Friday Blues Picks (2/27/26)

It's been awhile since we posted a few picks here....I had intended to try to do this more regularly, but it is what it is.  Let's look at a few recent releases that are well worth your time.

Mississippi Heat - Don't Look Back (Delmark Records):  Pierre Lacocque and his crew strike gold again with this fine release.  He's recruited a host of vocalists (Sheryl Youngblood, Inetta Visor, Daneshia Hamilton, Danielle Nicole, and Omar Coleman, along with guitarists Giles Corey and Billy Flynn, keyboardists Johnny Iguana and John Kattke, and many others.  Ms. Youngblood handles most of the vocals, but the others certainly shine as well, and Coleman joins Lacocque for the harmonica-driven instrumental "Moonshine Man."  If you're a blues fan and you're not familiar with Mississippi Heat (we interviewed Mr. Lacocque several years back), you can't go wrong because it's Chicago blues from one of the best bands around.

Omar Coleman & Igor Prado - Old New Funky and Blue (Nola Blue Records):  Speaking of Mr. Coleman, blues fans are strongly encouraged to check out this wonderful disc, an early contender for Album of the Year.  Teaming with Brazilian guitar master Prado, Coleman turns out a stunning set of Chicago blues and Memphis soul, with six originals from Coleman and Prado and five excellent covers of tunes from Syl Johnson and Bobby Rush.  Trust me, there's not a bad cut in the bunch as Coleman is superb on vocals and harmonica and Prado's guitar work is top notch throughout.  I certainly hope these guys make this a regular collaboration.

Duke Robillard and His All Star Band - Blast Off! (Nola Blue Records):  Another outstanding release from Nola Blue, their first collaboration with Robillard, who has been doing this for well over 50 years.  He sounds as inspired as ever on these twelve tunes, mostly covers with three Robillard originals.  Chris Cote handles vocals on most of these tunes and does a fine job and blues fans will recognize a lot of the names in the All Stars from previous Duke efforts.  This set also features four instrumentals, so Robillard gets plenty of opportunities to strut his stuff.  The cover choices are first rate and the instrumentals will knock your socks off. 

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Don Leady - Blue Nebula (LeRay Records):  Leady, who fronted the Tail Gators in the 80's and 90's, had released several solo efforts spotlighting his nimble fretwork, and he's spent the last couple of years remastering live tracks from the Tail Gators' performances on five volumes that blues fans should definitely track down.  This release is a six-song EP that mixes blues, R&B, country, and jazz with a bit of surf guitar added for good measure.  Leady plays all the instruments on all six tracks (guitars, bass, percussion, organ) and, trust me, if you are a guitar fan of any style of music, you will love this disc.

Boz Scaggs - Detour (Concord Records):  This release reminds me a lot of Walter "Wolfman" Washington's last couple of releases.  It started out as a set of demos with Scaggs doing some of his favorite standards.  It has that same relaxed feel and Scaggs does a wonderful job interpreting this tunes, made famous by artists like Irma Thomas, Frank Sinatra, Lonnie Johnson, Nat King Cole, and Tony Bennett, but adding his own personal touch to each.  This one leans more toward the jazz end of the spectrum, but Scaggs' vocals make it worth listening.  

Now, let's go back a few years and check out.....

Larry McCray - Live on 75 (Magnolia Records):  If you can find this one, released in 2006 on his own label, it's well worth your time and money......it took me quite a while to track it down.  Recorded in Detroit in 2004, McCray is joined by his brother Steve on drums, Mike Lynch on keyboards, and the legendary bass man Johnny B. Gayden on this powerful twelve-song set that tells you all that you need to know about Larry McCray.  It's downright criminal that he basically disappeared off the radar for nearly 20 years and had a hard time getting his music out there, other than via performance.  Thankfully, Joe Bonamassa got him back into the studio, so McCray is back!  If you can find this set, you can get a good taste of what McCray's first few years were like and see what the fuss was all about (since all of his earlier albums are out of print). 

