Review: Captured during a fiery two-night stand at the Fillmore Auditorium in October 1966, these recordings catch the Paul Butterfield Blues Band at full throttle: lean, charged, on the edge of (controlled) chaos. Broadcast six years later on KSAN during Bill Graham's takeover of the station, the sets offer a rare document of the band's searing live form. With Paul Butterfield on harp and vocals, Mike Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop duelling on guitars, and Mark Naftalin's swirling organ lines, this was the group's classic lineup pushing electric blues into new terrain. The final stretch brings a heavyweight finale: Muddy Waters and Luther Johnson join for the last four tracks, adding deep Chicago grit to an already smouldering set.
Review: In 1989, Oakland played host to a rare meeting of American rock heavyweights, with John Fogerty leading a set packed with Creedence Clearwater Revival staples and solo favourites. Joined by Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, as well as saxophonist Clarence Clemons of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, the night emulsified key figures from rock's most influential chapters. First aired live on FM radio, this now remastered CD captures the full performance, including raucous renditions of 'Born on the Bayou', 'Proud Mary', and 'Fortunate Son'. The set showcases Fogerty in commanding form, bridging his swamp rock roots with the celebratory energy of the guest ensemble.
The Lafayette Afro Rock Band - "Darkest Light" (45 edit) (4:17)
The Outlaw Blues Band - "Deep Gully" (45 edit) (4:17)
Review: Mushi 45 prompt a history lesson: Hailing from Paris in the early 70s, Lafayette Afro Rock Band forged a fusion of American funk and West African rhythms, producing grooves that stuck like thumbtacks through later genera such as hip-hop and electronica. Their track 'Darkest Light' stands out for its piercing, mussitating bari sax riff, famously looped on Jay-Z's 'Show Me What You Got'. Another essential cut, 'Deep Gully', delivers sharp guitar stabs over a crisp drum break, also a backbone for numerous hip-hop and jungle tracks. The group's sessions at Pierre Jaubert's Parisound studio yielded records like Soul Makossa and Malik, both cult classics rich in percussion and horn work.
Review: After 20 years of soulful and authentic rock & roll blues, Eli Paperboy Reed definitely had a right to celebrate. Originally recorded in a basement in Allston, Massachusetts, completely live onto and direct to analogue tape in mono, this collection was first released on a limited run of 300 CDs, self-released, and mostly sold by hand on the streets of Cambridge, close to Harvard University. Now redone, pressed-up and polished for 'proper release', you get all 12 original tracks and another 14 that never saw the light of day before. Four of those were recorded at the time of the others, the remainder come from a radio session the following year. All of them are incredible, and prove that it's not only the Deep South that can make these raw and unflinchingly honest sounds.
Review: Signed to blues rock master Joe Bonamassa's Journeyman Records, Joanne Shaw Taylor is one of the UK's foremost blues players and has delivered a transcendent tenth studio album. The Black Country singer and guitarist lets the natural twang of a Fender Telecaster ring brightly through the stomping blues classic 'What Are You Gonna Do Now?' and she matches her virtuoso playing with a commanding vocal take that puts her up there with the greats. 'Look What I've Become' sees her bare herAsoul to stunning effect as she lets rip with one of her best solos. Elsewhere, 'Summer Love' is a husky take on Americana with a more languid, feel-good vibe that reflects her ability to express almost any feeling through music. Clearly, Joanne Shaw Taylor has developed, since her 2009 debut, into a hugely accomplished member of the blues and Americana community, who doesn't just pay homage to her influences, but splices them into something new and her own.
Review: Ali brings together Malian guitarist and singer Vieux Farka Toure with Houston-based trio Khruangbin for pattern-textured tribute to Vieux's father, the legendary Ali Farka Toure. The group chose to reinterpret Ali's music, drawing on a shared sense of space and groove to honour his legacy without embalming it. Recorded in just a week in a barn in Burton, Texas, the sessions came steeped in warmth and mutual respect, with the final tracklist curated by Ali's eleven children. Khruangbin's dusky, reverb-heavy style embed the earthy, cyclical patterns of the recently popularised Malian desert blues, each side subtly reshaping the other sound while drawing parallels between North American and West African takes on the same name. Though long delayed by the pandemic, what has emerged is an unhurried traditional group mind, invoked to tread newer ground in songs erstwhile deemed well-trodden.
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