Remember the numerous dance parties at our festivals to the rhythm and melodies of the legendary Buena Vista Social Club. Unforgettable!

The blues rocker returns for his 10th album, ‘The Speed Of Life,’ set for release on April 4, 2025, with a dozen new tracks recorded in the Czech Republic with his European touring rhythm section of drummer Nick Owsianka, and co-producer Dave Marks on bass, percussion, and keyboards. Additional recording and mixing was done at his own Muchmore Studios in the Cincinnati home he acquired from guitar legend Peter Frampton. The collection of all new original material takes the listener on a journey across a musical dreamscape that flows from thundering mountain tops down to serene valleys, while he mixes a cosmic array of guitar tones that only a master craftsman could yield.

John Primer wants to pay a real tribute to his hometown of Camden, Mississippi with his new album, his twentieth album by the way. He also wants to remind everyone that this is where he came from. Mississippi is very dear to Primer and it still inspires him every day! Three-time Grammy nominee and Blues Hall of Famer John Primer looks back to where it all began and concludes with this beautiful new album a tribute to his simple beginnings on a tenant farm in Camden, Mississippi. He digs deep and shares his earliest memories of blues and gospel growing up. The raw energy and passion are palpable in this new release. John recorded this new album in Clarksdale, Mississippi, to really enhance the authentic, traditional blues feeling. Highly recommended! John Primer is ‘the real deal’! 

Make a trip to Paris and try to find a live concert of the Belleville Birds.  Very romantic!

That there were quite a few great instrumental numbers released in the rhythm & blues and blues genres, we were able to convince ourselves of that in volumes 1 and 2 of the ‘Boss Black Instrumentals’ series. These volumes were titled ‘Rinky Dink’ and ‘Zeen Beat’ respectively and you can certainly reread the reviews of these on this site. However, there is still quite a lot of beautiful instrumental work up for grabs, of which volume 3 ‘Shaggy Dog’ convinces us again with 26 tracks. Clifford King is the first to claim our attention with ‘Chicken Shack Boogie’, with the harmonica in the spotlight. King is followed by another mouth-shoveler, namely Buster Brown. He was influenced by the playing of Sonny Terry and you can also hear that in ‘The Madison Shuffle’. By the way, if you listen carefully, you will certainly hear snippets of well-known numbers in it. Another great player on the harmonica was Sonny Boy Williamson II. Here you get his hit ‘The Goat’. By the way, the harmonica is also the main instrument on ‘Candled Yams’ by B. Brown and His Rockin McVouts. Bill Doggett provides a portion of swinging rhythm & blues in ‘Hully Gully Twist’. Doggett returns later on ‘Buttered Popcorn’. A wonderful big band instrumental is provided by Curley Hamner and ‘Air Raid’. Curley was a drummer in Lionel Hampton’s band for a number of years, with whom he wrote the much-covered song ‘Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop’. For many guitarists, T-Bone Walker was, and still is, an inspiring guitarist. Walker undoubtedly ensured a real evolution of the guitar in rhythm & blues and blues. He recorded both vocal and instrumental numbers. The groundbreaking ‘Two Bones And A Pick’ also belongs to the latter genre. New Orleans saxophonist Robert Parker is best known for his hit ‘Barefootin’ and for his collaboration with Professor Longhair. On the two-part ‘All Nite Long’, which is part of New Orleans rhythm & blues, he presents a fine example of his talent on the sax. He shows this again later on ‘Walkin’. The blues ‘The Blue Eagle’ by James Rivers Combo also consists of two parts. A number that contains brilliant performances on piano, guitar and sax. Jerry McCain is one of the very best on the blues harp and has made many impressive recordings. ‘Steady’ is one of them and you can hear that number here. Googie Rene shows fantastic Hammond work on ‘Ez-zee’. Pianist Lloyd Glenn was a pioneer of the West Coast blues style and also played on T-Bone Walker’s ‘Call It Stormy Monday’. You can enjoy his beautiful piano playing during ‘The Shakedown’.
Elmore James was the master of the slide guitar. He also puts the slide on his finger in ‘Bobbys Rock’. Earl Hooker was also a regular user of the slide. However, he leaves it in the guitar case on the distorted ‘Dynamite’. Guitarist Roy Montrell recorded for Specialty, among others, as a studio musician. In that capacity, he can also be heard on various Little Richard recordings. Roy presents the shuffle ‘Mudd’ here. Excello Records delivered quite a few impressive artists and recordings. Skippy Brooks recorded ‘Doin’ The Horse’ there at the time. Here you get the B-side ‘Dim Lights’. Brooks was also part of Kid King’s Combo. You get them with the title track ‘Shaggy Dog’. Lloyd Price’s younger brother, Leo Price, was previously active as a songwriter. He recorded ‘Quick Draw’ under his own name. The well-known rhythm & blues duo Don & Dewey may close the ranks with ‘Jump Awhile’.
Just like its predecessors, the third volume in the ‘Boss Black Instrumentals’ series is also one to savor. A collection of instrumental gems that cleverly put harmonica, piano, sax and guitar in the spotlight. Great album!

