Cover photo © 2021 Allison Morgan

 In This Issue 

Bucky O’Hare has our feature interview with slide guitar virtuoso, Joanna Connor. We have eight Blues reviews for you this week including a new music from West Side Joe & The Men Of Soul, Donna Herula, Bob Corritore, Maria Muldaur with Tuba Skinny, Tia Carroll, Rob Stone Featuring Elena Kato & Hiroshi Eguchi, Jesper Theis and Clarence Spady.

Our Video of the Week is Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials

 From The Editor’s Desk 

Hey Blues Fans,

Have you voted yet? In case you missed it the 2021 Blues Blast Music Awards voting started and remains open until 12:00pm CDT August 6th, 2021

Click HERE to vote NOW! (You may only vote once.)

In other news the summer Blues festivals season is heating up! Our friends at the Briggs Farm Blues Fest have a super Blues event this weekend. They feature Vanessa Collier, The Campbell Brothers, Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials and Ana Popovic on Friday and Scott Pemberton, Mac Arnold & Plate Full ‘O Blues, Victor Wainwright & The Train and Shemekia Copeland on Saturday. Plus they have some of the best camping for Blues lovers and a Back Porch Stage with continuous performers both days. For information and tickets, click on their ad below in this issues or visit https://www.briggsfarm.com.

Wishing you health, happiness and lots of Blues music!

Bob Kieser

This video is Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials playing “Too Much Alcohol” live in 2019. Ed is a hot act at Blues fests all summer this year.
(Click image to watch!)

You can catch Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials playing at the Briggs Farm Blues Festival in Pennsylvania on Friday July 9th. Check out Briggs Farm’s great lineup by clicking on their ad in this issue or visit: www.briggsfarm.com

You can also catch Lil’ Ed & The Blues Imperials at the Prairie Dog Blues Festival in Wisconsin on Friday July 30th. Check out Prairie Dog’s lineup by clicking on their ad in this issue or visit: www.prairiedogblues.com

“What I loved about Blues was that every Blues artist you heard, whether it be on record or in person, the real founding mothers and fathers, you know who they are as soon as you hear them play. That’s not so common nowadays. A lot of times I’m like ‘well who is that playing guitar who is that singing?’ But back then you knew Albert King, you knew B.B. King, you knew Robert Johnson, you knew Blind Willie Johnson. They were so unique and so different. I felt that was also because they honored who they were and let themselves come through music and songwriting.

“And I thought well I am who I am. Yes I heard Blues my whole life as a child because of my mom and saw it my whole life. It wasn’t like I put on a Stones record and found the Blues, no I heard Blues. But I also listened to Rock and I listened to Funk and I listened to Reggae. For me to shut that part of me off would kinda like not be true to who I was, so that was my thought process. Well this is me, yeah.”

Joanna Connor is a powerhouse Blueswoman who has dedicated her life to honoring her true self within her art. A soulful and enthralling singer Joanna can express the depth of emotion in her own lyrics as well as those written by others. But, Joanna is at heart a guitarist. A virtuoso of the slide guitar, Joanna cascades her slide over her Gibson Les Paul with passion and fire.

A YouTube viral video star for mind boggling clips of her six string acrobatics, Joanna’s concept of guitar and momentous live performance is born out of decades of training in Chicago clubs. Having learned from some of the greatest “founding mothers and fathers,” Joanna follows her muse into Funk, Rock, Soul, Jazz and even Hip Hop. It is this exciting weaving of styles into a real deal Blues framework that has won over audiences at her home base of Kingston Mines, one of Chicago’s landmark Blues clubs, and admirers like Vernon Reid, Slash, Tracii Guns and most recently collaborator Joe Bonamassa.

Joanna plays her slide guitar like a woman on fire. Exuding emotion and seemingly possessed by the spirit, Joanna plays her guitar almost vertically while switching between intricate lead runs to swooping deluges of sound. Sparked at an early age in her native Massachusetts and then born out of necessity on the South Side, Joanna’s slide technique has been developed over the years.

“I did take lessons in Massachusetts from a guy named Ron Johnson, he was really into Ry Cooder, a lot of the older Delta stuff. He turned me on to all of that. He’s like ‘hey I want to teach you the slide.’ I was like ‘okay.’ I didn’t really even know what it was, I knew but I didn’t know it. So he gave me a great foundation of technique. (In Chicago) I would just go to gigs and it was like I was the backup guitarist so I had one guitar. Well I’m not gonna be like (in a silly voice) ‘oh let me tune to an open tunning.’ I had to play. I would just throw the slide on and play.

“That was a contributing factor to my approach to the slide, just being in those situations. I combine slide with fretting, with tapping, with rhythm cause I play it on my pinky so that gives me a lot of freedom to do all of that. It just becomes another tool in my arsenal. I have been playing more and more slide cause I used to fret more I think because it was more difficult to me and I like the challenge, and I’m like ah slide it’s a breeze (haha). The slide is just so expressive. I can close my eyes and play the slide and not even look at the neck I been doing it so long.”

“My thought process when I’m playing is kind of a merry go round in my head or a circus. People say ‘oh you look so calm or you make so many faces.’ Man there’s so much going on up there. I try to get to a place where I’m totally into the music. I think all musicians look for that in the zone as they say. So I try to get there. I try to fit into the rhythmic qualities of the music with my playing. I’m very rhythm oriented. I’m definitely not a subtle player although at times I can be. I think you see that more on Rise some of the more subtle type guitar playing. But I get into this space where I, I don’t know, go for the throat, get a little aggressive. I just let it go. I want it to move you, I’ve always loved very passionate guitar players. I try to be that. If it happens, I hope it happens that way.

“I asked Joe Bonamassa ‘why me out of all these guitar players?’ He’s like ‘cause you have an intensity a lot of other people don’t have and you know how to channel it.’”

It was that intensity that Bonamassa wanted to channel when he approached Joanna about recording. Calling her style “lightning in a bottle” Bonamassa, helped Joanna bring to fruition a new record that sparkles with raw intensity: 4801 South Indiana Avenue.

“Back in 2014 one of my videos started to go kind of viral all over the world. It had only a million views on You Tube, but it was literally in every major newspaper around the world. You know 80 million views here, it was incredible. That happened, and then that happened again with another video and that caught the attention of Joe Bonamassa, Tracii Guns, Vernon Reid, Liberty DeVitto, recently Slash, I mean all these heavy hitters. And I always reach out to these people through the social media: ‘hey this is Joanna Connor, thank you so much if you ever want to get in touch with me.’ Cause you never know. Vernon Reid reached back, Tracii Guns reached back. But, Joe reached back and was like ‘I want to take the unknown out of your equation,’ he said ‘I can help you.’

“That was a couple years ago so we started this conversation and he made it come true. He’s like ‘well do you trust me, I have a vision for a record I want to make with you?’ Kinda like he wanted to take total control artistically and stuff. And I’m like yes, I mean I’ve made records I’ve produced myself for many years and do whatever I want to do so I’ve fulfilled that kind of longing let’s stay. I totally trusted him, I’m like ‘yeah you have a pretty good track record there Joe.’ And it was a complete honor. Over the course of like 6 months he got material and he’s like ‘I want to make a real Chicago Blues record.’ To capture what I do on stage throughout the whole record. He called it lightning in a bottle. He goes ‘you trust me? cause I’m gonna work you really hard.’ I’m like ‘well I’m used to workin’ really hard.’”

“It happened in February of 2020. Got tickets to Nashville and Ocean Way Studios, which is a really legendary studio. He assembled the cast of musicians along with Josh Smith, who I’d known since he was like 13. He used to jam with me in Florida so I was real familiar with him. And the engineer happened to be someone who was from Chicago who’s been in California a long time doing really big things winning Grammys. He’s like ‘I used to sneak out of my house in High School to see your band (haha).’ And probably the greatest thing was playing with Reese Wynans whose Joe’s keyboard player and of course was Stevie Ray Vaughan’s keyboard player and the Allman Brothers once upon a time.”

“So I landed in Nashville, and the next day I went to Joe’s place in Nashville. Him and Josh picked like Blues songs that were not typically covered and arranged them, gave them a little twist. So I’m sitting in the middle of Josh and Joe with their guitars totally just fangirling, geeking out there. The next day, picked out some gear, and he’s like here play this amp, play this guitar. Then we went in the studio and literally the whole album was cut in 2 days and then I went in and did vocals for a couple days. So like 5 days we did the whole record. And he told the band he’s like ‘listen if we don’t get any of these songs in 2 or 3 takes we are gonna move on because I want it to be raw and fresh and exciting.’

