​There’s no doubt that sax man Shawn Raiford has arrived, and deserves his place on the music scene. A recommended introduction for those who love contemporary & smooth jazz. 

​Jones' powerful sound includes a trio of guitar, bass and drums. It has long been a fundamental part of this rock and blues world. His trademark is surfacing in the blues rockers like ‘Gonna Be Alright','Revolves Around You  'and ‘Burn Down The Plantation . Handsome!  With these musical impressions Dennis Jones is now promoting his new record! Check it out on his website…

​Although Johnny Rawls is a “senior member” of the music community, after more than 50 years, he still stands as a soul blues man. And that he shows no signs of stopping, proves this CD!

​The Catalan jazz drummer Xavi Reija has formed a trio with pianoplayer José Carra and bassist José Manuel Posada. Together they bring coherent and rhythmic compositions, that will certainly appeal to lovers of jazz music.

For volume 35 in the ‘That'll Flat ... Git It!’ Series, the Bear Family label is browsing the archives of Mercury and Limelight Records. The Mercury label was founded in 1945 and was the first major label after World War II. The label focused on blues, rhythm & blues, country, jazz and pop. Limelight Records was also part of Mercury and mainly focused on jazz. In addition, their mid and late 50’s recordings also included a number of rockabilly and rock ‘n’ roll artists. 35 of those recordings adorn this compilation. Recordings of a number of lesser known artists, but also the very early recordings of those who would later become resounding names in music.
When a compilation, such as this one from the series ‘That'll Flat ... Git It!’ has been compiled with expertise and knowledge, you can discover a large number of unknown, but especially valuable songs in addition to well-known ones. Volume 35 scores 100% here. Recommended!

​In just a few years’ time, Tommy James & The Shondells evolved from average beat group to universal hit-makers (‘Mony, Mony’!) and forerunners of what I’d define as melodic psychedelic music as evidenced by their wonderful long-players ‘Crimson and Clover’ (1968) and ‘Cellophane Symphony’ (1969), the latter worth the 9 minutes-plus title track alone. While James was not involved in writing their early hits, he gradually honed his song-writing skills and eventually produced a large part of their psychedelic recordings. He opts for a solo career in 1970, stressing his christian world-view. By that time, the hits had dried up, but James kept on writing  high-standard songs. Melody, balance and clear vocals are his trade-mark on tunes as diverse as ‘We’ll Have a World’ (R&B, soul), ‘I’m A Tangerine’ (Beatlesesque psychedelia) or the pure pop craft of  ‘Sugar On Sunday’.
Grapefruit and Cherry Red now allow you taste and try this wonderful pop music by re-releasing all thirteen Tommy James and The Shondells or Tommy James solo albums issued on Roulette between 1966 and 1973, throwing in a bunch of singles and tracks that were not on the original LPs; some even make their digital debut here. For all things James, just pay a visit to Cherry Red’s website. Apart from all the wonderful singles and well-known LP-tracks, there’s an awful lot to be discovered here. I personally appreciate his country-rock album ‘My Head, My Bed and My Red Guitar’ (1971), featuring such luminaries as Scotty Moore, D.J. Fontana, Charlie McCoy and Buddy Spicer. As a matter of fact, nice tunes can be found all over this collection, whether it’s country-tinged (‘White Horses’) or an um-tempo instrumental (‘Travellin’) .
All in all, this collection does justice to a group whose multiple talents were  often overshadowed by catchy hits.
A beautifully illustrated booklet contains all the details you need.
Radio 68 www.radio68.be plays choice tracks in its shows ‘Rock On!’ on Wednesdays 16 and 23 December and ‘My Generation’ on Sundays 20 and 27 plus Tuesdays 22 and 29 December.

​Michael Schatte demarcates his sound as an original mix of rock, blues, Celtic and other electric roots music. These fifteen new songs are nothing but diverse and exciting songs, produced and developed by Schatte and this with a keen ear for organic but with a spicy production. Handsome release !

​The career of Barbra Streisand is in its seventh decennium. She has won Academy, Grammy, Emmy Awards and so on. Sold more than 70 million albums in the USA and 150 million albums & singles worldwide. This compilation contains original live recordings from Tv, radio and clubs, from the beginning of her career in 1962-1962. Interesting for fans to relive her talent from her beginnings. 

​A compilation of the first two albums, ‘French Style’ and ‘Dino Latino’, that crooner Dean Martin cut for Sinatra’s label Reprise, plus some rare singles. The first time together on one CD! Highly recommended for fans of retro and crooners!

​The title ‘The Right To Rock’ says forcefully that in the past, present and future every population had, has and will have the right to rock. This was also the case in Mexico in the 1950's, for both the Mexicans, those born in Mexico, and the Chicanos, people of Mexican descent but born in the U.SA. Just like elsewhere the after World War II young Chicanos were looking for their own identity.
You can hear that these rockers gave the American rock and roll their own sound on the tracks collected on this album, which they recorded between 1955 and 1963.

​The Bluesbones have a diverse music style. De band just walks between solid blues rock like 'Find My Way Out' and ‘Cruisin’, harmonious boogies as 'Psycho Mind', a great swamprocker ‘The Witchdoctor’ and a few relaxed ballads like 'Demon Blues' and ‘Seales Souls’. With six albums on their account, this is the third live recording. This means that The Bluesbones is a real stage band. With growing and well-deserved success, they will hopefully be towing their instruments throughout Europe in 2021..!