Kim entered the studio with her regular band members and with the support of Gianni Marzo (Marble Sounds, Isbells). Her sweet vocal timbre embraces the songs. The new single ‘Bij Jou’, written by Lennaert Maes (Lenny & de Wespen), can already count on a lot of radio airplay, just like its predecessor ‘Dansen Doen We Niet’, written by her band member Bruno Deneckere, an great Americana song that that is characterized with heavy rock guitar riffs

Matt Andersen is once again taking a completely different musical direction from the dynamic blues albums that have earned him countless awards and prizes. The introverted singer-songwriter exuded a relaxed atmosphere in the studio, and he also radiated that during the sessions that would eventually take place in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Highly recommended! 

In her first album release since 2015, Sylvie Lewis’ Lives Wisely connects in a way with the events of the past years. It is a flowing story of loss, sorrow and hope. And this in eleven wonderful folk songs!

The Dawning', the fourth album from the Steven Troch Band, presents a variety of influences including blues, country, swing and R&B, all woven into their own signature style. The album shows the evolution of the band while staying true to their sound. Highly recommended! 

Dutch bands that perform rocking country and honky tonk with verve are very few and far between. If you then set the additional requirement that they must all be original songs, then it becomes a real search for the classic needle in the haystack. You can now give up that search, because with their debut album ‘Another Town’, PJ TAYLOR BAND meets these requirements one by one. The album (on cd) contains 14 tracks supplemented with 2 bonus tracks, plus a surprising, unmentioned track. ‘Another Town’ was recorded by PJ in his home studio and produced, mixed and mastered by himself. In addition, all the songs flowed from the pen of lead singer and lead guitarist Snijders. PJ has already proven his talented songwriting extensively on the albums of Supersonics, on which he is also the frontman. It is therefore no wonder that all the tracks are again full of beautiful melodies, incredibly clever country-worthy arrangements and contain profound lyrics. What’s more, in those lyrics PJ also profiles himself as a sublime storyteller, which makes his songs powerful musical paintings that take you on a fascinating country trip. ‘Another Town’ opens immediately with ‘Anywhere USA’ and immediately radiates that authentic country atmosphere and how wonderfully that twang guitar sounds. That PJ has both feet firmly planted in country is immediately proven. Wonderful guitar work manifests itself in all tracks. ‘Brokedown’ sounds incredibly clever, with those cool stops, where PJ goes low vocally for a moment. Super!. He then works his way through ‘Drinkin’ Thing’ in a relaxed country rocking style. He takes his foot off the gas for a moment with the emotional ‘Would You Miss Me’, in which Jim Reeves can also be heard to some extent. PJ’s love and respect for his great examples George Jones and Buck Owens can be heard throughout the entire album. Trucker songs are inextricably linked to country. So they could not be missed here. This happens for the first time with the appropriate ‘Truckdrivin’ Man’, in which the ‘eighteen wheels’ roll across the asphalt. ‘Diesel Smoke’ is also situated in that genre, which starts off with a roaring engine. In ‘Another Town Left Behind’ PJ tells the daily life of the trucker.
‘I’m No Country Star’ PJ sings a little later, but with this debut album he can certainly crown himself a ‘country star’.
With the shuffle ‘Unholy Mess’ and the uptempo ‘It’s Happening Again’ we end up with the bonus tracks, which can only be heard via the CD or streaming. But pay attention… because with ‘Heartbreak School’ there follows another track that is not mentioned on the inlay.
‘Another Town’ is without a doubt a class album that every lover of excellent and especially original rocking country and honky tonk should have on their shelf. Put on those cowboy boots, take that Stetson off the coat rack, pour yourself a beer, give that volume knob a good tug and place your thoughts to a smoky saloon, where PJ TAYLOR BAND is giving the best of themselves on stage and………enjoy!