“He really set up the studio like we were all in one room. We were all together in a little circle. I cut all the guitar stuff live. I don’t know, it was just one of those amazing moments that you dream of happening where everything’s flowing, everybody’s inspired, it all works. I mean I was incredibly nervous going down there like oh my god I’m gonna sit in front of these guitar gods. And here I am and yeah I’m who I am, and I’m not putting myself down, this is just walking into some big stuff here, big platform. Joe and I really melded personally and musically. He’s actually super funny, he’s very sarcastic and dry humor which if you grew up on the East Coast you’re used to that.

“So I felt sort of totally at ease. When we were done he was like ‘well we really put out a really raw Chicago kick ass Blues record.’ Then he came up with the concept of well what were some of the older clubs, the addresses. Kinda like a homage but we didn’t want to just be like play traditional traditional to the letter, we still breath fresh life into it. Literally the whole record was Joe’s concept and Josh’s arrangement. Joe really pushed me hard in the vocals, he was like ‘I want your vocals to be as tough as your playing.”

The hard work paid off, 4801 South Indiana Avenue, which was the address of the famous Theresa’s Lounge, is a fresh in the moment testament to Joanna’s live performance. However, the “big platform” of this most recent record doesn’t dim the sparkle and depth of her long career. 2019’s Rise is possibly Joanna’s most eclectic and representative album. Influenced by her son, a Hip Hop producer, Joanna expanded her pallet creating a mix of straight up Blues, Funk, Fusion Jazz and Hip Hop, Rise sets a standard for what Contemporary Blues can be. Joanna describes the journey:

“My shows are pretty eclectic and always have been. It’s loved by some and hated by some, you know. Mike Zito and Albert Castiglia come up to me and they go ‘you’re a trend setter we used to go watch you play. You were combining Blues and Funk and Rock with the Blues and yeah people had done it, but, you really did it in a certain way and we kinda were inspired by you.’ I was like ‘really I had no ideas.’

“But it wasn’t always a great place to be because some more traditional people kinda pushed me to the margins like ‘nah we can’t have this.’ But whatever, it was all good I still managed to make a living and make records. With that record I really wanted to feature kinda what my band was about at the time. I had a couple different drummers, my bass player was amazing, they’re all Chicago guys. It was still kinda the same premise, we went in and we cut everything live. There was a little more overdubbing on my part, some songs had 4 or 5 guitars on them. My son is actually in LA now, he’s a producer out there. My kids both loved hip hop and my son being so intimately involved with it I would go by his place his little studio I was like I have this song I wrote and I’d love to have a rap thing on it. I heard this one rapper and I was like oh man I really like the way he sounds. So we ended up meeting in the studio and he wrote some lyrics for me and being on a couple more things. So it was a nice meeting, Alphonso (Buggz Dinnero).

“It was cool, we kind of got off in different directions, kind of a Crusaders feel on some of the things. I love the 70’s Jazz-Fusion kind of thing. We had some real kick ass Blues songs on there. We had an acoustic piece on there. So it was featuring what I was about at the time. I mean I love it. But, some people can’t pigeon hole the record cause it’s kind of all over the map, if you follow my career that’s pretty much every record. I make records from the point of a musician in terms of I love all music. And all my music is rooted in Blues of course but my band is always gonna have some Funk going on, it’s gonna have some Soul, it’s gonna have some Rock, a little Jazz and that’s what you hear on the record. And some Hip Hop so there you go.”

Joanna Connor is a Chicago Blues institution. Having moved from Boston’s blue collar western sister city Worcester in her early 20’s, Joanna launched herself fully into the Chicago scene. One of only a few women playing Blues guitar at the time, Joanna refused to be stifled or dismissed and as a result was allowed to participate in and learn from a distinctly African American community of musicians.

“What I loved about Chicago was it was so different than Massachusetts. It was culturally so different. I mean I played some great places back home and there were a lot of really knowledgeable people and still are really good players. To be immersed in that actual African American culture in Chicago, in the city, in the place where all that modern Blues was created. Being around people most of whom came from the Mississippi Delta, it was just a total immersion in the Blues. And in that way I learning from people and the school of music that you come through playing with people like that. People grew up playing Gospel, people might have done a lot of Soul music, people that play nothing but raw Blues, some of the older guys. I went as a student, my whole quest was I wanted to get into the scene and learn first hand and soak up everything I could. From an emotional side not from an academic, you know really be in it. If I’m gonna do it, I’m gonna really do it.”

“I had to be tough. I had no car, I’d get off in the middle of a really crime ridden area off the train with my guitar and be like the only person looking like me and I just did it. And nothing ever really ever happened. Everybody was gracious, and at first looking at me like why are you here, but when I started playing music I was really accepted.

“And you know there were some musicians who were hard on me, it wasn’t like Disney World. But, for the most part I was embraced and that was a validation and also an amazing thing. A lot of these people could look at me and be like get out of here (haha) what are you doing here. I’d been very persistent, I used to carry a Fender Twin off the bus, I mean I was just all out. Wherever they wanted me to be it didn’t matter what neighborhood. People would be ‘oh, you can’t go there,’ well I’m going. Then I played at the Checkerboard Lounge, which was Buddy Guy’s club that he owned back then on the South Side. We were in the house band every weekend for like a year. We backed up everybody. We backed up Junior Wells, we backed up Buddy Guy, we backed up the Meyers Brothers.”

Joanna eventually landed a steady gig with the great Chicago legend Dion Payton. Payton’s band had a residency at Kingston Mines the funky family owned Blues emporium in the heart of the city. This unique club with two stages and a hedonistic 5am closing time on Saturday nights became Joanna’s home.

“You know it’s so funny, my whole life seems to be intertwined with that club since like 1982. I happened upon it by accident looking for a Blues club and I didn’t know about it and there it was. So it was kind of like fate. It was one of the determining factors of why I moved to Chicago. Cause there’s this club with two stages, and growing up in Massachusetts everything’s pretty much closed by 1 o’clock back then and I thought this was the best thing in the world, open till 5 on Saturday. Wow you can party all night. 2 bands and there were people like, you could see Junior Wells on one stage and the house band on the other with all these Chicago All Stars. Lonnie Brooks, Koko Taylor, Son Seals, Otis Rush at this club.

“Well fast forward and I moved to Chicago and ended up in Dion Payton’s band and we were the house band there. He continued on and I went on with my career and my band. In 2005 I went back and I said ‘hey I’ve been on the road a long time and I have a young daughter now I would like to get a night here,’ ended up with 3 nights there. It’s just been a spectacular place to be seen by people from all over the world because they come from all over the world. I was in Holland and there was a guy with a Kingston Mines shirt. It’s just a unique place because of the hours and it’s family run. It’s pretty funky, you know nothing polished or corporate about it. 2 bands with contiguous music all night without a break it’s pretty epic.”

“I could write books and books about Kingston Mines (haha). My famous one is jamming with Jimmy Page there on a Thursday night, which was unbelievable. Meeting Herbie Hancock there, meeting Aretha Franklin there. I mean playing with Son Seals, playing with Junior Wells, playing with Koko Taylor. I mean just so many fantastic nights. Meeting Mick Jagger there, meeting Keith Richards there. Everybody came through there at some point and continue to do so. Nicolas Cage he came in, ended up spending a lot of time when he was filming a movie in Chicago, we ended up hanging out. (laughs) That’s like a name dropper but it is the way it is. And what is really kinda special about it to is it attracts a younger crowd, which in the Blues world is kind a unique, since it’s not always the case. You got a young crowd, you got an older crowd, you got an international crowd, you got a white crowd, you got a black crowd. So it’s really a melting pot.”

Joanna is the proud mother of two. She delights in her children’s accomplishments and is in awe of the adults they have become. It is no easy thing being a full time artist and a parent.

