7704 - VARIOUS ARTISTS - Maestros Of Cool - A Tribute To Steely Dan, Disc One (2006)

VARIOUS ARTISTS
''MAESTROS OF COOL: A TRIBUTE TO STEELY DAN, DISC ONE''
JANUARY 8 2009
129:00

DISC ONE
1 - Nathan Haines - Fm 4:35
2 - Stereo - Remember 4:59
3 - Debbie Deane - Any World 4:01
4 - Raw Stylus - 37 Hours 5:20
5 - Nash Kato - Dirty Work 3:35
6 - Pam Bricker - Home At Last 4:52
7 - Tony Gallo - Black Cow 5:36
8 - Groove Thing - The Fez 5:25
9 - David Garfield - Josie 5:37
10 - Carl Orr - Tomorrow's Girls 4:17
11 - Liquid Blue - Rikki Don't Lose That Number 4:41
12 - Jango - Joyful Caravan 4:32

DISC TWO
1 - David Garfield - Babylon Sisters 6:24
2 - Chuck Loeb - Maxine 5:26
3 - Don Braden - Kid Charlemagne 6:34
4 - HR Big Band - Pretzel Logic 5:23
5 - Justin Morell - My Rival 4:44
6 - Abebi Stafford - Green Earrings 4:06
7 - Gustavo Assis Brasil - Aja 6:58
8 - Stolen Van - Aves of Altamira 5:37
9 - Alex Gunia - Third World Man 6:39
10 - Cornelius Bumpus - Chain Lightning 5:01
11 - Ben Lacy - Hey Nineteen 3:14
12 - Trinity - Steal It Again Dan 10:02

REVIEW
By AbstractLogix
David Garfield (Keyboards), Klaudia Salkovic (Vocals), Steve Nieves (Sax & Vocals), Chuck Loeb (Guitar), John Patitucci (Bass), Dave Weckl (Drums), Michael Landau (Guitar), Lee Sklar (Bass), Don Braden (Tenor Sax), Damon Albarn (Vocals), Nathan Haines (Tenor Sax), Carl Orr (Guitar), John Beasley (Vocals & Keyboards), Debbie Deane (Vocals & Piano), Jules Brookes (Vocals), Nash Kato (Guitar), Pam Bricker (Vocals), Jim West (Drums), Wayne Wilentz (Piano, Keyboard, and Vocals), Tony Gallo (Vocals), George Wadenius (Guitar), Bill Ware (Vibes & Fender Rhodes), Alex Ligertwood (Vocals), Justin Morell (Guitar), Abebi Stafford (Fender Rhodes), Gustavo Assis-Brasil (Guitar), Mauricio Zottarelli (Drums), Sean Wayland (Piano), Alex Gunia (Guitar), Philipp Van Endert (Guitar), Cornelius Bumpus (Sax), Rob Aries (Keyboards), Ben Lacy (Guitar), Franz Holtmann (Guitar), Matthias Krauss (Keyboard), Gudze (Bass), and Marco Minnemann (Drums).

"MAESTROS OF COOL" is a fabulous compilation of cover versions of songs from Steely Dan. "MAESTROS OF COOL" is far too good for the tribute album stamp. What we've got here is a compilation disc featuring an incredibly wide assemblage of musicians, most of whom, although likely unknown to listeners, have not only been influenced by Steely Dan, but have gone on to create spectacular and unique music that ventures far beyond that of their mentors.

"MAESTROS OF COOL" presents 24 tracks on 2 CDs with artists from the USA, EUROPE and AUSTRALIA.

The artists who made the recordings also have a remarkable amount of talent and are listed in order of their appearance on the record: CD 1 New Zealand's Nathan Haines featuring Blur singer Damon Albarn delivers a marvelous version of "FM", while former Steely Dan musical director John Beasley's Stereo comes up with an extraordinary new song sounding somewhere between Steely Dan and Herb Alpert. Singer/songwriter Debbie Deane gives "Any World" a great new flavor, keeping the song fresh and eager. Then British soul funk group Raw Stylus, (featuring Donald Fagen plus Steely Dan players Bernard Purdie, Randy Brecker and Elliott Randall) coming in with their own composition, which embodies portions of Steely Dan's composition "Josie". Alternative rock guitar legend Nash Kato from Urge Overkill captures the reminiscence of a fuel-injected, rock-oriented Steely Dan in their early years, while Washington jazz club singer Pam Bricker, well known for her work with Thievery Corporation, performs a beautiful version of "Home At Last". Tony Gallo is a singer out of the male "saloon singer" class who takes a jazz-pop direction on "Black Cow" that is a lot of fun.
Innovative interpretation and vocal tones coated in class describe the contents of Tony Gallo's work. Bill Ware's Groove Thing, featuring former Steely Dan members Bill Ware & George Wadenius, comes up with a dance-floor-downtown-New York version of "The Fez".
Former Santana singer Alex Ligertwood and LA's studio wizard David Garfield - join together for tasteful rock version of "Josie", cool song, great vocals and a mind blowing guitar solo. Australian jazz fusion guitarist Carl Orr shows that he admires Steely Dan in form and structure with Donald Fagen's "Tomorrow's Girls", while liquid blue from Germany comes up with "Rikki don't loose that number", which gets a slower arrangement and a lounge style treatment that will grow on you. "Joyful Caravan", a swinging vocal track, is not a Steely Dan song but it reflects an obvious Steely Dan influence by Jango, one of LA's finest fusion bands.

CD 2 starts with the majestic "Babylon Sisters" – a sophisticated performance by David Garfield and his band (including former Steely Dan members Bob Sheppard and Bernard Purdie plus guitarist Michael Landau).

Another imposing presence is guitarist Chuck Loeb, who follows with the slow ballad "Maxine", "Maxine" is not technically a Steely Dan song, but it's such a beautiful piece featuring John Patitucci and Dave Weckl, we felt it needed to be a part of this project. Don Braden is an impressive tenor-saxophonist whose style pushes at the boundaries of hard bop while staying a solid part of the tradition. "Kid Charlemagne" comes with a rhythmically intricate arrangement you have to hear. Next is one of Germany's best big bands: the HR Big Band. This ensemble gives the impression of enormous size and the quality of the recording is extremely dynamic with tremendous texture. The richness and depth of this work is astounding - so listen to "Pretzel Logic"

Justin Morell's version of "My Rival" is mellow without being lethargic, sophisticated without being pedantic, and soothing without fading into the background. Abebi Stafford, the young American piano-talent, now based in New York, shows himself as a musical rascal – interpreting "Green Earrings" with simplicity and cleverness. Boston based Brazilian guitarist Gustavo Assis-Brasil is one of the new upcoming voices on guitar. His trio version of "Aja" demonstrates some of his sophisticated harmonic and phrasing skills. Stolen Van is one of the hottest new trios to hit the Australian acoustic jazz scene - hear "Caves of Altamira" and you will love the creative ability of these musicians.

Alex Gunia & Philipp van Endert, two of Germany's top jazz guitarists - deliver a marvelous acoustic version of "Third World Man" - magnificently re-worked. Another Steely Dan player was Cornelius Bumpus. His arrangement of the Steely Dan tune "Chain Lightning" is a creative, hypnotic, slow blues simmer featuring Bumpus' richest tenor work amidst a bed of punchy organ harmonies and solo. Guitarist Ben Lacy from Kentucky comes next and shows his talents as a soloist on "Hey Nineteen". Lacy has evolved from metal chops to jazz player non pareil. And lastly, an extraordinary track from studio trio project Trinity from Cologne, Germany - Their project, featuring an added fourth guest: drummer Marco Minnemann transforms this trio into an ever evolving quartet. This initial foray has a casual air of equitable improvisation with experimental tendencies and grooves on "Steal it again, Dan".