Since this one is out of print, here's the entire album, via YouTube.

We'll be back in a couple of weeks with a few more recent releases that you definitely need to be listening to.

Friday Blues Fix's Top Albums of 2025

(Sorry for the lack of posting lately.....it's been pretty busy.  I will try to do better in 2026.)

I was talking with Blues Bytes' founder Bill Mitchell about our end-of-year favorites and he told me that he was having a hard time getting his list down to a reasonable number due to the overwhelming amount of great releases this year.  That was before I started working on my list, which I did on Tuesday night.  After a couple of hours of reviewing reviews, I finally "whittled" my list down to a solid 30.  I don't think Bill's decided on a Top Ten or Top Twenty list as of yet for the January issue, but I thought I would just list my Top 30 here for kicks, in no particular order, for those who care about such things.  

Mark “Muleman” Massey - Been A Long, Long Time (Muletone Records):  

Bob Corritore & Friends  - Doin' The Shout (SWMAP/VizzTone Records):  

Daddy Mack Blues Band - Doctor's Orders (Inside Sounds Records)

Ian Siegal Meets Johnny Maestro - Easy Tiger (Continental Blue Heaven) 

Southern Avenue - Family (Alligator Records)

Andrew Duncanson - California Trap (Run It Back Records)

Johnny Rawls - Make Them Dance (Catfood Records)

John Primer - Grown In Mississippi (Blues House Productions)

Ra'Shad The Blues Kid - Live In Clarksdale

Tad Robinson - Soul In Blues (Delmark Records)

D.K. Harrell - Talkin' Heavy (Alligator Records)

Larry McCray - Heartbreak City (Keeping The Blues Alive)

Emma Wilson - A Spoonful of Willie Dixon (Emma Wilson Music)

Alan Arena - Deceived 

Buddy Guy - Done With The Blues (Silvertone/RCA)

Garry Burnside - It's My Time Now (Strolling Bones)

Kent Burnside - Hill Country Blood (Strolling Bones)

Yates McKendree - Need To Know (Qualified Records)

The Christopher Dean Band - Steppin' Out Tonight (Lost World Music)

Candice Ivory - New Southern Vintage (Nola Blue Records)

Various Artists - The Last Real Texas Blues Album (Antone's Records)

Jimi “Prime Time” Smith - It's My Time (New Folk Records)

Kirk Fletcher - Keep On Pushing (VizzTone)

Christone “Kingfish” Ingram - Hard Road (Red Zero Records)

Jimmy Burns and Soul Message Band - Full Circle (Delmark Records)

Sean McDonald - Have Mercy! (Little Village)

Galactic and Irma Thomas - Audience With The Queen (Tchoup-zilla Records)

Duwayne Burnside - Red Rooster (Lucky 13 Records)

Corey Ledet Zydeco - Live in Alaska 

North Mississippi Allstars - Still Shakin' (New West Records)

Hopefully, more to come soon, so stay tuned.

Friday Blues Picks (11/21/25)

Another month, another set of great new releases to let blues fans know about.  Lots of Mississippi blues love in this particular edition of FBF, so let's get started!!!

Sean McDonald - Have Mercy! (Little Village Foundation):  Another great release from this label, featuring another young artist with a vast knowledge of what came before and the ability to bring it to the present.  Kid Andersen and the Greaseland regulars are on hand to give young Augusta, GA native superb backing.  He was raised singing in the church, is a nimble guitarist, and the tracks are a mix of classic blues and R&B tunes and some nice originals.  I'm telling you that the future of the blues is in good hands, thanks to artists like McDonald and others, as we'll see below.  This is a fine set of classic-feeling blues, R&B, and soul that will put a big smile on your face and a hop in your step.  It's definitely one of my favorites of the year.