“It’s funny I had my son when I was pretty young, I was 24 or 25. I was ‘well I always wanted a kid, I want to have this child and I’ll have one kid and by the time he or she is 5 I’m gonna be a rock star’ (haha) I had all these plans. Well obviously that didn’t happen. (chuckles) With my son he was actually a drummer at like a very young age. If there had been the internet then he would have gone viral cause he was literally playing when he was 2 years old he could keep time. He was a big kid, he played with Luther Allison, he played with Bernard Allison, he met B.B. King. He did shows with me. He traveled a long time with me all over the world and played whenever he wasn’t in school and all the vacations. He went into kindergarten there was no preschool, preschool was with mom on the road. There wasn’t a whole lot of sleep going on that was for sure but I think a lot of parents deal with that. But he became a cultured guy and an interesting person. I shielded him, I wasn’t living the life of sex, drugs and Rock and Roll. Yeah we played music but when I was home I was home. When we were on the road I wasn’t hanging out in the clubs, we were back in the hotel watching the Disney channel or whatever. I tried to balance like where it wasn’t too much exposure to things he shouldn’t see but he also got to see the whole world with me.”

“Then his sister came along. She was kind of a surprise (haha) that’s why they’re 11 years apart. But both of my kids were athletes, and really serious athletes so I spent a lot of time being a basketball/football mom for years for both of them. There were times I wanted to quit playing music, I mean this is just too hard. Luckily my mom helped me out and some friends when I was gone. But I would miss them, especially my son, I would really miss them when I was gone and it was difficult.

“So I have memories like yeah I was in Paris but I was also crying because I missed my son. It was tough, you know. And I talked to both my kids later, I’m like ‘man I hope it was not a hard experience for you.’ And my son and my daughter were like ‘ma we had the best childhood. We got to do everything, we’re prepared for everything. We know how to meet new people. When we went away to college it wasn’t like a big deal, like oh my god I’m missing home.’ They feel it was an advantage. They both turned out really fantastic so (chuckling) I guess something was good that happened. But I always felt like I taught them whatever your passion is and it doesn’t have to be music, I want you to find a passion. I exposed them to many things. I want you to have something you love.”

In February 2020 Joanna Connor was primed and ready to take the music world by storm. An incredible Joe Bonamassa produced album in the can, 2020 was gonna be her year. And then the pandemic hit. The record release was delayed a full year, all the promotional gigs and events canceled. Like the rest of us Joanna baked bread, did some live streams and waited it out. Now that world is slowly beginning to emerge into our new post-pandemic reality, Joanna is ready to do what she does best, be herself on stage by enthralling us with her Blues. Finally releasing 4801 South Indiana Avenue in February of 2021, Joanna has a full schedule of festivals into 2022. Joanna is also back delighting audiences at Kingston Mines 3 nights a week catching that late night vibe after hours.

“When you play music you just never know what a night’s gonna bring, you know. Any given night at any place. The vibe can be anything from complete debauchery to people that actually want to hear music to incredibly inebriated people, just a mixed bag, yeah it’s the last stop. I mean there’s been some really special musical moments too when people come and sit in. That’s the whole thing about what I do, people are like ‘are you going to have a good night tonight?’ I’m like I have no clue, I say it’s all magic and mystery.”

Check out Joanna’s music, tour dates and more at : https://joannaconnor.com/“What I loved about Blues was that every Blues artist you heard, whether it be on record or in person, the real founding mothers and fathers, you know who they are as soon as you hear them play. That’s not so common nowadays. A lot of times I’m like ‘well who is that playing guitar who is that singing?’ But back then you knew Albert King, you knew B.B. King, you knew Robert Johnson, you knew Blind Willie Johnson. They were so unique and so different. I felt that was also because they honored who they were and let themselves come through music and songwriting.

“And I thought well I am who I am. Yes I heard Blues my whole life as a child because of my mom and saw it my whole life. It wasn’t like I put on a Stones record and found the Blues, no I heard Blues. But I also listened to Rock and I listened to Funk and I listened to Reggae. For me to shut that part of me off would kinda like not be true to who I was, so that was my thought process. Well this is me, yeah.”

Joanna Connor is a powerhouse Blueswoman who has dedicated her life to honoring her true self within her art. A soulful and enthralling singer Joanna can express the depth of emotion in her own lyrics as well as those written by others. But, Joanna is at heart a guitarist. A virtuoso of the slide guitar, Joanna cascades her slide over her Gibson Les Paul with passion and fire.

A YouTube viral video star for mind boggling clips of her six string acrobatics, Joanna’s concept of guitar and momentous live performance is born out of decades of training in Chicago clubs. Having learned from some of the greatest “founding mothers and fathers,” Joanna follows her muse into Funk, Rock, Soul, Jazz and even Hip Hop. It is this exciting weaving of styles into a real deal Blues framework that has won over audiences at her home base of Kingston Mines, one of Chicago’s landmark Blues clubs, and admirers like Vernon Reid, Slash, Tracii Guns and most recently collaborator Joe Bonamassa.

Joanna plays her slide guitar like a woman on fire. Exuding emotion and seemingly possessed by the spirit, Joanna plays her guitar almost vertically while switching between intricate lead runs to swooping deluges of sound. Sparked at an early age in her native Massachusetts and then born out of necessity on the South Side, Joanna’s slide technique has been developed over the years.

“I did take lessons in Massachusetts from a guy named Ron Johnson, he was really into Ry Cooder, a lot of the older Delta stuff. He turned me on to all of that. He’s like ‘hey I want to teach you the slide.’ I was like ‘okay.’ I didn’t really even know what it was, I knew but I didn’t know it. So he gave me a great foundation of technique. (In Chicago) I would just go to gigs and it was like I was the backup guitarist so I had one guitar. Well I’m not gonna be like (in a silly voice) ‘oh let me tune to an open tunning.’ I had to play. I would just throw the slide on and play.

“That was a contributing factor to my approach to the slide, just being in those situations. I combine slide with fretting, with tapping, with rhythm cause I play it on my pinky so that gives me a lot of freedom to do all of that. It just becomes another tool in my arsenal. I have been playing more and more slide cause I used to fret more I think because it was more difficult to me and I like the challenge, and I’m like ah slide it’s a breeze (haha). The slide is just so expressive. I can close my eyes and play the slide and not even look at the neck I been doing it so long.”

“My thought process when I’m playing is kind of a merry go round in my head or a circus. People say ‘oh you look so calm or you make so many faces.’ Man there’s so much going on up there. I try to get to a place where I’m totally into the music. I think all musicians look for that in the zone as they say. So I try to get there. I try to fit into the rhythmic qualities of the music with my playing. I’m very rhythm oriented. I’m definitely not a subtle player although at times I can be. I think you see that more on Rise some of the more subtle type guitar playing. But I get into this space where I, I don’t know, go for the throat, get a little aggressive. I just let it go. I want it to move you, I’ve always loved very passionate guitar players. I try to be that. If it happens, I hope it happens that way.

“I asked Joe Bonamassa ‘why me out of all these guitar players?’ He’s like ‘cause you have an intensity a lot of other people don’t have and you know how to channel it.’”

It was that intensity that Bonamassa wanted to channel when he approached Joanna about recording. Calling her style “lightning in a bottle” Bonamassa, helped Joanna bring to fruition a new record that sparkles with raw intensity: 4801 South Indiana Avenue.

“Back in 2014 one of my videos started to go kind of viral all over the world. It had only a million views on You Tube, but it was literally in every major newspaper around the world. You know 80 million views here, it was incredible. That happened, and then that happened again with another video and that caught the attention of Joe Bonamassa, Tracii Guns, Vernon Reid, Liberty DeVitto, recently Slash, I mean all these heavy hitters. And I always reach out to these people through the social media: ‘hey this is Joanna Connor, thank you so much if you ever want to get in touch with me.’ Cause you never know. Vernon Reid reached back, Tracii Guns reached back. But, Joe reached back and was like ‘I want to take the unknown out of your equation,’ he said ‘I can help you.’

“That was a couple years ago so we started this conversation and he made it come true. He’s like ‘well do you trust me, I have a vision for a record I want to make with you?’ Kinda like he wanted to take total control artistically and stuff. And I’m like yes, I mean I’ve made records I’ve produced myself for many years and do whatever I want to do so I’ve fulfilled that kind of longing let’s stay. I totally trusted him, I’m like ‘yeah you have a pretty good track record there Joe.’ And it was a complete honor. Over the course of like 6 months he got material and he’s like ‘I want to make a real Chicago Blues record.’ To capture what I do on stage throughout the whole record. He called it lightning in a bottle. He goes ‘you trust me? cause I’m gonna work you really hard.’ I’m like ‘well I’m used to workin’ really hard.’”