7703 - LOS LOBOS - One Time, One Night: Live Recordings (Vol. 1) (2007)

LOS LOBOS
''ONE TIME ONE NIGHT: LIVE RECORDINGS - VOL. 1''
2007
49:15

1 - Colossal Head 3:58
2 - My Baby's Gone 3:16
3 - Revolution 5:25
4 - This Bird's Gonna Fly 4:26
5 - Manny's Bones 3:19
6 - Maricela 3:53
7 - Mas Y Mas 5:53
8 - Evangeline 2:42
9 - Just A Man 9:22
10 - I Walk Alone 2:44
11 - Don't Worry Baby 3:38

REVIEW
by William Ruhlmann
Los Lobos now have presented three different aspects of their music in the three live albums they have released in successive years on their own Los Lobos Records label. The first, Acoustic en Vivo, was an "unplugged" collection of their Mexican and Spanish-language favorites. The second, Chuy's Tape Box, Vol. 1, spotlighted a specific show, January 14, 1984, in Santa Barbara, CA, as the group was on the cusp of national success. This one, One Time One Night: Live Recordings, Vol. 1, takes off in another direction. As with Acoustic en Vivo, no date for the performances is provided, but the set list suggests 1996 as a likely year. That's because six of the 11 songs come from Los Lobos' 1996 album Colossal Head. That album, like its predecessor, Kiko (from which the song "Just a Man" appears here), was co-produced by the band and Mitchell Froom (Froom's associate Tchad Blake also earned a co-producing credit on Colossal Head). Froom has a distinctive production style characterized by a complex percussion sound that some listeners admire and others deplore. Here, for better or worse, it is absent; the album was produced by bandmember Cesar Rosas. Rosas has de-emphasized the live aspect of the disc, generally mixing down and quickly cutting off applause at the end of the tracks, when it is audible at all. So, much of the album comes across as what the Kiko/Colossal Head music might have sounded like without Froom. Not surprisingly, what that sounds like is the pre-Froom Los Lobos, a tight R&B/rock & roll band steeped in tradition but able to put its own spin on familiar styles. Rosas also has included some earlier material from the albums How Will the Wolf Survive? and By the Light of the Moon, particularly his own vocal showcases, and they mix in well with the newer songs. The stand-out number is "Just a Man," here extended to nearly nine-and-a-half minutes and turned into a blues workout. For many, Los Lobos took a left turn when they started working with Froom in the studio. This album demonstrates that, at least in concert, they continued to go straight ahead.

OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY
Los Lobos still are:
Louie Perez- Drums, Guitars, Percussion, Vocals
Steve Berlin- Saxophone, Percussion, Flute, Midsax, Harmonica, Melodica
Cesar Rosas- Vocals, Guitar, Mandolin
Conrad Lozano- Bass, Guitarron, Vocals
David Hidalgo- Vocals, Guitar, Accordion, Percussion, Bass, Keyboards, Melodica, Drums, Violin, Banjo
Enrique "Bugs" Gonzalez - Drums/Percussion

More than three decades have passed since Los Lobos released their debut album, Just Another Band from East L.A. Since then they’ve repeatedly disproven that title—Los Lobos isn’t “just another” anything, but rather a band that has consistently evolved artistically while never losing sight of their humble roots.

Los Lobos were already East L.A. neighborhood legends, Sunset Strip regulars and a Grammy Award winning band (Best Mexican-American/Tejano Music Performance) by the time they recorded their major label debut How Will The Wolf Survive? in 1984.
Although the album’s name and title song were inspired by a National Geographic article about real life wolves in the wild, the band—David Hidalgo, Louie Perez, Cesar Rosas, Conrad Lozano and Steve Berlin—saw parallels with their struggle to gain mainstream rock success while maintaining their Mexican roots. Perez, the band’s drummer, once called their powerhouse mix of rock, Tex-Mex, country, folk, R&B, blues and traditional Spanish and Mexican music “the soundtrack of the barrio.” Three decades, two more Grammys, a worldwide smash single (“La Bamba”) and thousands of rollicking performances across the globe later, Los Lobos is surviving quite well -- and still jamming with the same raw intensity as they had when they began in that garage in 1973. The band chronicles a key moment of their expansive journey on Disconnected In New York City, a dynamic live album that marks the band’s 40th anniversary and launches their new association with 429 Records.
Recorded over two nights in December 2012 at The City Winery in NYC, the engaging 12-song set celebrates Los Lobos’ great legacy as a freewheeling and unpredictable live band, which most recently includes touring in Europe with Neil Young and Crazy Horse in June 2013. Disconnected in New York City features fresh interpretations of songs from throughout their three decade recording career, including their first ever live recording of “La Bamba,” their worldwide pop crossover hit from the 1987 film which reached #1 on the U.S. and UK singles chart and whose video won a 1988 MTV Music Video Award. The collection covers the band’s 25 year studio discography, from “Gotta Let You Know” (a bouncy zydeco rocker driven by Hidalgo’s accordion from How Will The Wolf Survive?) through “Tin Can Trust,” a bluesy rock ballad that was the title cut from their last studio release in 2010.
By design, Disconnected in New York City has songs that have been longtime staples of Los Lobos’ tours mixed with other gems that had somehow fallen by the wayside over the years. The mix includes the mid-tempo shuffling rocker title track from The Neighborhood (1990); the easy flowing and whimsical (thanks to Berlin’s jazzy sax solo) “Oh Yeah” (from This Time, 1999); the spirited, traditional flavored, Rosas penned Spanish language “Chuco’s Cumbia” (from The Town and the City, 2006); the graceful and spiritual “Tears of God” (from By The Light of the Moon, 1987); “La Venganza de Los Pelados,” a fiery burst of Latin rock fusion with mariachi textures (from The Ride, 2004); the soulful, simmering blues of “Little Things” (from The Town and The City, 2006); the Latin blues funk classic “Set Me Free Rosa Lee” (from By The Light of the Moon); and two mid tempo funk pop/rock tunes from 2002’s Good Morning Aztlan, “Maria Christina” and “Malaque.”
As per the literal meaning of its title, Disconnected In New York City sets itself apart from Los Lobos’ other acclaimed live recordings (most notably, 2005’s Live At the Fillmore) by stripping down the instrumentation for a mostly acoustic affair. Lozano, who drives the grooves with his bass and also plays the deep-bodied Mexican 6-string acoustic bass called the guitarron, says, “It’s funny because when the venue hired us, they specifically requested that we do something acoustic to fit its smaller dinner house vibe. The idea popped into our heads to ask them if we could record it and they were cool with that.

“We’re well known for our electric, high energy performances but we’ve done acoustic stuff for certain smaller auditorium tours,” he says. “Playing these songs acoustically makes them feel more intimate. We notice that when you play softer and quieter, the audience tends to pay attention to everything we’re doing. When you play rock, they’re thinking more about rhythm than melodies and lyrics, but playing them this way allows for more subtle elements of the songs to stand out.”

Perez laughs when he calls the Los Lobos Unplugged experience “folk music for the hearing impaired - it’s still loud because the acoustic instruments are amplified! The idea of making a record like this came from never having the opportunity to work some of our favorite songs from over the years into our usual sets. Because most tours are done in support of new albums, the fresh material we play means that some favorite older tunes fall away over time. When we thought about making another live album and what would make it different, the logical concept was to revisit songs we haven’t played in a while but had been requested by a lot of fans. We had already documented our rock show with Fillmore, so we felt kind of liberated to take another approach with this one.

“There are two challenges releasing a live album, though,” Perez continues. “One is choosing certain songs over other ones. It’s like having kids. We love Tommy as much as Johnny but one day Johnny gets to go the park today and Johnny stays home. In spite of this, we do cover a lot of ground. The biggest problem is the way people sometimes perceive live albums, like they’re an afterthought put out to fill some kind of gap. Bands love doing them but fans don’t always pay attention. But historically, it can be a license for great creativity. Jimi Hendrix did Band of Gypsies to fulfill his last recording commitment, but it was one of the most incredible recordings he ever made. Because Disconnected in New York City marks a key anniversary and the start of us working with a new label, we put a lot of thought into the project, from its design and structure and how we performed the songs.”

