Acoustic New Orleans Blues

While there has suddenly been a flood of CDs featuring masterful New Orleans keyboard wizard and vocalist James Booker, his best release arguably remains Classified. The 12-track set was a landmark album, as Booker displayed every facet of his distinctive style. He did up-tempo lues,...

This solo disc by arguably the most brilliant of New Orleans' resplendent pianists shows off all the edge and genius he possessed. There may be moments on other discs of slightly more inspired playing (and this is arguable), but for a whole disc this one stands far from the crowd. You can...

Dr. John (Mac Rebennack) created his own label after many years in collaboration with Joel Dorn's Hyena Records. The result is an imprint called Skinji Brim that will issue Rebennack's archived live recordings as well as recordings by other artists that "ain't found a home...

Why so much of what pianist/vocalist James Booker recorded in the 1970s didn't surface until the '90s is a mystery, but that's secondary compared to the greatness routinely presented on this CD. It contains nine Booker selections that he performed at the 1977 Boogie Woogie and...

For a man of such talent and influence, New Orleans piano legend James Booker is amazingly under-recorded. This disc and its partner (Spiders on the Keys) offer up some measure of what the folks of the Big Easy might have heard if they caught Booker on one of his "on" nights (he was a...

This 1971 date by New Orleans guitarist Snooks Eaglin was recorded in the Crescent City and produced -- insofar as such a thing exists on a solo date like this -- by Samuel Charters, who has written new liner notes for the Sonet Blues Story series -- he produced the entire range of lues...

Recorded during the time in which Eaglin was doubling as a blues/folk singer and a commercial R&B artist (for Imperial). He addresses the acoustic folk and blues side of his repertoire, performing everything solo on six and 12-string guitars. Time will probably judge these not to be as...

This aptly named disc showcases James Booker's piano playing; his stretches and runs are breathtaking in their fluidity. This disc (along with its Rounder partner, Resurrection of the Bayou Maharajah) was culled from some 60 or so hours of tapes that John Parsons recorded at the Maple Leaf...

This is a disc made by one of the best piano players to come out of New Orleans, James Booker, playing with an all-star band of New Orleans musicians, most of whom Booker befriended during his days with Dr. John. The music sparkles, all the more amazing because it was recorded live in the L.A....

There's not a whole helluva lot of Tuts Washington out there, so any recorded legacy of the most important pre-Professor Longhair generation of New Orleans piano players has its value. He was an acknowledged influence on Fess, and while these performances are alleged to be board tapes, it...

Probably the most amazing thing about this record is how fresh the music sounds. In a genre that at best has been recycling its sounds for over 50 years, it's exciting to hear that indeed, there is a lot of lues piano music being made that is vibrant, individual, and yes, living. While...

This CD is a delight for a DJ or party host wanting to serve up a gumbo of Louisiana music. Aptly titled Louisiana Spice, the two-volume set features musical artists from a variety of genres, from R&B to zydeco. The selections are guaranteed to raise the spirits of listeners. Those so...

Ford "Snooks" Eaglin's first released recordings, the ones collected here, suggested to the world that Eaglin was a great lost country-blues player when he was, in fact, an excellent electric guitar player and a gospel-influenced singer who much preferred playing R&B with a...

Country Boy Down in New Orleans collects 23 tracks Snooks Eaglin recorded in the '50s. During this time, he was a street musician, playing with just one guitar or as a one-man band. On these tracks, he is accompanied by a couple of washboard players and a harpist. As expected, the sound is...

Coordinated by acoustic Delta guitarist Steve James (who also penned the liner notes and appears on two tracks), this is a respectful but refreshingly not-always-reverent tribute to the undisputed king of the Delta blues. Although there are only 12 tracks and some of Patton's defining tunes...

It's easy for Europeans to assemble solid -- and often great -- genre compilations that span decades, artists, and labels, simply because in many cases their copyright laws are different from those in the United States, where most of the vintage blues and jazz recordings originated. That...