“It happened in February of 2020. Got tickets to Nashville and Ocean Way Studios, which is a really legendary studio. He assembled the cast of musicians along with Josh Smith, who I’d known since he was like 13. He used to jam with me in Florida so I was real familiar with him. And the engineer happened to be someone who was from Chicago who’s been in California a long time doing really big things winning Grammys. He’s like ‘I used to sneak out of my house in High School to see your band (haha).’ And probably the greatest thing was playing with Reese Wynans whose Joe’s keyboard player and of course was Stevie Ray Vaughan’s keyboard player and the Allman Brothers once upon a time.”

“So I landed in Nashville, and the next day I went to Joe’s place in Nashville. Him and Josh picked like Blues songs that were not typically covered and arranged them, gave them a little twist. So I’m sitting in the middle of Josh and Joe with their guitars totally just fangirling, geeking out there. The next day, picked out some gear, and he’s like here play this amp, play this guitar. Then we went in the studio and literally the whole album was cut in 2 days and then I went in and did vocals for a couple days. So like 5 days we did the whole record. And he told the band he’s like ‘listen if we don’t get any of these songs in 2 or 3 takes we are gonna move on because I want it to be raw and fresh and exciting.’

“He really set up the studio like we were all in one room. We were all together in a little circle. I cut all the guitar stuff live. I don’t know, it was just one of those amazing moments that you dream of happening where everything’s flowing, everybody’s inspired, it all works. I mean I was incredibly nervous going down there like oh my god I’m gonna sit in front of these guitar gods. And here I am and yeah I’m who I am, and I’m not putting myself down, this is just walking into some big stuff here, big platform. Joe and I really melded personally and musically. He’s actually super funny, he’s very sarcastic and dry humor which if you grew up on the East Coast you’re used to that.

“So I felt sort of totally at ease. When we were done he was like ‘well we really put out a really raw Chicago kick ass Blues record.’ Then he came up with the concept of well what were some of the older clubs, the addresses. Kinda like a homage but we didn’t want to just be like play traditional traditional to the letter, we still breath fresh life into it. Literally the whole record was Joe’s concept and Josh’s arrangement. Joe really pushed me hard in the vocals, he was like ‘I want your vocals to be as tough as your playing.”

The hard work paid off, 4801 South Indiana Avenue, which was the address of the famous Theresa’s Lounge, is a fresh in the moment testament to Joanna’s live performance. However, the “big platform” of this most recent record doesn’t dim the sparkle and depth of her long career. 2019’s Rise is possibly Joanna’s most eclectic and representative album. Influenced by her son, a Hip Hop producer, Joanna expanded her pallet creating a mix of straight up Blues, Funk, Fusion Jazz and Hip Hop, Rise sets a standard for what Contemporary Blues can be. Joanna describes the journey:

“My shows are pretty eclectic and always have been. It’s loved by some and hated by some, you know. Mike Zito and Albert Castiglia come up to me and they go ‘you’re a trend setter we used to go watch you play. You were combining Blues and Funk and Rock with the Blues and yeah people had done it, but, you really did it in a certain way and we kinda were inspired by you.’ I was like ‘really I had no ideas.’

“But it wasn’t always a great place to be because some more traditional people kinda pushed me to the margins like ‘nah we can’t have this.’ But whatever, it was all good I still managed to make a living and make records. With that record I really wanted to feature kinda what my band was about at the time. I had a couple different drummers, my bass player was amazing, they’re all Chicago guys. It was still kinda the same premise, we went in and we cut everything live. There was a little more overdubbing on my part, some songs had 4 or 5 guitars on them. My son is actually in LA now, he’s a producer out there. My kids both loved hip hop and my son being so intimately involved with it I would go by his place his little studio I was like I have this song I wrote and I’d love to have a rap thing on it. I heard this one rapper and I was like oh man I really like the way he sounds. So we ended up meeting in the studio and he wrote some lyrics for me and being on a couple more things. So it was a nice meeting, Alphonso (Buggz Dinnero).

“It was cool, we kind of got off in different directions, kind of a Crusaders feel on some of the things. I love the 70’s Jazz-Fusion kind of thing. We had some real kick ass Blues songs on there. We had an acoustic piece on there. So it was featuring what I was about at the time. I mean I love it. But, some people can’t pigeon hole the record cause it’s kind of all over the map, if you follow my career that’s pretty much every record. I make records from the point of a musician in terms of I love all music. And all my music is rooted in Blues of course but my band is always gonna have some Funk going on, it’s gonna have some Soul, it’s gonna have some Rock, a little Jazz and that’s what you hear on the record. And some Hip Hop so there you go.”

Joanna Connor is a Chicago Blues institution. Having moved from Boston’s blue collar western sister city Worcester in her early 20’s, Joanna launched herself fully into the Chicago scene. One of only a few women playing Blues guitar at the time, Joanna refused to be stifled or dismissed and as a result was allowed to participate in and learn from a distinctly African American community of musicians.

“What I loved about Chicago was it was so different than Massachusetts. It was culturally so different. I mean I played some great places back home and there were a lot of really knowledgeable people and still are really good players. To be immersed in that actual African American culture in Chicago, in the city, in the place where all that modern Blues was created. Being around people most of whom came from the Mississippi Delta, it was just a total immersion in the Blues. And in that way I learning from people and the school of music that you come through playing with people like that. People grew up playing Gospel, people might have done a lot of Soul music, people that play nothing but raw Blues, some of the older guys. I went as a student, my whole quest was I wanted to get into the scene and learn first hand and soak up everything I could. From an emotional side not from an academic, you know really be in it. If I’m gonna do it, I’m gonna really do it.”

“I had to be tough. I had no car, I’d get off in the middle of a really crime ridden area off the train with my guitar and be like the only person looking like me and I just did it. And nothing ever really ever happened. Everybody was gracious, and at first looking at me like why are you here, but when I started playing music I was really accepted.

“And you know there were some musicians who were hard on me, it wasn’t like Disney World. But, for the most part I was embraced and that was a validation and also an amazing thing. A lot of these people could look at me and be like get out of here (haha) what are you doing here. I’d been very persistent, I used to carry a Fender Twin off the bus, I mean I was just all out. Wherever they wanted me to be it didn’t matter what neighborhood. People would be ‘oh, you can’t go there,’ well I’m going. Then I played at the Checkerboard Lounge, which was Buddy Guy’s club that he owned back then on the South Side. We were in the house band every weekend for like a year. We backed up everybody. We backed up Junior Wells, we backed up Buddy Guy, we backed up the Meyers Brothers.”

Joanna eventually landed a steady gig with the great Chicago legend Dion Payton. Payton’s band had a residency at Kingston Mines the funky family owned Blues emporium in the heart of the city. This unique club with two stages and a hedonistic 5am closing time on Saturday nights became Joanna’s home.

“You know it’s so funny, my whole life seems to be intertwined with that club since like 1982. I happened upon it by accident looking for a Blues club and I didn’t know about it and there it was. So it was kind of like fate. It was one of the determining factors of why I moved to Chicago. Cause there’s this club with two stages, and growing up in Massachusetts everything’s pretty much closed by 1 o’clock back then and I thought this was the best thing in the world, open till 5 on Saturday. Wow you can party all night. 2 bands and there were people like, you could see Junior Wells on one stage and the house band on the other with all these Chicago All Stars. Lonnie Brooks, Koko Taylor, Son Seals, Otis Rush at this club.

“Well fast forward and I moved to Chicago and ended up in Dion Payton’s band and we were the house band there. He continued on and I went on with my career and my band. In 2005 I went back and I said ‘hey I’ve been on the road a long time and I have a young daughter now I would like to get a night here,’ ended up with 3 nights there. It’s just been a spectacular place to be seen by people from all over the world because they come from all over the world. I was in Holland and there was a guy with a Kingston Mines shirt. It’s just a unique place because of the hours and it’s family run. It’s pretty funky, you know nothing polished or corporate about it. 2 bands with contiguous music all night without a break it’s pretty epic.”