We all know Chuck Berry, we all know some of his biggest hits – like ‘Roll Over Beethoven’ or ‘Memphis Tennessee’ – probably through one of dozens if not hundreds of covers released in the sixties by The Beatles, The Stones, The Kinks, Dave Berry and about every other Merseybeat or London R&B group that respected itself. All these famous songs are, however, from the fifties. Now, what was Chuck Berry doing in the sixties, when all these covers came out? Well, he simply continued recordings albums, like these four here from 1967 and 1968, neatly remastered and re-released on two CDs by BGO Records.
We come across his typical R&R riffs, but the glory days are clearly over [‘Louie to Frisco’]. On the other hand, it’s nice to see Chuck Berry expanding his talents to other territories: pure blues [It Hurts Me Too], jazz [‘Flying Home’ – see Lionel Hampton], funk [‘I Love Her, I Love Her’], soul [‘I Do Really Love You’], and even a slight psychedelic experiment on ‘Oh, Captain’. No surprises here either, though. This is America and thus Berry is obliged to fill these albums with standards that really don’t become him at all.
I’d like to make an exception for the title track of ‘Concerto in B. Goode’, where he uses one LP-side to demonstrate all his riffs in different tones and styles, with some experiments on the side. A true ‘tour de force’.
The rest is fans only.
The remastered double cd comes with a nice booklet.
Radio 68 plays choice tracks on Tuesday 22 April from 11 a.m. till 11 p.m. GMT [London]  - 12 noon to 12 midnight GMT+1 [Brussels].

