{"id":29587,"date":"2025-06-12T05:30:39","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T09:30:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=29587"},"modified":"2025-06-11T12:10:24","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T16:10:24","slug":"hundred-word-reviews-for-june-2025-blues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/12\/hundred-word-reviews-for-june-2025-blues\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundred-word Reviews for June 2025: Blues"},"content":{"rendered":"

Capsule reviews of some very worthy new releases. This go-round is all blues, to coin a phrase.<\/p>\n

\"\"Janiva Magness \u2013 Back for Me<\/i><\/b>
\nAward-winning blues diva Janiva Magness<\/a> is the real deal. She\u2019s been a force in blues for years. And while tough times undeniably provide inspiration for blues material, Magness turns out an inspired set of tunes while things are going well. It\u2019s a hard-won happiness, and the experiences that got her here inform her song selections. They\u2019re a varied bunch \u2013 both musically and lyrically \u2013 and they showcase Magness\u2019 dazzling power, versatility and expressiveness. And \u2013 surprise! \u2013 Ren\u00e9e Zellweger writes songs! See \u201cNovember,\u201d a solid co-write with Doyle Bramhall II. Guests (Joe Bonamassa, Sue Foley, Jesse Dayton) make a great album even better.<\/p>\n

\"\"Charlie Musselwhite \u2013 Look Out Highway<\/i><\/b>
\nThe Chicago style of blues (my favorite style, btw) rarely disappoints. And for many years now, Grammy (and most every other kind of) winner Charlie Musselwhite<\/a> has been a prime exemplar of the form. His work with Elvin Bishop and on his own is blues par excellence. His latest features two longtime associates who\u2019ve made names for themselves: Matt Stubbs of GA-20<\/a> and Kid Andersen of, well, damn near everything, but especially Greaseland Studios. Musselwhite\u2019s gritty, rough \u2018n\u2019 ready style of blues-harpification and soulful vocals are set against tasty musical backing. At age 81, Musselwhite is showing how it\u2019s done.<\/p>\n

\"\"Johnny Iguana \u2013 At Delmark<\/i><\/b>
\nJohnny Iguana is renowned as the pianist in the Claudettes<\/a>. That group has gone through a number of stylistic changes, all well worth hearing. The thread connecting it all is Iguana\u2019s expressive piano work. He finally gets a solo piano album. Here everything\u2019s rendered on his 1917 Steinway, with a production aesthetic as tried, true and authentic as that piano. Everything here \u2013 old ragtime pieces, Neil Young\u2019s \u201cHeart of Gold,\u201d Chuck Berry, AC\/DC and originals like the wonderfully evocative \u201cStormy Night at a Moroccan Blues Bar\u201d \u2013 is delivered with style. One of the best one-instrument albums I\u2019ve heard in years.<\/p>\n

\"\"Terry Hanck \u2013 Grease to Gravy<\/i><\/b>
\nSoulful blues with a swinging jazz vibe is the stock in trade of this excellent singer and tenor sax man. Hanck was largely responsible for bringing Kid Anderson to the U.S. from Norway, and for that alone he deserves an important place in music. As it happens, he makes great music, too. Grease to Gravy<\/i> is a timeless collection of originals and well-chosen covers. It\u2019s not a concept album, but the songs hold together to present a cohesive character and feel. Hanck has a good sense of humor and a knack for making music that always connects with the listener.<\/p>\n

\"\"Tad Robinson \u2013 Soul in Blue<\/i><\/b>
\nChicago-born Robinson started making albums under his own name more than 30 years ago, after honing his craft as lead singer in Dave Specter\u2019s band. Soul in Blue<\/i> is his eighth solo album, and his first in nearly six years. His well-worn vocals and tuneful blues harp shine on these ten tunes. Primarily original material, the album is jam-packed with special guests (Specter and a dozen others). Everyone sounds like they\u2019re having a good time; chances are high that you\u2019ll feel the same when you spin Soul in Blue<\/i>. I\u2019m not sure why, but he reminds me of Mitch Ryder.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Capsule reviews of some very worthy new releases. This go-round is all blues, to coin a phrase. Janiva Magness \u2013 Back for Me Award-winning blues diva Janiva Magness is the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29589,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,49,65],"tags":[4330,2699,4375,5718,5719],"class_list":["post-29587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blues","category-new-release","category-review","tag-charlie-musselwhite","tag-janiva-magness","tag-johnny-iguana","tag-tad-robinson","tag-terry-hanck","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\/29587","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=29587"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29587\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29593,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29587\/revisions\/29593"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}