09-06-2019 BLUES:MiX # 33 blues(y) songs from the BLUES circle 2003-2012

Taj Mahal

09-06-2019 BLUES:MiX # 33 blues(y) songs from the BLUES circle 2003-2012 # Taj Mahal, Guy Davis, Sean Costello, Otis Grand, Charlie Musselwhite, Dave Specter, Luther Dickinson & The Sons of Mudboy, Mannish Boys, Shemekia Copeland, Mary Bridget Davies

B L U E S    M U S I C

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2003-2012

A guitarist and singer/songwriter who took an interest in reviving the rural blues tradition, later extending to reggae and ragtime influences. 
Taj Mahal
Blues with a Feeling (Walter Jacobs) 3:52
Señor Blues (Horace Silver) 6:44
(You've Got To) Love Her with a Feeling (Freddie King / Sonny Thompson) 3:45
from Blues with a Feeling: The Very Best of Taj Mahal 2003
Throughout his career, Taj Mahal has always been considered a bluesman, which is true enough, since the basis for everything he does has been the country blues, but he is not a traditionalist at heart, and he has always looked for ways to push the blues into new places and shapes. Adding at times rhythms and sensibilities that are drawn from reggae, ragtime, calypso, zydeco, and other genres, Mahal practices a kind of blues hybrid that is his alone, and he has been a huge influence on newer artists like Chris Thomas King and Corey Harris. This collection derives from the five albums he recorded with Private Records during the 1990s, and overlaps somewhat with The Best of the Private Years, released in 2000...

Acclaimed American blues singer, songwriter, actor, and teacher. Updating the rural blues tradition for the modern era, Guy Davis was among the most prominent ambassadors of African-American art and culture of his generation, additionally winning great acclaim for his work in the theater.
Guy Davis
Uncle Tom's Dead (Guy Davis) 4:47
Run Molly Run (Henry Thomas / Traditional) 3:30
Drop Down Mama 4:00
Cypress Grove (Nehemiah James) 5:06
from Legacy 2004
With the exception of the opening "Uncle Tom's Dead," which is a blues versus rap debate of only minimal interest, Guy Davis' Legacy consists of the blues from various genres. Alternating older material with his recent originals (some of which sound more traditional than the vintage songs), Davis plays straight-ahead blues, country blues, a couple songs that could be called bluish pop, folk music, and blues ballads. Davis' baritone singing is pleasing, his guitar is solid, and his band is tight yet versatile. It is Davis' goal to keep the legacy of the blues alive, and this CD should help the worthy effort.

Teen blues phenom Sean Costello was born and raised in Atlanta, receiving his first guitar for his ninth birthday. A primarily self-taught player, he initially gravitated toward hard rock but soon discovered Stevie Ray Vaughan, moving on from there to Howlin' Wolf; under the wing of local bluesman Felix Reyes, a 14-year-old Costello won the Beale Street Blues Society's talent award in 1994.
Sean Costello
It's My Own Fault (Jules Bihari / Riley King) 4:41
Hard Luck Woman (Sean Costello) 3:22
You Don't Know What Love Is (Fenton Robinson) 4:39
I Went Wrong (Sean Costello) 4:34
from In the Magic Shop 2005
2008 April 15th is not a great day. Oh, yes, Income Taxes are due then but that is not why I note the date. It is the day that a young and bright star of the blues left us. Sean Costello was on the eve of his 29th birthday when an accidental overdose took him from his family and us only a week after beginning an alcohol addiction program and being diagnosed with bi-polar disorder. Enveloped in depression, he had difficulty sleeping and told a friend he was taking something to help him sleep that fateful night. A shy and unassuming soul, Sean was also a premier blues guitar player, singer and songwriter.... Joining Costello on this recording are Paul Linden on B3, harp and keys, Melvin Zachery on bass and Ray Hangen on drums. A few others perform here and there, too, but the foursome of Costello and these three comprise the main band. It took Rosenthal six years to get the gumption up to play these recordings again and then by Summer 2014 he had recompiled and re-created this masterful recording. Half new and half fine covers, this album gives us but a glimpse of what we’ve missed with the loss of this fine musician.

b. Fred Bishti, 14 February 1950, Beirut, Lebanon.
Otis Grand
Three Time Loser 4:13
Satan's Blues 8:17
Hipster Blues No. 5 5:22
from Hipster Blues 2006
Grand has spent most of his life in the USA, although he lived in France for a few years. He began playing guitar at the age of 13, citing his influences as B.B. King, T-Bone Walker, Otis Rush and Johnny Otis, and he has played with many San Francisco Bay area blues artists. Otis Grand And The Dance Kings created a sensation when they burst onto the British blues scene in the late 80s, enhanced on the first album (a W.C. Handy award nomination) by the presence of Joe Louis Walker. The second album includes guests Jimmy Nelson, Pee Wee Ellis, and Walker again. A great live attraction, Grand was voted UK Blues Guitarist Of The Year in 1990 and continued to appear in annual polls throughout the 90s due to his constant touring schedule. He now resides in Croydon, Surrey, gateway to the blues!

A Mississippi transplant whose rangy, subtle harp playing made a splash in Chicago blues circles beginning in the 1960s. 
Charlie Musselwhite
I Don't Play, I'll Be Your Man Some Day (Willie Dixon) 3:17
Christo Redemptor (Duke Pearson) 3:20
A Nice Day for Something 6:38
from Vanguard Visionaries 2007
This ten-cut compilation is representative of the earliest recordings by Charlie Musselwhite as a solo act who led his own bands after coming out from under the shadows of his Delta and Chicago mentors. Everything here has been released before and the previous two compilations of his work on Vanguard featured more than half of this material. For reasons of accuracy -- and since the label couldn't see its way clear to tell consumers which albums these tunes came from -- the version of Duke Pearson's "Christo Redemptor," is the original, shorter version from his 1967 debut...