In the fifties of the last century, when foreign holidays became commonplace, Italy was the dream destination for many tourists. Enjoying the ‘dolce vita’ on the Adriatic coast or sipping a cocktail in a sun-drenched romantic setting, it was for many the ideal holiday to leave the stress of work and home behind for a while. Of course, this also included a soundtrack that reinforced this feeling. A soundtrack that even resonated once back home and made you dream quietly of the holidays to come many years later. On ‘An Evening In Italy: Dining, Dancing And Romancing The Italian Way’, Bear Family Records bundles no fewer than 28 tracks that undoubtedly convey the Italian holiday feeling. The well-known and lesser-known tracks come from both Italian artists and American artists, because the latter also discovered Italy. Even our Italian Belgian Rocco Granata shines on this compilation with, how could it be otherwise, his mega hit ‘Marina’. Who better to kick things off than Louis Prima and his inseparable ‘Buona Sera’. Prima returns later, this time together with Keely Smith in the medley ‘Angelina / Zooma Zooma’. Prima is followed by Vittorio Und Die Rivieras. Lead singer Vittorio was born in Italy but lived in Germany from the age of ten, where he achieved success with ‘Tintarella Di Luna’. In his home country Italy, Fred Buscaglione was successful as an actor and singer. You get him in the ballad ‘Love In Portofino’ and the somewhat swinging ‘Teresa Non Sparare’.
In the fifties, Renato Carosone was a celebrated musical star in Italy. He is present with the swinging ‘Tu Vuo’ Fa’ L’Americano’ and ‘Torero’.
Trumpeter Nini Rosso then delivers an excellent, abundantly trumpet-injected ‘La Ballata Della Tromba’. One of the most famous, if not the most famous Italian melody is ‘Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu’, better known as ‘Volaré’, here you get the original version by Domenico Modugno. Another well-known song is ‘Quando, Quando’, Quando’. The song has been covered many times, but the original is by Tony Renis, who was also co-writer of the song.
The American part is started by the unknown Lou Monte, although he also had Italian roots. He was born as Louis Scagione. He is present twice. The first time with the rock-‘n-roll song ‘Pizza Boy USA’ and a second time with the famous ‘Sixteen Tons’ by Merle Travis, this time in Italian.
A name that sounds more familiar is that of the also Italian-rooted Dion DiMucci. You can hear him in the well-known ‘Donna La Prima Donna’. When Elvis Presley returned from Germany where he completed his military service, he had become a different singer. The time of rousing rock-‘n-roll was over and that is evident from ‘It’s Now Or Never (O Sole Mio)’. You will later also get that song in an instrumental rhythm & blues/boogie version by pianist Camille Howard as ‘O Sole Mio Boogie’.
Nat ‘King’ Cole was not only blessed with a unique voice, he could also master any musical genre. Listen here to the stunning ‘My Dream Sonata’. Connie Francis recorded several Italian-tinged songs in her career. You can hear one of them here with ‘Roman Guitar’. The Gaylords provide vocal harmonies a little later with ‘Ma Ma Ma Marie’. In the fifties, Roosemary Clooney scored several hits. She signs off with ‘Mambo Italiano’. ‘A Steel Guitar And A Glass Of Wine’ are ingredients that certainly promote the Italian vibe. Paul Anka had already understood that, after which Dean Martin takes care of the crooner part with ‘On An Evening In Roma’. This album ends grandly with Mario Lanza's 'Ave Maria'.
If you want to get into the holiday mood, Bear Family Records offers you the accompanying soundtrack on a tray with 'An Evening In Italy: Dining, Dancing And Romancing The Italian Way'. Nice compilation! 

The interweaving of Soul, Americana, Rock, Gospel and Blues is an integral part of Nikki's sound, and you can hear it on Stories I Only Tell My Friends. Written in 2023-2024, three years after Nikki relocated to Chicago from Los Angeles, some of the songs on this album revolve around exclusion, uprooting and her personal experiences with migration, while others describe the struggles of staying creative and maintaining a quiet sense of wonder in a fast-paced information-driven society. There are also songs that are pure celebrations of love.

This spring, the intriguing self-titled debut album by the Belgian- Dutch blues band Big Dave & The Dutchmen will be released on the Donor/Naked label on vinyl and CD. It was recorded at the Rabbit Field Studio with Stef Kamil Carlens (Moondog Jr., Zita Swoon) in Antwerp-Hoboken. Together with the rhythm section of Roel Spanjers (piano and vocals), guitarist Mischa den Haring and the two Dordrecht brothers Darryl on drums and Dusty Ciggaar on bass, Big Dave conditionally takes you on a nostalgic blues journey. They catapult you back to the heyday of the blues in the fifties and sixties. 