Jimmy Burns & Soul Message Band - Full Circle (Delmark Records):  Burns, born in Dublin, MS but a Chicago resident since he was 12, is one of my favorite vocalists and his career actually dates back to the mid-60's - some of his 45's are hard-to-find collector's items.  This set, recorded with the Chicago-based Soul Message Band, led by B3 master Chris Foreman, features soulful, jazzy remakes of several of Burns' late 60's/early 70's sides, along with some of his personal favorite tunes, plus a couple of soul jazz instrumentals by the band. Burns turned 82 earlier this year, but he is still pretty active on the Chicago blues scene and he sounds great on these tracks....I listened to the originals on YouTube and he sounds as good now as he did fifty years ago.  One of the perks of buying the album is reading the liner notes about Burns' memories of the original recordings - his memory is as amazing as his voice.

Various Artists - Jacktown USA (Emerald Tiger Artist Management):  Did you know that musical artists from Mississippi have received more Grammy Awards and nominations than any other state?  Did you know that the city of Jackson, MS has the nation's highest concentration of Grammy Award winners per capita?  Recently, the book Jacktown USA (by Kamal King and Joe Lee) was released profiling nine current and prominent Mississippi blues and soul artists, and a companion CD was also released separately with tracks by eight of the artists - The Jacktown Sons (an R&B group), blues men Dexter Allen, Eddie Cotton, Zac Harmon, Stevie J Blues, Chad Wesley, and Ra'Shad "The Blues Kid" McGill, and the sibling acapella group Four Washington.  The legendary composer arranger Benjamin Wright is also profiled in the book.  The book and the CD should be part of any blues fan's collection, and the best thing is that there are even more great blues and soul artists in the area that deserve to be heard.  No wonder Jackson is called The City With Soul!

Hudspeth & Taylor - Kimuziki Live in Des Moines (Hudtone Records):  I absolutely loved this Kansas City duo's second release, Ridin' The Blinds, so I was excited to see this new release, which was recorded live at the Central Iowa Blues Society's Winter Blues Festival this past February.  Guitarist Brandon Hudspeth's fretwork is pristine (he also is a member of the K.C. blues rock band Levee Town) as he backs singer/percussionist Jasson Taylor' robust vocals on these nine tracks, three written by Taylor and featured on their first album (Folie a Deux) and six excellent interpretations of blues standards from Jimmy Reed, Jimmy Rogers, Muddy Waters, and Howlin' Wolf.  These guys operate like a well-oiled maching and it shows on each tune.

Bob Corritore & Friends - Early Blues Sessions (VizzTone / SWMAF):  Harmonica player Corritore is a blues mainstay in Phoenix, proprietor of the Rhythm Room, one of the finest blues clubs, and hosting his own radio program on Sunday nights at KJZZ-FM since the 80's.  He's also a produceer and has released multiple albums of his own, where he usually invites his many friend to play.  Most of these friends have taken time to record songs with Corritore while passing through Phoenix and he has released several albums compiling these recordings in his "From The Vault" series.  The latest one goes back to the mid 80's and these tracks have never before been released, including tracks from Jimmy Rogers, Henry Gray, Bob Margolin, Robert Lockwood Jr., Chico Chism, Lil' Ed Williams, Pinetop Perkins, Clarence Edwards, King Karl, Dave Riley, and Lowell Fulson.  Best of all is a never-before-released track with Corritore and Little Milton recorded in 2002 that really made my day.

Also, a pair of singles from a couple of Mississippi blues men, beginning with one mentioned a few paragraphs above, Stevie J Blues.  He's been very active on the blues and southern soul circuit since the pandemic, releasing a couple of albums and numerous singles.  I first heard him acccompanying Bobby Rush on Live at Ground Zero and his wonderful 2004 album, Folk Funk, and he's played with a lot of major southern soul and blues artist over the years, while cutting his own albums in the process.  He also graciously sat down with FBF for a Ten Questions With....post a few years back.  His most recent single is a tasty cover of  J Blackfoot's "Your Mouth Wrote A Check" on PKMG LLC.  His version is a bit funkier than the original, but he pays respect to that version while giving his interpretation a fresh sound....he's a terrific guitarist and singer.  He's already released several other fine singles over the year, so be sure to check them out.

