The good folks at The Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise have announced the details of their October 2012 Caribbean cruise, and this is going to be one you won't want to miss. The exotic Caribbean cruise will take place from October 27th to November 3rd, 2012; departing from San Juan, Puerto Rico and stopping in the Barbados, St. Lucia, Martinique, and Dominica before returning.

The week-long cruise promises a "festival atmosphere" with autograph sessions, over 70 scheduled shows, and nightly jam sessions among the performers. The list of performers confirmed for the cruise includes the Taj Mahal Trio, the Tedeschi Trucks Band, the North Mississippi Allstars, the Nighthawks, and the Brooks Family Blues Dynasty, featuring Chicago blues legend Lonnie Brooks and his sons Ronnie and Wayne Baker Brooks. The cruise promises a wealth of blues, R&B, blues-rock, and roots-rock music to entertain a boatload of enthusiastic music fans, and we have the details of the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Caribbean Cruise 2012.

Elsewhere on About.com Blues, the Reverend and his esteemed staff have been busy cranking out the CD reviews for you, our readers. Recently the Reverend took another look at the recently-reissued Delmark Records classic, Junior Well's Hoodoo Man Blues, as well as reviewing the latest from Johnny Winter, Roots. Reviewing an overlooked album from back in September, Beth Hart and Joe Bonamassa's Don't Explain, the Rev says that the collaboration between the singer and the guitarist is a "match made in heaven." Be sure to check it out!

Photo of The Brooks Family Blues Dynasty courtesy The Brooks Family Blues Dynasty

For better than three decades now, the Austin-based Omar & the Howlers have thrilled audiences worldwide with their high-octane blend of roots-rock, hard-edged blues, and Texas soul. While the band enjoyed a brief notoriety during the Stevie Ray Vaughan-led blues-rock boom of the 1980s with the major-label release of 1987's acclaimed Hard Times In The Land Of Plenty, they've mostly gone the independent route since, releasing a dozen studio and live albums on labels like Bullseye Blues, Black Top Records, Watermelon Records, and most recently, for Ruf Records.

On February 14, 2012 Ruf Records will release Essential Collection, a two-disc, 30-song compilation album that takes a look back at the lengthy career of singer, songwriter, and guitarist Omar Kent Dykes and his band the Howlers. The album is essentially a career-spanning retrospective, beginning with the songs "Magic Man," "Border Girl," and "East Side Blues" from the band's 1984 sophomore album I Told You So, and running through 2004's Boogie Man, their last studio album.

The first CD of the set features 15 fan favorites, including the aforementioned three songs as well as gems like "Hard Times In The Land of Plenty," "Muddy Springs Road," and "Jimmy Reed Highway," from Dykes' 2008 collaboration with guitarist Jimmie Vaughan. The second CD of Essential Collection offers up 15 of Omar's favorite moments with the band, songs that "represent a snapshot of influences and heroes throughout my career and are special to me for one reason or another," says Dykes in a press release for the album. Among those faves are tracks like "Snake Rhythm Rock," "Stone Cold Blues," and "Alligator Wine." The performances on the two CDs have been culled from both studio and live albums.

"My career has been a long and rich journey from the time I began playing at 12 years old until the present day," says Dykes in the album's liner notes. "It has been a blast from 1962 until now. The Essential Omar & the Howlers includes songs that are considered my biggest hits combined with songs I believe to be some of my best work. The collection compiles my entire life's work in the music industry: writing, recording, touring and making the blues rock for over five decades."

Related content: Omar Kent Dykes and Jimmie Vaughan - On The Jimmy Reed Highway CD review

Photo courtesy Ruf Records

Now this was totally unexpected: after weeks of stealthy forward momentum, the Billboard magazine blues chart for the week ending January 28, 2012 shows that Texas blues guitarist Gary Clark, Jr. has unseated long-time champ Hugh Laurie from the number one spot. While I've had readers recommend Laurie's Let Them Talk album, it still smells to me like a dilettantish effort to ward off the boredom of a hit TV show and seven-figure paycheck. Clark, on the other hand, is the real deal, certified bluesy by Eric Clapton (for what that's worth) and following in the hallowed footsteps of Stevie Ray Vaughan. Clark's The Bright Lights EP is a fine collection of songs that will whet the listener's appetite for a full-length LP, hopefully in the near future.

Strangely enough, Clark's move to numero uno gives Warner Brothers Records the top three spots, again, misleading one to believe that the label is interested in blues music. There are a few other surprises on this week's chart as well, as Carolyn Wonderland's wonderful Peace Meal squeezes into the Top Ten, Gregg Allman's Low Country Blues returns to the charts again a year after its first appearance, and the great Etta James' final album, The Dreamer, seems to (finally) be gaining some traction, knocking the singer's long-charting Icon collection back a couple of spots. Joe Bonamassa's Dust Bowl dropped to #12 while the Beth Hart/Bonamassa collaboration, Don't Explain, dropped to #11 after a successful run.

Here are this week's Top Ten blues albums, ranked by sales:

10. Gregg Allman - Low Country Blues (Rounder Records)
9. Carolyn Wonderland - Peace Meal (Bismeaux Productions)
8. Etta James - Icon (Geffen Records)
7. Etta James - The Dreamer (Verve Forecast)
6. Johnny Winter - Roots (Megaforce Records)
5. Tedeschi Trucks Band - Revelator (Sony Masterworks)
4. Stevie Ray Vaughan - Playlist: The Very Best Of (Sony Legacy)
3. Wynton Marsalis & Eric Clapton - Play The Blues (Warner Brothers)
2. Hugh Laurie - Let Them Talk (Warner Brothers)
1. Gary Clark, Jr. - The Bright Lights EP (Warner Brothers)

New Releases this week: Dion's Tank Full of Blues (Blue Horizon Records)

Photo of Gary Clark, Jr.'s The Bright Lights EP courtesy Warner Brothers

A new year also means a new blues festival season! While several of our favorite festivals took a bit of a beating last year, with the cancellation of many long-running events, the upcoming slate of festivals is looking strong. The Knology Clearwater Sea-Blues Festival is always one of the year's first major shindigs, and this year's event is looking like a real houserockin' good time!

The Knology Clearwater Sea-Blues Festival '12 will be held on Saturday, February 18th and Sunday, February 19th, 2012 at Coachman Park in Clearwater, Florida. The gates open at noon on Saturday and 1:00 PM on Sunday, with the music following shortly thereafter, and the best part of the event is that general admission seating is free! If you'd like to get closer to the stage, reserved seating is available at $25 in advance, $30 day of show for a single day; $40 advance, $45 that weekend for both days.

The promoters have put together a heck of a line-up for this year's event, with Saturday's headliner being Chicago blues legend Buddy Guy. Soul-blues giant Curtis Salgado and blues mandolin master Rich DelGrosso open on Saturday. The next day is no slouch, either, with B.B. King Entertainer of the Year award winner Janiva Magness headlining Sunday, with boogie-woogie pianist Eden Brent and blues guitarist Ronnie Baker Brooks opening. The Michael Williams Band, Franc Robert, Beverly McClellan, and Selwyn Birchwood will also be appearing during the weekend.

Check the event's website for more details about the Knology Clearwater Sea-Blues Festival.

Related Content:
Buddy Guy - The Definitive Buddy Guy CD review
Janiva Magness - The Devil Is An Angel Too CD review
Rich DelGrosso & Jonn Del Toro Richardson - Time Slips On By CD review

Buddy Guy photo by Christian Lantry, courtesy Silvertone Records