Concord Music continues its "For Lovers" series with collections from R&B greats Isaac Hayes and Ray Charles; both albums are scheduled for release on December 22, 2009 at a budget price of $11.98. Previous releases in the series featured performances by artists like Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Tony Bennett, and Sarah Vaughan.

Isaac Hayes' Sings For Lovers includes a pair of collaborations with his long-time Stax Records songwriting partner, David Porter - "Baby I'm-A Want You" and "Ain't That Loving You (For More Reasons Than One)" - from his 1972 album Wonderful. Hayes' volume in the series also features love songs like "The Look Of Love" and "Someone Made You For Me," among others.

Ray Charles' Sings For Lovers album features some of the soul legend's best-known love songs, including "I Can't Stop Loving You," "Baby It's Cold Outside," "You Are My Sunshine," "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye," and several more.

Both Hayes and Charles have benefitted by Concord's year-long campaign to restore and reissue key albums in each artists' back catalog. Hayes' deserving legacy has grown with the release of such classic albums as Hot Buttered Soul and Black Moses. Concord kicked off its restoration of Charles' early catalog with the release of Genius: The Ultimate Collection before reissuing albums like Modern Sounds in Country and Western and Genius Hits the Road.

Related Content:
Isaac Hayes - Hot Buttered Soul CD review
Ray Charles - Genius: The Ultimate Collection CD review

Photos courtesy Concord Music

Blues-rock guitarist Coco Montoya lives mostly on the road, chalking up close to, or better than 200 nights a year performing somewhere in the world. It comes as no surprise, then, that Montoya has a healthy tour schedule on his plate, live dates running through the end of the year and well into 2010, with shows in the United States as well as Canada and Europe.

Montoya has been touring behind his 2007 Alligator Records release Dirty Deal, and with the recent release of The Essential Coco Montoya, a collection of material from his first three albums for Blind Pig Records, he has more music to choose from for his onstage performances than you can shake a stick at! While many of Montoya's November tour dates feature the guitarist performing with fellow bluesman Tommy Castro, the remainder of his schedule has him taking the stage with his band and delivering the sort of six-string pyrotechnics that a true guitar-blues fan would salivate over. Be sure to check out Coco Montoya and his crew when they come through your town.

Related Content:
Coco Montoya Profile
Coco Montoya - The Essential Coco Montoya CD review

Coco Montoya Tour Dates

Nov 20 @ Mexicali Live, Teaneck NJ *
Nov 21 @ YMCA Boulton Center, Bay Shore NY *
Nov 22 @ Keswick Theatre, Glenside PA *
Nov 23 @ B.B. King Blues Club, New York NY *
Nov 25 @ The Birchmere, Alexandria VA *
Nov 27 @ Ramshead Tavern, Annapolis MD *
Nov 28 @ Stephen Talkhouse, Amagansett NY
Nov 29 @ Infinity Hall, Norfolk CT
Nov 30 @ Iron Horse Music Hall, Northampton MA
Dec 02 @ L'Astral, Montreal, Quebec CANADA
Dec 03 @ Tucson's Roadhouse, Ottawa, Ontario CANADA
Dec 04 @ Peter's Place Live, Gravenhurst, Ontario CANADA
Dec 05 @ London Music Hall, London, Ontario CANADA
Dec 08 @ Zoo Bar, Lincoln NE
Dec 10 @ Boulder Outlook Hotel, Boulder CO
Dec 11 @ Little Bear Saloon, Evergreen CO
Dec 12 @ Crystola Roadhouse, Woodland Park CO
Dec 13 @ Evangelo's Cocktail Lounge, Santa Fe NM
Jan 09, 2010 @ Coach House, San Juan Capistrano CA
Jan 10 @ BriXton, Redondo Beach CA
March 09 @ The Pigalle Club, London ENGLAND
March 11 @ Witte Bal, Assen NETHERLANDS
March 12 @ De Kade, Zaandam NETHERLANDS
March 13 @ De Noot, Hoogland NETHERLANDS
March 14 @ Bosuil, Weert NETHERLANDS
March 15 @ Spirit, Verviers BELGIUM
March 27 @ Berks Jazz Festival, Wyomissing PA
June 05 @ Coloma Blues Live!, Lotus CA