Another Mississippi blues man making a lot of noise these days is Harrell "Young Rell" Davenport.  I first noticed him on Facebook several years ago as he shared his videos while learning to sing and play the blues.  Let's just say that he has put the work in (he knows a lot about the history of the music and puts it to good use) and the blues world has noticed.  He only recently graduated high school but he's been playing guitar and harmonica since he was seven years old.  It's been fun to watch him interact with many of the current blues stars and he's recently been making the rounds at numerous festivals.  He plays the blues with a sincerity and authenticity that is breathtaking when you consider he's still in his teens.  He's issued a couple of singles this year, including his latest, "Fatherless Child" (Rell Tone Records), an original tune that describes the pain and uncertainty of growing up without a father.  It's an amazing and powerful performance and bodes well for the future of this young man.

    

More new blues to come in a few weeks.....

Friday Blues Picks (10/17/25)

As promised, here's a look at a few more new releases.  There have really been a lot of fine efforts in the past couple of months, and there are actually more new ones than we've discussed.  It's an embarrassment of riches for blues fans these days.  Let's check out several more great new releases.  As always, you can find expanded reviews of most of these releases at Blues Bytes.

Candice Ivory - New Southern Vintage (Nola Blue Records):  Ms. Ivory's roots are in Memphis, physical and musical.  She had family who sang gospel and blues (her great-uncle Will Roy Sanders was a member of The Fieldstones), and she had a residency in Betty Carter's Jazz Ahead at the age of 18, recorded her first album at 21, and is equally skilled in blues and jazz.  Her 2023 tribute to Memphis Minnie's music was one of that year's best efforts, and just blew me away upon hearing it.  Well, her newest release also blew me away.  She works in a variety of blues styles on this new album, moving from traditional to comtemporary blues, Mississippi hill country, piano blues, and Delta blues..  Contributors include Ivory's Memphis-based band the Blue Bloods, Jimmy "Duck" Holmes, Ben Levin, Damian "Yella P" Pearson, and Chris Stephenson, with several international artists as well.  However, it's Ms. Ivory's show and her vocals are a marvel throughout.  This is an album that any blues fan will enjoy, and hopefully, Candice Ivory will continue on her blues journey for a long time to come.

Mud Morganfield - Deep Mud (Nola Blue Records):  One thing that's always stood out from me about Morganfield is that he's always tried to expand his blues sound beyond that of his legendary father, Muddy Waters.  Of course, there are a couple of his father's songs present, but he also takes a more urban approach to the blues on several tracks, and mixes in a bit of funk from time to time.  There are some familiar Chicago faces chipping in on this one, including keyboardist Roosevelt Purifoy, Melvin "Pooky Styx" Carlisle, Rick Kreher, Mike Wheeler, and Studebaker John, who also produced.  Mud can't help but sound like his father when he sings, but it is nice to hear in a new setting and I've always liked that he has never settled for being an imitator of his father, preferring to carve out his own niche in the Chicago blues world.  For some reason, he's sort of bounced around labels in recent years, so hopefully he will settle in with Nola Blue and reward us with more fine Windy City blues soon.