“I could write books and books about Kingston Mines (haha). My famous one is jamming with Jimmy Page there on a Thursday night, which was unbelievable. Meeting Herbie Hancock there, meeting Aretha Franklin there. I mean playing with Son Seals, playing with Junior Wells, playing with Koko Taylor. I mean just so many fantastic nights. Meeting Mick Jagger there, meeting Keith Richards there. Everybody came through there at some point and continue to do so. Nicolas Cage he came in, ended up spending a lot of time when he was filming a movie in Chicago, we ended up hanging out. (laughs) That’s like a name dropper but it is the way it is. And what is really kinda special about it to is it attracts a younger crowd, which in the Blues world is kind a unique, since it’s not always the case. You got a young crowd, you got an older crowd, you got an international crowd, you got a white crowd, you got a black crowd. So it’s really a melting pot.”

Joanna is the proud mother of two. She delights in her children’s accomplishments and is in awe of the adults they have become. It is no easy thing being a full time artist and a parent.

“It’s funny I had my son when I was pretty young, I was 24 or 25. I was ‘well I always wanted a kid, I want to have this child and I’ll have one kid and by the time he or she is 5 I’m gonna be a rock star’ (haha) I had all these plans. Well obviously that didn’t happen. (chuckles) With my son he was actually a drummer at like a very young age. If there had been the internet then he would have gone viral cause he was literally playing when he was 2 years old he could keep time. He was a big kid, he played with Luther Allison, he played with Bernard Allison, he met B.B. King. He did shows with me. He traveled a long time with me all over the world and played whenever he wasn’t in school and all the vacations. He went into kindergarten there was no preschool, preschool was with mom on the road. There wasn’t a whole lot of sleep going on that was for sure but I think a lot of parents deal with that. But he became a cultured guy and an interesting person. I shielded him, I wasn’t living the life of sex, drugs and Rock and Roll. Yeah we played music but when I was home I was home. When we were on the road I wasn’t hanging out in the clubs, we were back in the hotel watching the Disney channel or whatever. I tried to balance like where it wasn’t too much exposure to things he shouldn’t see but he also got to see the whole world with me.”

“Then his sister came along. She was kind of a surprise (haha) that’s why they’re 11 years apart. But both of my kids were athletes, and really serious athletes so I spent a lot of time being a basketball/football mom for years for both of them. There were times I wanted to quit playing music, I mean this is just too hard. Luckily my mom helped me out and some friends when I was gone. But I would miss them, especially my son, I would really miss them when I was gone and it was difficult.

“So I have memories like yeah I was in Paris but I was also crying because I missed my son. It was tough, you know. And I talked to both my kids later, I’m like ‘man I hope it was not a hard experience for you.’ And my son and my daughter were like ‘ma we had the best childhood. We got to do everything, we’re prepared for everything. We know how to meet new people. When we went away to college it wasn’t like a big deal, like oh my god I’m missing home.’ They feel it was an advantage. They both turned out really fantastic so (chuckling) I guess something was good that happened. But I always felt like I taught them whatever your passion is and it doesn’t have to be music, I want you to find a passion. I exposed them to many things. I want you to have something you love.”

In February 2020 Joanna Connor was primed and ready to take the music world by storm. An incredible Joe Bonamassa produced album in the can, 2020 was gonna be her year. And then the pandemic hit. The record release was delayed a full year, all the promotional gigs and events canceled. Like the rest of us Joanna baked bread, did some live streams and waited it out. Now that world is slowly beginning to emerge into our new post-pandemic reality, Joanna is ready to do what she does best, be herself on stage by enthralling us with her Blues. Finally releasing 4801 South Indiana Avenue in February of 2021, Joanna has a full schedule of festivals into 2022. Joanna is also back delighting audiences at Kingston Mines 3 nights a week catching that late night vibe after hours.

“When you play music you just never know what a night’s gonna bring, you know. Any given night at any place. The vibe can be anything from complete debauchery to people that actually want to hear music to incredibly inebriated people, just a mixed bag, yeah it’s the last stop. I mean there’s been some really special musical moments too when people come and sit in. That’s the whole thing about what I do, people are like ‘are you going to have a good night tonight?’ I’m like I have no clue, I say it’s all magic and mystery.”

Check out Joanna’s music, tour dates and more at : https://joannaconnor.com/.

Interviewer Bucky O’Hare is a Bluesman based in Boston who spreads his brand of blues and funk all over New England. Bucky has dedicated himself to experiencing the Blues and learning its history. As a writer, Bucky has been influenced by music critics and social commentators such as Angela Davis, Peter Guralnick, Eric Nisenson, Francis Davis and Henry Louis Gates Jr.

West Side Joe & The Men Of Soul – Keep On Climbin’

Self-Release – 2021

12 tracks; 49 minutes

www.westsidejoeandthemenofsoul.com

Frontman, guitarist and songwriter Joe Schicke had a long history as a sideman in Memphis, but is now based in Colorado and this is the debut release from his new band. West Side Joe & The Men Of Soul is a trio, with Taylor Tesler on bass and Steve Amedee on drums, but the sound is far greater than that as keys appear on most tracks and horns are added to four. The guest musicians include John Magnie, Al Gamble and Brian Keller on keys, Al Chesis on harp, Lionel Young and Vi Wickam on violin, Russick Smith on cello and a three person horn section, Phuong Nguyen on sax, Greta Cornett on trumpet and John Giordanengo on trombone; Saja Butler is on vocals on three tracks and adds banjo to another, Bevin Luna adds vocals to three and Stella Schicke sings on one cut.

The music ranges widely, the first four tracks showing the versatility of the band. The title track “Keep On Climbin’” bounces along with gospel harmonies and excellent slide guitar as Joe sets out his positive attitude to life; “Vacate My Heart” is a full-tilt rocker with thrilling guitar work over a busy first appearance from the horn section who stay on board for “Found You”, a Memphis soul tune in which Joe pays tribute to the love of his life, whilst “Easier Than You Think” is R&B with a strong bass line. Saja Butler takes the lead vocals on “Come Thru”, leaving Joe to play some delicate guitar fills and “Man Down” builds into a statement of female empowerment aided by the female vocalists who tear it up on the outro. On “Raindrop Don’t Care” it’s Stella Schicke on lead, a ballad with more fine accompaniment on guitar and keys. The attractive ballad “Give Love For Free” has fine horns (particularly the trombone) and an engaging guitar solo, the whole having something of a Tedeschi-Trucks feel to these ears.

After that run of gentler tracks we get right back to the blues with “Colorado Mama”, the classic Elmore James slide riff present and correct and harmonica further upping the blues quotient on a tribute to the person who brought Joe to his adopted state. Joe’s short, semi-acoustic, country-tinged “I Got A Letter” precedes the rolling Rn’B of “When You Get The Chance” which has a New Orleans feel from the horns and Joe’s Earl King style guitar work. The album closes with a classic slow blues in “I Can’t Lose”, six minutes long and plenty of space for Joe’s stylish guitar work, this time more in a BB King style.

This is a very impressive debut album, good songs, well produced and plenty of variety to enjoy, so no surprise that it is one of the nominations for New Artist Debut in this year’s Blues Blast Music Awards. Definitely one to look out for!

Reviewer John Mitchell is a blues enthusiast based in the UK who enjoys a wide variety of blues and roots music, especially anything in the ‘soul/blues’ category. Favorites include contemporary artists such as Curtis Salgado, Tad Robinson, Albert Castiglia and Doug Deming and classic artists including Bobby Bland, Howling Wolf and the three ‘Kings’. He gets over to the States as often as he can to see live blues.

Donna Herula – Bang At The Door

Self-Released

www.donnaherula.com

14 tracks

The year 2019 was not a great one for Donna Herula. Her mother’s illness and eventual passing from cancer put this project on hold as she and her sisters helped care for her mother. On top of this, her mother-in-law also died and added to life’s miseries for both Donna and her husband Tony Nardiello. Herula toughed it out and re-approached this new musical project, completing it in fine fashion. Dedicating the work to both her mother and mother-in-law, Donna delivers fourteen fantastic songs with a smooth and slick blend of rootsy and folky blues music that showcase both the Chicago and the Mississippi Delta as influences for her work. This is her third musical recording endeavor and demonstrates the growth of her music and talents that she has honed both in her performances and in her work at The Old Town School of Music in Chicago.