Steve Berlin is Los Lobos’ saxophonist, flutist and harmonica player who met the band while still with seminal L.A. rockers The Blasters. He joined the group after performing on and co-producing (with T-Bone Burnett) their breakthrough 1983 EP …And A Time To Dance. Though he wasn’t jamming with the others way back in the “Krypton days” (as Perez calls it) in the barrio garage, Berlin felt it was important to find a special way to mark his cohorts’ 40th year--just as they had done on their 30th by inviting special guests (Dave Alvin, Bobby Womack, Elvis Costello, Mavis Staples) to be part of their 2004 date The Ride.

“Trying to figure out a way to acknowledge 40 years as a band is harder than you might think,” he says. “We got to play with all of our heroes on our 30th so what was something we had not done? So, like Louie said, we thought the best thing was to bring back songs we rarely if ever play and put them into a fresh context. We wanted to create something of value for our fans that would reflect the mutual appreciation we share with them – starting, of course, with ‘La Bamba,’ which we had never documented live before. I think it was important also that once we knew the set lists for the shows that we would eventually choose the final tracking from, we didn’t over-think the arrangements. We only rehearsed these shows for a single day. The coolest part of how Disconnected worked out is that we hadn’t been doing some of these songs long enough to worry about how to pull them off. And because we performed them acoustically, we couldn’t just blast everyone with power and skate through them. We had to be present and make the choices that occurred to us in each moment.”

Around the time of their last big anniversary Rolling Stone magazine summed up that distinctive, diverse and spontaneous Los Lobos aesthetic perfectly: “This is what happens when five guys create a magical sound, then stick together for 30 years to see how far it can take them.” Most fans know that the group came together from three separate units. Hidalgo, the band’s lead vocalist/guitarist (whose arsenal includes accordion, percussion, bass, keyboards, melodic, drums, violin and banjo) met Perez at Garfield High in East LA and started a garage band. Rosas, who plays guitar and mandolin, had his own group, and Lozano launched a power trio. “But we all hung out because we were friends and making music was just the natural progression of things,” says Perez. “Like if you hang around a barbershop long enough, you’re going to get a haircut.”
Looking back at the historical and cultural sweep of the band, Lozano sees the release of Disconnected In New York City as Los Lobos coming full circle. “A lot of people forget that though we were rock musicians when we got out of high school, the band started off as an acoustic outfit,” he says. “We wanted to play Mexican folk music because those were our roots and there was this whole Chicano awareness thing happening back in the early 70s. We started to pay attention to our traditions and culture, and focused on those styles of music for years. We studied music from every region of Mexico, learned how to play all these authentic instruments. So that’s what we did for ten years until we decided to play rock again by bringing in drum and electric bass.

“We were playing this restaurant gig for two years, and some small local clubs, playing the same songs, when people in the crowd started shouting out, ‘Do you know any Beatles or Grateful Dead tunes?’” Lozano adds. “Soon we got fired from the restaurant and headed back to the garage to write our first original songs that were rock with some accordion on them: ‘Let’s Say Goodnight’ and ‘How Much Can I Do?’ We made a little tape and gave it to the guys in The Blasters, which included Steve Berlin, when we went to see them live on Sunset Strip. They loved our tunes and invited us to open their show at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go, which was the first time Los Lobos performed on the other side of the Los Angeles River. We played some originals and old favorites by Hendrix, Cream, The Yardbirds and Beatles – all the stuff we loved as kids. The icing on the cake is that the audience loved it, too.”

OFFICIAL SITE

7702 - LONGDANCER - Trailer For A Good Life (1974)

LONGDANCER
''TRAILER FOR A GOOD LIFE''
1974
38:05

1 - Trailer 4:06
2 - Take A Song 3:17
3 - Sandy's Song 3:02
4 - Rosemary 3:00
5 - Country Song 5:12
6 - Sweet Leaves 3:17
7 - Mother Nature 3:41
8 - The Ship 4:35
9 - Cold Love 5:28
10 - Hard Road 2:24

The Bones/Vocals
Brian Harrison/Bass, Guitar, Vocals
Matt Irving/Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
Tommy McCarthy/Pipe
Del Newman/Keyboards
Popart Strings/Strings
Judd Proctor/Banjo
Charles Smith/Drums, Vocals
Steve Sproxton/Guitar, Vocals
Dave Stewart/Bass, Guitar, Vocals
Charles M. Young/Vocals

Longdancer were a 4-piece music group from England from the early 1970s. They signed to Elton John's Rocket Record label. Releases included the single "If It Was So Simple" and albums If It Was So Simple (1973) and Trailer For A Good Life (1974).

They had little commercial success and would be virtually forgotten except that the line-up included a teenage David A. Stewart, who later enjoyed huge success in Eurythmics.

7701 - DAVID KUBINEC (KUBIE) - Day Of The Madman (1974)

KUBIE
''DAY OF THE MADMAN''
1974
33:37

1 - Insight 2:32
2 - Orlando 2:48
3 - Breathing Space 3:47
4 - Clouds 2:34
5 - Easily Done 3:05
6 - Fly By 2:17
7 - Mother 2:10
8 - Day Of The Madman 3:24
9 - Falling Down 2:44
10 - The Riddle 2:30
11 - Jesus Saves 3:02
12 - Keeping On 2:37
All Tracks By Kubinec

Kubie - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Graham Jones - Piano, Organ, Guitar
Chris Lawrence - Bass
Harvey Burns - Drums

BIOGRAPHY
by Bruce Eder
David "Kubie" Kubinec (sometimes erroneously spelled "Kubinek") has led one of the longer and more diverse careers in rock & roll, from the post-British Invasion beat boom of the mid-'60s through the glam rock era of the 1970s and beyond, active right into the 21st century. He began his career playing keyboards and singing with an R&B-based outfit called the Pieces of Mind, who spent most of their time in Hamburg, Germany -- close to two years there, by some accounts, between 1965 and 1967 -- before he returned home to England. He joined up with Christopher Robin and David Reay, veterans of another band called the Mayfair Set, and Tony Clarkson, to form the World of Oz, a psychedelic pop outfit that started out with a lot of promise, and scored a hit with Kubinec's song "Muffin Man" on the Deram label. For reasons that have never been exactly clear, he left before the group could finish work on the album to follow that song, which was a huge hit in Holland and also charted in half a dozen other countries, as far away as New Zealand and South Africa.

The Geneva TapesKubinec was still writing songs and looking for an outlet for his music on record as the 1960s gave way to the 1970s. He'd briefly passed through a progressive rock/jazz fusion outfit christened Mainhorse Airline in 1969, which included a young Patrick Moraz on keyboards. Not much remembered today, they opened for Free, Humble Pie, and Canned Heat, and even had a newly organized Supertramp open for them on occasion, during their brief existence in 1969-1970 (their work was finally released decades after the fact on The Geneva Tapes). In 1973, the stars all finally seemed to line up in his favor again. He crossed paths with and suitably impressed Adrian Millar, a producer/manager who had lately been in the business orbit of Black Sabbath, no less. Legend has it that he showed up at Millar's home unannounced, guitar in hand, and auditioned before the unprepared impresario and carried the day. Andrew Oldham was involved for a time in attempting to get Kubinec a recording deal, to no avail, and then Millar decided that he would have a better chance as a frontman in a band, rather than as a solo act.
A hard rock band featuring Graham Quinton-Jones, Chris Bailey, and Peter Kirke was recruited and a test recording made to try out with Kubinec -- and even that test recording elicited interest from a newly founded German label, which was fine for Millar and even the bandmembers, but still did Kubinec little good. But it did convince Millar that this was the way to go with his songs, and he was put in as vocalist/leader and recorded in that context. After some more false starts with a couple of major outlets (including one film company, Paramount Pictures, that had a dying label on its hands), Millar went for a deal involving a small U.K. company called Goodear Records, distributed by Pye Records. The band and the album were christened the Rats, and their mix of singer/songwriter intensity and glam rock sensibilities might even have found their moment -- this was when artists such as David Bowie and Kevin Coyne were generating massive amount of press -- if not for Pye Records' lamentable distribution which, by 1973, was a shadow of what it had been in the previous decade. The album and the single, "Turtle Dove," both died on the vine. The actual band situation was made worse by a membership change during the recording, so that the group that existed to promote the record wasn't quite the same one that had made it.