In the late eighties, Paul Deakin, Robert Reynolds and Raul Malo, three school friends, decided to form the band The Mavericks. In 1990, they got a contract with MCA Records in Nashville and their second album ‘What A Crying Shame’, which sold more than a million copies in America, put The Mavericks on the musical map. For their album ‘Music For All Occasions’, they won a Grammy Award, gold and silver. The band surpassed themselves once again with their fifth studio album ‘Trampoline’, released in 1998. An album that was particularly well received in Europe. The sound of The Mavericks is therefore without a doubt unique. You can hear The Travelling Wilburys, Los Lobos and Chris Isaak in it. It is therefore fantastic that the German Bear Family Records is releasing ‘Trampoline’ for the first time in a deluxe edition with 2 180 gram LPs. Furthermore, this edition is limited to 1500 copies worldwide, contains 17 tracks with a playing time of approximately 69 minutes. And the most special is yet to come… Not only do you get the original album on vinyl, but this edition also contains four bonus tracks, which were only found on the CD released in Japan. ‘Trampoline’ is also the most varied and even artistically the highest quality album of the band. It also gave the band their mega hit ‘Dance The Night Away’, which made it to number four in the British pop charts. It is therefore not surprising that the number of European fans of the band experienced a huge explosion.
From the first track ‘Dance The Night Away’ the super good sound quality of this vinyl edition is noticeable, which is more better than the CD. The frontman of the band is the extremely talented songwriter and charismatic singer, the Cuban-born Raul Malo, who vocally can certainly be counted in the category of Roy Orbison. Another plus is the original style of The Mavericks. With their mix of country, Tex-Mex, gospel, Western swing and rock-‘n-roll, they were not only founders of the Americana style at the time, but their songs still sound wonderful today. ‘Quality always comes first’ is a statement that certainly applies to ‘Trampoline’. It is astonishing how well Malo and his fellow supporters manage to combine various music genres, both in uptempo and in ballads. Of the latter, ‘Fool #1’ and ‘Dream River’ are great examples. In addition, the band is also strong in an instrumental track, such as in the wonderful ‘Melbourne Mambo’. Gospel influences come to the surface in ‘Save A Prayer’. The four bonus tracks that only ended up on the CD released in Japan can be heard on the fourth side of this double LP. ‘All I Get’, a composition by Nick Lowe and Raul Malo, is an emotional song that immediately grabs you by the scruff of the neck. The next bonus track is the traditional, the festively exuberant ‘La Mucara’ performed in Spanish, which is followed by the uptempo ‘She Does’. It ends with the instrumental ‘Panatella’, which once again puts the musical craftsmanship of The Mavericks in the spotlight.
If you have the chance to attend a concert of The Mavericks, definitely do so, because they are still active and their sound is still at a lonely high level.
Bear Family Records can rightly put several feathers in their cap for this sublime edition of the legendary ‘Trampoline’ album that, we cannot say it often enough, bathes in a heavenly sound quality. Lovers of special editions, be quick, because this edition is limited to 1500 copies worldwide. It would be a shame if you missed out on this vinyl reissue.

The release ‘Missy Sippy All Stars Vol.II’ is more than an anniversary album, it is a disparate roots record, with a lot of blues, jazz and world music. It is representative of the house values of the Ghent Bluesclub! The Ghent blues scene is growing more luxuriantly than ever. The Missy Sippy Blues & Roots Club, in Klein Turkije, in the heart of Ghent, will of course be no stranger to this. And they just celebrated their tenth anniversary there. So, is there a better way to do that than with a fat party and an even more corpulent album ?!

With ‘Morph’, the Ellis Mano Band presents a multi-faceted, coherent opus. “It is more than just an album for us - it's our next big step, our musical diploma,“ says the band. With songs like the epic ‘Countdown To Nothing’ and the powerful anthem ‘For All I Care,’ the multinational blues-rock institution invites their listeners to join in on an intense journey through the evolution of our sound. ‘Morph’ represents change and growth – a transformation reflected in every track. Energized riffs meet unexpected, quiet moments, creating a listening experience full of tension and depth. The artwork by Canadian album design legend Hugh Syme (Rush, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi…) perfectly captures this essence and symbolizes the spirit of ‘Morph’. The band is excited to share there new sonic worlds with our fans, both on record and live!”

The Brazilian choro style loves virtuosity and combines perfectly with French chanson and storytelling.

Derev’s second release "Troubled Mind" takes a deep dive into the intricacies of the human psyche, addressing a spectrum of mental health issues ranging from temporary mental instability to more severe conditions such as schizophrenia, cognitive immobility (a fixation on the past), and depression stemming from loss. Musically, the album builds on the foundation laid in the first release, offering a diverse range of sounds from mellow, calm tracks to adrenaline-pumping heavy headbangers, while maintaining their distinctive progressive rock sound, enriched with Middle Eastern influences. In this album, Derev elevates their sound by incorporating more prominent keyboard and synth parts, experimenting with various time signatures, and introducing new instruments such as the Cajon, Darbuka, and electronic elements.

Lorana surprises with honest songs.  Lovely emotional stuff!