A first-tier blues and jazz guitarist, Dave Specter, whether working solo as a bandleader or as a sideman for artists like Johnny Littlejohn or Son Seals, has always brought intelligence and sharp, crisp playing to the music table, a sort of contemporary version of T-Bone Walker.
Dave Specter
with Jimmy Johnson, Tad Robinson, Sharon Lewis
Boss Funk/Riverside Ride (Dave Specter) 7:56
Texas Top (Dave Specter) 6:38
Out on the Road (Jimmy Rogers) 8:29
from Live in Chicago 2008
There are still some die-hard purists in the blues world who want nothing to do with rock, soul, or jazz and refuse to perform anything that doesn't adhere to a traditional 12-bar structure, but people who fit that description have become harder and harder to find... One of the bluesmen who has been contributing to that diversity is guitarist Dave Specter, whose Live in Chicago was recorded in August 2007 at two of the Windy City's blues clubs: Buddy Guy's Legends and Rosa's Blues Lounge. Specter, true to form, gets his inspiration from a variety of places... Live in Chicago is a consistently rewarding demonstration of Specter's versatility.

A son of Memphis royalty, a talented guitarist with an eclectic range of influences, and one of the North Mississippi All-Stars. 
Luther Dickinson & The Sons of Mudboy
Let It Roll (Luther Dickinson) 4:16
Where the Soul of a Man Never Dies (Traditional) 3:17
Back Back Train (Traditional) 4:35
from Onward and Upward 2009
Three days after the death of legendary musician and producer Jim Dickinson, his son, Luther Dickinson, gathered friends at the family Zebra Ranch studio in Independence, MS, and recorded Onward and Upward, an album of gospel songs, hymns, and blues spirituals, tracking directly to half-inch tape with no overdubs or embellishments, and the result was a no-frills and intimate testament of grief and renewal. Luther, long a member of the North Mississippi Allstars and also currently a member of the Black Crowes, dubbed the ad hoc group the Sons of Mudboy, a reference to his father's influential band Mudboy and the Neutrons. On hand were two original members of the Neutrons, Sid Selvidge (guitar, vocals) and Jimmy Crosthwait (washboard, vocals), along with Jimbo Mathus (guitar, mandolin, banjo, vocals), Steve Selvidge (guitar, Dobro, vocals), Paul Taylor (washtub bass), and vocalist Shannon McNally. The album itself is essentially a musical wake, a way to both honor and say goodbye to Jim Dickinson in the one way he would most certainly want...

The Mannish Boys are an American blues band based in Los Angeles, California, United States. They play classic blues in West Coast, Texas and Chicago styles. Led by vocalist Finis Tasby, the band consists of all-star veteran members of the West Coast blues scene.
Mannish Boys
Too Tired feat. Nick Curran, Finis Tasby (Maxwell Davis / Sam Ling / John Watson) 3:38
Reconsider Baby feat. Franck Goldwasser, Finis Tasby (Lowell Fulson) 3:08
You Can't Be Beat feat. Kirk Fletcher, Bobby Jones, Randy Chortkoff (Chester Burnett) 4:27
from Shake for Me 2010
Through five years, and over as may CDs, the rotating personnel of the Mannish Boys constituted an impressive array of rhythm-section member and special guest all-stars. Shake for Me displays this potpourri of blues musicians on some classic tunes and those written by select bandmembers, each one with a special, customized feeling. With personnel ranging from duets up to horn-fired big-band charts, this quintessential backup band takes center stage on their way to deserved recognition as a premier blues group in their own right...

A powerful blues singer and daughter of blues guitarist Johnny Copeland whose award-winning recordings run the gamut from electric blues to soul and Americana. 
Shemekia Copeland
Turn the Heat Up 5:04
Ghetto Child 4:07
It's 2 A.M. 4:30
from Deluxe Edition 2011
...This hour-plus compilation successfully grabs 15 highlights, adds a snappy Christmas song originally included on an Alligator holiday anthology, and provides a snapshot for those who want a sampler of Copeland's talents. While the strutting, harder-edged music, often including horns, is a significant part of Copeland's résumé and substantially represented here, the compilers have included some jazzy and more subtle performances that show she is comfortable dialing down the vocal fire power when needed. There's also a funky side to her personality...

Mary Bridget Davies is an American singer and actress. She performs with her own band, Mary Bridget Davies, and is also an interpreter of Janis Joplin's music.
Mary Bridget Davies
Your Kinda Love 3:35
Same Ol' Blues  3:59
Wanna Feel Somethin' 3:37
Trick The Devil 4:35
from Wanna Feel Somethin' 2012
Wanna Feel Somethin’, the debut album from Mary Bridget Davies does indeed feel something like an artist on verge of bigger things. Fresh on the heels of their second place finish at the 2011 international blues challenge, Davies and her crack four piece band recorded this ten song set in Kansas City, augmented by a hot horn section. The tracks all showcase the amazing vocals of Davies, who starred in the musical Love- Janis and toured with Big Brother and the Holding Co. in 2006. But don’t be fooled this diva is no Janis Joplin wanna be, her powerhouse vocals are more of a cross between Joss Stone and Shemekia Copeland, who Davies is no doubt poised to replace as the Queen of the blues. The eight fine original tunes showcase the writing strengths of guitarist Dave Hayes and Bassist Gary Roberts and the band’s ability to add fire and freshness to traditional forms.