{"id":27936,"date":"2024-08-17T05:30:37","date_gmt":"2024-08-17T09:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=27936"},"modified":"2024-08-12T14:28:05","modified_gmt":"2024-08-12T18:28:05","slug":"hundred-word-reviews-for-august-2024-blues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/17\/hundred-word-reviews-for-august-2024-blues\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundred-word Reviews for August 2024: Blues"},"content":{"rendered":"

Busy, busy, busy. It\u2019s been a long while \u2013 fifteen<\/i> months<\/i>, in fact! \u2013 since I ran a clutch of my boiled-down, hundred-word album reviews. So here\u2019s some, with more to come. This first bunch focuses on blues releases.<\/p>\n

\"\"Bobby Christina\u2019s Caravan \u2013 True Blues Brother<\/i><\/b>
\nMemphis-based Matt \u201cGuitar\u201d Murphy was a giant of the blues. His tuneful and accessible style adorned some of the finest work of a wide variety of artists, from Howlin\u2019 Wolf to Chuck Berry to Buddy Guy. A few years before his 2018 passing, Murphy was indicted into the Blues Hall of Fame. This 2CD set is a tribute to him, spearheaded by his longtime friend and musical associate Growing out of unfinished sessions with Murphy, this set of two dozen songs could easily serve as an introduction to his artistry and a belated, heartfelt sendoff to one of the greats.<\/p>\n

\"\"Jubu Smith \u2013 Jubu<\/i><\/b>
\nIf the name Jubu Smith rings a bell, it\u2019s because you know him for his decade-long tenure as guitarist for Tony Toni Ton\u00e9. In fact, his r\u00e9sum\u00e9 includes work with many other major names in pop, jazz, r&b and soul. For his latest venture, he\u2019s teamed up with another powerhouse guitarist, Charlie Hunter. The deep-groove fireworks fly on Jubu<\/i>, with displays of Smith\u2019s stylistic breadth splashed all over the album\u2019s ten tracks. The two engage in flights of inspiration while drummer Calvin Napper provides sympathetic support. This instrumental set\u2019s a delight, shot through with passion and finesse in equal measure.<\/p>\n

\"\"Kid & Lisa Andersen \u2013 Spirits <\/i>and<\/i> Soul<\/i><\/b>
\nKid Andersen\u2019s a busy guy. In addition to running his own acclaimed studio and playing in any number of projects (see below), he\u2019s found the time to cut an album under his own name. In fact it\u2019s a double (perhaps better characterized as a paired) album with his talented spouse. Ms. Andersen has appeared on many of hubby\u2019s projects as a support vocalist; here she steps out as a commanding front person. As fine as Kid\u2019s disc is \u2013 heartfelt and always compelling \u2013 Lisa\u2019s set of 13 songs is a varied and delightful showcase for her sultry and assured vocal work.<\/p>\n

\"\"Rick Estrin and the Nightcats \u2013 The Hits Keep Coming<\/i><\/b>
\nDistinctive San Francisco singer and harp player Rick Estrin cam to fame in the \u201870s with Little Charlie & the Nightcats, playing its own brand of jazz swing revival and blues. When co-leader Little Charlie Baty went into semi-retirement, Estrin continued leading the slightly renamed group. He added Kid Andersen on guitar, and in the fifteen or so years since has continued the great work of the group. As the album\u2019s title advertises, their latest is more of the top-notch groove that\u2019s Estrin\u2019s trademark. This is fun, timeless music, played with spirit, style and a delightfully strong sense of humor.<\/p>\n

\"\"Toronzo Cannon \u2013 Shut Up & Play!<\/i><\/b>
\nLeft-handed electric Chicago blues guitarist (and CTA bus driver) Toronzo Cannon released his debut album in 2007, and has been an Alligator artist since 2015. This fiery album is steeped in the blues, with plenty of rock energy and attitude. But don\u2019t be misled by the album title: it\u2019s not an instrumental record. And that’s just as well, because Cannon\u2019s powerful voice is a fine match for his searing and assertive lea guitar work. His band is superb as well: active bass lines, tasty piano licks and rock-solid drumming. Topical lyrics ground Shut Up and Play!<\/i> in the here-and now.<\/p>\n

More to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Busy, busy, busy. It\u2019s been a long while \u2013 fifteen months, in fact! \u2013 since I ran a clutch of my boiled-down, hundred-word album reviews. So here\u2019s some, with more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27938,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,49,65],"tags":[5479,5480,5483,4329,5481,5478,5482,4046],"class_list":["post-27936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blues","category-new-release","category-review","tag-bobby-christina","tag-charlie-hunter","tag-jubu-smith","tag-kid-andersen","tag-lisa-andersen","tag-matt-guitar-murphy","tag-rick-estrin","tag-toronzo-cannon","cat-9-id","cat-49-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27936"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27944,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27936\/revisions\/27944"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}