Herula handles the lead vocals, resonator/slide and other guitars. FJ Ventre (upright bass and also the guy who recorded and mixed the album at his studio in North Carolina) and Dana Thalheimer (drums and percussion) are the backline called to support where needed throughout. She met Ventre and John Shain (who produced the CD and plays mandolin and guitar on two tracks) at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis in 2009, and they have enjoyed collaborating and working together since then. Husband Tony Nardiello also sings and plays guitar on a couple of tracks with Herula; they often perform together and also collaborate musically and as husband and wife. Also appearing are Tony Pons on trumpet, Doug Hammer and Daryl Davis on piano, Bill Newton on harp, and Anne Harris on fiddle. The backing vocalists are Rebecca Toon, Katherine Davis, Janine Grandsart, and Chris Holda along with Shain, Ventre, husband Tony and herself. Blues Blast writer Mark Thompson also did a great job writing the liner notes.

The title track “Bang At The Door” opens the album up with some lovely resonator work; Herula’s vocals are emotive as she tells her man “not to come around here no more,” as he bangs at her door. She and her backline open the set with a winner- it’s a great original tune to kick off a fine CD. Next is “Pass The Biscuits” with piano, trumpet and backing vocals added to the mix. Herula picks and slide with great aplomb as she pays tribute to “Sunshine” Sonny Payne from KFFA radio in Helena Arkansas who also passed as she was preparing for this album. Sonny hosted the King Biscuit Time program for over 65 years and Herula played live on this program in 2009 when she participated in the International Blues Challenge; the result was to play another tune right away and a great friendship burgeoned between them and she also dedicates this to him along with her mother and mother-in-law. It’s a great cut along with being a wonderful tribute! Husband Tony Nardiello sings with Donna as she handles the guitar and also sings on “Can’t Wait To See My Baby.” A classic train song where they both sing about returning to Chicago to see their baby after being gone for twenty-seven days. Herula picks out some fine stuff on the guitar as the two go back and forth as they sing in a fun and well-done track. Drums and bass support are also tight and well done.

The next tune is another original, “Promise Me.” A low-keyed blues ballad where she and Tony both play guitar, Shain adds his mandolin and Ventre backs them all on bass. The resonator, mandolin and acoustic guitar layer nicely over each other and Donna sings about her man who is locked up and she promises him she won’t tell anyone why he’s not coming home. It’s a moving song and Herula does a fantastic job to sell it. “Not Lookin’ Back” follows, another cut where her man is incarcerated. Here the feeling is a lot more negative as her man has spent all their money getting strung out time and again and she’s fed up and done bailing him out. The piano (Doug Hammer this time) and resonator both play big roles in this one, a cool and jazzy cut with more superb vocals and lyrics. The backline remains staunch in support. Davis, Nardiello and Toon add backing vocals and Newton’s harp also comes in for “I Got No Way Home,” a jumping and slick tune where Herula is seeking a lift home from another woman as her baby left her after a late night and issues at the club. She orders a round of drinks and tells of her woes. Harp and guitar do call and response as do the backing vocalists to Herula. Nice stuff once again, and here Davis adds some barrelhouse piano in support. The beautiful instrumental “Black Ice” is up next with Herula picking out some outstanding licks and Ventre adding percussion to the mix. Impressive guitar work abounds here.

The first cover is Booker White’s “Fixin’ To Die,” a solo effort where Donna sings with emotion and stomps as she lays out more sweet slide guitar. The song helps pay tribute to those she has lost. Husband Tony takes the lead vocals and plays acoustic guitar on “Jackson,” a super duet cover of Lucinda Williams’ tune. Slow and swampy, the song takes place on the road back to Jackson, Mississippi as Nardiello sings how he won’t miss his woman much. Herula adds her exceptional slide as the song saunters through towns as they wind their way back to Jackson. The original “Movin’ Back Home” has a nice swing to it as Herula sings and plays about moving back home after losing her job. All her old stuff awaits her in her room and her Momma also awaits her; Herula’s not too happy about it but is doing what she has to do as she makes do with what life has dealt her. The quintet of backing vocalists do some slick call and response on the choruses. Herula co-wrote “Got What I Deserve” with Jon Shain. It’s a song about the aftermath of teen pregnancy; a screaming baby and a man who either hides from it or sleeps through it all. Anne Harris plays some wickedly cool fiddle on this track and Shain handles the acoustic guitar while Herula sings and backs herselfv vocally; Ventre again appears on bass. There is a bit of a silver lining as the song ends with her honey entertaining the baby with his guitar and Herula seemingly a bit more upbeat about the situation- sweet stuff here.

Double entendres fill the original solo tune “Who’s Been Cookin’ In My Kitchen.” She says she’ll be cooking up a storm and making her man beg for more in this track with a great old time feel to it. Herula does great job strumming and picking and singing once again. The final original track is “Something’s Wrong With My Baby” as Herula laments to the lack of response to getting gussied up and making he man a big dinner. He won’t go to the doctor and seems stuck in a sad and blue state and Donna can’t help snap him out of it. It’s another stark tune with a little upright bass added to help set the mood; another fine and well-done song. The album concludes with the Willie Johnson classic “The Soul Of A Man.” Davis, Nardiello, Toon and Shain all back Herula as she sings and plays and Ventre handles the upright bass. Outstanding finger work on the fretboard and strident singing make this a winner along with the fantastic work by the collaborating artists.

I don’t think I can pick out a favorite cut here because they are all superb. Eleven fine originals and three marvelous covers make for some really interesting and classic performances from top to bottom. This album certainly will be destined for awards- it’s the best acoustic blues and roots album I’ve heard in at least a year, if not longer. I most highly recommend this CD for all lovers of traditional and acoustic blues. It’s a wonderful mix of Delta and Chicago blues with some great folky overtones. Herula’s guitar and vocals are spot on and make the listener want for more. Add this one to your collection now- you won’t be disappointed!

Reviewer Steve Jones is president of the Crossroads Blues Society and is a long standing blues lover. He is a retired Navy commander who served his entire career in nuclear submarines. In addition to working in his civilian career since 1996, he writes for and publishes the bi-monthly newsletter for Crossroads, chairs their music festival and works with their Blues In The Schools program. He resides in Byron, IL.

Bob Corritore – Spider In My Stew

Vizztone Label Group – 2021

14 tracks; 56 minutes

www.bobcorritore.com

Here is another strong set from Bob Corritore’s recording sessions with musicians passing through Phoenix, Arizona, often to play at Bob’s club, The Rhythm Room. These tracks were all recorded between 2018 and 2020 and almost 40 musicians are involved overall! That long list includes singers Alabama Mike, Oscar Wilson, Sugaray Rayford, Diunna Greenleaf, Francine Reed, Shy Perry, Michael Reed and Willie Buck; guitar and vocals come from John Primer, Lurrie Bell and Johnny Rawls; guitarists Bob Margolin, Junior Watson, Kid Ramos, Bill ‘Howl-N-Mad’ Perry, Johnny Main, L.A. Jones, Jimi ‘Primetime’ Smith, Johnny Rapp and Tony Tomlinson; keyboards come from Fred Kaplan, Bob Welsh, Doc Holiday and Shea Marshall (who also plays sax on one number, as does Doug James); bass duties are shared between Troy Sandow, Kedar Roy, Adrianna Marie, Yahni Riley, Mike Hightower, Blake Watson, Bob Stroger and Patrick Skog, drums between Brian Fahey, Andrew Guterman, Alan West, Marty Dodson and June Core.

The material is mainly straight-ahead Chicago blues and fans of Bob’s harp playing will know how brilliantly he plays both on featured solos but also in accompanying mode: check out how he drives “Mama Talk To Your Daughter”, getting a wonderfully energized performance from John Primer, making this one of the best versions of the old warhorse heard in a long time, or how he weaves elegantly around Francine Reed’s vocal and Kid Ramos’ shimmering guitar on Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released”; Francine and Kid also feature on The Staples Singers’ “Why Am I Treated So Bad”.

Bob takes his time on chromatic harp on an extended examination of the title track, one of three Willie Dixon classics revisited here: Doug James (on both tenor and baritone) is behind Diunna Greenleaf’s impressive vocal on “Don’t Mess With The Messer”, a lesser-known Dixon tune. Indeed, much of the material comes from familiar sources like St Louis Jimmy Oden whose “Soon Forgotten” was recorded by Muddy Waters, Willie Buck sounding uncannily like Muddy here. Oscar Wilson handles the vocals on opening cut “Tennessee Woman” (Fenton Robinson) and Alabama Mike features on three tracks, the pick being a short but sweet take on “Drop Anchor”, an obscure track by Harmonica Slim. There are also a couple of originals brought along by ‘friends’ like Sugaray Rayford whose “Big Mama’s Soul Food” sounds very tasty indeed (not least when Kid delivers a stinging solo!) and Johnny Rawls who gives us a superb “Sleeping With The Blues”, a slow, soulful tune with elegant guitar/harp ensemble work. Lurrie Bell’s unmistakeable vocals and guitar work are on two tracks, including Lurrie’s original “I Can’t Shake This Feeling”.