Jimi "Prime Time" Smith - It's My Time (New Folk Records):  I've heard singer/guitarist Smith on a couple of Bob Corritore releases, including their 2022 colloboration, The World In A Jug, but I was not aware that this new album is his first solo album in 15 years.  Chicago native Smith is the son of Johnnie Mae Dunston, one of the first female drummers who backed Jimmy Reed on stage and as manager.  Smith is a first rate guitarist and strong vocalist and he wrote eight of the 11 tracks.  Corritore guests on several tracks and other contributors include Allen "The Captain" Kirk on drums, Toby Lee Marshall on keys, and co-producer (with Smith) John Wright on bass and acoustic guitar.  This is a rock solid set of original tunes (with a couple of Luther Allison covers to boot) and it sounds like Smith was more than ready to release an album of his own after playing on everyone else's for the past 15 years.  This one is his best album to date and maybe we won't have to wait another 15 for more.

D.K. Harrell - Talkin' Heavy (Alligator Records):  Harrell's debut from a couple of years ago was an amazing release.  Now 27 years old, the Ruston, LA native was really inspired by B.B. King, and his sound will remind you of the King of the Blues at times.  His newest release, like his debut, was recorded at Greaseland Studio with Kid Andersen producing and it's a monster.  It's just a fantastic set of blues, nearly all written or co-written by Harrell that touch on familiar blues themes with a modern flair, even throwing a gospel tune in for good measure.  Harrell is as good a vocalist as he is a guitarist and he has outstanding support from a host of singers and musicians, the core unit being Andersen, Andrew Moss, Jim Pugh, June Core, and Derrick "D'Mar" Martin.  To these ears, this release tops his debut, which is really saying something.  

Anthony "Big A" Sherrod - Torchbearer of the Clarksdale Sound (Music Maker Foundation):  I first saw Big A on the documentary We Juke Up in Here around 2012.  He got his start playing with Johnnie Billington, who taught many of the kids in the Clarksdale area about the blues, and played with Billington until his death in 2013.  He's stayed in the Clarksdale area, working with the Delta Blues Museum and playing the clubs regularly, so he's definitely a torchbearer for the Clarksdale brand of the blues.  His 2016 release is a must-buy if you can find it (Right On Time), but so is this five-song EP, a down and dirty set which was produced by Jimbo Mathus and recorded in just two hours at an old storefront in town called Clarksdale Reels, with Mathus, Lee Williams, and Heather Crosse backing Big A on these tracks.  He mixes the blues with the other music styles that he loved growing, mainly soul and R&B and he's a powerful vocalist and guitarist and a talented songwriter.  He's proof positive that the blues is alive and thriving in the Mississippi Delta.

Various Artists - The Last Real Texas Blues Album (Antone's/New West Records):  Austin's great club Antone's is celebrating their 50th anniversary this year.  Back in the mid 70's, the club gave the blues a real shot in the arm, providing a place for blues veterans to ply their trade, and not only did they come to play, but the club also gave a start to a host of newcomers - SRV, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Lou Ann Barton, Angela Strehli, Marcia Ball, Denny Freeman and many others.  Last year, in advance of the celebration, a host of Antone's veterans gathered and created this tribute album, which consists of 18 songs, all blues classics associated with the many legends who performed over the years.  There's not a bad track in the bunch with performances by Ball, Jimmie Vaughan, Bobby Rush, Benny Turner, Anson Funderburgh, Lil' Ed Williams, Derek O'Brien, Lurrie Bell, Ruthie Foster, Doyle Bramhall II, Big Bill Morganfield, John Primer, Johnny Moeller, Mike Keller Eve Monsees, Charlie Sexton, Lynn August, C.J. Chenier, Sue Foley, Kam Franklin, McKinley James, a special appearance from Billy F. Gibbons and a sweet message from 95-year-old Miss Lavelle White.  

This is a magnificent set of tunes that is being sold as a single CD, or as part of a huge 5-disc, 41-track box set called Antone's:  50 Years of the Blues, that includes a couple of discs of rare live and studio tracks, a 7" single from Los Lobos, a bound book of liner notes from author Joe Nick Patoski, and a reissue of Susan Antone's book Picture The Blues, loaded with rare photos.  I've only got the CD so far, but I'm dropping hints right and left around the house for the whole shebang as a Christmas gift.