the music of Delbert McClinton, James fits that style to a tee and then some, so check him out.
Our "Blast From The Past" selection this time doesn't venture too far into the past....it actually came out late last summer. Leonard "Lowdown" Brown was born in Arkansas and raised in Indiana and was part of a musical family....all of his brothers and sisters played and his father gave him his first guitar at the age of six. He moved to Houston in 1980 for work, but soon got into the city's blues scene, where he has been a mainstay ever since.
Brown didn't release an album until he was 70, 2023's Blues Is Calling Me, but he followed that fine release two years later with Lowdown Street Party (Music Maker Foundation). This one is produced by Jimbo Mathus, but according to Mathus there wasn't much for him to do. When he reached out to Brown about the album, Brown sent him 10 well-crafted demos, and the album was subsequently recorded in three days, keeping nearly every first take with few overdubs.
This is a seriously funky set of blues that has a biographical feel....Brown wrote all ten tracks. He's backed by Mathus on rhythm guitarist, Mathus' band - the Creatures of the Southern Wild, and backing vocalists The Crimestoppers. Though the songs are all newly written, the production has a nice, retro feel and the funkiness of it all just seeps into your backbone. I saw Lowdown Street Party on Amazon and bought it on impulse, having never heard Leonard "Lowdown" Brown. After hearing it, I went back and purchased his first album. Blues fans are advised to do the same. This is good stuff!!
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