There is not a weak track here and this disc should be a must-have for fans of classic blues. Quite deservedly, Spider In My Stew features in this year’s Blues Blast nominations for Best Traditional Album.

Reviewer John Mitchell is a blues enthusiast based in the UK who enjoys a wide variety of blues and roots music, especially anything in the ‘soul/blues’ category. Favorites include contemporary artists such as Curtis Salgado, Tad Robinson, Albert Castiglia and Doug Deming and classic artists including Bobby Bland, Howling Wolf and the three ‘Kings’. He gets over to the States as often as he can to see live blues.

Maria Muldaur with Tuba Skinny – Let’s Get Happy Together

Stony Plain Records – 2021

12 tracks; 40:09

www.mariamuldaur.com

Old-fashioned is a relative term. What’s contemporary to older people sounds out-of-date to younger ones. Singer Maria Muldaur pulls the old-fashioned thread hard on Let’s Get Happy Together, an album of Dixieland jazz made with Tuba Skinny, the New Orleans street band.

Muldaur and Tuba Skinny are taking on music from the 1920s and 30s, which is old, but Muldaur’s roots-oriented prior work was also based on older sounds. So while it’s not surprising to see Muldaur looking back, it’s interesting that she’s staying for so long, and in such a committed way, to a single time period so far back. Of course, Tuba Skinny’s instrumentation is made for this kind of sound, with horns, clarinet, banjo, washboard, and the tuba promised in the band name.

Muldaur seems to be having a great time with her vocals, using a jazzy cadence rather than her usual bluesy country sound. Her voice, coupled with Tuba Skinny, makes Let’s Get Happy Together sound like an album that could have been recorded 100 years ago (although the production is much sharper than that). And if there are tells that this is a contemporary album, then it at least sounds like something you’d hear in a Woody Allen movie, a lesser certificate of musical authenticity.

The tracks are all covers, which allows everyone to focus on performances. It means that the album takes you back, back before most of us were born. It’s because even if you’re not familiar with early New Orleans jazz, most people have heard it, through films and television, and understand, on some level, the era it evokes. So Muldaur and Tuba Skinny are taking listeners back to a time none of us actually experienced, which is the beauty of music in general, and tight genres, specifically.

The title track doesn’t rock, so much as it trundles, horns and clarinets exploding out of tuba-induced low-end, like a car stuck in mud finally grabbing enough ground to explode out onto the road. “He Ain’t Got Rhythm” is a swinging Irving Berlin tune anchored by banjo strums and tuba, but with Muldaur’s rhythmic vocals also helping to reinforce the groove, allowing horns and clarinet to soar around the song.

Muldaur’s tackled this kind of music before. For example, she covered Louis Armstrong’s “Georgia Grind” on the blues-oriented Don’t You Feel My Leg (The Naughty Bawdy Blues of Blue Lu Barker), which had a fair share of horns. But working with Tuba Skinny allows her to nail the sound of the period, and while it’s not post-war blues, roots, or country, it’s a talented singer working with a cohesive band on solid songs.

Reviewer Steven Ovadia writes about music and technology. You can see more of his music writing at https://steven.ovadia.org/music/.

Tia Carroll – You Gotta Have It

Little Village Foundation

www.tiacarroll.net

11 tracks

Tia Carroll is a Bay Area vocalist with a powerful voice and fantastic delivery. She’s spent years with her own band backing her back home and has also done extensive work in both Brazil and Italy. Here we finally get her first American studio recording and it’s a good one. Carroll gives us three original tunes along with eight well chosen covers that she just takes and makes her own. She’s chosen an amazing set of musicians to back her and they along with Carroll give us their all.

The album was done at Greaseland and it oozes with the creativity of Kid Andersen and his team. Jim Pugh handles the keyboard work on piano and organ. Steve Ehrmann plays the bass and Paul Revellli is on drums except for the first track with Derick D’Mar Martin on drums. Vicki Randall adds percussion on “Leaving Again.” Backing vocals are handled by the great Gospel group The Sons of the Soul Revivers. They add so much to the cuts they appear on. Kid’s wife backs Tia on the song she co wrote with Kid, as does Willy Jordan. The horns are Mike Rinta on trombone, Rob Sudduth on tenor sax, Aaron Lington on baritone sax, Jeff LEwis on trumpet and SAx Gordon Beadle on saxes (tracks 5 and 8 only for him). Other guests are noted below.

“Ain’t Nobody Worryin’” starts things off. Carroll sings with grit and passion on this Anthony Hamilton cover. Charlie Hunter joins Tia on guitar and bass simultaneously and the funk and feeling are amazing. The backing vocals are also superb. What a great start to such a fine album. Her song “Even When I’m Not Alone” follows, a somber and soulful ballad where Carroll testifies to us with emotion and soul; she really reaches out and grabs the listener as does Pugh’s organ work. Organist Jim Pugh’s song “Our Last Time” is next, a song he recorded with Robert Cray. Kid Andersen channels some Magic Sam on guitar and the song just rocks. Carroll lays out her soul to bare and Anderson nails the lead guitar; well done! Rick Estrin’s “Don’t Put Your Hands On Me” is a slick cut with nice horn support. It was written for Koko Taylor and it’s typical Estrin lyrics with wit and his sly approach to songwriting. Carroll sings with authority as the horns blare and piano tinkles behind her. Andersen gives us an impassioned solo to savor, too. The tempo gets turned down for “Never Let Me Go,” an old song made famous by Johnny Ace. Carroll makes this one her own, too, singing with restraint for the most part but unleashing her power to make her point as needed. It’s a great ballad and the horns give it even more feeling. “Leaving Again” is another original that’s a sexy and sultry throwback sort of cut that hearkens to the time of my youth; more good stuff here with some more great guitar and vocals.

“Mama Told Me” is a deep and cool blues that Carroll and company really deliver the goods on. Andersen’s guitar wails, Pugh’s piano is great, and the horns blaze. It’s really a cool and well done cut. Kid Andersen and wife Lisa wrote the next song, “Ready to Love Again.” It is a rollicking and rolling song that has great horn support and really jumps and jives. “I Need Someone” is a Z.Z. Hill classic soul tune with the Sons of the Soul Survivors doing great harmonies behind Carroll. The organ adds to the mix and the guitar solo is sublime. Carroll’s third and final original is “Move On,” with Brazilian guitarist Igor Prado on lead. His guitar work stings and Carroll gives an assertive performance as the horns give ample support. The album closes with the Staples Singers’ “Why Am I Treated So Bad.” The Sons of the Soul Survivors offer some more fantastic support to Carroll in this fine rendition of this song. Carroll and the Sons take us to church and give a stirring Gospel performance. Andersen offers up another solo on his guitar that blends well with the somber feeling and mood set by the song, as does Pugh’s keyboard work.

This is a super album from top to bottom. Carroll shows us what she’s made of and delivers to us a fine soul blues album that will make folks sit up and take notice. I highly recommend this one, folks. It’s a winner!

Reviewer Steve Jones is president of the Crossroads Blues Society and is a long standing blues lover. He is a retired Navy commander who served his entire career in nuclear submarines. In addition to working in his civilian career since 1996, he writes for and publishes the bi-monthly newsletter for Crossroads, chairs their music festival and works with their Blues In The Schools program. He resides in Byron, IL.

