| Adams the Queen of the Detroit scene tells the truth, from her heart, with no sugar coating. She sings about relationships, urban decay, poverty, love, friends and money in a voice wise with time. The backing band (guitarist Johnnie Bassett and company) is amazing. They deliver atmospheric retro soul grooves and swinging jump blues with equal ease and skill. |
| The perfect synthesis of traditional and contemporary music. Burnside and his producers/collaborators have effectively integrated droning, modal, North Hills Mississippi blues with hip-hop’s cut and paste sensibility and urban noise pollution. This album is quieter and more contemplative than recent similar experiments by this team, and better for it. Ultimately, without Burnside’s integrity and artistry, this work could end up like bad fusion cuisine trendy, short-lived and without cultural foundation. With it, this will stand. |
| West Side Chicago blues updated for the new millennium. Spacey and groove-oriented, but with its lyrical feet firmly planted in the here and now. Sparkles with delight and occasional almost psychedelic abandon, but there’s a consistent undertone of gravity reflecting the complications of the artist. Very fine indeed. |
| Foley delivers her most complete and fully realized album. Balanced and multi-dimensional, with subtle hints of country twang. Sensitive in the right places, grinding in others. Introverted/Extroverted. Fluid guitar work throughout. |
| The best contemporary blues songwriter, and a heck of a guitarist, too. Witty, observant, contemporary, insightful. Tight band, snaky rhythms, solid production. Garner keeps getting better -- more refined and more powerful. |
| New acoustic blues and storytelling. Sincere, direct, compelling. Warm and conversational. True to tradition, yet forward looking. Not a relic, not a rehash, not a repackaging. Jackson’s vision is maturing and expanding. Stay tuned. |
| Howlin’ Wolf meets B.B. King in the Alabama backwoods. The real deal. Could be the 50s, could be the 90s hard to tell. “I Am The Blues” is a studio album of loose yet compact, rolling rhythms and growled vocals. The best songs are personal stories of trial and triumph. “Freedom Creek” is a live, juke joint recording of dense, ferocious grooves and otherworldly lyrical incantations. Here King’s thoughts range more widely to forcefully confront racial and societal issues. Brilliant. |
| The funkiest man in blues manages the ultimate crossover funky soul blues with harmonica and guitar that can be appealing to black and white audiences. Rush somehow manages to incorporate elements of James Brown, Little Walter and Z.Z. Hill (and Bobby Rush) into the monster party mix. Fun/funny/funky. (Nonetheless, I look forward to a soul blues album that doesn’t have the word “hoochie” in it somewhere.) |
| Quirky and often brilliant, with unusual song structures and off-kilter lyrics. Joyful and celebratory, incorporating an “open road” kind of feel. Fine guitar playing and driving rhythms. Super Chikan is one of a kind. |
| New soul and blues with real guts (and real musicians). Classy and down home at the same time. Walker is an expressive vocalist with range and subtlety. He tells stories in a way the listener can connect to. Great intensity. First rate songs. |