The Lucky Strikes blend rock, blues, and funk with infectious grooves that’ll have you shimmying whether you're in a dive bar, a smoky juke joint, or cruising down a dusty backroad. It’s a sound that’s equal parts raw power and musical mastery, with enough swagger to keep your feet tapping long after the show is over. Highly recommended! 

The vocals are clear and the lyrics are more than gripping here. The release ‘The Other Me’ is a release with eleven songs that are steeped in some great folk habitus and that’s  deserves a lot of recognition.

Delicate Italian singer-songwriter who surfs on lamenting emotions

The perfect band to liven up a party and to lose yourself on the dancefloor.

With ‘The Band’s A Rockin’’, Johnnie Lee Wills is the next artist to appear in the ‘Gonna Shake This Shack Tonight’ series. Johnnie Lee was the younger brother of Bob Wills. During Bob’s first successful years, Johnnie played the tenor banjo in his band. In 1940, Bob Wills decided to split up the Texas Playboys because of the ever-increasing demand for live performances throughout the country.
In order to keep radio work and dance evenings going in their home base of Tulsa, Bob gave Johnnie Lee the right to stay in Oklahoma and form his own group, Johnnie Lee Wills and All The Boys. Johnnie was an excellent bandleader who always managed to surround himself with impressive sidemen. He may not have made as many recordings as his brother Bob, but with the songs that have already been covered many times, the excellent piano-laden ‘Rag Mop’ and the bluesy ‘Milk Cow Blues’, Johnnie Lee undoubtedly put Western Swing on the map. Both recordings can also be found on this album. Johnnie's rhythm and style were deeply rooted in the thirties. Because he kept his arrangements tight and danceable, Johnnie Lee Wills and All The Boys were enormously successful with the swinging and rocking dancers at Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa. On radio KVOO in Tulsa, the band was a fixture until 1958. In 1964, Johnnie Lee Wills and All The Boys split up. This compilation contains many interesting recordings, released on Decca, Bullet Records and RCA Victor. It is also worth mentioning that the Decca and Bullet recordings have not been available on CD for some time.
The opener and the title track immediately set the tone for over 75 minutes of pure Western Swing pleasure. What is also immediately noticeable is that Johnnie's band, as previously indicated, contained wonderfully talented musicians. The sky-high level of the first track is effortlessly continued throughout the entire album. It becomes difficult not to get moving and before you know it you are accompanying Johnnie with a snap of your fingers. Impressive musicians deliver impressive performances. This also applies to ‘Coyote Blues’, probably provided with a sublime clarinet solo by Don Harlan. Humorous lyrics are part of ‘She Took!’. Beautiful guitar solos cross songs such as ‘I Like You Best Of All’, the blues-laced ‘Levee Blues’ and ‘Two Step Side Step’. Fiddle at its best can be heard in ‘Let Me Be’, ‘A-L-B-U-Q-U-E-R-Q-U-E’ and ‘Four Or Five Times’.
The instrumental ‘Boogiewoogie Highball’, where the musicians once again get their ‘moment de gloire’, is a rock-‘n-roll song ‘avant la lettre’. A song that undoubtedly inspired many later rockers. Johnnie’s interpretation of the Glenn Miller classic ‘In The Mood’ is downright impressive, once again displaying instrumental mastery and craftsmanship. ‘Southland Swing’ also sounds instrumental and fun.
A beautiful example of harmony later characterizes ‘Honey In The Horn’, while ‘Devil’s Blues’, which relies on subtle piano sounds, is a swinging version of a typical blues song. Rocking and swinging, the last track comes with ‘I’m Leaving (Yes Indeedy)’.
In the beautifully executed an illustrated 29-page booklet, you will get all the information about the tracks as well as in ‘The (Dance-) Marathon Man Of Western Swing’ written by Roland Heinrich Rumtreiner, all the information about Johnnie Lee Wills.
Rare, hot, swinging and rocking are the keywords for this fantastic album. ‘Johnnie Lee Wills: The Band’s A Rockin’ has become an unmissable release!