All of that effort came to little, and Kubinec spent the next few years looking for a musical setting that worked. He did get signed to A&M Records for one solo album in 1978, which was released as Some Things Never Change and featured Chris Spedding on guitar and John Cale in the producer's chair. Since then, Kubinec has been an object of cult admiration, especially in England and Germany, his reputation rising whenever one of his earlier efforts, such as the music of the World of Oz or the Rats, surfaces on reissues. In 2007, his name was once more on the front end of an archival CD release as his work with Mainhorse Airline was issued on CD.

7700 - ROBBIE ROBERTSON - The Best Of Robbie Robertson - The Millennium Collection (2006)

ROBBIE ROBERTSON
''THE BEST OF ROBBIE ROBERTSON - THE MILLENNIUM COLLECTION''
2006
68:41

1 - Testimony 4:46
2 - Somewhere Down The Crazy River 4:50
3 - Sonny Got Caught In The Moonlight 3:49
4 - Sweet Fire Of Love (Ft U2) 5:14
Adam Clayton / Larry Mullen, Jr. / Robbie Robertson
5 - Showdown At Big Sky 4:44
6 - Broken Arrow 5:21
7 - Fallen Angel 5:50
Martin Page / Robbie Robertson
8 - Go Back To Your Woods 4:47
Bruce Hornsby / Robbie Robertson
9 - What About Now 5:07
Ivan Neville / Robbie Robertson
10 - Resurrection 5:17
11 - Night Parade 5:06
12 - Day Of Reckoning 6:41
David Ricketts / Robbie Robertson
13 - Sacrifice 6:16
Robbie Robertson / Marius de Vries

Tracks: 1-7 From the album "Robbie Robertson" (1987)
Tracks: 8-12 From the album "Storyville" (1991)
Track: 13 From single (1997)

BIOGRAPHY
By Jason Ankeny
One of the premier songwriters of the rock era, Robbie Robertson was born July 5, 1943, in Toronto, Ontario. The son of a Jewish father and Mohawk mother, Jaime Robbie Robertson's first brush with live music came at the Six Nations Reservation, his mother's girlhood home; at the age of five, he also gained exposure to the country music of rural America. Not long after, he began taking guitar lessons from a cousin, and gradually began composing his first songs. As time wore on, his musical interests evolved from country to big band to rock, and he eventually dropped out of school to pursue a career as a performer.

In 1958, he hooked up with rockabilly star Ronnie Hawkins' backing band the Hawks, joining fellow sidemen Levon Helm, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, and Richard Manuel. After remaining with Hawkins through 1963, the Hawks began working on their own; they soon came to the attention of Bob Dylan, and became the support unit on the singer's now-legendary 1965-1966 world tour. Continuing their affiliation with Dylan, the group, renamed simply the Band, went on to become one of rock's seminal acts; propelled by Robertson's acute, evocative examinations of American mythology and lore, they made a series of seminal LPs, including 1968's Music from Big Pink and the following year's self-titled masterpiece.

the Band dissolved on Thanksgiving Day 1976 following an all-star concert filmed by director Martin Scorsese and later released as The Last Waltz. The project marked the beginning of Robertson's long affiliation with Scorsese, as well as an interest in dramatic acting; in 1980, Robertson produced and starred in Carny, co-starring Jodie Foster and Gary Busey. Also in 1980, he composed the score to Scorsese's brilliant Raging Bull, and continued to confine his musical activity to the film medium for the next several years, later working with Scorsese on the acerbic 1983 satire The King of Comedy and 1986's The Color of Money, the sequel to The Hustler.

Finally, in 1987 Robertson released his self-titled solo debut, which included guest appearances from onetime Band-mates Danko and Hudson as well as U2, Peter Gabriel, Daniel Lanois, and Gil Evans. Storyville, a conceptual piece steeped in the sounds and imagery of a famed area of New Orleans, followed in 1991. In 1994, Robertson returned to his roots, teaming with the Native American group the Red Road Ensemble for Music for the Native Americans, a collection of songs composed for a television documentary series. Contact from the Underworld of Redboy followed in 1998.

In 2000, Robertson joined Dreamworks as a creative executive; he signed Nelly Furtado and other artists to the label. In 2002, he performed at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, UT. He appeared on Jerry Lee Lewis' comeback recording Last Man Standing in 2006, and made an appearance at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival in 2007. Robertson also remained close to Scorsese. He composed, consulted on, and produced soundtracks for Casino and The Departed, and acted as executive music director on Gangs of New York. He also contributed original music to Shutter Island. Robertson returned to recording with the album How to Become Clairvoyant on the 429 Records imprint in 2011. The album featured guest appearances by Clapton, Steve Winwood, Trent Reznor, Robert Randolph, Tom Morello, and Angela McCluskey.

OFFICIAL SITE

7699 - JOHN WILSON'S TASTE OF RORY - A Tribute To The Music Of Rory Gallagher (2010)

JOHN WILSON'S TASTE OF RORY
''A TRIBUTE TO THE MUSIC OF RORY GALLAGHER''
JUNE 12 2010
33:29

1 - Blister On The Moon 4:30
2 - Morning Sun 6:00
3- Born OnThe Wrong Side Of Time 3:36
4 - Railway And Gun 4:51
5 - Dual Carraige Way Pain 2:54
6 - Same Old Story 3:50
7 - Eat My Words 3:15
8 - Whats Going On 3:42

TASTE TO REFORM
RORY GALLAGHER'S OLD BAND MEMBERS TO RELEASE TWO NEW ALBUMS (18/06/2009)
By culture northernireland org
One of Ireland’s most fondly remembered rock/blues bands Taste, founded by the legendary guitar icon Rory Gallagher, are making a sensational comeback to mark the 40th anniversary of the release of their first studio album.

The 2009 Taste line-up are also touring Northern Ireland in mid-June and releasing two brand new albums, one of them a tribute to the music of their late friend and colleague, Gallagher, who died 14 years ago.

The driving force behind the revival is County Down-based drummer John Wilson who, along with Omagh-born bass player Charlie McCracken, helped Gallagher shape the ground-breaking albums Taste and On the Boards in 1969.

Wilson is also launching a new record label, Harlan Wolf, designed to promote blues bands and musicians in Ireland. The new Taste frontman is the multi-talented Belfast singer-guitarist Sam
Davidson, a popular figure on the music scene in Northern Ireland for years.

'It is a hard ticket being the guitarist in Taste, but Sam is a magnificent musician with his own distinctive style,' comments Wilson. 'He doesn’t try to copy Rory. He is very much his own man.'

McCracken, who now lives in London, will play with Taste regularly but for the forthcoming Irish gigs his shoes will be ably filled by Nicky Scott, one of Ireland’s most respected bass guitarists, who has played with Van Morrison's band.

Wilson, McCracken and Davidson revived Taste on a part-time basis several years ago but such was the response to their concerts that the band have now decided to go full-time. 'It is quite amazing just how many people remember Taste with affection, especially in Europe,' continues Wilson. 'Obviously there is a strong connection with Rory Gallagher whose fans currently run no fewer than 50 fan sites for him.