* with Tommy Castro

Photo by Frank Vigil, courtesy Alligator Records

More blues artists tour dates

Agents of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service dropped by the Gibson Guitar manufacturing plant in Nashville, Tennessee on Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 as part of an ongoing investigation into the illegal sale and use of exotic imported woods. The feds served a search warrant on the factory, which produces Gibson-branded electric and acoustic guitars, but nobody is saying anything about what they might have been looking for, or if they removed anything from the premises.

At issue is the importing of hardwoods like rosewood and ebony from the rain forests of Madagascar and Brazil. Under the U.S. Lacey Act, the trade in exotic woods is a federal offense, punishable by civil and criminal penalties and/or the seizure of property. Here's where it all gets a bit dicey, however...although Gibson has led the industry in pushing for the use of sustainable wood products in the manufacture of musical instruments, the people on the other side of the supply chain aren't always following the same principles. Guitar manufacturers have not stopped using rosewood, ebony and other woods, but have been sourcing the wood from certified renewable suppliers.

By all accounts, Gibson has been extremely aware of environmental concerns in their use of exotic hardwoods. Along with fellow instrument manufacturers like Martin and Taylor, the company is a member of the MusicWood Coalition, formed by Greenpeace to combat the destructive harvest of hardwoods. Until the recent raid, Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz sat on the board of the Rainforest Alliance (he has taken a "leave of absence" in the wake of the investigation). Gibson is a "chain of custody certified buyer," meaning that the wood products they're buying are supposed to be tracked from harvest to arrival in their factory. But unscrupulous suppliers could slip illegally-harvested wood into a shipment, and Gibson would be the one holding the bag and forced to forfeit the wood.

Gibson guitars have long been a staple of blues music, and a veritable "who's who" of blues and blues-rock musicians, from B.B. King, Albert King, and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown to Eric Clapton and Duane Allman, have favored the company's instruments for their rich tone and playability.

Photo courtesy Gibson Guitar

Mickey Thomas has enjoyed an illustrious career dating back some 34 years, his rich vocals gracing better than two dozen albums during that span. Although he is best-known, perhaps, as the singer of such 1980s-era Jefferson Starship hits as "We Built This City" and "Sara," Thomas spent several years at the front of guitarist Elvin Bishop's band; it's his voice you hear on Bishop's #3 charting 1976 hit "Fooled Around And Fell In Love." Thomas has also recorded with such blues-n-roots artists as Delbert McClinton, Bonnie Bramlett, Al Kooper, and Dickey Betts and Great Southern.

With the Bluesmasters, Thomas has returned to his roots, the singer dusting off his soul pipes for The Bluesmasters with Mickey Thomas album. Scheduled as the inaugural release by the Direct Music Distribution (DMD) label, The Bluesmasters with Mickey Thomas will be released in as both a physical CD and digital download on March 10, 2010. The band will also launch an international tour in support of the album.

The Bluesmasters were formed in 2007 by guitarist Tim Tucker and pianist Sean Benjamin, who is no longer a full-time member of the band, but performs on two tracks on the album. Bassist Danny Miranda, keyboardist Ric Ulsky, harpist Doug Lynn, and former John Mayall's Bluesbreakers drummer Aynsley Dunbar round out the Bluesmasters behind Thomas.

The album features inspired covers of a number of great blues, soul, and R&B songs by artists like B.B. King ("Rock Me Baby"), Etta James ("I'd Rather Go Blind"), and Albert Collins ("Get Your Business Straight" ), among others. Thomas even revisits his signature song, "Fooled Around And Fell In Love." Watch for The Bluesmasters with Mickey Thomas on a record store shelf in March.

Photo courtesy DMD Records