Rob Stone Featuring Elena Kato & Hiroshi Eguchi – Trio In Tokyo

Blue Heart Records – 2021

10 tracks; 42 minutes

www.robstone.com

Rob Stone was based in Chicago for many years but has now re-located to the West Coast. However, he has also been a regular visitor to Japan and, of course, there has been quite a tradition of Japanese players coming to play in Chicago, as was the case for bassist Hirochi Eguchi who lived there for some years, playing with a host of Chicago bluesmen as well as touring with Mavis Staples. Pianist Elena Kato spent time studying in New Orleans and has been a frequent accompanist for Chicago visitors to Japan. This set is an all acoustic outing, something of a departure for Rob compared with his usual electric blues band. However, it works brilliantly as all three musicians are joined at the hip, each following the twists and turns of the others, making a thoroughly enjoyable, relaxed outing. The material comes from a variety of sources and Rob contributes one original instrumental. Rob handles all vocal and harp duties, Elena is ever-present and Hiroshi sits out two tracks, on one of which he is replaced by Brad Hayman.

In the sleeve notes Rob explains that the trio started out recording a mix of acoustic and electric tunes with the idea of having something to sell at gigs in Japan. However, when Rob played the tapes to Big Jay McNeely he urged Rob to do more of the acoustic material. The two had planned to re-record Big Jay’s signature hit “There Is Something On Your Mind” and Chuck Willis’ “What Am I Living For”, but ill health overtook Big Jay who died before they could make the recording, so Rob covers those two songs in tribute to his late friend.

“No Money” makes an ideal opener with the three instruments in perfect harmony on the swinging tune that reminds you of T-Bone Walker. We then switch to an interesting take on “Got To Get You Off My Mind” that is a world away from Solomon Burke’s original but still works really well as Elena’s piano leads the way. “Come Back Baby” is from Ray Charles’ repertoire and Elena shines again whilst Rob sings the dramatic lyrics convincingly. The familiar “Poison Ivy” is taken at a sprightly jump rhythm before Big Jay’s “There Is Something On Your Mind” marks the half-way point in the album and it is a great shame that we don’t have Big Jay’s powerful sax to appreciate but the trio do a great job with Rob singing and playing well, Elena adding twinkling piano runs and Brad Hayman holding down the bottom end rhythm so well that you simply don’t notice the absence of a drummer.

Amos Milburn’s “Money Hustlin’ Woman” is well re-worked before the pace quickens for Louis Jordan’s tongue-twisting lyrics to “Jack You’re Dead”, a challenge for the vocalist but here, combined with Rob’s fills on harp replacing the horn arrangement, this is quite a tour-de-force. “What Am I Living For”, the second song from the intended session with Big Jay, is up next, a slow, mournful blues. Rob’s mid-paced instrumental shuffle featuring his harp, appropriately titled “Blow Fish Blow!”, has a false start, increasing the feel of an improvised arrangement. The album closes with Lead Belly’s “Goodnight Irene”, played at almost funereal pace, bringing out the sadness of the lyrics, just Elena’s piano behind Rob’s vocal and lonesome harp work.

Anyone unfamiliar with Rob should also check out his other discs. He is not a prolific recording artist (this is just his fifth disc since 2000), but all his discs are good and this one is no exception.

Reviewer John Mitchell is a blues enthusiast based in the UK who enjoys a wide variety of blues and roots music, especially anything in the ‘soul/blues’ category. Favorites include contemporary artists such as Curtis Salgado, Tad Robinson, Albert Castiglia and Doug Deming and classic artists including Bobby Bland, Howling Wolf and the three ‘Kings’. He gets over to the States as often as he can to see live blues.

Jesper Theis – The Tide Will Turn Again

www.jespertheis.com

self release

11 songs time – 42:45

Stark, sparse and for the most part acoustic music from the gravel-throated singer-songwriter from Denmark Jesper Theis. The recording was accomplished by recording the proceedings live to one central microphone with no overdubbing. Jesper instruments of choice are resonator guitar, acoustic guitar and banjo. His backing musicians contribute resonator and acoustic guitar, electric guitar, harmonica, organ, accordion, doublebass, drums and percussion. His all original songs receive his world-weary gruff vocal delivery. Although at times, very infrequently, the lyrics have a positive bent the delivery is of the “Debbie Downer” variety. There are some melodic and energetic instrumental moments.

The musical interplay of guitar, harmonica and snappy drums belie the pessimistic lyrical content of “You Don’t Listen”. “The Tide Will Turn Again” amounts to the narrator telling his woman that it isn’t good for her to be alone. “Blue Eyed Jane” laments the tale of a girl whose marriage and life hit the rocks. A nifty jazzy bass and snare intro kick-off “Concrete House Of Pain”. The saving grace of the downer sentiment of “Going To The Rathole” is a melodic banjo line.

The sprightly banjo makes another appearance along with slide resonator on “Closing Time Blues”. Back to “Downersville” with “I’m Already Dead”. “Let Me Put Your Mind At Ease” has an uplifting and caring lyric delivered in a depressing fashion. He preaches to a no-account person on “You Just Keep Fooling Around”. The slide resonator on this one takes me down to the Delta.

Ok, some will see this as art. A bit too bleak for my taste, but the instrumental interplay I find intriguing. I suppose an acquired taste. I’m a bit taken aback by the lack of vocal melody. Perhaps the more adventurous of you will find enjoyment here.

Reviewer Greg “Bluesdog” Szalony hails from the New Jersey Delta.

Clarence Spady – Surrender

NOLA Blue Records – 2021

9 tracks; 48 minutes

www.clarencespady.com

A long-term regular on the New York blues scene, Clarence Spady has not been a prolific recording artist, this being just his third release. His debut Nature Of The Beast earned him a WC Handy Award nomination for Best New Artist in 1997 and Just Between Us a nomination for a Blues Music Award for Soul-Blues Album in 2009. Clarence’s voice, a little like Joe Louis Walker’s, places him in the gospel traditions and his guitar playing and song-writing are also strong suits. On this disc there are six new studio recordings and three previously unreleased live tracks from 1999; six of the tunes are Clarence originals. With Clarence are a number of musicians: on the six new studio recordings Adam Schultz plays guitar on three, Scott Brown (keys) and Jon Ventre (bass) appear throughout, drum duties being shared between Pat Marcinko, Barry Harrison, Sharon O’Connell and Andy Pace; Tom Martin adds harp to two tracks, Tom Hamilton sax to one and long-time keyboardist Bob O’Connell provides a short segue between tracks 1 and 2, having not been well enough at the time of the recordings to participate more fully.

The studio tracks come first, starting with two tracks that are beautiful examples of soul-blues: the autobiographical song “If My Life Was A Book” takes its time and features not only Clarence, but also his protégé on guitar, Adam Schultz; Adam contributes “Good Conversation” on which he plays lead against Clarence’s rhythm guitar on a very attractive tune with rumbling bass, dancing piano and elegant sax. Lucky Peterson’s “When My Blood Runs Cold” has been a fixture in Clarence’s live sets for some years and this studio version has stirring lead guitar work as Clarence wrings all the emotion he can from his Strat, well supported by the keyboards. Clarence has clearly experienced some dark times and reflects on those in the confessional lyrics of the slow blues title track and “K-Man”, a tribute to his late son Khalique, the upbeat shuffle belying the emotional lyrics about loss and grief. The familiar “Down Home Blues” (George Jackson) is given a complete makeover, some informal studio chatter preceding a country blues version, complete with acoustic rhythm guitar and harmonica, that works surprisingly well.

The three live tracks were recorded at the River Street Jazz Cafe, Plains, PA and feature saxophonist Tom Hamilton, Mark Hamza on keys and bass pedals and either Anthony Wilson or the late Shorty Parham on drums, alongside Clarence. “Addiction Game” lays bare personal problems as Clarence digs deep on guitar. “Jones Falls Expressway” is the name of a high-speed way round Baltimore and the scene of a near miss when the band was en route to a gig: this is a fiery ten minute instrumental, giving ample space for sax, keys and guitar to solo impressively and, perhaps, to wonder at how close to death they were on that stretch of highway. “Pick Me Up” closes proceedings on a quieter, melodic note, as Clarence seeks forgiveness for having “messed up”.

This disc is long overdue and is a worthy nomination for Contemporary Blues album in this year’s Blues Blast Music Awards. Now that Clarence seems to have his life back in order perhaps we will hear more regularly from this fine bluesman.

Reviewer John Mitchell is a blues enthusiast based in the UK who enjoys a wide variety of blues and roots music, especially anything in the ‘soul/blues’ category. Favorites include contemporary artists such as Curtis Salgado, Tad Robinson, Albert Castiglia and Doug Deming and classic artists including Bobby Bland, Howling Wolf and the three ‘Kings’. He gets over to the States as often as he can to see live blues.