'But while many musicians play Rory’s later material from the era after our band split up, we play the old Taste songs because they are our songs too. Charlie and I were integral members of the band and made a significant contribution to the music. It is still a great thrill for us to play the old Taste songs.'

The part-time Taste played gigs all over the world. 'We were in Russia one week, America the next. And the reason why we have decided to go full-time is because of the pressure from fans telling us they want to see us.'

One of the albums which Taste are releasing is called John Wilson’s Taste of Rory, his own heartfelt tribute to Gallagher, the band and their music. Eight of Taste’s classic tracks, including 'Blister on the Moon' and 'Same Old Story', are re-worked by the new line-up on the album.

In the band’s second release, Wall to Wall, Taste have recorded ten new blues and rock songs written by Wilson and Davidson, who have signed a major distribution deal with a French record label, Bad Reputation.

'They’re powerful songs which reflect the energy and drive of the old Taste but they have a very distinct and fresh sound too,' admits the 61-year old Wilson, who has the unique distinction of having played alongside not only Rory Gallagher but also Van Morrison in his old group, Them.

Wilson and Davidson have also designed a new recording studio in Newtownards to allow up and coming - and established - blues artists to showcase their work. 'The talent out there is quite remarkable,' says Wilson 'Yet the opportunities for them to record their music are limited. We aim to change all that with a dynamic collective behind the new record label which will be a platform for bands like Swanee River and musicians like Lee Hedley and Mike Wilgar.'

The name of the label Harlan Wolf is, of course, a playful amalgam of the names of Northern Ireland’s most famous industrial company Harland and Wolff and the American blues maestro, Howling Wolf.

The Taste tour in Northern Ireland kicks off in Strule arts centre in Omagh on Thursday, June 18. On the following night, Taste play the Black Box in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter and on Sunday, June 21 they will be playing Sandinos in Derry.

Taste will also be touring England and Europe in September, October and November. A DVD of the history of Taste, stretching right back to their formation in Cork, is also planned.

7698 - ALLISON TRASH - Do You Come With The Drink? (2013) (REPOST)

ALLISON TRASH
''DO YOU COME WITH THE DRINK?''
2013
55:53

1 - You Better Thank Me/4:12
2 - Whoa Baby/3:53
3 - It's Open House/3:08
4 - Some Of That Ricky/5:09
5 - Put That Toy Down/5:35
6 - Rubies Of Foolishness/5:03
7 - Do You Come With The Drink/7:04
8 - Thrash And Moan/3:12
9 - Woman Enough/6:36
10 - Last Night The Blues Came/3:44
11 - No Poaching/3:44
12 - The Dust Has Cleared/5:42

Vocals: Allison Thrash
Additional Vocals: Hunt Sales
Guitars: Tjarko Jeen, Johnny Moeller, Hunt Sales
Bass: Gil T Isais, James Elmo (Jes) Sproat
Synth Bass: Hunt Sales
Drums: Barry "Frosty" Smith, Damian Llanes, Trevor Detling
Keyboards: Billy Young, Matt Ferrell, Damian O'Grady
Hammond Organ: Mike Flanigin
Percussion: Hunt Sales
Grooveline Horns:
Trumpet: Fernando Castillo
Saxophone: Carlos Sosa
Trombone: Reggie Watkins
Harmonicas: Ted Roddy

OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY
Fondly claiming dual citizenship in Austin and Houston, Texas, Allison Thrash and her handpicked band of talented and seasoned Blues/Jazz musicians deliver heart-to-heart original Texas Blues penned by a woman who knows it well. Texas Music Magazine, Winter 2010 reports ”…now based in Austin, sultry, powerhouse Allison Thrash describes her sound as “Thrash and Moan Blues”…That’s no mere pun though–it’s a promise.”

Allison Thrash was featured in the February 2012 release of American Blues News in an interview for their national and international readers. She was also interviewed and featured by GoGirls Music in both their March and July 2012 releases.

This year during Austin’s 2012 SXSW Music Festival, Thrash performed her own brand of Blues in her showcase sponsored by Planet LA Records (a leading indie label and music publisher based in Los Angeles, CA with a roster of national and international artists). She performed at the June 2012 Houston (Texas) Beer Festival (10,000 attendees) and headlined at the July 2012 Browngrass Festival in Rabbit Hash, Kentucky, where its famed music fans delightedly called for two encore performances.

With her regular performances in and around Austin’s Sixth Street and South Congress Districts and additional shows this year throughout Texas and the nation, along with the planned Fall release of her third album, Allison Thrash is spreading her word and collecting music disciples along her way!

Thrash was chosen to showcase as a headliner at NXNE’s 2005 Music Conference in Toronto where she performed to a sell-out crowd. Also in 2005, she performed with the legendary Hosea Hargrove on the stage of the Historic Victory Grill (the only venue from the Chitlin’ Circuit still actively hosting shows). She was chosen to perform for the 2006 COORS Light Presents Music Festival at San Antonio’s Historic Sunset Station’s House of Blues. Also in 2006, she performed with the legendary Pinetop Perkins on the stage of Austin’s premiere Blues venue Nunos on Sixth Street. She was chosen to showcase as an Emerging Artist at Arkansas’ 2007 Heritage & (King Biscuit) Blues Festival where she was embraced by the Delta Blues community. Also in 2007, she performed at the internationally acclaimed McGonigel’s Mucky Duck in Houston. She was chosen to perform at the 2008 ZilkerFest Annual Festival, one of Austin’s favored annual music events. She was chosen to perform during the 2010 Republic of Texas (ROT) Rally & Music Festival, one of the nation’s top festivals with attendance numbers averaging between 30,000 and 40,000. Also in 2010, she was chosen to showcase at the Spring Fling Music Festival, produced by AMU Communications and hosted by Giddy Ups, one of the last remaining true honky tonks in Texas.

Thrash received Honorable Mention awards in the World Music Category of the 2009 Billboard Magazine Song Contest for her songs, Last Night the Blues Came, Fight Dirty, Gimme Some Solitude and Mother. She received an Honorable Mention award in the R&B Category of the 2009 John Lennon Songwriting Contest for her song, Last Night the Blues Came. She performed as the ASCAP Songwriter for the Austin Songwriters Group’s Songwriters in the Round at the renowned Saxon Pub, Austin, TX. She received a First Place award in the R&B Category of the Austin Songwriters Group’s annual competition for her song, Memories Lounge. She performed as an invited singer-songwriter for the Austin Songwriters Group’s Songwriters in the Round at the acclaimed The Backyard, Austin, TX. Hit and Run Music picked up her song, Memories Lounge, while her song, Woman Enough, was picked up by Hamstein Publishing, both formerly of Austin, TX. She was the featured musical act for the Texas Legislature’s End of Session event at the historic Broken Spoke, Austin, TX. She performed as an invited singer-songwriter for the Women Who Rock Songwriters Showcase, at the El Mercado Music Lounge, Austin, TX. She performed as an invited singer-songwriter for the Songsalive Songwriters Showcase at Oslo’s on 6th Street, Austin, TX. All her tracks are receiving worldwide radio and internet airplay, including Hambone’s Rumshack (UK), Midnight Special Blues Radio (FR), Women of Substance Radio, Dr. Lou Radio Show, 104.7FM iRadio LA and many more.

Thrash has focused on writing and performing, working with such artists as Matt Hubbard (Willie Nelson, Fastball), Philippe Vieux (Bonnie Raitt), Ephraim Owens (Doyle Bramhall), Kaz Kazanoff (The Texas Horns, Hubert Sumlin, Buddy Guy) and is presently performing and touring with Trevor Detling (ThunderDrums Percussion), Tjarko Jeen (Ronnie Dawson, Modern Don Juans) and James Elmo (Jes) Sproat (Austin Civic Orchestra, Nash Hernandez Orchestra).