​What a fantastic sextet, with only their voices and percussion.  You can here the French folktradition but at the same time you think you are part of the future.  Enchanting polyphonic compositions with influences from different continents.  A masterpiece!

​This is a nice introduction for me to the sound of singer/sax player Anita Carmichael, who is sort of a cross between the jazz funk of The Crusaders and Ricky Lee Jones. For funk & soul overs!

​Blues Lee is proud to present the new album "Twenty Five". The songs were released during the second Covid-19 lockdown, although guitarist Jan 'Catchy' Corthouts, JB Biesemans (vocals / saxophone), drummer Carlo Smeyers, bassist Steph Collart and Karel 'Helix' Phlix on guitar worked in the Hechtelse Rootshouse Studio between 2019 and 2020. A lot of original songs and 37 minutes, more was not needed again to overwhelm us. Almost every month, one song was ​taped, which now results in the album "Twenty Five". Swing, jump, blues and R&B, the diversity is almost like a trademark for the band.

​The attention that the Atomicat label pays to hillbilly and rockabilly bop through this series certainly fills a gap in the market. With the exception of a few other labels, these genres are treated poorly. Moreover, all Atomicat releases invariably boast a sublime sound quality, as does this volume. Again, Western Swing, based on a bop beat, is on the menu.
‘The Barnyard Hop’ again features 28 hillbilly and rockabilly related high flyers. "Hillbilly and Rustic Rockabilly Bop’ is a treasure chest filled with awesome songs.

​Stephen Wallack uses subtle fragments of culturally familiar melodies. A new way of listening to the famous Christmas carols. Recommended to those who wish to combine solo piano music with Christmas. 

​With ‘Pass The Gin’, already the eleventh volume in the ‘Southern Bred’ series, we continue our search for Texan R&B Rockers. And there are a lot of famous and lesser known artists and their songs to discover. We are immediately treated to a heavy R & B rock song by H.B. Barnum with ‘Don't Cha Know’. Barnum was part of The Dootones in the late 1950's.
We close with a classic undertone. The instrumental ‘Nut Rocker’ of Jack B Nimble and The Quicks is based on Tchaikovsky's ‘Nutcracker Suite’. The song is also known in the version of B. Bumble and The Stingers.
Beyond all this beauty, volume 11 of the stunning ‘Southern Bred’ series hides a host of other gems. Like all previous volumes, number 11 is an absolute must.

​John is pleased to announce that his new double album ‘John the Revelator’ will see all proceeds going directly to the W.C. HANDY ARTS RELIEF FUND (HART Fund) established by the The Blues Foundation. This fund helps blues musicians and their families in financial need due to a broad range of health concerns, dental care, as well as funeral and burial expenses. John Fusco and The X-Road Riders integrate the trombone into their music in a very interesting way and he also gives a lot of freedom to solo to his Riders. John his band will follow up their critically acclaimed 2019 debut with the 20-track (and 18 brand new originals) double album "John The Revelator".

​This is for me a nice introduction to the work of Emmy Award winning bass player Tony Saunders, who like he writes himself: “I romance the bass like I romance life”. Funky, and sometimes relaxed contemporary jazz. 

​The third commandment of those Ten Commandments of rock and roll says ‘Become Self-Sufficient, Get A Job’, in other words, get a job, so that you can make a living for yourself. Mark Armstrong collected another 30 amazing songs around this fact. How can you obey this command? Well, without money, it gets damn hard to obey this.
How to approach it or not, these rhythm & blues, rock & roll and doo-wop tracks offer enough inspiration. Now it's up to you!

​Beautiful compilation of earlier  work from countryfolk singer-songwriter Melvin Litton, aka The Gothic Cowboy.  Just fingerpicking guitar and a storytelling voice will give every folkfan an orgasm.

​Piano player & composer Stephen Wallace has released an album of solo piano pieces, a series of character pieces whose melodies, harmony and rhythms work in tandem to paint images of specific people who have impacted him. Ideal for people who love melodic piano music. 

​This acoustic Christmas CD from singer-songwriter Camille Nelson is a quiet album, that brings the spirit and joy of the Christmas season. She arranged Christmas classics, with elements of folk, classical and New Age. An album that brings also warmth and joy during this special Corona Christmas. 

​Randy likes simplicity on his new album. He understands the art of keeping things fascinating and exciting with intimate instrumentation. An art in itself. And that half of the proceeds go to charity only makes this picture even better. Just like the human behind Randy Casey ..!
Actually, there is never a bad time to turn a hell of a record. With the holiday season approaching, Randy found the ideal time to present his new pitch to the world press and his extensive fan base. The album, which moreover contains eleven original songs, Randy needed only 24 hours of studio time. He, as a multi-instrumentalist also plays all the instruments and obviously returns to the basics of the blues. Studio tricks and special effects are foreign to him. And that’s something what we like here also.

​You probably don't know the name Billy Strange, yet chances are you've heard him and he might even be in your record collection as a companion to your favorite artists. Besides this work as a session musician, he also recorded under his own name.
What is striking is that Strange cannot be pinned down to one music genre. Whether he was hired for swinging rhythm & blues and rock and roll, a light jazzy feel, country, cowboy songs or pop, Billy always carries out his task with an enormous dose of talent and craftsmanship.
With ‘Climb Aboard The Hell Train’, compiler dee jay Mark Armstrong not only pays tribute to Billy Strange, but also makes Strange's work more public.