Blues CDs New Releases - September 2008

A live set from fiery blues guitarist Albert Cummings, Feels So Good was recorded in front of a loud and enthusiastic hometown audience. Cummings and his band kick out an electric mix of original songs and covers of classic material from Led Zeppelin, Little Feat, and Muddy Waters for Feels So Good. (Release date: 09/09/08)

From his days with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in the 1960s, through a series of blues-rock albums for Alligator during the '80s, to his critically-acclaimed Blind Pig releases during the last few years, Elvin Bishop's name is synonymous with the blues. For the recording of The Blues Rolls On, Bishop has enlisted the help of a veritable "who's who" of blues talent, from legends like B.B. King and James Cotton and rockers like Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes, to modern bluesmen like Tommy Castro and John Nemeth. (Release date: 09/23/08)

Freddie King's often-overlooked 1969 album My Feeling For The Blues, the first that he made for Atlantic's rock-oriented Cotillion label, showcased the talented bluesman's vocal skills alongside his six-string prowess on a collection of original songs and classic covers of songs by Elmore James, B.B. King, and Ray Charles. Long out-of-print, My Feeling For The Blues includes performances by soul sax great King Curtis, harp player Hugh McCracken, and guitarist Cornell Dupree, with song arrangements by Donnie Hathaway. Reissued courtesy of Friday Music. (Release date: 09/09/08)

Blues pianist Jon Cleary and his band, the Absolute Monster Gentlemen, release their first live album this month. Mo Hippa captures the band at its rockin', sweaty best, delivering a set of wild New Orleans-styled barrelhouse blues with funked-up flavor at The Vanguard club in Sydney, Australia. Mo Hippa is also the first release on Cleary's own independent FHQ Records label. (Release date: 09/16/08)

Blues guitarist Joe Louis Walker has signed with Stony Plain Records for the release of his latest, Witness To The Blues, which includes a duet with acclaimed blueswoman Shemekia Copeland. Walker, a three-time Blues Music Award winner, has an impressive blues music resume, with eighteen albums and two live DVDs under his belt; the blues artist has also performed and recorded alongside legends like B.B. King, James Cotton, Taj Mahal, and Steve Cropper throughout his lengthy career. Produced by fellow blues guitarist Duke Robillard, Walker's Witness To The Blues is a rock-solid collection of Delta and Chicago styled blues, along with Memphis soul and even a little bit o' rockabilly. (Release date: 09/30/08)

One of the last of the old-school Chicago bluesmen Magic Slim is accompanied on Midnight Blues by friends like James Cotton, Elvin Bishop, Lonnie Brooks, Otis Clay, Lil' Ed Williams, Gene Barge, and the Chicago Rhythm & Blues Kings horn section. At 70 years old, Magic Slim sill kicks out raucous Chicago blues with more energy and vitality than blues artists half his age. (Release date: 09/09/08)

Widely acclaimed blues singer and guitarist Rory Block is ready to release her long-awaited tribute to blues giant Son House. Titled Blues Walkin' Like A Man, the album features Block's inspired renditions of 13 House classics, including "Death Letter," "Preachin' Blues," and "Grinnin' In Your Face." A 1965 meeting between House and the 15-year-old guitar prodigy set Block rambling down the blues highway, a trip that has brought the artist international recognition and five Blues Music Awards over the course of better-than two-dozen album releases. Block's friend, former Lovin' Spoonful frontman John Sebastian, adds harmonica to three cuts on Blues Walkin' Like A Man. (Release date: 09/30/08)

Maestro, folk bluesman Taj Mahal's first release stateside in five years includes guest shots from a wide array of artists like Ben Harper, Ziggy Marley, Los Lobos, and the Phantom Blues Band, among others. Celebrating his 40th year in the music biz, the two-time Grammy Award winning Mahal delivers a fine collection of traditional Delta blues, Southern soul, reggae and island rhythms, and African folk music with Maestro. (Release date: 09/30/08)

The brainchild of wicked-bad slide-guitar wizard Ted Drozdowski, working with a lone drummer, the Scissormen's Luck In A Hurry is the band's first nationally-distributed album after a pair of indie releases. Mixing a houserocking modern blues sound with Mississippi Hill Country influences, the Scissormen raise the roof on the juke-joint with in the spirit of Junior Kimbrough or R.L. Burnside. Luck In A Hurry features cameos from vocalist Dicky Barrett of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Morphine's Billy Conway. (Release date: 09/02/08)