Thrash has also focused efforts toward television and film and new material for other artists, writing under Labrador Hill Music, her independent publishing company. In 2004, she released her full-length CD of ten original Blues songs, Talking Thrash. In 2006, she released a four-song promotional EP, Brace Yourself, comprised of three of her own Blues tunes, after which came another 2008 four-song promotional EP of originals, Fight Dirty. Her 2009 release, Solitude, is another full-length CD highlighting twelve of her original Blues songs. With the anticipated Fall 2012 release of her third full-length CD, stay tuned for more Thrash!

7697 - CHUCK PROPHET - Night Surfer (2014)

CHUCK PROPHET
''NIGHT SURFER''
SEPTEMBER 23 2014
46:23

1 Countrified Inner-City Technological Man
Klipschutz / Chuck Prophet 3:34
2 Wish Me Luck
James DePrato / Klipschutz / Chuck Prophet 3:37
3 Guilty as a Saint
Klipschutz / Chuck Prophet 3:52
4 They Don't Know About Me and You
Klipschutz / Chuck Prophet 3:37
5 Lonely Desolation
Klipschutz / Chuck Prophet 3:53
6 Laughing on the Inside
Klipschutz / Chuck Prophet 3:53
7 If I Was a Baby
Ezra Furman 3:10
8 Ford Econoline
Klipschutz / Chuck Prophet 3:41
9 Felony Glamour
Klipschutz / Chuck Prophet 3:34
10 Tell Me Anything (Turn to Gold)
Klipschutz / Chuck Prophet 3:22
11 Truth Will Out (Ballad of Melissa and Remy)
Klipschutz / Chuck Prophet 4:56
12 Love Is the Only Thing
Klipschutz / Chuck Prophet 5:14

Austin/Cello
Peter Buck/E-Bow, Guitar (12 String), Guitar (12 String Electric), Guitar (Resonator), Guitars, Hi String Guitar (Acoustic)
Chris Carmichael/Viola, Violin
James DePrato/Banjo, Guitar, Guitars
Stephanie Finch/Vocals
Austin Hoke/Cello
Jim Hoke/Woodwind
Brad Jones/Bass, Bells, String Arrangements
Rusty Miller/Arp String Ensemble, Bass, Bells, Hammond B3, Mellotron, Organ, Piano, Vocals, Vox Continental
Prairie Prince/Drums, Percussion
Chuck Prophet/Guitar, Guitar (12 String Acoustic), Guitars, Vocals, Wurlitzer
Bill Rieflin/Drums, Percussion
Matt Winegar/Guitar, Keyboards, Sitar

BIOGRAPHY
by Denise Sullivan
Chuck Prophet hit the road straight out of high school in the '80s with the psychedelic roots band Green on Red, and he never looked back. In addition to working as a singer/songwriter, guitarist, bandleader, and collaborator with artists as diverse as Cake, Kim Carnes, Solomon Burke, and Alejandro Escovedo, Prophet's deepening solo catalog of self-produced "sideways" roots rock has steadily become his calling card.

Born in the Southern California suburb of Whittier, the San Francisco-based Prophet made his debut as a solo artist in 1990 with Brother Aldo; one U.K. music paper called its collision of lo-fi and country "as close to the genuine article as a white boy can get." Developing his style over the course of seven albums, including Balinese Dancer (1993) and Feast of Hearts (1995), Prophet hit his stride with his gritty meditation on suburbia, Homemade Blood (1997), followed by the studio-tweaked and poetic The Hurting Business (1998) and the streetwise epic No Other Love (2002), which sparked the radio hit "Summertime Thing," while the title track was covered by Heart.

Prophet's 2004 release Age of Miracles marries vintage sounds with state-of-the-art studio technique, while never compromising its raw roots foundation. Released in 2007, Soap and Water barges through rock's barriers with a helping of swamp rock and hip-hop. Between albums, Kelly Willis and Boz Scaggs are among the many artists who've laid down versions of Prophet's songs, while his guitar tracks have shown up on recordings from Warren Zevon, Lucinda Williams, and Jewel. In 2005 and 2006, Prophet rejoined Green on Red as they reunited for a series of shows; one of the concerts was released on the album Valley Fever: Live in Tucson 2005.

Prophet continued to perform as a solo artist and with his band, the Mission Express, featuring his wife Stephanie Finch, on keyboards and vocals, and released Dreaming Waylon's Dreams in 2007, following it with a politically themed solo album, Let Freedom Ring, in 2009. The fascinating and ambitious Temple Beautiful, a concept album that tackles a sort of alternative history of Prophet's adopted San Francisco, arrived early in 2012. In 2014, Prophet returned with the album Night Surfer, which featured instrumental assistance from former R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck and Prairie Prince, drummer with the Tubes.

7696 - JOE BONAMASSA - Different Shades Of Blue (2014)

JOE BONAMASSA
''DIFFERENT SHADES OF BLUE''
SEPTEMBER 22 2014
48:19

1 Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)
Jimi Hendrix 1:19
2 Oh Beautiful!
Joe Bonamassa / James House 5:28
3 Love Ain't a Love Song
Joe Bonamassa / Jerry Flowers 3:48
4 Living on the Moon
Joe Bonamassa / James House 3:21
5 Heartache Follows Wherever I Go
Joe Bonamassa / James House 4:33
6 Never Give All Your Heart
Joe Bonamassa / Jonathan Cain 5:24
7 I Gave Up Everything for You, 'Cept the Blues
Joe Bonamassa / Jerry Flowers / Jeffrey Steele 4:39
8 Different Shades of Blue
Joe Bonamassa / James House 4:39
9 Get Back My Tomorrow
Joe Bonamassa / Jerry Flowers / Jeffrey Steele 4:46
10 Trouble Town
Joe Bonamassa / Gary Nicholson 4:56
11 So, What Would I Do
Joe Bonamassa 5:26

Joe Bonamassa - Guitar, Vocals
Reese Wynans - Organ, Piano
Anton Fig - Drums, Percussion
Carmine Rojas - Bass
Michael Rhodes - Bass
Lenny Castro - Percussion
Doug Henthorn - Backing Vocals
Melanie Williams - Backing Vocals
Lee Thornburg - Trumpet, Trombone, Horn Arrangements
Ron Dziubla - Saxophone
Bovaland Orchestra - Strings
Jeff Bova - String Arrangements

REVIEW
by Steve Leggett
Joe Bonamassa has moved far past his initial incarnation as a kid guitar wiz with a Stevie Ray Vaughan fascination, and has developed into an elegantly reverent guitarist and a fine singer as well, bringing a little R&B blue-eyed soul to the blues. For Different Shades of Blue, Bonamassa co-wrote songs with veteran Nashville songwriters Jeffrey Steele, Gary Nicholson, James House, Jerry Flowers, and Jonathan Cain, then took 11 of the songs and tracked them in Las Vegas at Studio at the Palms with producer Kevin Shirley and a solid band of studio musicians including Reese Wynans (organ, piano), Carmine Rojas (bass), Michael Rhodes (bass), Anton Fig (drums, percussion), Lenny Castro (percussion), Lee Thornburg (trumpet, trombone), Ron Dziubla (saxophone), the Bovaland Orchestra (strings), and background vocalists Doug Henthorn and Melanie Williams. Bonamassa used 20 different vintage guitars for the project, along with 13 different amps, and lists each one in the liner notes. Consequently, this is an album about guitar tones, as each song demands its own and Bonamassa empties the tool kit. The best songs here, like the poppy and R&B-laced "Love Ain't a Love Song," the hard-driving honky tonk blues "Never Give All Your Heart," and "Trouble Town," a slice of horn-driven garage blues, are vintage Bonamassa, blending all of his influences, from Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, and Rory Gallagher to Jimi Hendrix and Hank Garland, into his own voice for the blues. The clear highlight here, and undoubtedly already or soon to be a high point of Bonamassa's live shows, is the stately and powerful "Oh Beautiful!," which alternates between hushed vocals and slashing, soaring electric guitar breaks, a sort of 21st century version of Blind Willie Johnson adorned with tone washes and blistering guitar. It's a striking and timeless recording, and a great blues song by anyone's standards. The problem here, though, is that with the exception of the above songs, and maybe one or two others, the songs on Different Shades of Blue shade toward the generic side of things, and no matter how wonderful and gorgeous the guitar tones may be, it's hard to make a generic song sing memorably.

BIOGRAPHY
by MacKenzie Wilson
Guitar mastermind Joe Bonamassa, a young player with the childhood dream of playing music similar to legends like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, and Jimi Hendrix, was 22 when he inked a deal with Epic. Hailing from Utica, New York, Bonamassa could play the blues before he could drive a car. He first heard Stevie Ray Vaughan at age four and was instantly taken by Vaughan's high-powered playing. At age eight, he opened for B.B. King, and at age 12, he was playing regularly around upstate New York. It was soon thereafter that Bonamassa hooked up with the band Bloodline, which featured other musicians' sons: Waylon Krieger (Robby Krieger's son), Erin Davis (Miles Davis' drummer kid), and Berry Oakley, Jr. (son of the Allman Brothers bassist). Bloodline released a self-titled album, but Bonamassa wanted to move on. In summer 2000 he guested for Roger McGuinn on Jethro Tull's summer tour, later releasing his debut solo album, A New Day Yesterday. Produced by longtime fan Tom Dowd, the album marked a move toward a more organic and rock-sounding direction. He put together a power trio with drummer Kenny Kramme and bassist Eric Czar and hit the road to support the album.

Upon returning from the road, he hooked up with Dowd to record the muscular and sweeping studio disc So, It's Like That and released a document of the tour, A New Day Yesterday Live. The following year, Bonamassa put out Blues Deluxe, featuring nine cover versions of blues classics alongside three originals. The muscular You & Me appeared in 2006, followed by the more acoustic-tinged Sloe Gin in 2007. A year later, Bonamassa released the two-disc live album Live from Nowhere in Particular, followed in 2009 by The Ballad of John Henry. Late in 2009 he released the DVD Live from the Royal Albert Hall with guest spots from Eric Clapton and Paul Jones. In 2010, the guitarist released his first disc for the Premier Artists label, Black Rock, featuring a guest appearance by B.B. King. It was followed by the debut album from Black Country Communion, a blues-rock supergroup that put him in the company of bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes, drummer Jason Bonham, and keyboardist Derek Sherinian. Bonamassa, ever the overachiever, released his earthy Dust Bowl in March of 2011, followed by Black Country Communion's 2 in June and by his unique collaboration with vocalist Beth Hart on a searing collection of soul covers entitled Don't Explain in September.

In May of 2012, Bonamassa released Driving Towards the Daylight. The album reunited the guitarist with producer Kevin Shirley, who brought in Aerosmith's Brad Whitford to play rhythm guitar on the 11 tracks. Driving Towards the Daylight was a significant blues hit -- it topped the Billboard blues charts and debuted at number two on the overall British charts -- and Bonamassa didn't slow down. Early in 2013, he released a live CD/DVD set called An Acoustic Evening at the Vienna Opera House and prepared SeeSaw, a studio album of classic covers with vocalist Beth Hart. SeeSaw was released later in 2013, and Bonamassa and Hart followed it up with Live in Amsterdam in March of 2014. After the release of SeeSaw, Bonamassa returned to the studio once again with producer Shirley to record what would be his 11th solo studio album. As a thank-you to his fans for their continued support, Bonamassa announced that the album would be his first release to feature entirely original material. Different Shades of Blue appeared in the fall of 2014 featuring 11 new songs co-written by Bonamassa with various veteran Nashville songwriters.

7695 - JEFF MICHAELS - Open Late Night (2014)

JEFF MICHAELS
''OPEN LATE NIGHT''
2014
40:16

1 - You Got the Money 5:42
2 - Open Late Night 7:29
3 - One Last Cheap Cigar 5:08
4 - Light It Up 5:14
5 - Might Be the Last 7:36
6 - Sorry About the Bodies 3:45
7 - Upper East Side 4:57

OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY
The maturity in the phrasing and melodic statements are a far cry from lightning fast licks from the early days.

"There is a difference between music that coarsely entertains and merely propels a listener versus music that matters on a much deeper level, that truly has the timeless weight of truth, beauty and soul. I want to make music like that. Anything else at this point is inexcusable."

As Jeff is now nearly constantly ensconced in his studio, obviously his natural habitat, I sense a level of comfort and ease he evidently hasn't possessed in a long time... I knew him when he was couch surfing his way from gig to gig, skinnier than a toothpick and even though he was in many dire situations by today's standards, he smiled and carried on as if all was perfect; a king of the world, unaware of his royal bloodlines.

With a nearly nonexistent viable music outlet for the music he loves and chooses to explore and an antiquated yet disarming old school studio veteran approach coupled with the liberating freedom of limitless experimentation.

He's played thousands of the scrappiest gigs in some of the roughest places in Texas and beyond that you'd ever find yourself, and as a result knows how to throw a hell of a party for even the most hardened listener.

After realizing where the endless roadhouses were leading, he made the decision that changed everything. "First, I am going to relax and spend my time with family and friends. Then, I am going to glue myself to the studio whenever possible and I'm going to write, record and mix and I'm not going to stop; that's what I love to do." Little did he realize this would lead to the ultimate musical freedom; "I can play anything I want. I immediately adopted a Becker/Fagan-like philosophy that was essentially "I'll play the stuff I'm best at, then bring in exactly who I want for the rest. Mix it when I'm ready." The happy result is unstoppable.

This is a new chapter in his life; indifference to trends or market share, playing for the sake of playing, listening for the sake of listening and finding songs and himself in instruments he never knew he could play. This is going to be a great ride.
- July 2014

OFFICIAL SITE

7694 - KAREN CARROLL WITH THE MISSISSIPPI GRAVE DIGGERS - Evolution Revolution (2014)

KAREN CARROLL WITH THE MISSISSIPPI GRAVE DIGGERS
''EVOLUTION REVOLUTION''
2014
49:22

1 - What Is Hip 5:49
2 - It Is Still Called the Blues 5:38
3 - I'm Read 5:12
4 - Vicksburg Blues 4:50
5 - Your Love for Me 4:02
6 - Do You Ever Think About Me 4:16
7 - My Babe 5:11
8 - A Taste of Honey 4:50
9 - I Got My Mojo Working 10:03
10 - Just a Closer Walk with Thee 6:23

Karen Carroll – vocal, guitar
Andor Oláh – harp
Frankie Látó – violin
Gábor Gyöngyösi – Hammond organ
Johnnie Shepperd – guitar
Péter Szuna – bass
Gábor Oláh – drums

BIOGRAPHY
by Jason Ankeny
Blues singer Karen Carroll was seemingly destined for a career in music: not only was her mother Jeanne Carroll a blues and jazz vocalist as well, but her godparents were guitarist George Freeman and singer Bonnie Lee. Born in Chicago on January 30, 1958, Carroll started performing at the age of nine, joining her mother's band as a guitarist five years later; at 18 she struck out on her own, cutting her teeth in tiny South Side blues joints and developing a deep vocal style heavily influenced by jazz phrasing as well as the intensity of gospel. She made her recorded debut on Carey Bell's 1984 outing Son of a Gun, followed by the 1989 Eddie Lusk LP Professor Strut; Carroll made her solo debut with 1995's Had My Fun, returning two years later with Talk to the Hand.

7693 - SHANGHAI WOOLIES - The Adventures Of The Shanghay Woolies, Vol. 1 (20

SHANGHAI WOOLIES
''THE ADVENTURES OF THE SHANGHAI WOOLIES, VOL. 1''
2014
57:14

1 - Shwomp 4:55
2 - 9th & Horner 4:27
3 - Cheese It 3:11
4 - Woolie's Blues 3:07
5 - Sweet Tea 3:56
6 - Grape Crushed 4:57
7 - Come On Home, Baby 3:47
8 - Dreamin' I Suppose 5:16
9 - Rio De La Plata 4:40
10 - Tchango 5:57
11 - Romance in Bluesville 4:07
12 - Devil's Road 3:58
13 - You Break Me 4:12

Vocals: Brooke Zimet, Ben Medler, Nick O' Donnell & Michelle Medler
Trumpet: Gavin Bondy, Greg Garrett & James M Gregg
Saxophones & Clarinet: Michelle Medler
Trombone: Ben Medler
Guitars, Banjos & Washboard:Nick O' Donnell & Tyson Schmidling
Bass: Leah Hinchcliff & Bernardo Gomez
Drum set & Percussion: Joe Haegele

ABOUT
BY OFFICIAL SITE
“THE ADVENTURES OF THE SHANGHAI WOOLIES”
If Louis Armstrong, Django Reinhardt, Leon Redbone, Big Mama Thornton, Betty Boop and Bonnie and Clyde were in a band, this would be it, and this new album would be the story of their adventures in love and mayhem. The band is peopled with talented and colorful characters from both sides of the Columbia River — a classy clique of the NW’s best musicians bringing you their signature style of “hot music” inspired by the music of the 20’s and 30s. The band delivers the goods with a crackerjack collection of instruments — the doghouse aka the Big Bass, T-bone, Sax, Trumpet, Drums, no fewer than 2 guitars, 1 crooner and a hot jazz singer making for 1 killer ensemble. The tunes swing hard, the cats can really play, and the record is smashing. Best of all, the music will grab you by your arms, swing you around and before you know it you will be doing the Charleston.

OFFICIAL SITE

7692 - GERRY BEAUDOIN - The Complete Beaudoin (2009)

GERRY BEAUDOIN
''THE COMPLETE GERRY BEAUDOIN''
2009
77:00

1 - Take The A Train 4:27
2 - Jackie's Serenade 5:00
3 - It Had To Be You 4:53
4 - Blue Once Again 4:22
5 - My Romance 5:34
6 - Snail 3:13
7 - Lover Man 6:16
8 - Satin Doll 5:17
9 - Summertime 8:27
10 - Young And Foolish 3:58
11 - If I Should Lose You 6:00
12 - Body And Soul 5:42
13 - Mynah For McDounough 4:24
14 - Tenderly 4:25
15 - Uncle Lloyd's Blues 4:54

ALBUM NOTES
BY CDBABY
Gerry Beaudoin is an award winning jazz guitarist, arranger and producer. A "guitarists guitarist", Gerry has performed and recorded with a host of jazz and blues luminaires including saxophonists, Eddie" Cleanhead" Vinson, leader of the Artie Shaw Band, Dick Johnson, Fred Lipsius, Grammy winning saxophonist, arranger and founding member of the seminal jazz rock group Blood Sweat and Tears, and Rich latyielle and Doug James from America's favorite jump , blues band Roomful Of Blues, Kansas City blues and jazz piano legend Jay McShann, mandolin titan David Grisman, featured on this recording), and harmonica virtuoso Jerry Portnoy from the Eric Clapton and Muddy Waters bands. Gerry has performed and recorded with the cream of the crop of jazz guitar including jazz guitar legend Bucky Pizzarelli and his son John Pizzarelli, Howard Alden, Frank Vignola, Jimo Bruno, Andy Summers from the rock group the Police, and Jack Wilkins. A frequent performing and recording partner with rock superstar guitarist J.Geils from the J.Geils Band and blues icon Duke Robillard, Gerry founded the jazz guitar group New Guitar Summit which features Gerry, Jay, Duke and Howard Alden performing a history of jazz and blues guitar. In a distinguished career Gerry has been awarded music industry awards including a 1992 NAIRD award for best jazz recording, two Cadence jazz magazine Editors Choice awards, and been placed on the Grammy Awards ballot twice in his career. His beautiful, unique and expressive voice on guitar has thrilled audiences across the USA and Canada and has graced over forty recordings and three DVD's.

7691 - THE DUKE ROBILLARD BAND - Calling All Blues! (2014)

THE DUKE ROBILLARD BAND
''CALLING ALL BLUES!''
2014
39:25

1 - Down In Mexico 3:37
2 - I'm Gonna Quit My Baby 3:05
3 - Svengali 4:00
4 - Blues Beyond The Call Of Duty 4:43
5 - Emphasis On Memphis 3:56
Gary Nicholson / Ron Sexsmith
6 - Confusion Blues 2:58
7 - Motor Trouble 3:35
8 - Nasty Guitar 4:16
9 - Temptation 5:42
10 - She's So Fine 2:57
Duke Coleman
Tracks By Robillard, Except 5, 10

Duke Robillard - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Saz.
Bruce Bears - Acoustic Piano, Electric Piano, Hammond Organ, Lead Vocal, Backing Vocals
Brad Hallen - Acoustic Bass, Electric Bass, Backing Vocals
Mark Teixeira - Drums, Tambourine, Wine Bottles, Backing Vocals
Sunny Crownover - Lead Vocal, Backing Vocals
Rich Lataille - Alto And Tenor Saxophones
Mark Earley - Tenor And Baritone Saxophones
Doug Woolverton - Trumpet

BIOGRAPHY
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Duke Robillard is one of the founding members of Roomful of Blues, as well as one of the guitarists who replaced Jimmie Vaughan in the Fabulous Thunderbirds in 1990. Between that time, Robillard pursued a solo career that found him exploring more musically adventurous territory than either Roomful of Blues or the T-Birds. On his solo recordings, the guitarist dips into blues, rockabilly, jazz, and rock & roll, creating a unique fusion of American roots musics. In 1967, Duke Robillard formed Roomful of Blues in Westerly, RI. For the next decade, he led the band through numerous lineup changes before he decided that he had grown tired of the group.

Robillard left the band in 1979, initially signing on as rockabilly singer Robert Gordon's lead guitarist. After his stint with Gordon, Robillard joined the Legendary Blues Band. In 1981, the guitarist formed a new group, the Duke Robillard Band, which soon evolved into Duke Robillard & the Pleasure Kings. After a few years of touring, Duke Robillard & the Pleasure Kings landed a contract with Rounder Records, releasing their eponymous debut album in 1984. For the rest of the decade, the band toured America and released a series of albums on Rounder Records. Occasionally, the guitarist would release a jazz-oriented solo album.

In 1990, Robillard joined the Fabulous Thunderbirds. Even though he had become a member of the Austin group, the guitarist continued to record and tour as a solo artist, signing with the major label Point Blank/Virgin in 1994 for Temptation. Duke's Blues followed two years later, and after one more album for Virgin, 1997's Dangerous Place, Robillard signed to Shanachie for 1999's New Blues for Modern Man. Conversations in Swing Guitar followed later that year, and the prolific guitarist returned in mid-2000 with Explorer.

Robillard switched to the Stony Plain label with 2002's Living with the Blues, and began a steady run of releases for the imprint, including a second pairing with jazz guitarist Herb Ellis for More Conversations in Swing Guitar (2003). Exalted Lover followed later that same year. Blue Mood, a tribute to T-Bone Walker, and New Guitar Summit (which teamed Robillard with guitarists J. Geils and Gerry Beaudoin) both appeared in 2004. Guitar Groove-A-Rama was released in 2006. Robillard continued to explore the jazz and jump blues path with 2008's A Swingin Session with Duke Robillard. He returned to his early R&B influences for 2009's Stomp! The Blues Tonight. His next album for Stony Plain, Passport to the Blues, saw him returning to the blues in all its gritty glory.